Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes:
she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs,
eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe.
You've no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has "made it" is confronted,
as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage.
"How do I look, Mama?" Maggie says,
showing just enough of her thin body enveloped in pink skirt and red blouse for me to know she's there,
almost hidden by the door.