Chapter Three: Pepto-Bismol Pink

Anne was bouncing up and down everywhere like a hyper puppy. "When will they get here?" she said excitedly. "I hope she's nice. We can do everything sisters do together!"

"What if she's really younger than you, sis? Or older?" Two-Bit said pessimistically. Those stirrups were starting to get to him. Hope she's not hot, he thought. Hope she's not a hot blonde. I'd have to kill myself.

"I don't care! I've always wanted a sister!"

Before Two-Bit could make a wise remark, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," sang their mother, gliding through the room. She was dressed to the nines in a new skirt and blouse. Two-Bit could smell her perfume as she went by him. She was really trying to make a good first impression.

She swung the door wide open and smiled brightly. "Well, hello, dear," she said overly-cheerfully. "Seamus, and you must be Sonali!"

In the doorway stood Seamus and, next to him, a petite girl with a pretty if somewhat narrow face and soft brown curls cascading down her back. "Hello, Mrs. Mathews," she said. Even her voice was soft.

Two-Bit heaved an inward sigh of relief as Anne darted forward. She may have been pretty, but she wasn't blonde. That Two-Bit could live with.

"Hi!" his sister squeaked excitedly. "I'm Anne, and I'm so glad to be your sister! We're gonna have so much fun!"

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Sonia knew how she must look, with her freaky combination of features and rumpled clothing.

When Hannah had flung open that door, Sonia had seen the cheap delight in her eyes. She didn't really want Sonia there. Probably Seamus had suckered her into it. According to her mother, he had been very good at that.

She pronounced Sonali's name wrong, saying it "Sun-alley." The "Son—" was pronounced like the first part of "sonorous," and "—ali" like Ali Baba.

Then a girl of about thirteen came bounding over and started squealing about how they were going to be sisters and how it was going to be so much fun doing each other's hair and makeup.

Once Sonia had actually stepped inside the house, the older boy stepped forward. Sonia bit back a laugh for the first time since her mother's death. It was the cowboy she had seen on the street earlier.

He swaggered forward bandy-legged, cowboy hat hiding most of his face, muscles rippling under his checker design shirt as he flexed his arms, and drawled in a true cowboy fashion, "Howdy."

Sonia could have fallen over laughing, but tried to be polite. Seamus saved her when he demanded, "Two-Bit, just what do you think you're doing?"

"Ah'm jest givin' this here little lady a true Oklahoman howdy. So, howdy, miss."

"Keith!" Hannah said warningly.

"Sorry, mom," Two-Bit or Keith said more normally, pulling off the cowboy hat to reveal slicked back hair, long rusty sideburns, and the goofiest grin Sonia had ever seen. It was like the Cheshire cat's. He stuck out a hand to Sonia. "Hi. I'm Keith, but you can call me Two-Bit. Everybody else does."

"Yeah, cause he always has to put his two bits in," the younger girl piped up. She introduced herself then. "I'm Ann."

She was probably one of those Ann's who insisted on spelling their name with an E and was extremely finicky about it: Anne.

"I'm Sonali," Sonia said last. "But call me Sonia." The only person who had ever called her anything other than that on a regular basis—Sonali, Sonu, Sony, Soniye—was her mother.

Most others stuck with Sonia, except that one black guy, Brandon, on her block who insisted on calling her "Sony-Way" after he had heard her mother call her that. Actually she had said "Soniye," and Sonia had protested vehemently to Brandon, but he was like that.

"Um," Anne said into the sudden awkward silence. "So…you look different than I imagined you."

You mean I'm Indian, Sonia thought, but said: "How did you think I'd look?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like Seamus, I guess," Anne said uncertainly. "But I guess you look more like your mom."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Why don't you put your bags upstairs?" Hannah suggested. "You'll be sharing a room with Anne."

"Anne doesn't mind?" Sonia said incredulously, turning to Anne.

"Nope!" Anne said giddily. "We'll have SO much fun together!"

"Uh, darling," Seamus said hurriedly. "That won't be necessary—"

"Nonsense!" Hannah waved him away. "This will be her new home eventually, dear, so she might as well make herself at home!"

Sonia didn't feel like she was at home. She may have been in a similar neighborhood, but it wasn't the same. Home hadn't been her surroundings. It had been her mother, the one person she could turn to. But not anymore.

"So, dear," Hannah was saying. "What would you like to do first?"

Go back home, Sonia thought, but she knew that wasn't an option. "Um, I'm kind of tired," she lied. "Is it okay if I just go to sleep?"

"Oh, of course, dear!" Hannah said. "You must be jetlagged. Two-Bit, show her to the room, why don't you?"

As Two-Bit led her out, Sonia could swear she heard Anne whisper, "How can she be jetlagged? She just came down from Philadelphia!"

"Hush, dear, she's had a very trying past couple of days," Hannah shushed her.

"Well, here's the room," Two-Bit announced grandly, flinging the door open ceremoniously. "Fit for the maharajah of Delhi himself!"

"Wow. Anne really likes pink," Sonia commented as she stepped inside. That could have been the understatement of the century. There were pink walls, bed, ceiling, floor, posters…it was pink on holiday. All the same hideous shade of Pepto-Bismol, too. It was giving her a headache already.

"Yeah. We tried to stomp it out of her, but it wouldn't go away," Two-Bit sighed tragically. Then he seemed to bounce back to normal and said, "Well, happy dreaming, Sony."

Sonia was about to snap, "Don't call me that," but the door had already slammed shut.

This is going to take some getting used to, Sonia thought, looking around.

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