Chapter 9

“ Where were you last night?” Devra demanded the next morning. “ Your 
 father called.”	
	“ I know.”
	“ What happened?”
	“ Gloria fell and broke her arm in two places.”
	“ Oh. You didn’t answer me. Where were you?”
	“ I was with Michael.”
	“ What were you doing?”
	“ We went to the bookstore.”
	“ Is that all?” she raised an eyebrow.
	“ You sound like Desree.”
	“ You did it didn’t you?” Devra was excited.
	“ For the second time,” she blushed.
	“ I don’t believe you!” why would I lie?”	
	“ No. I believe what you say, I just don’t believe you actually did it.”
	“ And why not?”
	“ Because…Wow. How is everyone else going to respond?”
	“ Listen,” Katalina said. “ We’re rich Catholic kids, society lets us do 
 whatever we want.’

	Mr. Verret came home early to show around the temporary housemaid.
	“ This is my daughter’s room. And this is her bathroom,” he opened the 
 door to show the woman.”
“ Oh, dear, she left clothes in the floor,” he said. “ I’ll pick them up.”
	Out of the pile fell a small bit of wrapping. He picked it up and examined 
 the label. He balled it up in his fist furious.

	Katalina came into he house humming to herself. She opened her mouth 
 to call Gloria. She stopped herself at he last minute. She wandered into 
 the kitchen. There she saw her father. He was drumming his fingers over 
 the smooth table surface.
	
	“ Katalina Kylie Verret!”
	 Shit! Katalina thought.  He’s really pissed!
	“ You told me you weren’t having sex.”
	“ Excuse me?”
“ Don’t give me that! I found a condom wrapper in your pile of clothes in 
 the bathroom.”
	“ Oh.”
	“ Is that all you can say?”
	“ Yes.”
	“ I’m putting you on the pill.”
	“ That’s probably for the best.”
	“ And you’re grounded till you’re eighteen then you can move out.’
	“ Fine!” Katalina screamed. “ I don’t want to live here!”
	She went up to her room. She slammed the door. Then she feel onto the 
 bed crying.
 No Kal. She heard Michael’s voice in her head. Don’t 
 cry.
	“ Yes, don’t cry,” she said sniffling her tears.
	She wiped away her tears and closed her eyes. She flicked on the lights 
 and opened them. She reached for the phone to call Devra. She heard 
 voices.
	“ Dru I don’t know what to do.”
	“ Did you really ground her till she’s eighteen?”
	“ Yes.”
	“ That’s a little over a year. Rainquest, she’s almost seventeen.”
	“ She lied to me.”
“ I don’t think she wanted to but you gave her no choice. You act as if sex 
 is a bad thing.”
	“ But it is!”
	“ Rainqueat, it’s not. And at least they were having safe sex. Any idea 
 who the boy was?”
	“ No idea.”
	Katalina hung up the phone softly. She looked up at her walls and tried to 
 forget. She wanted to let her mind wander. Then she saw the book on the 
 bedside table. She picked it up and began to read.
	 “Who was she?” that was the first thought that came into my mind 
 when I saw her in the bookstore. Reaching under her short little Catholic 
 school plaid skirt and touching the silk of her naked thighs, yes, I had thought of 
 that, too, I have to admit it…”*


* Excerpt taken from Belinda By Anne Rice under the name Anne 
 Rampling. Copyright 1986