Ardelia Mapp was startled away from the late night Oprah rerun by the sound of her front screen door slamming shut. Thoughts ran through her head. Who could that be? Should I call? Clarice isn't supposed to be home for three days.
"Delia?" Ardelia exhaled gratefully as Clarice's voice wafted through their duplex.
"I'm here, Clarice," she said, clicking off the television and bounding out of her seat. "Whoa, girl," she stopped short as she caught sight of Clarice. "What cat dragged you in? And why aren't you in Florence?" She hugged Clarice briefly.
"It's a long story," Clarice smiled. "It's good to be home."
Ardelia laughed. "That it is, but you'll have to save that story for tomorrow. I have to be at the doctor's by ten."
"Alright."
"Hey, I went shopping yesterday. Help yourself to anything," Ardelia called as she walked upstairs.
"Thanks. I will."
When Clarice heard Ardelia's door shut, she went straight into action. She looked through everything on her side of the house, and other than a few photos of her father, she really saw nothing worthwhile there. Even the photos seemed to mock her. I let you down, Daddy. You know I tried though. I really really tried. She sighed and then walked upstairs to look at her bedroom. Eleven years and what do I have to show for it? Nothing, that's what, nothing. I saved Catherine Martin, I brought down Buffalo Bill, I even went toe to toe with Hannibal Lecter more than once and lived to tell about it, and what do I get? Nothing, not even a fucking medal. Clarice sank down with her hands over her face, letting the tears come as silently as they would.
Would they give you a medal, do you think, Clarice? Would you have it professionally framed and hang it on your wall to remind you of your courage and incorruptibility? All you would need for that is a mirror.
Clarice sniffled and looked up. Across her bedroom she saw her reflection in the full-length mirror by the bureau. Problem is, when I look in the mirror, doctor, I see someone I don't know. Someone I wouldn't want to know. And do you know why I see that stranger in the mirror, doctor? Clarice gritted her teeth as she moved on her knees towards the mirror. Because you made me see her. Because you were the very first mirror that didn't lie.
Clarice looked her reflection right in the eye. You're thirty-three years old. You have no husband, no children, no friends, and now you don't even have the job you sacrificed them all to. And this mirror would never tell you what you've lost or what you could be, only what you are in this very second.
And what would Lecter do if he could see you at this very moment?Clarice mumbled something to herself.
What was that? I didn't quite catch you.
"He'd probably laugh at me! Okay? Are you happy?"
Why would he laugh at you?"Because…" she said, staring at her reflection, but addressing someone else entirely. "Because you were right… you were always right."
Ardelia awoke to the sound of squealing tires. She wouldn't have thought anything of it except Clarice had been acting strangely earlier. She climbed reluctantly out of her bed and padded over to the window. She pulled aside the curtains just in time to see Clarice's mustang turning right at the end of the street.
There were no lights on downstairs when Ardelia went down. Everything was as it should be, Clarice's things were all jut as she had seen them last. As she went back upstairs, she had the thought that maybe it hadn't been Clarice who had taken her car, but when she peeked into her bedroom, she saw everything just as it had always been, save no Clarice curled up in bed.
Ardelia just shrugged to herself then. She'll be here in the morning, must have went to get some ice cream or something. Where would she really go without taking any of her stuff? she thought, and then went back to bed. Ardelia Mapp would never see Clarice Starling again.
