by Lesley Crewe
“She must take after you, Ethel!” one of them would hoot.
Mary lounged on the couch after supper. Her feet were on Daniel’s lap and Roscoe was on her chest. Daniel was flicking through his cell as his fingers absentmindedly brushed the bottoms of Mary’s feet. He thought it was crazy that she wasn’t ticklish, but no matter how hard he tried, she never cracked a smile, so he’d given up long ago.
Mary smoothed out Roscoe’s whiskers. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I think I know what I’d like to do.”
“When? Tonight? Tomorrow? Fifty years from now?”
“What I’d like to do with my life.”
“I hope it’s spend it with me.”
“That’s a given.” She smiled. “I think I’d like to be an RPN. A Registered Practical Nurse,” she added when Daniel gave her a blank look. “I don’t want to spend four years becoming an RN, but I think an RPN would be up my alley. I’ve watched them come in and out of Gran’s room, and they’re such an important part of a person’s recovery. It must be amazing to help someone like that.”
Daniel gripped her toes. “You would be terrific! I think that’s perfect.”
“It’s too late to get into this year’s program, but if I save up my money, I’m sure I’ll have enough for next year’s tuition.”
Daniel grinned at her. “Look at us. I’m heading to NSCC in a couple of weeks for my heavy equipment diploma and you’ll be a nurse. We’re so grown up and responsible. We’re turning into boring people.”
“Boring people are the folks who make this world a better place.” She rubbed Roscoe’s nose. “Isn’t that right, you handsome devil?”
Roscoe agreed.
Peggy had lost twenty-five pounds and she was looking mighty fine. She was proud of herself, even though her mother never said anything. Her sister, niece, and daughter did, so that was enough. And Ted was very happy with her progress, asking her to do a striptease for him in front of the computer one morning before he went to bed. Only after he swore that there was no one in the building and all the citizens of the city had vanished did she concede.
It felt ridiculous. She had no music to help her along, so she sang as she cavorted around the end of the bed. “Da da da…da…da da da…da da da…dada…da da…dun dun…wop! Dun…wop! Dun…wop!” She threw her bra at the screen and wrenched her back doing it. “Ow ow ow!”
Ted was in hysterics on the other side of the screen. He held his glasses in his hand as tears ran down his face. “Stop! Stop! You’re going to kill yourself! Oh my God…that was priceless!”
Peggy hobbled to the side of the bed. “You’re supposed to be turned on, you big jerk!”
She’d talk to him at night before he headed out for the day. They hadn’t talked like that in years. He’d pour his heart out about some of the things he’d seen and Peggy would cry about how unfair life was. It was all about where you were born on this planet. Just plain stinking luck made the difference in whether your life was hell or not.
When Peggy wasn’t running up to the hospital to visit her mother, she was taking sewing classes with a woman who was highly recommended. It came to her one night in a dream. She remembered that she used to love to watch her mother sew, and Mom would give her small scraps and a needle and thread to make dresses for her doll.
Naturally, Peggy ran out and got the most expensive sewing machine available, and soon regretted her decision when she saw the two-inch-thick manual that came with it. But she had long evenings to fill, so she set about the Herculean task of learning every trick this machine had. Even her instructor couldn’t believe the bells and whistles.
She started with sewing covers for cushions. Peggy would hold up material in front of the computer screen and Sheena would pick out which ones she liked. Then Sheena wanted a duvet cover, so Peggy set to work sewing that. Mary happened to call her one day for a recipe, and Peggy asked her if she wanted a couple of aprons. Mary said sure.
The days flew by. One afternoon another sewing student got the wrong time for her appointment, and the instructor asked if it was okay if they did it together. That’s how Peggy met Lynne, and they got along so well that they went out for coffee afterward and talked about sewing techniques for three hours. Turned out Lynne lived just down the road. Pretty soon they were shopping for fabric together and meeting for lunch. Peggy found herself humming during the day, even when she was eating celery and carrots for a snack. She’d come a long way, baby.
Carole spent every second evening sitting with her mom in the hospital room. She would take videos of the boys throughout the day and play them back for her. “Look at Liam! He jumped up on the table and knocked the package of cookies on the floor so Will and Billy could have some. He’s so thoughtful.”
Ethel was not impressed.
“I bet the house is a shambles. How can you live with all the fur floatin’ around?”
“I clean up the fur and brush my dogs. The place is spotless.”
“They better not lie on that couch in the living room. That’s my spot. When I get home I want those dogs on the floor.”
This was a delicate subject. The doctor had told Carole that her mother could never live at home again and no matter how many times it was explained to her, she refused to listen. At first Carole thought her mother was being deliberately wilful about it, but the doctor also explained that some of Ethel’s brain function had deteriorated with the heart attack.
“I didn’t know she had any brain function left!” Carole had joked.
The doctor didn’t think it was funny.
“Lighten up!” she said to his retreating back. Jesus, some of these medical types were such tight-asses.
So Carole would go over it again. “Ma, you can’t come home. I can’t take care of you all by myself. We’re trying to find you a room in a nursing home.”
“One of those vegetable plots?” Ethel shook her head. “I ain’t goin’.”
“You have to go somewhere. The hospital can’t keep you forever. They need these beds for really sick people.”
“Carole, go home. You’re beginning to depress me.”
Carole loved going home. Her boys were always overjoyed to see her. They looked at her as if she was the best person on the planet. She wanted to be that for them. Looking around on the internet she found places around town where dog people met to have play dates with their dogs. Carole had never known this existed. She started meeting other owners, and naturally if your dog was the same breed, you tended to gravitate to them to compare notes or offer suggestions.
Carole was obviously new to this game, but her boys never let on. They did their best to be perfect gentlemen when they were in a crowd. She couldn’t have been more proud.
And then one day the SPCA called to say another little dog had come in overnight and was it possible she had room for him too?
“Aw, nuts. Don’t do this to me.”
“I’m sure we’ll have no trouble adopting him. He’s a little black pug. I thought you might like first dibs, since your last adoption was such a resounding success. He’s awfully cute. I’d take him myself if I didn’t have six already.”
“I’m not promising anything. I’ll just take a quick peek.”
That’s how she came home with Weechee.
But Weechee upset the delicate balance in the household. Billy ran and hid on Carole’s bed and Will and Liam were chased around the house until they dropped with exhaustion.
Carole picked up Weechee and tried to scold him but she couldn’t get him to focus on her. His eyes looked in two different directions. His curly pink tongue stuck out almost to his chin, and his face was split in half with his goofy grin.
“You can’t beat up other dogs. You’ll have to go back. I’m sorry, but my boys come first. Do you hear me?”
He licked her face all over an
d snuggled into her neck.
“Well, shit.”
And so began the impossible task of trying to fit Weechee into the mix, but it didn’t go well. Billy was still cowering on top the bed and Will and Liam spent the day under it. By nine o’clock that night, she knew the dog had to go back.
The trouble was that she was completely mad about him.
Carole rang Mary’s doorbell. She came down the stairs wearing her favourite flannel pyjamas. When she opened the door she made a face.
“Who is this?”
“This is Weechee. You have to take him. The boys don’t like him but I’m in love with him. Please don’t make me take him back.”
“Mom, I have a cat.”
“So? Cats and dogs aren’t assholes like people. They actually get along.”
Mary looked at him. Weechee was snorting.
“Hold him. Just for a minute.”
Mary reached out and Weechee engulfed her face with pug kisses. He wiggled and snorted and tried to bury his face in her boobs. Both Mary and her mother started laughing.
“This dog is ridiculous!” Mary shouted.
Daniel came down the stairs. “What are you two doing?”
Mary held Weechee up. “Look at this monster.”
Daniel took one look and grabbed him. “This is the cutest dog I’ve ever seen!”
“That’s great. He’s yours. I’ll bring you some food.” Carole disappeared into her house.
“We can’t keep this dog,” Mary said. “What about Roscoe?”
“Roscoe will give him a big scratch on the nose and that will be that.” Daniel could barely keep the wiggly bundle in his arms. “He’s saying, ‘Please Mommy! Please take me in! I’m just a poor boy…nobody loves me….’”
Carole arrived back and shoved a dog dish and a bag of food in Mary’s hands.
“Perfect. See ya tomorrow.” She slammed her front door shut.
Daniel ran up the stairs with the dog and left Mary to lock up. How had this happened in the space of one minute? She followed him up the stairs and watched Daniel put Weechee on the floor and gaze at him like he was the best thing that had ever happened.
“Look at this guy! He’s like a stuffed toy. Hey, Weechee!”
The dog hunkered down with his two front paws stretched in front of him on the floor and his curly-tailed bum waving in the air. When Daniel took a step nearer, he took off like a shot and ran down the hall into the kitchen, only to appear a second later and run back up the hall. Then he spied Roscoe on the couch and hurled himself into the air and landed right on him. Roscoe did exactly what Daniel predicted: he puffed up and swatted Weechee right across the face. Weechee yelped and made a beeline for Daniel, who picked him up and nestled him under his chin.
“Poor little guy. Don’t be so mean, Roscoe.”
Mary hurried over to her cat. “Hey, don’t say that. This is his house.”
“There’s more than enough room for them both.”
Mary wondered about that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In September, Carole met Jerry Hawco at a fundraiser for the SPCA. All pets were welcome, and Jerry walked in with a gorgeous black-and-white Newfoundland dog named Ruth. It was love at first sight for Billy, who pulled Carole over to check out the new babe.
Jerry was a carpenter, divorced with two grown kids who lived away. He was shy and easy-going, completely the opposite of Carole, but he didn’t need to know that. They spent the entire time talking about dogs and then he asked if she wanted to have a coffee with him later that week. She agreed, and decided she ought to touch up her roots.
She was in the middle of that when the phone rang. It never failed. The phone number looked unfamiliar, so she took off one of her rubber gloves and picked it up.
It was the Seaview Manor. They had a bed for her mother.
“But it’s in Glace Bay,” Carole said.
“When a spot becomes available, you either take it or go back to the bottom of the list.”
“I see. We’ll obviously take it. What do we do now?”
Carole got off the phone and called her sister. “Peggy, they have a bed for Ma at Seaview Manor. We have to go tell her.”
The sisters vowed to stay strong as they walked in their mother’s hospital room. It didn’t help that she looked very small and vulnerable lying there. She was gazing out the window and didn’t see them come in.
“Hi, Ma.”
Ethel turned her head. “What’s wrong? The two of you are never here together.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Peggy said brightly. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a butthole, how d’ya think? I’m sick and tired of being here.”
Peggy clapped her hands. “Well, we have good news. They’ve found you another bed. You can leave here tomorrow.”
“I’m going home?”
The sisters glanced at each other. Carole cleared her throat. “You’re going to a nice room at the Seaview Manor in Glace Bay.”
“Glace Bay? Who the Jesus wants to go there? I had a cousin from Glace Bay and he was a first-class eejit.”
“They assure me it’s a lovely room—”
“I ain’t goin’, I tell ya! You can’t make me go. I want to go home. Please take me home.” Ethel began to cry. “I won’t make no trouble. I swear.”
Carole and Peggy couldn’t hold back their tears. Peggy looked to Carol in desperation. “What do we do?”
Carole reached out and took her mother’s hand. “It’s for your own good, Ma. They can’t keep you here. But we’ll come and visit you every day. You won’t be alone, I swear. I promise. Do you hear me?”
“Why are you doing this? Where’s Mary? She’ll take me home. “ Ethel twisted away from her daughters. “Mary! Mary!”
Ethel’s voice got louder and her agitation extreme. Peggy ran out the door and headed for the nurses’ station. “Could you help me, please? Our mother is very upset.”
Eventually a nurse gave Ethel a shot to calm her down, and she drifted off to sleep, tears still on her cheeks. The sisters were beside themselves, but a social worker came in and explained that it was always distressing to make this kind of move, and they weren’t to blame. They were helping their mother. Carole and Peggy still felt like monsters, no matter how the woman tried to explain it.
The social worker said it would be better if Carole and Peggy weren’t there when they moved Ethel in the morning, but waiting in the new room to greet their mom when she arrived. Carole asked Mary if she could be there too, so Mary switched shifts with Janet.
The three of them drove out to Glace Bay and parked in the Seaview Manor parking lot. The blue waves sparkled on this perfect September morning, and the breeze was warm. All Mary wanted to do was run to the bottom of the street and throw herself into the water so she could swim away and leave this heartache behind. Her grandmother would hate it here. Not that there was anything wrong with the facility, but she wasn’t in her own community. She would feel a thousand kilometres away, even though it was only twenty minutes.
They gathered in the lobby and someone came and took them to Ethel’s room. They’d hoped she’d be next to a window, but that side of the room was occupied.
Peggy panicked. “Is there any way she could be upgraded to a single room?”
The administrator tried to be patient. “Mrs. Henderson, this isn’t a hotel. We only have so many rooms and there are lots of people on waiting lists. It’s a very slow process. And in your case, you’re lucky. Your mother could have been sent anywhere in the province. Try to be grateful she’s so close to home.”
Peggy sat in a hard chair, Carole sat on the hospital bed, and Mary stood against the wall while they waited. Every time it sounded like someone was coming, they held their breaths.
Eventually, the noise out in the hall indicated that several peo
ple were coming. Carole and Peggy stood up and joined Mary by the wall. Two paramedics came through the door with Ethel bundled up in blankets. She looked so small, her frightened face not knowing where to look. A couple of nurses and the administrator came in as well. Then came the soothing, loud voice of the head nurse, as the men unbuckled the straps holding her on the gurney.
“Now, Mrs. Ryan, we’ll fix you up in no time and have you comfy in just a minute. Then you can visit with your family.”
Mary heard Gran’s voice tremble. “Where are they?”
“They’re right here, Mrs. Ryan.”
Mary stepped forward. “Gran? It’s me.”
“Mary? Mary!”
They placed Ethel in the bed and the paramedics moved off with the gurney. Mary reached out and grabbed Gran’s hand. “It’s okay.”
Her grandmother had aged in the three days since she’d seen her. Mary couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Mary, get me outta here! I’ve been kidnapped. Those bastards wouldn’t listen to me. I told them to leave me alone but they just bundled me up like a bag of old trash.”
Mary was aware that her mother now had her face buried in Aunt Peggy’s shoulder. “Listen, Gran. I want you to lie back and take a deep breath. You’re not alone. I’m here, and Mom’s here and Aunt Peggy too. We all came to see you, to welcome you to this new room. All these people are here to help you. We won’t let them hurt you.”
“But why can’t I go home with you? You can take care of me.”
“You can’t go home right now because you’re too ill. But I can come and take you outside for a walk when the weather’s good. I can put you in a wheelchair and we can do wheelies in the hallway,” said Mary with a smile. “And I’ll smuggle in pizza. How does that sound?’
“What about some gin? I could use a stiff drink.”
“We’ll see.”
Ethel’s eyes landed on her daughters. “You two did this! You couldn’t wait to get rid of me. I hate you both. Go away! Get out!”