“What?” Robin cried, practically leaping up.
I looked at Teal, who kept her face turned away from us.
“She's a big liar. She's the one who came up with the idea,” Robin shouted. She poked Teal in the shoulder. “How could you tell her that?”
“None of that,” Dr. Foreman said sharply.
“Well, she's lying, Dr. Foreman.”
“Phoebe,” Dr. Foreman said, “is she lying? Was it her idea?”
Teal turned sharply and looked at me, her face so full of fear, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I also thought of myself and how I had betrayed her. I wasn't any better than she was, and neither was Robin.
“As a rule I don't like any behind-the-back tattle-tales,” Dr. Foreman said, now firmly fixing her gaze on me. "That's sneaky and it doesn't show me any real growth. You have probably all done something like that in the past, and you know very well that you can put on one face with the authorities and another for your friends. It's deceitful and not the sign of someone who has truly found herself and her moral way.
"Either I hear a confession and an agreement about that from the other two, or one of you or two of you reveal to me this instant whose idea it was.
“Well?” she snapped, rising to her full height and glaring down at us. “Whose idea was it?”
“It wasn't Teal,” I said.
“What?” Robin screamed, spinning on me now.
“It was Gia's idea,” I said quickly. Why it came to me to do that, I couldn't say for sure. I think it was acombination of things. First, it was truly Gia who had put the idea into our heads, and second, assigning blame to someone who was already condemned in Dr. Foreman's mind didn't seem such a terrible thing to do. It was like blaming a murderer on death row for another murder. What difference could it possibly make to him?
Dr. Foreman's eyes grew smaller, darker. “Gia?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation.
“Then why did Teal assign blame to Robin?”
I looked at Teal. “She's more afraid of Gia than she is of Robin. We all are.”
Dr. Foreman held those scrutinizing eyes on me for a long moment. She walked to the front of the desk, folding her arms under her breasts and nodding slightly. I thought she was just going to start screaming at me for being a liar, but something kept her from it.
“Are you saying Gia accompanied the three of you as well that night?”
“Oh, no.”
“Then what are you saying, Phoebe? Gia did this before or she just came up with the idea?”
Robin and Teal were looking at me with faces of hope, both counting on me to come up with the right answers to get us out from under the hot lights of Dr. Foreman's eyes.
“I don't know, Dr. Foreman.”
“You don't know?”
“I can't be sure of anything Gia tells me.” This time I held my gaze and met her perceptive eyes. She knew what I meant.
“Don't make me sound like a prosecutor, Phoebe.”
“I'm not,” I whined.
“Did Gia tell you that she spied on my girls? Yes or no?”
“Not exactly.”
“What?”
“She said Posy had done it,” I told her.
Teal and Robin looked even more shocked at my mention of Posy's name. They turned quickly to see what Dr. Foreman's reaction would be. She looked thoughtful, but not enraged. She turned to Teal and Robin.
“She told you two this as well?”
“Yes, Dr. Foreman,” Teal said quickly. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Phoebe's right. We were all together when she spoke about it and what she said Posy saw. We were just bored and we were told how much fun the buddies were having at their so-called parties, so—”
“I'm not interested in that,” Dr. Foreman snapped, thought again, and walked back to her desk chair. “I'm disappointed.” Then, after a beat of silence during which she looked as troubled as I had ever seen her look, she added, “In all of you.”
After another quiet moment, she looked up sharply at us, wearing a face of utter disgust, and said, “You're dismissed. Return to your quarters until I call for you.”
“You mean, stay in the barn?” Robin asked.
“Are you deaf? Yes. Now go.” Dr. Foreman waved at the door.
The three of us got up slowly and walked out, each of us holding her breath.
Had we escaped a terrible punishment? Dr. Foreman had so wanted to divide the three of us again. I could almost see her tasting the new victory. Surely that was what had disappointed her, but when she was disappointed, she was so depressed and angry, it made Mama's tantrums look like child's play, I thought.
None of us spoke until we were far enough away from the front of the hacienda not to be overheard.
“How could you do that?” Robin began, grabbing Teal so hard, she almost pulled the crutch out from under her. “How could you say I was the one?”
“I didn't know what to say. She had me trapped in that room and it was terrifying. First she was so nice, so thoughtful and concerned, and then she was so angry, I thought she was going to boil me in a big pot, and I was very frightened whenever the buddies came around. I was stuck in that bed and the door was always locked and—”
“Forget about it, Robin,” I said. “You would have given up your mother.”
“Big deal. I'd give her up for a piece of apple pie right now,” she said, still fuming. Then she relaxed and looked at me and smiled. “That was good thinking in there, Phoebe. I didn't remember Gia saying it was Posy who did it, but that was a good idea. It stopped her cold. I could see that.”
“Yeah, thanks for getting me off the hook,” Teal said, limping along. “I'm surprised she let us go so easily. I guess Gia might be right after all. I guess Posy was her daughter.”
I stopped walking. “There was no Posy. She
