Some introductions are in order. Over the next few days I'll be doing interviews with the characters that I plan to spend a good part of November with. They say the best way to get a good interview is to start with good questions. Perhaps I should have put a little more thought into these, but we're winging it here. Isn't that what blogging is for? :)
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Hello, Penny. Thanks for meeting with me today.
Oh, you're welcome. I just need to be home on time, so I probably can't talk real long.
All right, we'll keep things moving then. What do you need to be home for?
It gets dark early now. There are animals to feed, and I have a ton of homework on top of that. I'm hoping to finish so I can have some down time before the day is over.
What do you do with your "down" time?
I usually read. I used to curl up in my reading chair and get lost in a book.
Used to?
Well, since my cousin moved in with us, my reading chair disappeared to make room for her to share my room with me.
That must be a large adjustment all the way around.
Yes. That was the one thing that was good about being the only girl in the family--I always had my own room. Not anymore.
The only girl? How many brothers do you have?
Four.
My goodness. And you're the youngest? How did you survive?
[Laughing] It wasn't easy. But then, it was easier in a way. Now that they're all married or away at college, I'm stuck with all the chores. It stacks up and Mother doesn't believe that girls should be pampered. She says it's good for me to be busy. It keeps me out of trouble that "idle, spoiled girls" get into, or so she says. Of course now I have Olivia to help.
Olivia is your cousin?
Yes. Her mother was my mother's sister. She and her husband were killed when their small private plane went down and so Olivia has come to live with us.
I'm sure she appreciates having you to turn to in such an awful time.
I don't know. It's confusing really. We never kept in touch as families. I'd never met her before she arrived on our doorstep. I never thought much about it--I mean families these days drift apart. At least ours does. My oldest brother has moved to Chicago and if we hear from him a few times a year, we're doing good. So it wasn't anything that my mom and her sister didn't keep close contact. But now I'm beginning to think there was more to it than simply losing touch. There's some bad blood, I think.
Really? How can you tell?
From the way Mom treats Olivia. It's like she expects her to be some kind of hoodlum, or at the very least completely self-centered. It seems she expects it so much that she can't see anything differently?
So you don't think she's self-centered?
No. She's very self-contained. She's confident, and sure of herself. But she is very kind and considerate to me. I think she'd have done fine on her own in New York, and I sometimes wonder how much she misses it.
Have you asked her?
No. I should I guess. I just hate to pry. In some ways she seems to be a private person.
Have you ever thought that she'd like to talk about it?
Not really. I mean I figure if she wanted to she would.
Well if there is in fact "bad blood" between your mother and hers, and Olivia knows about it, she may hesitate to talk about her parents and her old life unless she gets the okay from you.
Interesting thought. I'll have to consider that. Thanks. Look I really need to get going. Mother will absolutely kill me if I'm late. I'd be glad to talk again later, though. I've enjoyed this.
I have too.
