Chapter Fifty-One

It was going on two when I finally pulled myself away from the table at Edith's home. The one word that best describes my condition when I left was miserable.

The main course for dinner consisted of roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and they weren't those instant potatoes either. An assortment of green and yellow vegetables was followed by dessert-homemade chocolate ice cream.

I had to slide my car seat back a notch in order to fit comfortably behind the steering wheel. But then, the word comfortable really wasn't appropriate. I doubted I'd be comfortable again for hours. And I probably wouldn't be ready to eat anything that carried any weight to it for at least a week.

The little book on the seat next to me reminded I couldn't go home and curl up on the couch for a nap as I would have liked to do. I had to see Joe.

I pulled into my usual spot behind Joe's big house and crawled out from behind the wheel with more grunts and moans than I care to put a number to. If I would have thought to have a look through the garage window, I would have known nobody was home without traipsing up the backyard to the porch door.

The house was locked up tight. No evidence of life that I could tell. So I returned to my car and headed for home. It's only fair to say I was relieved Joe wasn't home. I was too full, and much too sleepy, to deal with the kind of emotional upheaval it would involve when I told Joe Angel was not his daughter.

Kitty demanded another dish of food the minute I went in the door at home. As I spooned the fishy smelling stuff into her dish, I about lost my dinner on the spot.

"How can you eat this stinking crap?" I put to Kitty, as she began lapping up the disgusting looking and smelly stuff. "You know, if you're not careful, you'll soon look as grotesque as I do," I informed as a hand went to my swelled belly.

Again, before I headed into the living room to curl up on the couch, I told the fluffy feline where I'd be if she cared to join me. Twenty minutes tops, I promised myself as I curled into a fetal ball. Then I'd be ready to start making telephone calls, one to Alicia and one to see if Joe made it home yet.