“How are you going to prove it doesn’t work?” Ben asked, skeptical. “Videotape them bouncing around?”
“Yes, exactly,” she answered. “So get your phone out.”
But her bra worked. Waiting for her outside her apartment, Ben laughed when she came out high-stepping for effect.
“You’re crazy!”
They walked as fast as she could and still talk.
“How’d the night go with the baby?”
Ben’s wife, Liz, was nursing baby Nicole and having a time of it as a new mother.
“She was attached to my wife’s chest for most of the night. When I got up this morning, Liz was sleeping sitting up and the baby slept in her lap.”
“That sounds dangerous,” Lisa said, concerned.
“She was propped up with pillows so she wouldn’t fall out of bed. Trust me, it’s that or suicide from lack of sleep. Augie and Mom never told us that babies stay up all night.”
Lisa laughed. “Mom would have never had a kid keep her up. She worked, remember? We had to sleep through the night by three weeks or she’d lock us in the closet.”
“She was only teasing when she told that story,” Ben said, frowning.
“The hell she was,” Lisa said. “It was the truth. Augie told me that he saw her put us in a buggy and leave us in the kitchen one night so she could get some sleep.”
“Well, I certainly can’t judge her now. It’s awful the way the kid cries all night, and no matter what we do, we can’t soothe her. If two of us did that, I can see why she locked us up.”
“Does Liz mind you leaving her to walk with me after she’s been with Nicole all day?”
“No, she said she actually had a good day. I’ll take over when I get home, and she can have the evening to herself. She said she’d come tomorrow if it was all right with you.”
Lisa hesitated; Liz was model thin after having had a baby less than three weeks earlier. Walking around with her would be like advertising how hopeless it was to try to lose weight.
“Okay, that would be fine,” she lied.
“Don’t cancel on her,” Ben warned. She’d done it to him in the past. “I’m not letting you give up this time.”
“I won’t.” Lisa was getting nervous. It was this kind of interference her brother had with her life that she dreaded. And why she had a difficult time making commitments. “Shut up and walk.”
They stayed out an hour, walking down the main drag, and Lisa rested at the red lights.
“Maybe we should stay out of downtown,” Ben said. “There are too many stops.”
“Okay, whatever you want,” Lisa said, crestfallen. They passed a coffee shop, and the smell of the pastry cream wafted out when the door was opened. “Yes, we definitely should stay off this street.” Before she knew it, they were back in front of her house.
“Have a good night,” Ben said. “I better get home and do baby duty.”
Lisa waved goodbye and went up the steps to her front door, already feeling more in control of her life. She took a shower and laid out her clothes for the next day. The evening stretched before her, always a problem. She knew she was overeating because she was lonely and bored. Looking around her house, she wondered what she could do to make her weekend easier.
And then her mother came to mind. The woman was amazing, dividing her chores up so she was always ahead of the game. When they were young and still at home, they had weekends to play and reconnect as a family, not like her little friends who had to clean their rooms and rake the lawn. All those things were done during the week at the Boyd household.
Picking up the phone, she called her mother.
“We just got home from driving a friend of your father’s to the bus station,” Kelly said.
“I didn’t know Daddy had any friends,” Lisa replied.
“Yeah, me either. Anyway, what are you up to?”
Lisa explained about turning over a new leaf, about Ben walking her around town like a dog, and now she wanted to start a cleaning regime like Kelly had so the weekend would be free to party.
“That’s nice of Ben,” Kelly said. “I need to call over there and see if they need any help. On Sunday, Liz said the baby had her days and nights mixed up.”
“She still does. Ben says Liz is beat,” Lisa said.
“Maybe I’ll call there, see if they need me to come over,” Kelly said.
They chatted a bit longer and then said goodbye. Kelly called Ben and got the green light to head over to do grandma duty; baby Nicole was not a happy camper.
Steve had been sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for Kelly so they could hammer out what the next step would be with Lee and Titan, but Kelly was saved by the needs of her granddaughter.
“Sorry, this will just have to wait,” Kelly said.
“This is important,” Steve said softly. “Sweeping it under the rug is not going to help.” For some reason, that admonishment from her husband infuriated her.
“Lee is not important to me, Steve. She’s your problem, so deal with it. You don’t get my approval for anything because you are going to do whatever you want, as you always have. My concern right now is that my son and daughter-in-law get some rest tonight. So I’m going over there. You can sit and stew over Titan and Lee, like you’ve probably been doing for the past forty years. I’m done with it.”
She went back to the bedroom to put a bag together. She’d leave for work from their house.
“Are you going to spend the night there?” he asked, following her.
“Probably. Ben said the baby hasn’t slept at night in three days, and they’re both exhausted. You can come with me if you want.”
“No, I’ll pass,” he said.
When she finished packing and came out of the bedroom, Steve had retreated to the basement without saying goodbye to her. In the past, she’d have run down to kiss him. Now, it didn’t seem to matter. In twenty-four hours, his withdrawal from her was almost complete.
***
Liz Boyd was giddy with the thought that her mother-in-law was coming to rescue them. “Thank God, I was just about ready to put her out in the garage to sleep,” she said about the crying Nicole.
“Mother’s coming to save the day,” Ben said sarcastically.
“What’s wrong?” Liz said, frowning.
“My mother is running away from home, and she’s saving face by coming here instead of kicking my father out.”
“I can’t believe that,” Liz said. “Your mother worships your father.”
“Trust me when I tell you something’s up over there. My dad showed up with her at Augie’s on Saturday, something he rarely does, and he kept going off to text. My mother was a nervous wreck watching him.”
“What could it be? They’ve been married forever.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Ben said. “Maybe my mom will shed some light on it tonight.”
“I doubt it. She’s as loyal as they come. I’ll call your aunt.” Liz and Karen had worked together at the local Ford dealership in the accounting office before Nicole’s birth, and Aunt Karen had introduced Ben to Liz.
“I have the cutest nephew,” Karen had said. “Let me hook you up.”
They hit it off and the rest was history. Karen was so proud on their wedding day; Ben and Liz included her in the ceremony because she’d been their matchmaker.
Liz never tired of working with Karen, and now having her as an aunt was a wonderful bonus. She considered Karen a dear friend. Handing baby Nicole off to Ben, she picked up her phone.
When they were finished with the pleasantries, Liz got down to business. “Okay, so I know this smacks of gossip and I don’t mean to gossip about your sister, but what’s going on with Kelly and Steve?”
Karen caught her breath; how had these two, overwhelmed with a new baby, figured out anything about Steve?
“What’s going on?” Karen asked. “You tell me.”
Liz explained the things that were making them suspicious, including B
en’s observations at Augie’s.
“And Kelly’s due here any second to help me with the baby and spend the night. She’s never spent a night away from that house unless it was to go to Algonac.”
“She probably just wants to help out, Liz. You guys are reading too much into it.”
“Ben said Steve texted off in a corner most of the afternoon. He never engages in much conversation when he comes around, but that was really weird for him.”
“I agree,” Karen said, seething. Her brother-in-law was really pissing her off now. “Well, I guess we’ll never really know what that guy is up to.”
Liz laughed. “Yep, you’re probably right. I see headlights coming down the road, so I’d better hang up now. Have a good day tomorrow. Tell everyone I said hi.”
They chatted another minute and then hung up. Karen immediately called Kelly.
“I just got to Ben’s,” Kelly said.
“Well, hear me out quickly. They already suspect something just by observations made on Saturday afternoon.”
Kelly didn’t answer right away. Steve had acted like a disassociated creep when they were at Augie’s, and she wondered why on earth he wanted to go, staying on the phone with his new family the entire time.
“Are we such creatures of habit?” Kelly said, dismayed.
“I guess so. Anyway, I don’t want to hold you up,” Karen said. “Text me later.”
Kelly got her bag and went to the door. She could hear Nicole crying. “Let me get my hands on that little baby!” She washed her hands and got situated in a padded rocking chair.
“I’m so comfortable I could stay here all night,” she said as Ben put the baby in her arms.
“Are you really staying the night?” Ben asked, concerned.
“If you need me,” Kelly said. “I’ve got all my stuff so I can leave for work from here.”
“Boy, that’s awfully generous of you to spend a night away from home. You might not get much sleep.”
“Old people don’t need much sleep,” she replied. “I’ll be fine.”
“What does Dad think about you coming here?” Ben asked.
“He’ll survive,” Kelly said. “Hey, why don’t you go spend some time with your wife, rest and take advantage of having me here with baby Nicole?”
Kelly wanted to be alone with the baby, to keep focused on what was good about her life. Ben was fishing and she understood why, but she wasn’t going to get into a Steve bashing with anyone, especially his kids, at least not yet.
He bent down and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom, I really appreciate it.”
After he left, Kelly closed her eyes while she rocked Nicole, mouth moving in a silent prayer, asking for strength. She had a feeling that her life wasn’t just going to move on with new members, but that there would be major upheaval. Not sure if it meant a divorce or not, she wasn’t sure she cared.
Then she thought about what it would mean to the family if Steve left her for Lee. She imagined Lisa’s and Alice’s weddings, Steve walking the bride down the aisle with Lee wearing a tacky suit, sitting in the front pew. Or looking in the nursery window at the hospital when the next grandchild was born, Lee standing next to Steve, tapping on the glass like a moron, trying to get the baby’s attention. Kelly understood she should try to get her adversarial stance in check.
By early morning, Ben and Liz had a good night’s sleep, and baby Nicole had woken up twice for warmed-up breast milk her mother had pumped. Kelly tiptoed into the spare bathroom to get ready for work. She’d worked through the worst of her pain, holding the little body, so grateful for another healthy grandchild which made Steve’s misdeeds seem too paltry to make an issue of.
No longer angry about the betrayal of so long ago, in a new cycle that she’d repeat, now Kelly worried about what Steve’s plans were, and if he would try to include Lee in their life, not just Titan alone. And that wasn’t going to happen, at least not to Kelly, at least not at that moment.
She checked on the baby in her crib one more time, quietly leaving the house at her usual time. The workday was hectic. She’d kept her phone on, but Steve never tried to contact her once. By the end of her shift, she was sad and lonely.
“I’m lonely all the time anyway,” she said out loud. “This is no different than it ever was.”
Going to her locker for her purse and bag, she decided she’d do her grocery shopping on the way home. She didn’t have one store she went to regularly because there were so many between the hospital and her house. Today she decided to go to one known for its vast selection of ethnic foods even though it was a little out of her way. She was in the mood to make a Polish meal for her family and they had the best pirogies. Why make them from scratch when these are so good?
Before she went inside, she sent a group text to Steve, Karen, and the kids: Pirogies tonight! It was something they’d looked forward to in the past, and although she usually made them on the weekend, she needed the boost seeing her children would give her. They might not all come, but those who did would be enough for her.
Grabbing a cart, she got the first reply from Karen. I’ll be there at six. Kelly knew she’d rush home from work, grab the dog, a spoiled Boston terrier named Roger, and head over. One by one, her children answered her. Even Liz and Ben would come, bringing baby Nicole. She didn’t expect to hear from Steve.
Pushing the cart down the aisles, shopping at this store was like going to a foreign country. She fought the temptation to fill the basket with delights from all over the world. A collection of grains caught her interest and she moved around a couple looking at bags of rice. And then she recognized the man’s hands, the ring and watch on his left hand.
“Jesus Christ,” she said, shocked, the blasphemous words popping out of her lips.
It was Steve and Lee. Kelly had a split second to decide what to do. She could either engage them or run. If she engaged, it could be either kind or insane. She wanted to serve pirogies to her children that night no matter what. And she knew that if she left without a confrontation, Steve would try to weasel his way out of this later, making excuses.
Standing before her, tall and handsome, Steve looked more like forty-five today instead of the sixty-five he really was, with a diminutive Asian woman close to his side. They looked like every other mixed couple she saw from time to time - a man of his generation with a woman he’d brought home during the war. The older women, married to World War II veterans, were often German or Italian. The Asian women belonged to men of the boomer generation. She didn’t care if what she was thinking was politically incorrect.
Steve looked at her, his mouth hanging open, shocked. Lee had a Cheshire cat grin on her face. Kelly wanted to ram the basket into her scrawny legs, but stood firm. The choice she made was to do nothing. They could flee or engage. Putting the responsibility on them was suddenly freeing. She felt peaceful.
“Oh, I guess out of ten grocery stores, we chose the wrong one,” Steve said.
Kelly bit her tongue. He was such an ass.
“I want to make rice tonight,” Lee said. “Steve said you didn’t have any.”
“Lee wanted to cook for you,” Steve said, and Kelly knew he was improvising.
She had no idea he was such a good actor.
“I thought you were going back to Chicago last night,” Kelly said, finally deciding the only way she’d get any information was by forcing these two to face reality.
“I changed my mind,” Lee said.
Kelly wondered if that was why Steve had gone into the terminal with her to help her change her plans and not to make sure she got a ticket home, as he’d said.
“I see that. And you were going to cook dinner at my house?” She looked at Steve. No one said anything. “Stop lying, both of you. Have enough respect for me to be truthful for once. If you want to be together, for God’s sake just say so, so I can get on with my life.”
“We can’t talk here, obviously,” Steve said.
“The hell we can’t
,” Kelly said. “You lied last night and had all day to tell me. What do you want, Steve? Tell me the truth for once in your life.”
“He wants to be with me,” Lee said, peering at Kelly from the corner of her eyes.
“Is that true?” She looked at Steve, incredulous that he would be such a wimp, standing silent, allowing Lee to treat his wife so shabbily. “Oh, what difference does it make? You have to move out, though. Make a commitment to someone for once in your life, will you, please? If it’s going to be Lee, so be it.”
“I’m not ready to move out,” Steve said.
Lee grabbed his arm in alarm.
“What do you mean, Stevie?”
“Don’t worry, Lee. He’s history. Steve, I don’t ever want to see you again until this is final, is that clear? You get your stuff out of the house by the weekend or I’ll do it for you. And don’t come home tonight because I’m having a dinner party.”
She pushed the cart around them, backing up to get a bag of egg noodles off the shelf. His phone suddenly made the familiar beeping sound of a teletype machine, probably her text message telling him about pirogies for dinner.
“By the way, you’re not invited anymore, Steve. Enjoy the rice.”
In spite of the fact she just saw the end of her marriage, she was excited about dinner. Recognizing that she might be in the manic phase that often followed the resolution of a problem, she understood that sometime later, when reality set in, sadness would probably overtake her. But for now, she just wanted to relish the joy that knowing her children would be under one roof in a few hours brought her.
At the frozen foods, she bought ten bags of pirogies, in every filling they had. Passing by the meat aisle, she grabbed packages of smoked sausage. Then, she went to the fruit section and sorted through apples to make homemade applesauce. That would make up for the store-bought, frozen pirogies. At the bakery, she chose a layer cake for dessert, her excuse being it was bound to be close to someone’s birthday; with that many people, there was always a celebration looming close at hand. She didn’t see them again while she shopped or stood in line at the checkout, but she could feel the despondence fighting with the euphoria that was beginning to wane.
The Jade Emperor Page 6