Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes. P. H. C. Marchesi

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СКАЧАТЬ repeated Shelby, unconvinced. “Why do you get to name her?”

      “Just stand by the door and make sure no one’s coming,” snapped Shauna, offended that her choice of name had not been embraced wholeheartedly.

      “Ok,” he said. “Just for the record, though, I think it’s an awful idea.”

      Shauna quickly realized that Shelby was right. At the first glance of water, Tippy tried to scramble away, and then started screaming in protest. Nervous that the noise would attract someone, Shelby carefully opened the door to see if anyone was in the corridor. Seeing an opportunity to escape, Tippy bolted away from Shauna and sped through the door like an animated mop. Shelby and Shauna – Shauna still with her hands wet – raced after her.

      “She’s going backstage!” gasped Shauna.

      “We’ve got to get her!” cried Shelby, trying to grab Tippy’s tail. The white cat, however, zigzagged her way to the backstage area, and trotted directly onto the stage. Frightened by the lights, the music, and most of all the dancing, she began to run frantically in different directions, seemingly unable to find her way offstage again. The happy, fairy-tale scene soon turned into a nightmare: a singing peasant tripped on Tippy and fell, causing several other peasants to stumble. The king, trying to catch the desperate cat, bumped into the dancing witch, and both of them toppled over. Shelby and Shauna watched from the wings, horrified, as Tippy finally ran to the middle of the stage, where Missy Lindt was resolutely trying to finish her song.

      In a desperate attempt to escape the menaces all around her, Tippy leaped onto Missy, climbing onto her head and clinging to the large, blond princess wig with all her might. The audience roared with laughter as the diva screamed and began to flail her arms grotesquely. The conductor stared, wide-eyed, from the orchestra pit, and several musicians actually got up to take a better look at the fiasco on stage.

      “Do something!” screamed Missy, hysterically.

      As the curtains dropped, a group of people gathered around the diva, including Fran. Shauna felt her face redden with shame as she and Shelby made their way through, and then plucked Tippy from the diva’s disheveled hair. Neither Shauna nor Shelby dared look at Fran, but they could both feel the unbearable weight of her gaze.

      “Who let those kids in?” shouted an angry stage manager.

      “They’re my kids, Mr. Ginstock,” answered Fran.

      “They brought a cat in here?” he cried.

      “We didn’t mean to,” said Shelby. “It was an accident!””

      Shauna, too nervous to be able to say anything, nodded significantly in agreement. Mr. Ginstock frowned, and Missy Lindt turned to Fran with a threatening pout. The only happy creature was Tippy, who, exhausted with her performance, had settled into Shauna’s arms and was purring softly.

      “You had your kids do that on purpose,” shrieked Missy, pointing her bony finger at Fran. “You wanted to embarrass me on opening night, in front of all Manhattan –”

      “No, Ms. Lindt, I really – I don’t even know how they –”

      “I’m allergic to cats!” gasped Missy, gesturing wildly. “My throat’s closing up!”

      “I’m so sorry,” began Fran. “Let me get you some –”

      “You’re not getting me anything,” croaked the diva. “You’re fired!”

      All the blood left Fran’s cheeks.

      “Please, don’t fire her,” pleaded Shauna. “It’s not her fault! We swear it won’t happen again! We won’t even come here anymore!”

      Mr. Ginstock looked at Shauna, and his look immediately softened. He turned to Missy.

      “They’re just kids, Ms. Lindt,” he said, quietly, hoping to appease her wrath. “Kids do stupid things.”

      To everyone’s surprise, Missy Lindt hesitated. For a brief second, she even looked as if she would reconsider.

      “Some people are demanding their money back,” one of the stagehands cried, coming in out of breath. “What should we do?”

      That settled it for the diva.

      “Start by getting her out!” she cried, glaring at Fran. “I don’t want to see her or these brats here ever again!”

      Pale as a ghost, Fran gave Mr. Ginstock a pleading look, but he lowered his eyes, and Fran understood that Missy’s words were final.

      “I’m sorry, mom,” whispered Shauna, as she and Shelby followed Fran offstage.

      Fran said nothing. She entered the dressing room and came out a few minutes later, wearing jeans and a woolen burgundy jacket. Shauna and Shelby dared not utter a word as they followed her out of the theater and into the cold night. They lived just a few minutes away, but the walk felt endless: the weight of having extinguished Fran’s dreams was unbearable.

      They arrived at the familiar old brick building with the decrepit laundromat out front. Shauna did not like getting home after the laundromat was closed, for she hated the metal screen that was pulled down in front of it after business hours. It was dirty, and it made her feel as if she lived above a prison. At least they lived on the top floor, as far away from it as possible.

      Fran unlocked the steel building door, and they silently climbed the creaky stairs all the way to the top. They continued up a narrow metal staircase that led to the tiny attic they rented. Fran slowly unlocked the door, and they walked into a space that was so small it might have qualified as a large walk-in closet. To one side stood a very small stove and a mini refrigerator, and to the other a pullout sofa and an armchair that functioned as Shelby’s bed at night. Despite the lack of space, Fran had managed to turn the attic into a home: it was clean and orderly, with inexpensive white curtains hanging from the only window in the room.

      Their mother looked as if she might have wished to lock herself inside her own room, but all she could do at that moment was go into their incredibly narrow bathroom, and start sobbing. Shauna was about to go in after, when Shelby held her back.

      “I don’t think she wants to see us right now,” he whispered, mortified.

      Shauna wandered over sadly to their miniature refrigerator. Tippy, who seemed perfectly at ease now, purred loudly in anticipation as Shauna gave her some milk in a paper bowl. Shelby collapsed miserably onto the armchair, and pressed the button on the answering machine. He saw that they actually had messages waiting, and he found himself desperately hoping that there would be good news waiting for them.

      “Hey Fran,” started a lazy voice, which he recognized as Martha, another server at the diner. “Did you hear anything about the diner closing? I heard some rumors yesterday about us all being out of a job –”

      Shelby pressed the button, and the machine forwarded to the next message.

      “Mrs. Kitt,” said a voice that made brother and sister wince, “this is Ms. Mould from Lamont Middle School. I am calling to inform you that, as of this afternoon, Shauna and Shelby have been expelled. There was an incident earlier today involving two other students, and your kids –”

      Shelby СКАЧАТЬ