Chapter 2

          Margaret stood outside her house staring at the lights flickering in the kitchen window. Her mother was still awake. Her mother was still awake and probably waiting for her. Margaret had been standing outside for a good ten minutes trying to work up the nerve to go inside. It was not that her mother was some horrible ogre who was going to come at her with a wooden spoon the second she walked in the door, but she would want to talk to her. Margaret was pretty sure there was nothing more exhausting in the world than a talk with her mother.

            It was a windy, cold night and a light sprinkle of winter rain had started to come down. Margaret shivered and continued to stare at her house. She hoped none of the neighbours were looking out their windows. They already thought she was a bit touched, and seeing her standing out in the dark and cold for no reason would not help their opinion of her. After coming up with, and dismissing different ideas of how to get into her house without her mother seeing her, Margaret decided the direct approach might be best. With a deep sigh she walked around the house and in the side door.

            Margaret stood in the doorway facing her mother's back. Her mother was noisily washing the dishes. She gave no sign that she noticed that her eldest child had entered the room. Margaret opened the door and this time closed it with a slam. Her mother didn't even flinch. If her mother wanted to give her the silent treatment Margaret was more than happy to oblige. She took off her shoes and started heading up to her room.

            "Where have you been?" her mother finally asked.

            Margaret sighed again. "You know where I've been."

            Her mother continued to wash the dishes and did not turn around.

            "We had a guest over for dinner. I had to lie and say you were at work late to cover for your rude absence."

            "I didn't know anyone was coming over for dinner because you didn't tell me." Margaret said evenly. She could feel her temper bumbling under the surface.

            Her mother slammed a plate into the sink, splashing soapy water onto the floor. "I told you to be home for dinner."

            "You tell me to be home for dinner every night!"

            "We had a nice young man over tonight," her mother continued. "My friend Mrs. Dershowitz's nephew."

            Margaret rolled her eyes. "Oh him."

            "Yes, him." Her mother replied pointedly. "He is a very well-mannered young man. Just finishing up dental school, he has a very bright future."

            "That's good for him."

            "Yes it is good for him, and it could be good for you too. With him you wouldn't have to work as a slave at that factory anymore. He could provide for you, give you a nice comfortable life."

            "Mother," Margaret groaned.

            "Don't mother me. He is a nice boy. You could do worse, a lot worse. He is coming for dinner again Friday and you will be here. If you are not I will go down to that godforsaken nickelodeon and drag you out by your hair."

            Margaret crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't see why I have to be here, he's your guest not mine."

            Margaret's mother slammed the pan she was washing into the dry rack almost knocking the whole thing onto the floor. She turned on Margaret, her eyes narrowed with anger. "You are a rude, selfish, ungrateful child, and you are lucky anybody is willing to consider you at all. It's time to grow up and get your head out of the clouds. You will be here Friday."

            Margaret felt tears welling up in her eyes. She did not want to give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her cry, so she turned on her heels and ran up the stairs. She stopped outside her bedroom and yelled down at her mother. "I won't be here Friday. I have plans out of town. Indefinitely."

            Margaret walked into her room and slammed the bedroom door. Her little sister Lucy glanced up from the books she was reading. "It's always so much louder around here when you're home."

            "Nice to see you too." Margaret said, throwing herself down on the bed they both shared.

            "It is nice to see you," her sister insisted. "It's just not always nice to hear you."

            Margaret laughed in spite of herself. "So how was dinner with the Dershowitz nephew?"

            Lucky tightened her grip on her book. "He said Jules Verne wrote frivolities. He's sure those kinds of books are fun for children like me, but I'd probably grow out of them soon."

            "I'm sure mother would have mentioned you stabbing our guest with a fork, but did you stab him with a fork?"

            Lucy laughed, "I thought about it." She looked up at Margaret sadly, "I hope mother doesn't make you marry him, he's boring."

            Margaret ruffled Lucy's hair affectionately. "I'm not marrying anybody. I'm going to California."

            Lucy looked at her sister with confusion. "California? Since when? What's in California? What happened to New York?"

            "I had a talk with Tom today and he says California is the place to be if I want to be up on screen instead of the stage. We both know I belong on the screen."

            Lucy smirked, "Yeah you were definitely meant to be a silent actress."

            Margaret smiled at her sister, "yep my beauty speaks for me."

            Lucy grabbed her throat dramatically and made gagging noises. Margaret gave her a playful shove. "Finish up what your reading, I'm getting ready for bed and then lights out. I have to work in the morning."

            "Well I have school in the morning anyway, I'm a busy person too you know." Lucy said getting under the covers. "Hurry up and turn out the lights."

            "Yes ma'am."

              In the dark bedroom, Margaret was lying in her bed unable to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about California, about how wonderful her life was going to be when she got there. Several different fantasies had run through her mind. At that moment she was thinking about how after she starred in a bunch of famous pictures her and the Biograph Girl would become best girlfriend and they would go to all the grandest parties together and drink fancy cocktails. Margaret felt her sister stir beside her.

            "Maggie," she whispered. "Are you awake."

            "Yes Lucille."

            "I was just thinking that California is really far away."

            "So was I." Margaret said wistfully.

            "But if you go there I won't ever see you again."

            "Says who? When I make enough money I'll send for you and our parents. Then mother can see what a great big success I became all on my own. She can stay in the nice, warm, comfortable house I'm going to build."

            "That'd be nice." Lucy said. She shivered beside her sister. "The wind's really loud tonight. It sounds like there is a big monster outside trying to blow our house down."

            Margaret chuckled, "Don't worry Lucy there is no such thing as monsters."

            "I know that, it just sounds like one. Now go to sleep, I can hear you thinking." Lucy said turning away from her sister.