Pick Up Sticks
Chapter Two:
"Just sit here, " Dr. Quartermaine told Antoinette, motioning to a chair in the waiting room. Then going out in the hall he told Adam "I'm going to try and see if Dr. Cummings' is free yet."
Antoinette picked up a book and started reading while the other kids were playing other assorted games. Yes, Virginia There Is A Santa Claus, by Cindy S-zek-er-es', whatever her name is, she thought to herself slamming the book down.
"Hi," a little girl around the same age greeted her, "my name's Eve. What's yours?"
"My name's Antoinette, but you can call me Toni, only stuffy adults call me by my real name" Antoinette replied. "I'm six."
"Me too," Eve giggled, sitting in the chair beside her "You here to talk with Dr. Brown?"
"No some Dr. Cummings' woman," Antoinette said impatiently, seemingly mesmerized by a piece of string.
"Oh, yeah, she's just temporary, for Dr. Razook. He went on vacation," Eve explained.
"You sure know a lot about this place," Antoinette stated.
"I wanna be a doctor when I grow up and they won't let me in the ER, so I come up here and play with all the other kids and stuff plus it means I don't hafta be at home,"
"I know how that goes." Antoinette asserted.
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"Is there -- oh, I don't know, just anything at all you'd like to talk to me about?" Dr. Cummings pried.
"Not really. It wasn't my idea to talk to you, I was blackmailed into it by the other doctor,"Antoinette rolled her eyes, "can I go home now?"
"I know it must be difficult --" Dr. Cummings started
"You don't know anything about me. Look, I'm fine. Okay? I just want to go home," Antoinette turned sideways in her chair hugging her knees to her chin.
"I'll be back in a moment," Dr. Cummings walked through the doorway into the waiting room. "Mr. Chandler -- , I'm not going to get anywhere with your daughter if she doesn't want my help. She has to be willing, I can't force anything out of her."
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As they pulled up in front of old castle-like looking buildings Antoinette asked, confused "Daddy --, why are we here?"
A little while later in one of the rooms:
"Well, sweetheart -- I, umm -- you are going to be attending this very fine school," Adam said uneasily, sitting on one of the beds "It's one of the best. Winifred packed your things from my house and you'll be living here."
Disappointed Antoinette started, "But I --"
"I know Antoinette, you thought you'd be living with me."
"Well, why aren't I?" She asked hurt.
"This is what's best -- for you -- for me -- for everyone involved," Adam tried to explain.
"What's best for me?" Antoinette asked sarcastically, "oh, and you know what's best for me -- huh? You can't just come back into my life after you've been gone for so long and tell me you know what's best for me," Antoinette held back tears. You left me with her -- her and all of her boyfriends -- you didn't care about me and you still don't!" she screamed, pushing Adam up off the bed and out the door, slamming the door behind him, then falling to the floor sobbing.
"Hi," a voice came from the closet doorway, a few moments later
Startled, Antoinette looked up to find a boy standing over her. "Who -- who are you?" she inquired.
"Look, if I tell you, you can't tell anyone I was here. Okay?" after a silent minute and a half he added, "I'm not supposed to be here, no boys are, these are the girls rooms."
"Fine, but then why are you here?" Antoinette asked, wiping her tears away.
"It was a dare -- my name's Kevin Buchannan by the way," he said stretching out his hand to help her up.
"My name's Antoinette," she said taking his hand.
Well?
xLauren
Follow Skye as a child:
Pick Up Sticks Ch3
Follow all of BtB(Skye as an adult, too; now Machiavellian):
Machiavellian Ch2
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