A Different Blue(38)

transformation had Manny as jittery as a crack addict in need of a fix.

[page]Gracie's insolence and attitude had Manny pacing the floor and demanding she come out of

her room when I brought dinner over on Christmas Eve. Bev had sent home a little of everything

from the cafe, and normally Manny would have been in heaven. But Gracie claimed she wasn't

hungry and declared she didn't want to “eat with a slut.” Graciela had been downright nasty to

me since Brandon had shown up at my house over a month before. Unfortunately, the less interest

Brandon showed, the more aggressive and determined Gracie became.

I shrugged my shoulders, wished Manny a happy holiday, and headed back to my own apartment.

Graciela might not want to “eat with a slut,” but she'd been more than willing to bum a ride

home with me after school every day just so she could see Brandon in the parking lot. And she

still studiously copied the way I wore my hair and makeup and mimicked my style down to the way

I rolled my sleeves and buttoned my shirts. So she didn't want to eat with a skank, but she

apparently wanted to look like one. I really missed the old spacey Gracie, and if she didn't

knock it off soon, Manny was going to fall apart, and I was going to get pissed.





“Elizabeth the first was the daughter of a King. King Henry VIII, to be precise. Sounds ace

doesn't it? Being a princess? Riches, power, adulation. Brilliant, eh? But remember the saying

'never judge a book by its cover?' I'm going to add to that. Never judge history by the so-

called facts. Lift up that shiny cover, and get to the real story beneath. Elizabeth's mother

was Anne Boleyn. Anyone know anything about her?” Wilson scanned the sea of rapt faces, but no

hands shot up.

“Anne Boleyn's sister Mary was King Henry's mistress, one of them, at least. But Anne wanted

more, and she believed she could get more. She plotted and schemed, and used her brain to catch

Henry's eye and reel him in. For seven years, Henry tried to get a divorce from his Queen so he

could marry Anne. How did she do it? How did she keep Henry not only interested but willing to

move heaven and earth to have her? She was not considered beautiful. The standard of beauty for

that time was blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin – like her sister Mary. So how did she do it?”

Wilson paused for effect. “She kept the man hungry!” The class burst out laughing,

understanding what Wilson was referring to.

“Eventually, when Henry couldn't get the Church of England to dissolve his marriage to the

Queen, he cut his ties with the church, and married Anne anyway. Shocking! The church held

incredible power in those days, even over a king.”

“Ahhhh!” a few girls sighed.

“That's so romantic,” Chrissy mooned, batting her cow eyes at Wilson.

“Oh yes, highly romantic. A brilliant love story . . . until you find out that three years

after Anne succeeded in marrying the King, she was charged with witchcraft, incest, blasphemy,

and plotting against the crown. She was beheaded.”

“They cut off her head?! That is so rude!” Chrissy was indignant and slightly outraged.

“She had failed to produce a male heir,” Wilson continued. “She'd had Elizabeth, but that

didn't count. Some say Anne was seen as having too much power politically. We know she was no