by Lesley Crewe
Colleen looked at everyone else’s plates. Her piece was smaller, and she didn’t think that was fair. She always finished first because she didn’t get as much.
“Can I have some more, please?”
Mom shook her head. “That’s enough for tonight.”
Frankie didn’t finish hers. Neither did Mom. How could they leave half a slice of cake on the plate?
When Colleen was ready for bed, her mom came in and sat on the edge of the mattress. She brushed Colleen’s hair off her face. “Did you have a good day?”
“No. Frankie was supposed to play hide-and-seek with me and she says she did but she didn’t. She was just in her room. That doesn’t count.”
“Big sisters can be a pain sometimes.”
They smiled at each other.
“Did you wish you had a sister?” Colleen asked.
“Yes. You’re very lucky to have one.”
“I guess she’s okay.”
Mom leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
“Goodnight, Mommy.”
* * *
David and Kay always agreed on one thing. Their sex life was superb. In the early days of moving to Montreal when they knew no one, their evenings were filled with each other, once the girls were in bed. It was as if Kay was rewarding him. She was relaxed and fun and adventurous. He had it all with this beautiful woman who turned heads everywhere she went. He knew how lucky he was. And he did love her. He did. She was the mother of his children.
Thoughts of Lila slowly faded into the background. Everyone said their first love was memorable, he wasn’t the only one, and he was grateful to Ewan for being so good for Lila.
David was always out the door to work before the girls left for school. They’d come down for breakfast just as he knocked back the last of his coffee. Elena didn’t arrive until ten in the morning, so it was left to Kay to organize the first meal of the day, and she was pretty good at it. Of course the girls only wanted cereal and he was fine with toast, but still, things had improved. Now she cut up bananas on top of the cereal and had either jam or honey on the table.
David kissed his daughters’ heads as they sat in their chairs.
“Isn’t that the same dress you had on last night, Frankie?”
“Yes, Mom bought it for me yesterday. I want to wear it to school.”
“It looks very nice. Where’s yours, Coll?”
“I hate mine.”
“You hate everything. Be good today.”
“Bye, Daddy,” they said in tandem.
He crossed the floor and came up behind Kay, who was at the sink. His hand disappeared under her robe to cup her breast as he kissed her on the ear. “See you tonight.”
“Stop that,” she whispered, “the girls.”
He picked up his briefcase and car keys before leaving the house. His Studebaker was behind Kay’s red convertible. He joined the rest of the men in the neighbourhood who backed their cars into the street at the same time every morning to try and beat the downtown traffic. Luckily, David didn’t have far to go. His office was on the ground floor of the Linton on Sherbrooke St. W., an impressive Beaux-Arts apartment building built before the First World War. It was mostly for residents, but one of the first-floor apartments had been renovated as an office for David and two other lawyers who worked for Hanover Industries. The original woodwork and crown molding was throughout the seven rooms, with nine-and-a-half-foot ceilings and enormous windows looking out over one of Montreal’s most famous streets.
David’s office was the largest, so his desk had to be massive to fill the space. He placed it in the middle of the room, and when the girls were very little they loved to come in and crawl back and forth underneath.
David often walked down the street on his lunch hour, perusing the many art galleries along the way. He developed a taste for oil paintings and collected quite a few over the years. They graced the walls of this office, as well as his home. Sometimes Kay met him for lunch and they’d look together, but she was always drawn to Holt Renfrew. Kay had her own money, so he didn’t concern himself with how much she spent on clothes for herself or the girls, but he insisted on paying for everything else. He made sure he paid his father-in-law back for the money he’d lent them to buy the Montreal house.
David made a damn good wage, but not so high that he felt like Louis’s puppet. He earned what he made. There would be no looking at himself in the mirror if he did otherwise. He’d never shame his dad like that.
Every so often, mostly in the late afternoon when he started to wind down for the day, David looked out the window at the people hurrying past on the concrete sidewalks and the cars honking their horns, everyone trying to get somewhere. He’d think of his dad walking home from work alone, with his long stride down the dirt road, wearing work pants and a flannel shirt, carrying a tin lunch box with hands black with grease.
David would hear him whistle from down the street and he’d run up to keep him company. Dad’s face would look tired but satisfied. He’d ask David what Mom was making for supper and hoped it would include a lemon meringue pie. It usually did.
Then David would watch as his father stood at the sink and washed his hands with abrasive soap to take all the black away. Dad would turn around and wipe his hands and arms dry up to his elbows, asking Mom about her day. That’s how he liked to remember his dad, with that towel in his hands.
The phone rang and startled him. How long he’d been at the window, David didn’t know. He pushed his chair back to the desk and picked up the receiver. “David Macdonald.”
“Listen to ya. Can’t say hello like the rest of us peasants?”
David grinned. “Annie! It’s good to hear your voice.”
“You too, Davy.”
“That’s odd. I was just thinking about Dad. Remember when he came home from work?”
“He’d pretend to chase me with his dirty hands.”
“I’d forgotten that. So, how’s the family?”
“They’re boys. All they do is fart and burp.”
“How old are the twins now?”
“Twelve. George is nine and Robbie’s six. You’re their uncle; you need to know things like that.”
“It’s seems a long time since I’ve seen them.”
David and his family hadn’t been back to Cape Breton at all. They did go to Halifax twice, where Annie, Henry, and the boys met them at Kay’s family cottage while her parents were in Europe. They’d had two glorious weeks together each time. Annie was convinced it was heaven, what with the pool and a chef, but the best part was seeing their children get to know each other. David’s parents had also come up to Montreal a few times to visit, but never for more than a week. That was the time it took for Dad to do all the odd jobs around the house. After that he was like a caged lion. He even offered to mow the neighbour’s yard once when their gardener didn’t show up.
“Well, you may be seeing them sooner than you think.”
“Oh?”
“Mom didn’t want to call you, but I said I wasn’t making that mistake again.”
“Call me about what?” A shiver of unease ran through him.
“It’s Dad. He has TB.”
“Tuberculosis? Isn’t that serious?”
“It can be. The doctor wants him to go to the sanatorium in North Sydney for rest and drug therapy. He may be in there for a few months or more.”
“Dad in a bed for two months? You might as well kill him now.”
“He needs rest and he knows it. He doesn’t have the energy to do much anyway. I plan on raiding the local library. He can read to his heart’s content.”
David’s mind wandered and he only half caught what Annie said. “…Mom thinks you’re too busy with work and what can you do anyway…”
“Screw that, I want to see him. The girls finish school in a few days. We ca
n be packed and on the road by the weekend. Hell, I’ll put things on hold and we’ll come for the whole summer.”
The relief in Annie’s voice made it clear that she needed him there. When was the last time Annie had asked him for anything?
He told Kay and the girls at dinnertime that they were going to Cape Breton for the summer.
“Oh, goody!” Colleen clapped her hands and jumped up and down in her seat. “We’ll see Grampy and Grammie and Aunt Annie and Uncle Henry!”
“Do I have to play with those boys?” Frankie asked. “They put a worm in my drink last time.”
Kay’s face had gone completely white. “You didn’t think to discuss it with me?”
“Annie called. Dad has TB. He’s going into a sanatorium.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“What’s TB?” Colleen asked.
He looked at his youngest. “I’m talking to your mother.” David took a roll and broke it open before buttering it. “I want to help Mom. It’s the right thing to do, and I’d like to see my Dad. He’s not getting any younger.”
“Of course. That means we’ll stay in Glace Bay?”
“I want to go to Daddy’s bungalow. I’ve never seen it,” Colleen shouted.
Frankie made a face. “Are there bugs there?”
“We’ll stay in Glace Bay, I imagine, but I do want to take the girls to the cottage on weekends. I want them to see where I spent my summers.”
Kay nodded and excused herself from the table. She went upstairs.
“Where’s Mommy going?”
“She’s finished her dinner.” David knew what the rest of his evening would entail.
“Can I have her potatoes? Dad, can I have her potatoes?”
“No, you don’t eat off other people’s plates. Now, you and Frankie clear the table and get ready for bed.”
“Awww…”
“Now, Colleen. You too, Frankie.”
David kissed them goodnight once they brushed their teeth. Their mother was missing in action. She’d be in the tub, with the bathroom door locked. David closed the door to their room and was in bed for a good hour before Kay decided to grace him with her presence.
Her hair was in a knot at the top of her head, still damp. David knew she was furious; she’d covered herself completely with a long nightie, and ignored him as she sat at her makeup table applying night cream.
“Kay.”
She didn’t answer.
“Do you expect me to never cross the causeway again? My family lives in Cape Breton. My relatives are getting older. My loved ones are going to die. Am I going to sit here in Montreal while all that happens and never go home again because you’re afraid of Lila?”
She looked at him in the mirror but didn’t say a word.
David pressed his fingers into the corners his eyes to ease his headache. “How can you be this insecure? You’ve been my wife for twelve years now. We live in this big house that we own together and are raising our children here. Me seeing Lila is not going to end our marriage. I love you. She’s been married to Ewan for nine years. She loves him. It’s ancient history!”
Kay got to her feet and swung around to face him. “My problem is trying to forget the look on your face when you went after her in the water. If I remember correctly, we were married when that little drama unfolded.”
“And you forget that Lila grew up with Annie and me. I was afraid she’d drown in front of my mother, who thinks of Lila as one of her own. That’s what you saw, Kay! Fear.”
Kay hesitated and looked away. He got up off the bed and took her in his arms. “You are my wife. I want you with me on this trip. I’m going to need you. I don’t know how serious this is with my dad. It scares me. Please, Kay. I love you.”
He knew as soon as she kissed him and dropped her nightie to the floor that the crisis was over.
This was one time that being related to the big boss came in handy. Louis told him to take all the time he needed to be with his father.
There was a mad dash in the household over the next three days. The girls barely had time to put their report cards away before David and Kay had them packing up for the big trip. As usual, Frankie did everything quietly and efficiently, without asking them a hundred questions. Colleen came back and forth into their bedroom with endless queries.
“Dad, should I bring my winter coat? You said it was cold in the evening down by the beach.”
“Not that cold. A couple of sweaters should do.”
“Take your old red one and the new blue one,” Kay said as she opened drawers and considered what to bring herself. Colleen was back only a few minutes later.
“What about shoes?”
“You don’t have to bring any,” David smiled. “We never wore shoes in Round Island.”
Colleen’s face lit up, but Kay squelched that idea in a hurry. “Bring your sneakers and sandals. And a good pair in case we go to church.”
Out she went. David looked at his watch. “Let’s time her.”
Forty-five seconds later she was back. “We can’t go!”
“Why?” her parents said together.
“What about Bear and Tigger and Charlotte? We can’t leave them behind.”
“The dog and cats are coming with us,” said David.
“The cats too?” Kay cried.
“Yay! Wait till I tell them!” Colleen zoomed off.
Kay stood there with her hand on her hip. “I thought we’d put the cats in a kennel.”
“For two months? Let the poor little bastards have a romp in a real field and catch a country mouse.”
“You’re nuts.”
Elena packed a picnic basket for them and said she would make sure everything was locked up after they left. David could tell she was looking forward to this unexpected vacation too. It took him close to an hour to get everything packed into the car. They were so laden down their car scraped the asphalt when they backed out of the driveway. They waved at Elena as she stood by the front door yelling, “Have a good time!”
Bear was a small fluffy stray dog they’d found the year before. He was nervous to be outside. Loud noises scared him, no doubt because of some traumatizing event in his past, but he was as good as gold in the car. Kay and the girls took turns holding him. The only fly in the ointment was that he shed everywhere. They were covered in fur whenever they got out at a gas station or a rest stop.
The cats were still howling in their cages between the girls in the back seat as they passed Quebec City. After several snide glances from his wife, David laughed, “Okay! I was wrong! We should’ve put them in a kennel.”
“They better catch the biggest mouse out there,” Kay said.
“They better catch Mickey Mouse,” Colleen laughed.
“Mickey Mouse is in Florida,” Frankie sighed as she looked out the window.
“Maybe he goes on vacation in Round Island.”
“Don’t be stupid, Colleen.”
“Frankie, apologize to your sister, please.”
“I’m sorry I called you stupid.”
David looked in the rearview mirror and saw Frankie stick her tongue out at her sister. Colleen returned the favour.
He couldn’t wait to see Annie.
* * *
Annie couldn’t wait to see Davy and his family either. She loved her nieces. They were fascinating creatures, though the two of them were like chalk and cheese. Frankie was a lady. Colleen was Annie Junior, but without the confidence. Maybe a couple of months of roughhousing with the boys would toughen her up.
Annie and Henry now lived in a bigger house. The trouble with boys was that they accumulated sports equipment. The day Annie tripped and twisted her ankle on the skates and hockey sticks strewn all over the back porch was the last straw; they put the house on the market a week later.
Their new house was near the end of South Street, back in her old haunting ground. It had five bedrooms and three bathrooms and a huge yard where all the neighbourhood kids gathered. Annie overheard one of Robbie’s friends say that was because Mrs. Pratt liked dirt.
Henry had his office on Commercial Street. His mother was still his receptionist; he didn’t have the heart to fire her. Annie stayed out of it. It kept Joy out of her hair and into the hair of all Henry’s patients. Joy knew everything about everybody. Her circle of friends grew and grew, as other widows invited her over for lunch or supper to get caught up on the latest gossip but she swore to Henry on her life that she never said anything confidential, just the stories she overheard in the waiting room.
If Henry spent as much time in his waiting room as Joy did, he’d know that people loved to talk about their ailments, and those of their friends and families.
Because Annie was so busy with her brood, she often phoned her parents instead of visiting, and so it had been at least a month between visits to their house. When she saw her dad sitting on the couch in the middle of the afternoon, she knew something was wrong. They had a nice chat before he said he thought he’d lie down. Annie rushed into the kitchen so Mom could fill her in.
That was at least a month ago, and several doctors’ appointments later, the diagnosis was announced. As much as Annie and her mom told each other Dad would be fine, they both looked forward to David reassuring them too.
Kenzie went into the sanatorium before David and his family arrived. Henry didn’t let the boys see their grandfather at all, just to err on the side of caution. Annie and her mother cried when they left Dad lying on his bed covered in a white sheet, one of several patients in the same room. Dad was the one who comforted them, assuring them he’d be fine and thanking Annie again for all the books.
Annie didn’t want to drop her mom off at an empty house, but Mom insisted she wanted to be in her own home. Annie didn’t blame her. The boys would’ve been all over her.
Annie didn’t announce she was back at her house that day. The kitchen was empty and she heard Henry upstairs with the gang. She made herself a cup of tea and sat looking out the window. It was the first time she let herself think that someday her parents would die. What would her world be like without them? How would she stop being their child and needing their comfort? It didn’t matter that she had children of her own.