A Good Woman

by Liz Cronkhite

  And, of course, Gemma had raved. Aly was a life saver. She was responsible, organized, disciplined, loving. She never yelled at the kids, but quietly let them know when she expected more from them. Aly had never done a thing with the kids to disappoint her.

  “And, Aly,” she said enthusiastically. “It would be live in.”

  Aly was taken aback. She didn’t know what she felt other than surprised. Her first thought was, Black Ice, unseen danger in the road. “Huh,” was the only response she could manage.

  She was working in her bedroom later that evening when her phone rang. The screen showed only a number, but she suspected who it was. She felt unreasonably nervous.

  “Hi, Aly, it’s Erika Milton. How are you?”

  “Fine.”

  “Have you spoken with your cousin? Did she tell you that I called her today?”

  “She did.”

  “I asked her to because I need to move fast on this…” Erika went on to explain that her nanny was headed to Berkeley for graduate school suddenly, after initially declining, and she was looking for someone to replace her. Anita had suggested she consider Aly. “Is that something you’d be interested in?”

  “Um, I hadn’t given it any thought.”

  Erika laughed. “Maybe you’ve had enough of kids. Gemma has four?”

  “No, it’s not…I just, frankly wasn’t sure what I’d be doing next. Right now I do medical billing as well. I was thinking along those lines.”

  “Well…okay, then…”

  “No, it’s not…Look, um, what did you have in mind? What would it entail?”

  Erika explained that, logistically, she found it easier to have her child care living in. Aly would have a room with a private bathroom in their home. She would be responsible for the girls when they were not with Erika or their father, Julio. That would be around ten or eleven hours a day on weekdays. But, of course, they were in school for most of that time. A housekeeper came in once a week, so Aly didn’t have to worry about the home. She would make dinner on weeknights and lunch when the girls were home on holidays. But the girls were to help. The girls did the laundry, too, so Aly would supervise that.

  “And there’s a salary as well as room and board.” Erika mentioned the amount.

  Aly took a moment to absorb it all. A private bedroom. A private bathroom. Plenty of time to do the medical billing. Room and board. A salary on top of that. In a home she had every reason to expect would not be chaotic like the Gianni’s. What a contrast to her life now! How did she get so lucky? But she was getting ahead of herself. She didn’t have it yet. And for all she knew, Erika’s girls were spoiled brats.

  “Okay,” she said as nonchalantly as she could manage. “I’m interested. What do we do now?”

  “Can you come up and see us this Saturday? Meet the girls, we’ll do an interview. Can you email me a resume? I need to do a background check on you, so you’ll have to be fingerprinted. I have a place for that.” They exchanged email addresses, set up a time for Saturday, and hung up.

  Five minutes later, as Aly was sitting back in her chair still trying to take in this possibility before her, her email chimed. It was from Erika detailing all they’d just discussed, her address with directions, her mobile and office phone numbers, a reminder about the resume, and the address and phone number for the finger printing service. “Efficient,” Aly muttered to herself. She was not surprised.

  6

  The I215 Beltway wrapped around three quarters of Las Vegas. Erika lived just off of it in the foothills of the Spring Mountains in west Las Vegas, in a new housing development called Far Hills. Aly took the exit and turned west, rolling under the rust bowstring West Beltway Trail Bridge, which seemed to signify a formal entry into the area.

  Jagged, dry grey brown hills loomed ahead, seeming right on top of her, so she had the sense they were tilting toward her. Until recently it was inconceivable that anyone would live this close to the mountains. But the city was sprawling more and more into areas that for most of Aly’s life had been nothing but distant desert. It was several degrees cooler than the city up here and she imagined the views of the city were amazing.

  The Milton’s could not have been here for long. If the construction of new homes outside of their finished cul-de-sac wasn’t enough to indicate this, the spare look of new desert landscaping would confirm it. All the growth looked as vulnerable as a newborn.

  The homes were stucco, painted in contemporary off white and shades of grey and blue, their roofs slate grey concrete tile. Erika’s home was at the end of the cul-de-sac, medium grey and blue grey, single story and boxy. The driveway was longer than most and banked right toward a three car garage. Aly parked on the street and walked down the driveway to the dark blue front door. It was opened just before she reached it.

  “Hi,” Erika smiled as Aly approached. She was dressed as Aly had never seen her, casually, in a pink polo tucked into long red cotton shorts, her feet sockless in white sneakers. She stood with her left hand in her pocket, her right high on the front door. Oh, shit. She’s sexy.

  Aly had only ever seen Erika dressed up for a social event or, the other day, for work. She wore light make-up for those occasions, but today she wore none, revealing freckles and the uneven tones of a bare face. She was no less beautiful, maybe more so as only nature can be. Aly felt slightly embarrassed, as though she was seeing Erika in an exposed state.

  “Did you have any problem finding us?”

  “No. It’s pretty direct.”

  Erika stepped aside and Aly stepped into the cool foyer of the house, onto white washed grey laminate flooring that she could see extended through the house. She could smell fruity laundry detergent, coffee, and, beneath, new construction: Drywall, grout, paint, the oily rubbery smell of new appliances.

  “It is,” Erika said. “It’s very convenient for deliveries. Especially in a new area.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “A year in August. We moved in just before the girls started school last year.”

  The foyer had a long wall with a mirror and table on the right and as they moved out of it toward the living area Aly saw beyond the short left wall a hallway that led to bedrooms. But what got her attention was the great room looming in front of her. The kitchen was to the right, all white cabinets and black marble counters. A long, deep counter, which on the kitchen side held the sink, was a bar with stools on the living room side. Straight ahead was the living room, high ceilinged, decorated in contemporary whites and greys and cool blues and greens. It was attractive and refreshing on the eyes but, to Aly, a little cold.

  A white built in bookshelf cum entertainment center took up half the left wall of the living room. There was a large screen television centered in it and it was on now. At the far end of the room there was a ledgestone fireplace of variegated tans, greys, and muted reds in its own area, a couple of seafoam green overstuffed cozy loungers in front of it. Behind the living area on the same wall as the kitchen there were glass doors that led outside. But for the décor, Aly liked the open feel of the space and the cozy interaction of living room and kitchen.

  On a sprawling sky blue sectional couch in front of the television in the living room were two girls quietly absorbed in electronic devices. “Girls, come and meet Aly.”

  The younger girl dropped her tablet on the couch and bounded up. But the older one sighed, put her phone down reluctantly on a large white square coffee table, and got up slowly. They came and stood in front of Aly and Erika.

  “This is Aly Wong. I am interviewing her to be your…oh, they don’t like ‘nanny’ anymore.”

  “Child Care Assistant,” the girls chimed together.

  “That’s right. Our CCA. That’s what they came up with,” Erika explained to Aly. “Aly this is Whitney,” she said, touching the older girl on her arm. “And Lu.”

  Whitney was coltish and already as tall as her mother, her jet black hair parted in the middle and styled in a bush of tight c
urls to her shoulders. She strongly resembled Erika, her face all angles and planes, but her eyes were wider and dark brown, her skin caramel. Lu, small for her age, had Erika’s eyes in expression, but they were chocolate brown, and her features were rounder and softer. Her skin was caramel like her sister’s and her hair was its natural frizz pulled back into a high pony tail.

  “Lu?” Aly said. “Is that it or does it stand for something?”

  “Lucinda Rosa,” Whitney offered.

  “Oh, pretty.”

  “Their grandmothers,” Erika explained.

  “Oh, and Whitney…?”

  “Julia, after her dad. Bianca and I had ‘Whitney’ picked out long before we had her.”

  Bianca? Must be the ex.

  “Well, I’m Alyssa but I like to be called Aly.”

  “Wong?” Lu exclaimed. “You don’t look Chinese.”

  Aly heard an exhale of breath from Erika beside her while Whitney muttered, “Blunt!”

  “But I am a little bit,” Aly explained. “My great-great-grandparents were from China and their son, and his son, and then his son, my dad, married white women. So all I’ve got to show for the Chinese in me are brown eyes and a slight olive tint to my skin so that I tan faster than most blondes.”

  “I always wondered where Wong came from,” Erika said.

  “Does this mean you do everything Wong?” It was Whitney who asked and for a moment everyone seemed to freeze. It was Lu’s turn to mutter, “Strange!”

  But Aly laughed. “Yes, I do everything Wong and no matter where I go it’s the Wong way. But I am always both white and Wong.”

  “You’ve heard them all,” Erika laughed.

  “We’re doing genealogy in school next year to make history personal to us,” Whitney said brightly.

  Aly suspected she was a shy, awkward girl learning to put herself forward and not always managing it gracefully. “That’s a good way to teach history.”

  “Our great-grandmothers were white,” Lu chimed.

  “All of them?”

  “My grandmothers,” Erika clarified.

  “You’re a lot older than Casey,” Lu said, continuing with her own shifting train of thought.

  “Casey…?” Aly looked at Erika.

  “Their last, um, child care assistant.”

  “Oh. Yes. I guess I am. She was in college, right?”

  “Yeah. She left us for Berkeley.”

  “The university, right? That’s not someone’s name?” Aly teased.

  “Actually, that’s why this is so last minute,” Erika said. “There was a boy. She was staying here for him but he decided to join her in the end.”

  “Diego.” Lu offered the name of the tardy boy.

  “I bet you’re going to miss her,” Aly said.

  Lu nodded solemnly, but Whitney silently studied Aly.

  Erika made shooing motions at them. “Okay, girls, back to what you were doing. I need to talk to Aly.” She turned to Aly. “Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”

  “Oh, no, I’m fine.”

  She turned and led Aly to a dining room behind them, its right wall the long wall of the foyer. As Aly joined Erika she noted to her left a short hall off the kitchen that turned right out of view. She could make out a powder room and the hum of a clothes dryer told her the laundry room was beyond.

  Aly turned to Erika. “How long was Casey with you?”

  “Two years. She was very young, but a child psychology major.” Erika had moved around the table and sat with her back to a large picture window that looked onto the driveway. She was set up with a laptop, papers, and pen. She motioned Aly to a chair next to her, at the head of the table. “Have a seat. I haven’t gotten your background check yet. Anything you want to tell me?”

  Aly had been on many job interviews and had acquired a style that was both sober and light, which she hoped conveyed a relaxed confidence that was not all an act. She hadn’t expected to feel any different in this situation. But instead she felt off balance, perhaps because she was in Erika’s home rather than an impersonal office, perhaps because the formality of the interview made it clear to her that, though friendly acquaintances, she and Erika were unequal.

  To answer Erika, she went for light. “Um, I was arrested for shoplifting when I was fourteen?”

  “Ha!” Erika leaned back and smiled, studying her. “What did you take?”

  "A lacy red bra from Victoria’s Secret.”

  Erika’s eyes danced. “Was it for you or, um, your enjoyment?”

  “Oh, my enjoyment. I had nothing to put it on yet.” Aly blushed in spite of herself. “The one I grabbed would be too big today. Really, I was just acting out and wanted to embarrass my mother as much as possible.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Oh, yes. It did the job as far as that went.”

  “I guess you didn’t get juvi for that.”

  “No, just a lecture from a judge and paid a fine. My mother grounded me.”

  “I’m glad you were honest with me about that, Aly,” Erika laughed. “Is there anything else?”

  Now it was time for Aly to be sober. She explained her debt and ruined credit, which she knew would show up in the background check. Erika listened quietly and when she was done said, “If you don’t mind my asking, who was the judge in your divorce?” Aly told her his name. “Huh. I’ve always found him fair. Who was your lawyer?”

  “Milo Wong. He’s my dad’s cousin. He does all the legal work in our family.”

  “Hmm. I’ve heard the name.” Erika thought quietly for a while before returning to Aly. “You have a lot of cousins?”

  Aly laughed. “Just three first cousins. But most of my dad’s family is here.”

  Erika then turned to Aly’s work history. She seemed concerned by the sheer number of jobs on Aly’s resume. A lot of retail positions and call centers. Erika didn’t say it, but Aly knew it made her look unreliable. She pointed out the dates for most of the job changes, which were during and right after the Great Recession. Businesses went under and she was laid off often. “But before that I worked in a cage at the MGM for five years. I got into the medical billing three years ago, just before I found out about Toy. And I’ve been at it since. It’s only part time because I was helping Gemma with her kids.”

  “And if you come her, do you plan to still do it?”

  Aly explained how she worked around the children. And at Gemma's, there were small children not yet in school. “I had them on a structured routine when their parents weren’t home so I could make my calls to insurance companies. But when they got home, look out! My routine was out the window.”

  “Gemma said you’re better at managing her kids than she is.”

  “Well, I know my limits. I can dual task. I can pay attention to the kids and work but anything else comes into the mix something has to give.”

  “You can walk and chew gum at the same time but that’s it.”

  “Your girls are in school and I can work then. I’d need something to do during the day anyway and I’d like to make the money to pay down the debt faster.”

  Erika nodded. “I don’t have any problem with you having other work. Casey was in school. But when school is out, the girls come first.”

  “Of course. I’d just create a system like I have for Gemma’s kids.”

  “Well, Gemma has nothing but praise for you. And I sensed it wasn’t just cousin love talking.” There was a sudden musical chime and Erika looked at her phone. “Oh, sorry, I have to take this.” She stood and headed toward the hall off the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared and Aly thought she heard a door open and close.

  Aly took a deep breath, exhaled, and relaxed. Was it going well? She couldn’t read Erika. She was all business. If Aly was in her shoes would she hire herself? Probably not. There must be more qualified candidates. Casey studied child psychology, for heaven’s sake. Erika was probably just going through the motions for Anita.

  On the wall opp
osite Aly was a montage of pictures above which was, spelled out in stainless steel letters, “Our Family.” Aly rose and went to look. In the center was a photograph of Whitney and Lu between Erika and a dark man whom Aly realized must be Julio. She looked closer and could see his resemblance to the girls. He had a nice face, seemed to be average height, lots of dark, wavy hair, and the same caramel skin as the girls. He looked Afro-Latino. Judging by the girls’ ages, the picture was a couple of years old.

  As Aly studied the other pictures she began to see a pattern. Around this central picture were photos of the girls at various ages, all in color. Around those, their parents at various ages, also in color. Those, in turn, were surrounded by what Aly assumed was earlier generations, first in color and black and white, then only black and white. At first there was so much to take in she could not make out specifics. But then certain pictures seemed to emerge. She saw the girls’ very first squinty, prune faced photos, in birth announcements. Their last name was a hyphenate, Milton-Allende. Was Allende Julio’s last name or Bianca’s? Because there was a woman who must be Bianca in the very first family photo, her arm around a much younger, puffy, worn out but happy looking Erika in a hospital bed with brand new baby Whitney in her arms. Bianca was Latina, so the name could be hers. Julio was also in the picture, leaning in from the other side and smiling.

  Then Aly made out a very young Erika, beaming, in black gown with cardinal and gold tassels on her cap. College graduation. She’d gone to USC. Here she was around Whitney’s age, and boy does Whitney look like her. There were two white women in the mix of black and brown faces, laughing comfortably with each other in a living room somewhere, in a grainy color photo from the 1960s. The great-grandmothers Lu mentioned. In another photo, in the 1970s judging by the clothes, standing in front of a stone house were a man and a woman, both with café-o-lait skin like Erika’s, holding a baby. Erika’s parents with baby Erika. The man’s face had the strong bone structure of one of the white grandmothers. In Erika’s face those bones were softened from the genetic mingling of two generations.