The Class Menagerie

let’s start with the bed,“ Jane said. “I’ve got fresh sheets here. I think I’d prefer to miss a political discussion with Kathy, too. I don’t blame you.“
    “It’s not that I don’t know about other things,“ Pooky said, taking off the bedspread and folding it with excruciating neatness even though they were going to put it right back on the bed. “I used to be a travel agent and I went lots of places. Acapulco, Hawaii, the French Riviera...“
    The culture meccas , Jane thought.
    “Have you been to those places?“ Pooky asked.
    “Some of them. My father is with the State Department and I grew up all over the world. I’ve lived in about seventeen different countries.“
    “Then you know what I mean. You can’t travel without learning a lot. But I’ve never liked that stuff Kathy is always talking about. It just depresses me. Like nature programs. I used to really like nature programs—about penguins and flowers and things—but now when you watch them, they just make you feel awful. They’re always all about how terrible people are ruining things. Oil spills and ozone and rain forests. I mean, what can I do about it? They never tell you that. They just make you feel horrible, then there’s a commercial.“
    Jane looked at her with surprise. “You know... you’re right!“ She didn’t mean to sound quite so astonished.
    But Pooky didn’t take offense. “Kathy’s like that. She’s always mad about people who aren’t doing the right thing, but she doesn’t talk about what the right thing is. She was always like that. Against stuff instead of for anything. I mean, what good is that?“
    “So she hasn’t changed since high school?“
    “No, nobody has really. Except Mimi. Isn’t she beautiful?“
    “She sure is.“
    “She was real cute in school, too. But she’s grown up real nice. Peaceful and polite. She was sort of wild and—I don’t know the word—“
    “Frenzied?“ Jane guessed.
    Pooky was pleased. “Yes, that’s it. That’s what I meant.“
    “What about Avalon? Has she changed?“ Jane asked, putting new cases on the pillows while Pooky made hospital corners on the sheets.
    “Oh, not at all. Avalon’s wonderful. She’s so talented. Did you see that picture she drew of the carriage house? Wasn’t that fantastic? I hoped she’d give it to me, but I guess she didn’t understand how much I liked it and she gave it to that man Edgar who owns this house. I wonder if I asked him—“
    “I don’t think I would if I were you. He showed it to me this morning. He loves it.“
    “Oh, that’s too bad. Well, maybe she’ll make another one for me. Avalon’s really nice, too. That’s what’s great about her. Did you know she’s got foster children. She takes handicapped ones that nobody else wants.“
    “I’d heard that. Was she so nice in school?“
    “Well, I don’t know. I don’t remember her all that well, except that we had a home ec class together. She was really quiet, see, and I was real popular and busy. But in home ec she made this fantastic dress. It was all sort of scraps of fabric, you know, like pretty little rags, sort of here and there. She didn’t even have a pattern, can you believe it? Greens and blues and purples. I think there were some ribbons, too—she should have gone into fashion design. Now, · that’s a great field. She’d have been famous if she’d done that.“
    Jane smiled. Kathy wanted Avalon to use her talents to better the world; Pooky wanted her to better the state of fashion. “What does Avalon do, besides take care of the children?“
    “She has a little craft store down in the Ozarks. She sells things that ladies there make, plus her own things. Quilts and like that.“
    “Somebody said she did drugs,“ Jane said. Actually both Lila and Kathy had suggested it.
    Pooky nearly dropped the bedspread she’d picked back up. “No! I can’t believe that anybody’d think a thing like that! I’ll bet it was Lila who said that. Lila is—was—a big liar.“
    “Here, let’s put that spread back. Lila seems to have threatened a couple of people. Did she threaten you?“
    Pooky gave the spread a fierce flap and, as it settled into place, said, “No! No, there’s nothing to threaten me about.“ Her ruined face was set in harsh lines and her hands were trembling. It was obviously a lie.
    Jane’s curiosity was overridden by guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.“
    “You didn’t! I’m not upset! Now,