SHirli Merfi - Poor Jenny, Bright As A Penny

FROM THE REVIEWS OFUNSETTLED

(originally titled Poor Jenny, Bright as aPenny)

A complex, grim . . . but finally movingstory. . . . When you see what giant obstacles Jenny has to scale,what strength and inner resources she must throw into the effort,life for the rest of us seems suddenly to be lived on Easy Street.New York Times Book Review

Though it was designed for . . . 13, 14, and15-year olds, it kept me from sleep and television the other night.. . . A moving story about a poor urban family whose pattern oflife is set by the dyed-haired, beer-drinking mother with apenchant for packing up and moving on when things get tough. . . .Its a good story and, I believe, a story that is true to ourtimes. Atlanta Constitution

Balanced and full of suspense, a movingnovel that faces desperate situations without flinching.Vanguard

Mrs. Murphy doesnt flinch from Jennys grimsurroundings or her mothers hopelessly unmaternal behavior.Kirkus Reviews

The writing style is excellent, thecharacterization and dialogue strong and convincing . . . it isrealistic, it is candid if depressing . . . [and conveys] theconcept that the resilient young can endure in formidablecircumstances. Bulletin of the Center for ChildrensBooks

Unsettled

by

Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 1974 by Shirley RousseauMurphy

All rights reserved. For information contactwebmaster@joegrey.com. This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only, and may not be resold, given away, or altered.

Viking Press edition (hardcover) published in1974

under the title Poor Jenny, Bright as aPenny

Ad Stellae Books edition, 2011

Author website: www.joegrey.com

Cover photo by Martin Novak / 123RF

Epigraph copyright 1946by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., from The Great Divorce by C. S.Lewis.

To my husband, Pat, who gave me much of thestory.

AUTHORS NOTE

Jenny grew up in a time past, when our liveswere differentyou used a typewriter and had never heard of homecomputers, few people had credit cards, and there was no personalphone in your pocket. If your boyfriend wanted to call you withouthis family listening, he walked to the pay phone at the corner,over behind the gas station. To know Jenny Middle is to go back tothat time, some forty years gone. Maybe some of the rules familieslived by were different, the welfare rules about who could getgovernment money, the way Jennys mother could rent a cheapapartment with not much cashthe times were different, but thepeople were much the same. Some families happy, some kids scared ormiserable or both. Jenny grew up on the edge of miserable: you canchange your life, or you can take the easy way. Jenny was never oneto give in to the mean and easy. Shirley Rousseau Murphy,2011

The Blessed will say, We have never livedanywhere except in Heaven, and the Lost, We were always in Hell.And both will speak truly. C. S. Lewis

Chapter 1

The alarm screamed. Jenny grabbed andsilenced it, then lay not knowing where she was. She had beendreaming something frightening, but with the alarm it fled, leavingher confused. Her covers were off the cot and her long brown hairwas tangled around her face.

Now in the dull gray light the room began tolook familiar, threadbare and stained. Rain tapped sullenly at thewindows. The dark furniture was jammed close together in the smallspaceday bed, wall bed, cots with sleeping people. She studied themound that was Lud, sleeping next to her mother, with disgust. Theair was heavy with the night breath of five people.

Her little brother slept curled up tightwith his head under the blankets like a hibernating animal; thealarm never touched Bingo on school mornings.

Crystals perfect profile, pale against thedark shadows, showed a hint of a smile.

Jenny rose and made her bed at once. Atfifteen Jenny was thin, but there was about her narrow face awatchful softnessdark eyes, dark lashes against her freckledcheeks. She woke Bingo by pulling the covers back. He snatched themfrom her, turned over, and was asleep again. She forced open hishands, peeled the covers off, threw them on the floor, then tickledhim. When he laughed she covered his mouth so he would not wakeMama and Lud.

When Bingo was up she made the toast andcoffee and set the toast on the steam radiator to keep warm. Therain was steady and depressing. She washed and brushed her teeth atthe kitchen sink, leaving the bathroom to Bingo, he was so slow atit. Crystal was dressing, panty hose first, short red skirt, hernaked back turned toward Lud in case he woke. She put on her bra byhooking it first around her waist, back to front, then turning itand pulling it up.

They had lived in this apartment fourmonths. Time enough to get used to itit was not so bad when thebeds were made and the curtains opentime enough for Bingo to stopthrowing up his breakfast in dread on school mornings. They hadspent Christmas here with a forlorn tree dragged in from a pile ofthrowaways, and Mama and Lud so hung-over that they needed beer tocome alive late Christmas morning. Jenny had tried to roast astewing hen, but it was tough as a boot.

They ate their breakfast and drank theircoffee huddled against the steam radiator, watching the rain surgeagainst the windows. It was February and raining all the time.Bingo ate hunched over, drowsing. His feet dangled above the floorand his black-rimmed glasses made his nine-year-old face look tooserious.

Crystals expression was still gentle withsleep. She smelled of Mamas new perfume. Crystal, sixteen, lookedyears older than Jenny, she was filled out and sexy where Jenny wasstill child-shaped, with little thin bones showing through. WhenBingo dug for the prize in the cereal box Crystal looked across athim tolerantly as if he were a baby. He examined the prize, a fakegold locket, then threw it down in disgust.

Crystal picked it up, smiled roguishly, andput it around her neck. On Crystal it looked good, Jenny thought.On Jenny it would have looked just ugly and fake.

The outer hall smelled of stale cigars.Bingo sat on the worn, greasy carpet to put his rubbers on. Jennyand Crystal leaned against the wall and pulled on their boots. Theybuttoned themselves into slickers.

On the school bus Crystal did not sit withJenny and Bingo, but in back with the older boys, where they smokedbehind the seats. Crystal had a beautiful smile. Jenny could hearher, the whole bus could, calling attention to the locket with herjokes and teasing the boys with it until one snatched it off amid aroar of laughter. Lud liked to say Crystal was stacked like a brickouthouse. When he said that, Mama would get a funny look on herface as if she was jealous and pleased at the same time. Crystalwas Mamas favorite.

Jenny and Bingo sat with their books piledbetween them. Jenny would not have sat with the boys even if shehad been asked. She thought them a scurvy lot. Well, everyone tohis own. Crystal had her own world at school. Jenny watched therain make rivulets on the dirty windows so it smeared the neoncolors of the stores. Those bright smeared reds and blues started amusic in her blood. She wanted to write down how they looked.

During first period history she wrote it inher notebookhow the wet smeared colors changed that ugly town tosomething wonderful. Miss Natley thought Jenny was making carefullecture notes. The cool-looking boy across the aisle gave Jenny asidelong scowl for working so hard. Jenny grinned and winked athim.

Skinny Jenny Middle. She had the reputationof a grind. But some of the more discerning boys looked at her andwondered; there was more than just a dull bookworm there. Still,she never gave a guy a chance to find out. That wink, it was justas impersonal as if hed been a chair. But those big brown eyes ofhersthey always looked as if they held a secret.