And that was when Lu knew how dumb she'd been for ever thinking that Mama could be on her side. Because of course her mother immediately jumped to the conclusion that some man was trying to take advantage of Lu. That was how Mama's mind worked. And for the first time since she and Ricky started sleeping together in the cottage on the beach, Lu saw them the way Mama would. Mama wouldn't see a girl who had tried to comfort a boy, or a boy and a girl who were fond of each other but were too smart to kid themselves that they were ready for marriage. Mama wouldn't understand that Ricky cared about her and he'd set up the audition because he believed in her. Mama would see a girl who got her “big chance” by giving herself to a rich boy who tossed her a bone on his way out the door. To Mama, Lu was being wild and cheap. And stupid.

Lu stood even taller and looked her mother in the eye. “A friend of mine called some people and asked them to hear me sing,” she said.

“What is the friend's name?”

“Mama, I have to go or I'll miss my train.” Lu started for the kitchen table to pick up her music, but a hand that was far stronger than Lu could ever have imagined grabbed her arm and whirled her around. The force stunned her.

“You are not leaving this house!” Her mother's voice wasn't scary calm anymore. Mifalda was shouting now. “You're going to your room and you're going to stay there until I tell you.”

“No, Mama.” Lu heard the steel in her own voice and was surprised by it.

“I am your mother and I'm telling you …”

Lu yanked her arm out of her mother's grasp. “I won't do what you tell me to, Mama. Not anymore. Because you want me to be just like you, and I won't. Pop and the boys always thought you were so happy taking care of us, but I knew—”

Without any warning, Mifalda slapped her across the face. Hard. The movement was so swift, for a second Lu wasn't sure it had happened. Then the wave of pain came. For the second time that day, tears filled Lu's eyes. But the cause was shock as much as the slap itself. No one had ever done anything like it to her before. Mama always said she didn't believe in hitting her children—she was proud that she didn't—and Pop wouldn't have laid a finger on his little girl. But Mama had slapped her. Lu's face was stinging and she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. Her teeth had cut into her upper lip—not enough to cause bleeding, but there could be some swelling. And her head was going to ache. But she wasn't going to cry.