little laugh. “So what do you make of that? Early signs of a split personality?”
Karen laughed. “Boy, you
Amelia had started them down memory lane, so Karen let her continue. She asked if she recalled spending time in any foster homes before the Faradays adopted her. In so many cases with adopted children, there were horror stories involving foster parents. But Amelia had no such memories. “I think they were all pretty nice. I didn’t stay with anyone for very long. I have a feeling I was on the market for only a short while before the Faradays picked me up. My poor parents, they probably thought they were getting this great deal, because I was a pretty little girl. What a letdown it must have been to find out I was damaged goods.”
“Why do you feel that way, Amelia?” Karen asked.
Amelia shrugged.
“Have your folks ever said or done anything to make you feel that way?”
Amelia smiled and shook her head. “No, from the very start, they made me feel loved….” She described going for a walk with her potential new mother on her first day with the Faradays; her first impressions of a playground and a Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors ice cream parlor not far from their house. She remembered some time later, after the adoption was official, when she learned she would soon have a baby brother or sister to play with. She had her first sleep-over-at her Aunt Ina’s apartment-the night Collin was born.
“Is this-the brother who died recently?” Karen asked hesitantly.
Amelia nodded.
“Do you have any other brothers or sisters?”
“No,” she muttered. Then she cleared her throat. “It was just Collin and me.”
“I’m sorry,” Karen said. “Were you…very close to him?”
She nodded again. Amelia had tears brimming in her eyes, yet she was stone-faced. There was a box of Kleenex right beside her on the end table, but she didn’t reach for one.
“I was told he died in a drowning accident. Is that right?”
“No, that’s not right,” she whispered, staring at Karen.
She was almost expressionless, yet a single tear slid down her cheek. “My brother’s death wasn’t an accident. I know it wasn’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Amelia quickly wiped away that one tear. “Because I killed him.”
Karen remembered the silence in her study after Amelia had made that statement. It had lasted only a few seconds, but seemed longer, like the silence in the car now, as they reached the West Seattle side of the bridge.
“Stay on this road for a while,” Amelia said tonelessly. “The turnoff for my uncle’s house is after we pass California Avenue. I’ll tell you when it’s coming up.”
Karen took her eyes off the road for a moment, and looked at her.
Her head tipped against the window, Amelia stared straight ahead with the same stone-faced expression she’d had after telling Karen that she’d killed her brother. And once again, there were tears locked in her eyes.
Chapter Seven
Amelia’s Uncle George answered the door with his 5-year-old daughter in his arms.
Karen hadn’t expected him to be so handsome. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt that showed off his lean, athletic physique. He had a strong jaw with a slight five o’clock shadow, and wavy black hair that was ceding to gray. Though his green eyes were still red from crying, there was a certain quiet strength to him.
Karen watched him set down the little girl so he could hug Amelia. The child then wrapped herself around his leg, and pressed her face against his hip. George held on to Amelia for a few moments, whispering in her ear.
“Thanks, Uncle George,” she said, sniffling. She turned and nodded toward Karen and Jessie. “This is my therapist-and she’s also my friend-”
“Hi, I’m Karen,” she said, stepping in from the doorway to shake his hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She introduced him to Jessie, who was carrying the bag full of food. “Jessie figured you and the children could use a home-cooked dinner tonight-”
“Just point us to the kitchen,” Jessie announced. “Oh, never mind, I see it-straight ahead.” And she started off in that direction.
Karen took off her coat, but held on to it. “If we’re at all in the way, please, just let us know,” she told George.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “You’re a lifesaver, Karen.”
Amelia bent down and pried Stephanie off George’s leg. The child clung to her now. Amelia looked so forlorn as she rocked Stephanie. “I’m sorry,” she whispered tearfully. “I’m so sorry, Steffie….”
“Why are you sorry?” the child asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Amelia winced, and then she seemed to hug her young cousin even tighter.
Watching them, Karen felt so horrible for Amelia and everyone in this house.
George collected his daughter from her. “Amelia, sweetie, do you think you could talk to Jody?” he asked. “He won’t come out of his room. I’m really worried about him. Maybe he’ll talk to you.”
Wiping her eyes, Amelia nodded, and then started through the living room toward a back hallway.
“Jody’s my son,” George whispered to Karen. He stroked his daughter’s hair. They trailed after Amelia. “Five minutes after I told him the news about his mom, Jody ducked into his room and shut the door.”
In the hallway, they stayed back and watched Amelia knock on the bedroom door.
“He did the exact same thing a few months ago when his cousin died,” George explained. “Jody just worshiped Collin. He was holed up in his room for two whole days. I thought he’d miss the funeral. My wife had to leave his meals outside the door and even then, he hardly ate a thing. He only came out to go to the bathroom.” George’s voice cracked a little. “God, I don’t know what to do. It’s such an awful helpless feeling to know your child’s hurting….”
Karen felt the same way watching Amelia. She wished there was something she could do to make the pain go away.
Amelia knocked on Jody’s door again and called to her cousin, but he didn’t answer. “Jody? Please let me in,” she called. “I know how you feel, believe me….”
“I’m sorry!” he replied in a strained, raspy voice. “I gotta be alone right now, Amelia. Could you go away, please?”
Her head down, Amelia slinked away from his door. She looked at her uncle, and shrugged hopelessly. “Sorry, Uncle George,” she murmured. “Guess I’m just useless. I–I’m so tired. Would it be okay if I went to lie down for a while?”
He nodded, and kissed her forehead. “Sure, sweetie, your bed’s all made down there.”
Amelia gently patted Stephanie on the back, then wandered through the living room and foyer to a set of stairs leading to a lower level. Looking over her shoulder, she glanced at Karen, and then started down the steps.
“Do you think maybe you could talk to him?”
Karen turned at George and blinked. “You want
He shrugged. “Well, you’re a therapist. Maybe you’d have a better idea about the right thing to say….”
“You know, I think we should just respect Jody’s need to be alone,” she whispered, touching his arm, “For a while, at least. If this is how he grieved for his cousin, then it’s what he knows. That’s how he got through it last time. Why don’t we give him until dinner’s ready, and try again? Okay?”
He stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “I think you’re a very smart lady,” he said. “Thanks, Karen.”
She smiled at him. “Well, um, I’ll go down and check on Amelia.”
“Take a right at the bottom of the stairs. The guest room’s the first door on your left.”
Downstairs, Karen paused in the large recreation room. It had a linoleum floor and high windows that didn’t
