Karla was crying the next afternoon as they all lunched on the porch, sitting around the wicker table. “I got stupid. I felt, lonely and angry.” Madeline took her hand. Karla looked a bit green still and was lunching on broth and crackers, while they had cold cut hoagies and chips. “What can I do? What I can do to help you?” Scrubbed clean of makeup, her hair braided and dressed in a big T-shirt and shorts, Karl’s eyes overflowed and she wiped her nose. “I’m sorry is all. My life is screwed.” “No, it’s not.” “Yes it is. What have I got? I got nothing. You know I can’t even count on Mom now. She is totally blind to Tony. Handing our lives over to him. I haven’t even got a date for the Prom.” “Oh, Karla.” Madeline felt the girl’s pain. “I know it seems bad. However, nothing stays down forever. Pretty soon, you’ll control your own life and—” “Not going to community college I won‘t. It’s not even, what I want anymore. I want out of this stupid place.
