him so。 But then my granddad pulled me aside and
we both retreated to our own little corners of the house。
Pacing around my room； I had the urge to go talk to Lyta。 To tell her that she was right；
that Dad was way out of line。 But I could hear her
through the walls； crying and screaming while my mom tried to calm her down。 Then she
stormed out of the house to who…knows…where； and my
mom took up with my dad again。
So I stayed put。 And even though the earth quit quaking around eleven o'clock； there were
tremors out there。 I could feel them。
As I lay in my bed staring out the window at the sky； I thought about how my dad had always
looked down on the Bakers。 How he'd put down their
house and their yard and their cars and what they did for a living。 How he'd called them trash
and made fun of Mr。 Baker's paintings。
And now I was seeing that there was something really cool about that family。 All of them。
They were just…real。
And who were we？ There was something spinning wickedly out of control inside this house。
It was like seeing inside the Bakers' world had
opened up windows into our own； and the view was not a pretty one。
Where had all this stuff e from？
And why hadn't I ever seen it before。
The Dinner
By the time I got home； I knew it would be selfish of me to boycott the Loskis' dinner party。
My mother had already spent a