She is not allowed to fly at night or hang upside down, and she is fed insects instead of the mangoes sheloves. While Stellaluna appreciates the birds’ kindness, she is only happy when she is reunited with herfruit bat family.
Lily’s eyes filled as she read the book to Mimi. It was amazing how a simple children’s bookcould say so much. She identified with Stellaluna. A lost fruit bat, she was taken in by the McGillys. Theirkindness was unquestionable, but it was contingent on her pretending to be something she was not. TheMcGillys were her bird family—well-meaning, but different from her — and capable of offering her onlyinsects, not the mangoes she craved.
She tucked Mimi into her crib just as Ben returned with the pizza. After they ate, Lily asked, “Soare you just gonna hang out here tonight?”
“Thought I would. Ken has some god-awful departmental function tonight.”
“So...would it be okay if I went out for a while?”
“Sure. I’ll look after Mimi if she wakes up.”
Lily was up from the table already.
“So where are you going?” Ben asked.
“I’m going out ... to get some mangoes.”
“What do you mean, mangoes? You can’t buy mangoes in Faulkner County”
Lily grabbed her car keys and walked out the door without bothering to explain. There might beno mangoes in Faulkner County, but she did remember something from her breakfast with Jack. Like amango, it was sweet, juicy, and succulent. There were no mangoes in Faulkner County, but there werepeaches.
CHAPTER 17
Jack opened the door of her farmhouse and surveyed the new, prim Lily. “Isn’t it kinda late forJehovah’s Witnesses?”
“Jack, it’s me.”
“Lily? Omigod, what happened to you?”
“The Chatterbox beauty shop happened to me. Can I come in?”
Still slack-jawed, Jack backed away from the door so Lily could enter.
Once the door closed behind her, words started spilling from Lily’s lips faster than she couldcontrol them. “I don’t even know why I came here, really. I just feel so...weird. Before all this shithappened, my outside always matched my inside, but now nothing matches. Buzz Dobson told me itwould improve my chances with the judge if I tried to look respectable, and now when I look at myself inthe mirror I don’t even see me anymore.”
She didn’t realize she was crying until Jack offered her a handkerchief. “I’m scared, Jack. I’mscared of losing Mimi, and I’m scared of losing myself. What if my insides change to match what’s on theoutside, Jack? What if I pretend to be a bird for so long that I forget I’m a fruit bat?”
Jack’s brow knitted. “A fruit bat?”