Biggie and the Devil Diet - By Nancy Bell Page 0,22

it. How cruel." Miss Julia was incensed.

"What was the second thing that happened?" Monica wanted to know.

"The second thing was, she fell in love."

"Sad," Mrs. Muckleroy murmured.

"Yes, it was. She fell for the executive director of the theater group. We never knew why. He was a little, stooped-over man who had sparse hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses. I guess it was their mutual passion for theater that attracted her. Naturally, she never said anything to a living soul— except me that is. But somehow, the others found out. Ellen wore her heart on her sleeve."

"I can relate," Mrs. Muckleroy said. "I wear my heart on my sleeve, too. Don't I, Biggie?"

"I guess," Biggie said. "Did the others tease her or something?"

"Unmercifully. Theater people can be quite cruel without even knowing it. I think it's because they're both creative and maybe just a bit self-involved."

Jeremy Polk had been listening intently. "Now, Laura, that's a pretty broad generalization."

"Spoken like a lawyer," Grace said. "Can't you see why Laura might be just a little one-sided on this? You've heard this story, Jere."

"Right. Sorry, Laura."

"One night," Laura continued, "Ellen went in for a late rehearsal and found the cast putting on an impromptu skit about her and the man. It ended with the fellow running for his life while the actress who played my sister, arms outstretched, tripped over a stool and fell flat on her face trying to catch him. Ellen, tears streaming down her face, ran from the theater to the sound of hoots and laughter."

"That was mean," Monica said.

"She went to my parents' house, took my daddy's pistol out of the drawer beside his bed, and took it back to her apartment." Laura spoke in a flat voice like she had told this story a hundred times. "Ellen lay down on her bed and shot herself in the head. She left a note. It said, 'Don't grieve for me. I'm happy to leave this hideous shell of a body. I love you all. Tonight I shall fly with the angels.'" Laura hung her head. "My baby sister didn't need to die like that. At her funeral I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to protect other young girls from the heartache Ellen had to suffer."

"But how could you do that?" Biggie asked. "You said her weight problem was genetic."

Laura drew herself up tall and sighed. "That's where Grace comes in," she said, her face beginning to lighten up. "Tell them, Grace."

7

Grace leaned her elbows on the table, folding her little square hands in front of her. "I graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in food service and nutrition. My plans were to go into the restaurant business— maybe become a chef someday. A friend of mine who was going into the Peace Corps urged me to join her. 'It's a chance to have a little adventure and see the world,' she kept saying. 'You're going to be working all your life. Have a little fun first.' Well, she didn't know what she was talking about." Grace smiled at her plate. "Anne didn't last a month in the Peace Corps, which turned out to be really hard work with substandard living conditions. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the challenge."

"Where did you go?" Miss Julia asked.

"The Co-operative Republic of Guyana. I ended up going with a team that was assigned to teach modern farming methods to the Indians."

"Where is Guyana?" Monica crumbled a cookie on her plate.

"It's in Africa, darling," Mrs. Muckleroy said smugly.

Grace smiled. "A lot of people think that. Actually, it's in South America. It's between Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil, and on its northern coast there's the Atlantic Ocean. The country is not very big, but there are miles and miles of unspoiled tropical rainforest and a large savanna— that's grasslands. You should see the Kaieteur Falls. They are immense— and surrounded by trees and wildlife."

"What kind of wildlife?" I wanted to know.

"Oh, many different kinds of monkeys, ocelots, and parrots. They have tapirs there, too, but they are shy and don't show themselves much."

"Get to the diet, hon," Laura said. "I just love that part."

"I will, I will. I just want to fill in a little background first." She took a sip of tea then continued. "I arrived in Georgetown by air, then took a small plane to the Rupununi Savanna where we were to settle in an Amerindian village. It was in February, right after the rainy season. Boy, was it hot! We