"Andrews, V C - crystal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Andrews V.C)

hand to take hold of us and bring us back to earth.
Three more years went by without my being
adopted or given a foster home. I was still helping
Mr. Philips in his office, and about a year ago, he
started calling me Little Miss Efficiency. I didn't
mind it, even when he used me to rankle his
assistants. He always said things like, "Why can't
you be as responsible or as careful as Crystal?" He
even said that occasionally to his secretary, Mrs.
Mills.
Mrs. Mills always looked as if she were drown
ing in carbon copies. Her fingers were usually blue
or black because of ribbons, ink cartridges, and
toner she had to change. In the morning, she came
to work looking as well put together as a work of
classical art, not a strand other blue-gray hair out
of place, her makeup perfect, her clothing clean
and unwrinkled, but by the end of the day, her
bangs were always dangling over her eyes, her
blouse usually had a smudge somewhere on it,
maybe two, her lipstick had somehow spread onto
a cheek, and she hadbecome a work of abstract
art. I know she's one person who never resented
me. She was always happy to greet me and appre
ciated the work I did, work she would probably
have had to do otherwise.
For someone my age, I know a lot about human
CRYSTAL
psychology. I got interested in it after I read about
my mother. Now I'ntthinking I might be a doctor
someday, and anyway, it's good to know as much
as you can about psychology. It comes in handy,
especially around orphanages.
But it's not always an asset to be smarter than
other people or more responsible. This is especially
true for orphans. The more helpless you
seem, the better your chances are for being
adopted. If you look as if you can take care of
yourself, who wants you? At least, that's'another
one of my theories for why I was a prisoner of the
system for as long as I was. Prospective adoption
parents don't Kke feeling inferior to the child they
might adopt. I've seen it firsthand.
There was this couple who asked specifically for
me. They wanted a child who was older. The
woman, whose name was Chastity, had asilly little
grin on her face. Her husband called her Chas, and
she called him Am, short for Arnold. I suppose
they would have ended up calling me Crys. Comr
pleting words was difficult for them. They had the