Bette was gobsmacked and leaned back in her chair. Her father had gone and now possibly her sister would leave her to. Plus everything that was happening at work, all the resistance, it was all just happening so fast. “Well, when are they going to let you know wether or not it really is cancer,” Tina asked gripping Bette’s limp and sweating hand. She could see both of them in turmoil after having just lost their father and being faced with this.

“Well, I have to go through this operation. They’re going to take this lymph thing out of my chest and test it to make sure I got something and then I’ll go through treatment. Dr. Ferion says it is treatable and she says it won’t hurt much either. I might loose some hair and itch a lot but I’ll be ok.” Kit explained. She took a big drink from her 3rd virgin Bloody Mary. “These things just aren’t as effective when their non alchoholic,” she commented.

“Mom, why did you leave the Temple?” Jenny asked. She watched her mother dusting from the corner of the room. A fire going at 7 at night at her mother was dusting. A clean and happy home she had used to say.

“Why do you talk of such things? You should be working on this paper of yours,” her mother responded. She waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss it all together.

Jenny braced the wall for support. She wanted to know so much about her mother. Had she really been the one Jenny had always believed her to be or had she simply put her in that light all of her life.

“Book,” Jenny chimed in and smiled.

“Well, book, then, whatever you want to call it. This memory quest you walk on, why must I be in it? I’m not intrested,” she explained. Her mother conituned dusting picking each of the photos up over the mantle and brushing them lovingly. She paused over a black and white photo of a Jewish man and his family. She picked it up most gently of all and carefully dusted it before setting it back on the mantle.

“I think dad told me once,” Jenny pursued determined. She was amazed with herself. She had always wanted answers but never could find courage to ask the right questions. “I think he said you left because you couldn’t agree with one of the doctrines or something.” She went on. Her mother laugh.