Chapter 13

Libby Gretchen loved shopping. She loved the perfumed, air conditioned mall. She basked in the attention of the sales staff and pawed over different fabrics and textures. She would try on new boots and hats, get a free make-over and then head to the spa for a manicure. The garments she brought home would often never be worn or maybe worn once. She was a shop-a-holic. It was a compulsion to her. She would rather eat porridge for a whole month so she would have more money to shop than eat a proper diet. Of course, now money was no concern for her and as the time had passed she only loved shopping at the best boutiques. But the same could not be said for her only daughter.

If it was a choice between shopping and diving into a swimming pool of cold vomit, Rhonda would take the vomit. She'd tie her hair back, get in a bathing suit and dive right in amongst the chunky bits. Every time she went to the mall she'd have to try on fifty different outfits while her mom sighed and suggeste