CHAPTER FOUR
Clair was reading a magazine late in the afternoon. It was four-thirty when the phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was her mother.
“Oh great.”
She hesitated, hoping it would stop ringing and go to her machine, but instead, picked it up.
“Hello, Rae, how are you?”
“Not good. I have some disturbing news.”
Clair sat down and acted shocked.
“What is it? Is dad all right?”
“Clair, you know damn well your father is dead.”
“Sorry, I keep forgetting. So what is it?”
“Edward is in the hospital.”
“Oh my God! What happened?”
Her concerns were exaggerated because she couldn't care less if he was alive or dead; her preference was the latter.
“The high school girls' soccer team got together and beat him up!”
Clair stood and paced as far as the phone cord would
