One for the Murphys

Mrs. Murphy goes to check on Carley that evening, saying it wouldn’t be wrong for her to be thinking about her mother and asking if she’d like to talk. Carley says no but then mentions that she and her mother moved from Las Vegas to Connecticut when her grandfather died and left them an old house. Carley says that it upset her when her mother looked up funeral eulogies online to create one for Carley’s grandfather, whom her mother didn’t know well. Mrs. Murphy counsels her that it isn’t always bad to lie for someone you love: “Sometimes it’s a way of protecting. As long as you protect the innocent, it’s okay” (94).

Mr. Murphy comes in to ask why Carley wasn’t in school that day. He demands to know what Carley is hiding behind her back, suspecting drugs, but it’s the CD of The Little Mermaid soundtrack. Carley eventually admits that she went to the library instead of school. Mr. Murphy grounds Carley for a week, but Carley is “amused,” thinking that no one ever “cared enough to ground [her]” before (96). Mrs. Murphy asks about the CD choice, but Carley doesn’t explain that the song “Kiss the Girls” helps her to remember the one time she can recall her mother kissing her.