laughing.
“Why would you want to cut your hair?”
“Anybody who sees me as Margo will notice the haircut and a dye job, but anybody from my old life might pass over me. They think I’m dead, so if they see a woman with short dark hair, they might not give her a second look, might not take the trouble to notice the resemblance.”
“I’ll get my stuff.” Gay got up. “And I’ll order a pizza for the girls. That and a video should keep them entertained for a few hours.”
“So, what don’t you remember?” Jasmine was sitting in one of the rattan chairs next to Sonya. Both girls stared with saucer eyes, blue and brown pools of wonder at Maggie’s new hair. The once shoulder length blonde hair was now cropped close and it was as black as Gay’s.
“I don’t know,” Maggie said. “But I remember you and Sonya and Gay. That’s enough for starters, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” Jasmine said. “I guess so. Then, “Your eyebrows look funny.”
“What?”
“Your hair’s too dark for them.”
“Eyebrow pencil,” Gay said.
“Good idea,” Maggie said.
“So, I understand how you can forget stuff because of the bump on your head, but why’d you change your hair?” Jasmine said.
“I needed a change,” Maggie said. “Besides, I think it makes me look younger, more like a college student, don’t you think?”
“Maybe.”
“No, it does,” Maggie said. The shock of the hair cut and the new color was wearing off. When the girls first saw it, all they could do was gape.
“You don’t want to look like an old lady when you go to class,” Sonya said.
“Right, exactly,” Maggie said. “I felt uncomfortable with all the kids.” She hated lying. She wanted it to stop.
“So, you remember about school and that kind of stuff?” Jasmine said.
“Some,” Maggie said. “Not enough, but enough to know I want to blend in more.”
“But you guys have to remember something,” Gay said, rescuing Maggie. “If anybody finds out Margo has amnesia, then Jasmine’s dad is going to swoop down here like white on rice, and he’ll scoop Jazz up and take her away, and she might never be allowed to come back, even after Margo gets all her memory back.”
“Swoop and scoop,” Sonya said. “We won’t tell.”
“Yeah, we can keep a secret,” Jasmine said.
“Just not from each other,” Sonya said.
“It’s just like one of those Jack Priest scary stories you’re always reading,” Jasmine said.
“Jack Priest?” Maggie said.
“Writes horror stories, your big vice,” Gay said. “The kind of stories you want to write someday.”
“Yeah, you love spooky stuff, don’t you remember?” Jazz said.
“I do now.”
“See how easy it’s going to be?” Gay said. “We just remind her and she remembers. It’s not going to be hard at all.”
They spent the next couple of hours talking, Maggie gently probing, seeking information about her twin, but also seeking information about Jasmine. She wanted to know everything about the child, what she liked, disliked, friends, how she got on in school.
Jasmine and Sonya told how Mrs. Roberts, their third grade teacher, wasn’t coming back after Spring break, because she got married. The girls were wondering what the new teacher was going to be like when Maggie started to feel faint. She touched the bruise on her forehead.
“You okay, Margo?” Sonya said.
“Call me Maggie.” Oops.
“What?” Jasmine said.
“It’s just something else I remember,” Maggie said, thinking fast. “When I was a little girl, one of my teachers at school thought Margo was short for Margaret and she called me Maggie for some reason and it stuck. That’s what everybody called me when I was growing up.” She was making it up on the fly and she hoped the girls were buying it.
“Okay, girls, I want you to go next door and play,” Gay said. “Margo, I mean Maggie, and I have some things to talk about.”
“Well,” Gaylen said after the girls left, “are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a little tired.” She sighed. “Overwhelmed, too.”
“So, you’re really going to do this?”
“I think so. I don’t quite know how I’m going to pull if off though or how I’m going to earn a living.”
“Margo had a little money,” Gaylen said.”
“Margo had an awful lot of money and I mean a lot, over three million dollars, but it’s not mine.”
“I had no idea. I knew she came into some when her father died,” Gaylen said, “but I didn’t think it was anywhere near that much.”
“I don’t like the idea of spending any of it. By rights it belongs to Jasmine. However, it seems I don’t have much choice, at least in the short run, until I can start earning my own. I can’t exactly go to my old bank and make a withdrawal. I can’t get my car either. That’s a bummer, I really liked that car.”
“What kind of car?”
“Mustang.”
“You have a Porsche now, you’ll get over the Mustang. If you live to enjoy it.”
“It’s just a matter of time before the killer gets caught,” Maggie said. “I got a good look at him. I’ll tell the cops what he looks like, maybe I’ll find him in those mug books you were talking about. Once they get him, it’ll be smooth sailing.”
“I hope you’re right.” Gay got up, went to the window and looked out. “Oh shit.” She stepped back from the window. “It’s your significant other. And he’s walking like he’s got a hockey puck up his ass.” She laughed, “But then again he always walks that way.”
“My what?”
“Greg something or other. He’s like a fiance, but he hasn’t given you a ring yet. Too cheap.”
There was a knock on the door.
“What’s he like?”
“A regular asshole, just as bad as your ex. Worse maybe. He’s a right wing gun nut, who thinks sex outside of marriage is evil and abortion is murder.”
“Swell.”
“You want me to get rid of him.”
“No, I’ll handle it,” Maggie whispered. “You better get out of sight.”
Another knock.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s better this way. I know what to do.”
“Okay.” Gay stepped into the hall, went into Jasmine’s room.
Maggie opened the door. “Come in, Greg.”
“What did you do to your hair?”
“I felt like a change.” She closed the door after he came in.
“I kind of like it,” he said.
“We need to talk.” She sat in one of the rattan chairs, motioned for him to take the other.
“Uh oh, I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“What?” He jumped out of the chair. “How could you? We’ve been saving ourselves for marriage. We’ve
