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tinted bulbs, but Star thought it would make the house

look too much like a bordello. In the end we agreed

on a lighter shade of blue for the hallways and Misty,

who seemed inexhinstible, decided to start on that

/> while Star went out back to finish dressing up

Geraldine's grave with the plants and bushes we had

purchased. We were going to hang my new curtains,

too, before the end of the day.

Jade was the first to grow tired of the work and

began to complain about being hungry so we planned

what we would order in from the nearest Chinese

restaurant. Then they each called home to say they were staying at my house for dinner. Only Star's Granny was actually home to receive the call. Jade's mother was at a dinner meeting already and Misty's mother had left word with her answering service that

she was going to a movie with one of her girlfriends. "I thought you were getting permission to stay

with her overnight anyway," Star reminded Misty. "I was. I mean I will. I thought it would be

easier to ask from here and not have to answer any

questions about it," she explained.

'Well, Granny said I can stay for dinner," Star

declared, and then looked to me, "but only if you

promise to come to our house for one of her homecooked meals. I told her you would and she said

tomorrow night. One thing about my granny, she

doesn't dwell in the world of fluff. None of this 'we'll

do lunch or dinner' stuff. If you say you will, she pins

you down to being real. You can stay over, too," she

added.

Jade and Misty both nodded with looks in their

eyes that told me how much they wished they lived in

Granny's world rather than their own.

"Do you have anything to drink here?" Jade

suddenly asked. It was as if just the suggestion of

something dark and unpleasant had to be kept out any