“What’s that?”
“I hope I can get time off. I mean I’ve only been there six months.”
“Oh.” Lelani wasn’t sure whether to feel worried or relieved. “So, when will you know for sure?”
“I plan to ask tomorrow. I just hope that Cynthia is there.”
“Because Vera would say no?”
“It’s always hard to predict what Vera might say or do.”
“Well, let me know how it goes.”
“I won’t book my flight until I know I have the time off,” Megan assured her.
“But it’s spring break,” Lelani reminded her. “Flights might already be booked.”
Megan frowned. “Well, I’m praying that’s not the case.”
Lelani just nodded, but she wondered if that was a prayer that God would answer. Or, if he did, if he would say no. Lelani wasn’t used to that kind of an answer. “I’ll be praying too,” she told Megan.
“Good,” said Megan. “If we’re meant to go, God will kick open the doors.”
“And if we’re not …”
Megan sighed. “Well, I hope that’s not the case. But if it is … well, then there’ll be a reason for it.”
When Lelani went to bed that night, she did pray. Her prayer probably sounded vastly different from Megan’s. Megan was probably praying with optimism and hope. But Lelani knew that her own prayer was draped in anxiety and dread. She just hoped that God wouldn’t be confused by these two contradictory prayers originating from beneath the same roof. But surely God was much smarter than that!
Seven
Kendall
Kendall had come to like Sunday evenings, because her housemates were usually home and they often rented a new-release flick and sat around in their pajamas to eat junk food and watch it. It reminded her of high-school days, and she found the whole thing very comforting. Especially after she discovered she was pregnant and her social life (rather dating life) had steadily deteriorated. Not that she’d told any of her friends, but it was like they could sense something had changed. Or maybe they just noticed that she’d developed an unattractive muffin top over the waistband of her jeans. Not that she was wearing jeans these days. They were all too small. She’d moved on to sweats.
It was almost eight thirty and Kendall had on her favorite I Love Lucy pajamas, and Tinkerbell had on her pink bed jacket, the popcorn was popped, and the chick flick was ready to roll. But where was everyone? Then she remembered that Anna was at her parents—thanks to Megan’s brilliant garage-sale idea—an idea that had gone south just a few hours ago, shortly after Kendall had gotten up from her nap. As usual, Megan blamed everything on Kendall: the garage sale and Anna’s allergies and the messed-up house and probably even global warming. Naturally this all resulted in a big old fight.
“What do you mean you never called your grandmother?” Megan demanded after Kendall let that little kitty out of the bag. “You promised you would do that, Kendall. It’s not like I’ve asked you to do a lot. You could at least have done that. Here we are going through all this junk, up to our eyeballs in dust and grime, and it’s entirely possible that your grandmother doesn’t want any of it sold. Maybe she’s willed it to someone or promised a museum or whatever. Seriously, why haven’t you called her yet?”
“I just haven’t gotten around to it,” Kendall had answered casually.
Then Megan, acting like a total idiot, grabbed a pad and pen, drew a big circle, and wrote the words to it inside the line. “Here,” she’d said hotly as she shoved the paper at Kendall.
“Huh?” Kendall studied the silly note.
“Now you’ve got a round to it.”
“Very funny.” Kendall crumpled the paper, then made a comment that she now regretted. “I can’t believe this is all you guys have gotten done,” she’d said to distract them from her grandmother, which was really none of their business anyway. “At this rate we won’t have this garage sale until next Christmas.”
That was all it took. Tempers flared, words were said, Kendall burst into tears, but they didn’t even take pity. And the stupid fight resulted in both Lelani and Megan totally bailing on her. Acting like they were the ones who’d been offended, they washed their hands and grabbed their coats and bags and, just like that, they abandoned Kendall. Like they expected her to work alone, cleaning and sorting all that junk with absolutely no help from them. “Well, fine!” Kendall had snapped at them, acting like she didn’t care and telling them that she didn’t need their help and could handle the whole thing by herself. But after about an hour, she had given up on it. Not just the cleaning and sorting, but the garage sale too. Really, what was the use? And now the house was still cluttered with all that junk—the junk that would need to be hauled back up to the attic. Maybe Kendall could hire someone. Not that she had money. Oh, she’d think about that later.
As she dug into a pint of chocolate-mint ice cream that had Anna’s name written on tape across the lid, she vaguely wondered where Lelani and Megan had taken off to. It was past five when they left, and a lot of things closed by then. But as she polished off the last bite, disposing of the evidence and rationalizing that Anna was gone now anyway so why should she care, she figured Megan and Lelani would return before long. After all, what could you really do without a car? Although there were the buses and the metro. Not that Kendall had ever stooped to use them. Just the idea of sitting on one of those grimy seats with strangers was rather frightening. Still, she expected that they’d be home soon.
One good thing about her roommates, so far anyway, was that they didn’t tend to hold grudges. Not like some of her friends, or even family, who could stay mad for weeks, months, even years. And so Kendall really expected Megan and Lelani to pop in at any moment. They’d probably even apologize, and if she was lucky they’d have food with them.
But finally it was nine and Kendall went ahead and turned on the movie. She’d go ahead and start it without them. They’d be sorry when they got here to see it was half over and they’d missed out. But watching the movie by herself with Tinker was just not that fun. Besides, it turned out to be pretty lame, which was not all that surprising since Megan had picked it out. Eventually Kendall gave up on it, turned the TV off, and went to her room.
As usual, her room was messy. Clothes that were too small were tossed everywhere. Shoes and handbags—even designers ones that she’d paid big bucks for—were tossed around like broken toys she’d gotten tired of. And, really, that’s how it felt. She’d go out and buy some delectable designer piece and feel like she was queen of the world. But just a week later, sometimes within the same day, she’d see that pricey item and simply shrug and wonder why she’d felt it was so wonderful before. And now it was just part of the junk that was messing up her room. She picked up a used potty pad, carefully wadded it up, and took it to the bathroom to dispose of. That way she wouldn’t have to smell it.
Of course, the bathroom was nearly as messy as her room, and already the trash can was overflowing with puppy pads, but Kendall just stuffed another on top. It was no surprise that the bathroom looked this bad. Anna, the neat freak, had been gone for a couple of days now—long enough for Kendall to leave her mark. Not that she particularly liked her mark anymore. If anything, she’d grown to appreciate Anna’s cleaning skills. And sometimes she even attempted to imitate her.
But why bother now? Besides the bathroom and bedroom, her whole house was messed up. Even her friendships with her housemates seemed pretty messed up. Her life was equally messed up. And at this rate, it could only get worse.
Kendall took out a bottle of pills that her shrink had prescribed for her when she thought she was having anxiety attacks at night. She’d never been the depressed, gloomy type, but as she looked at those little blue pills, she wondered how hard it would be to end it all. Could she even do something like that? Or, what if she attem
pted something like that and she messed up? It wouldn’t surprise her—what hadn’t she messed up lately? Or what if she survived an overdose and somehow messed up the baby? Not that she planned on keeping the baby.
But what if the baby really was Matthew’s? She was 99 percent certain that it was. And what if things for him changed? What if, like gossip rags predicted, his marriage to Heidi ultimately failed? And what if he got back together with Kendall only to discover that his precious son had been damaged by her foiled suicide attempt? And what if he got mad and dumped her as a result? How would she feel then?
She shoved the bottle back into the medicine cabinet and slammed the door so hard that the old leaded mirror in the front of it cracked right down the middle. Great, now she would have seven years bad luck. It figured.
Kendall looked at herself in the damaged mirror. The crack went right down the middle of her face, making her nose look twice as big and slightly deformed. She leaned forward and stared at herself with a sense of twisted amusement. And although she normally had no sense of metaphor or irony except for what she’d picked up during her brief stint as a film major, she wondered if this split face in the mirror might be a true reflection of who she was.
“Or not!” She bent down and scooped up Tinkerbell, turned off the light, and went to bed.
Eight
Anna
Monday morning, Anna decided that it was better to breathe dust and suffer an asthma attack at Kendall’s than to remain at her parents’ home for one more night. Oh, her dad was fine. But her mother, still under the influence of Abuela Castillo, was another story. Anna had assumed that things in her parents’ home would calm down and return to normal when her grandparents went to stay with another one of their lucky children. But Anna had been wrong. The more time Anna’s mother spent with Abuela, the more Mama came down on Anna. And since the grandparents were staying for another full week, Anna knew she needed to run for her life. She’d gotten up early and packed her things, but to her surprise, her mother was up even earlier. And she had cooked breakfast!
“I don’t see why you are so sensitive,” her mother said as Anna shoveled in another spoonful of huevos revueltos. “I was only asking.”
“Asking?” Anna swallowed the bite. “You and Abuela ask questions like the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Anna.” Her mother frowned at her. “Where is your respect?”
“It’s the truth. The way you treat Edmond is humiliating.”
“I only asked out of concern for the children.”
“What children?” Anna glared at her mother.
“If you were to marry Edmond, you would surely have children.”
“Who said I’m going to marry Edmond?”
Her mother smiled in relief. “Hopefully that won’t happen.”
Anna wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I don’t know, Mama. The more you try to push me away from Edmond, the more I’m drawn to him.” She took a quick sip of coffee. “I’m thinking maybe I’ll run away and elope with him tonight.” Anna pointed to her suitcase by the door.
“Anna Consuela Maria Mendez!”
“See what you drive me to do, Mama?”
“I know you’re joking with me.” Her mother made a sad expression. “But it’s not kind, Anna. It’s not like you.”
“Do you think you’re being kind when you say mean things about Edmond?”
“I only asked where your children would go to church, Anna. Why is that such a mean thing? Young people in love, they forget the practical things. And I heard Dr. Phil say that there are only a few things that destroy a marriage.” Her brows drew together as she held up one finger. “I think the first one was money. And I’m not sure about all of them, but I know that religion was in there.”
“And how about meddlesome in-laws?” asked Anna. “Was that on the list?”
“So you are thinking of marrying Edmond?”
“No.” Anna shook her head as she stood up. “I’m not thinking of marrying anyone at the moment. I’m thinking about not being late for work.”
“You think about what I’m saying to you, Anna. If you don’t ask these questions early on, you find out the answers too late.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Anna was slipping her coat on now.
“Remember your Tio Roberto. He married that Baptist girl. Everything seemed just fine until they had children. Then she wanted to take them to her church. He wanted them to go to his. It got ugly, Anna.”
“I know, Mama.” Anna reached for her suitcase. “And it didn’t help that Tio Roberto was having an affair with Vanessa either.”
Her mother looked shocked. “Who told you that?”
“Everyone in the family knew about it.”
“But you were just a child.”
“Even as a child, I had ears, Mama.” Anna leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Adiós!”
Anna sighed as she slipped behind the wheel of her little red Cooper. Ah, freedom. What had she been thinking of to go back home again? And even if she had to get a particle mask and one of those electric air-filtering machines for her bedroom, it would be worth it to escape her mother’s tirades.
Of course, Anna knew this latest paranoia over grandchildren and where they would go to church was partially Anna’s fault. She’d let the cat out of the bag last night when she told her mother that she had a wedding to attend the following weekend. And she’d only mentioned this in order to escape her cousin Eva’s baby shower. It would be the third baby shower since Christmas, and Anna couldn’t bear to sit and watch another one of her pregnant female relatives opening another pastel package containing bibs or booties or baby blankets. Enough was enough.
“Who’s wedding?” her mother had asked with suspicion.
“Edmond’s mother,” Anna had casually informed her. “It’s a small, intimate evening wedding and I feel honored to be included.”
“I didn’t know that Edmond’s mother was single. Did Edmond’s father die?”
“No. Edmond’s father is alive and well in Pasadena.”
“Oh?” Her mother’s brows had arched sharply, a warning that things could get ugly.
“Edmond’s parents divorced when he was quite young. His father remarried years ago and Edmond has a couple of half siblings.”
Her mother looked even more surprised now. But the reason Anna had disclosed this much was to paint Edmond’s mother in a better light. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working. “Anyway, Betsy—that’s Edmond’s mother—has been single for a long time. She put all of her energy into working and raising Edmond on her own.”
Anna’s mother nodded with a slight look of compassion. “She sounds like a strong woman.”
Anna smiled. “She is. And now she has finally met the love of her life. A very nice man named Phillip Goldstein.” Okay, as soon as it was out, Anna wished she’d had the foresight to withhold a little information.
“Goldstein? Isn’t that Jewish?”
“Yes, Mama. It’s Jewish. Are you prejudiced against Jewish people now?”
“No, no, of course not.” Her mother’s brow creased deeply.
“Well, good.”
“So … is Edmond Jewish too?”
“No. Edmond is Episcopalian.”
“Oh? Edmond is Episcopalian and his stepfather is Jewish? Is his mother perhaps Greek Orthodox?”
“Actually, I don’t know. But it seems that she is Episcopalian too.”
“But she will be changing to Jewish now?”
“It’s not like that, Mama.”
“What is it like then?”
“I don’t know. But you make way too much of it.”
Her mother sighed then. “Perhaps you’re right. At least they will have no children.”
“Actually, Phillip has a
son, a sweet kid named Ben, who’s eleven or twelve.”
“So is this Ben Jewish too?”
“I would assume.”
“Unless he is confused by his stepmother’s religion, and then perhaps he will convert to Episcopalian.”
“Probably not.”
“But don’t you see, mi’ja? You hurt your children when you bring two different religions into the home.” And so it had gone on. Her mother ranting and lecturing about culture and religion and values and children until even Anna’s dad could take it no more. Both he and Anna had gone to bed early to escape the endless tirade. But Anna’s poor dad was still subjected, because Anna could hear them arguing into the night—just one more reason for Anna to leave in the morning. It was bad enough to suffer her mother’s temper for her own choices, but it seemed unfair her father should suffer as well.
To be fair, Anna suspected that having Abuela Castillo around had brought out the worst in her mother. It was as if her mother was regressing. And the less Anna saw of it, the happier she would be. It was her intention to stay away for a while. Or at least until the final farewell gathering for her grandparents next Sunday. That is, if she was invited. After the rumors circulated that she was skipping Eva’s baby shower to attend her boyfriend’s mother’s Jewish wedding, well, who knew what might happen? Maybe they would excommunicate Anna from the family. But probably not.
Nine
Megan
Megan practiced her speech in her head as she walked to work on Monday morning. Of course, if Cynthia was there, which was unlikely since she was starting a big job up in Astoria this week, there would be no need. But if it was just Vera, Megan would have to do her best to convince the woman that she deserved some time off. Not that she expected it to be paid time off, since she hadn’t been there a year yet. But she really wasn’t making that much money and, besides, who would be into decorating during spring break? Moms would have kids underfoot. Grandmas would be planning excursions with their grandchildren. Really, it just made good sense. Right?
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