The three of them came barreling down the escalator. Jessie was carrying Darcy. Dakota was pulling his own suitcase on wheels and carrying his monkey which was hanging by one arm. Darcy was about to lose his blanket and my sister looked like she was about to lose her mind. She had multiple suitcases on wheels which she was trying to maneuver along with her two very active children. She had on a beautiful brown fur coat, I was not sure what type of animal it was or used to be but it was stunning. Leave it to Jessie to be dressed to the nines. She had on a skirt and boots and a cashmere sweater to match her ensemble.
The kids looked like they stepped out of an L. L. Bean catalog; in matching outfits. Their angelic look did not match their sparkling personalities. I knew I was in for a long drive to my aunt’s house.
“Can you take him?” she asked.
“Hi Jess, how about saying hello first?” Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the smell of throw up. I spotted something on Darcy’s red crewneck sweater. Dakota was whining that he was hungry.
“Sorry, the delay killed us. I had everything timed to a tee and then with the cancellation we ate too early and then Darcy got sick on the plane. Because we ate too early now they’re hungry again. I can’t win. How are you?” she said kissing me on the cheek.
“I’m fine, except for the smell.”
“Oh give him back to me I’ll go change him before we get into your car,” and like that she whisked him away to the restrooms down the corridor.
“So,” I said to Dakota, “How’s it going dude?”
“I want Mommy!” he whimpered.
“She’ll be right back; she just went to change your brother. He smelled bad.”
“I want Mommy!” he screamed.
Then out of nowhere a security guard came over. Accusingly he said, “Everything all right here?”
“Perfect,” I smiled.
“I want Mommy!” Dakota yelled.
“Are you his mother?” the security guard asked.
“No, thank God,” I said jokingly.
He raised his eyebrow and said, “What?”
“No, I’m his aunt; his mother is in the bathroom changing his little brother.”
The security guard just looked at me and then just stood there. You could tell he wasn’t a real police officer but he took his job very seriously.
***
We found our way to the car and the kids passed out immediately. Silence really is golden. My sister seemed preoccupied and we just enjoyed the quiet for a while until I couldn’t take it anymore. “So are you going to tell me where Derek is?” I asked.
“He had to go out of town. He couldn’t watch the kids for me so I had to bring them.”
“Don’t you guys have a babysitter that helps with that sometimes?” I asked.
“Yeah, Beth but her finals are next week.”
Derek was a very successful insurance wholesaler and his job did require travel. I wondered how it was every holiday, every reunion, every family event, Derek conveniently had to work and my sister seemed perfectly comfortable with the arrangement.
“That’s convenient,” I slipped.
“Rachel, I didn’t come here to fight with you. Our grandmother has died for God’s sake. Can we change the subject please?”
“Fine, it would be nice for your husband to pretend sometime that he is part of the family.”
“Rach? What the hell did I just say?”
“Fine.”
“When is the last time you saw Grandma anyway?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know. It’s been a while. I think last year at Christmas.”
“Last year?”
“I thought you didn’t want to fight Jessie,” I said.
“You haven’t seen her in a year?”
“I’m busy. I do have a full time job.”
“Oh, like I don’t.”
“You have more flexibility than I have,” I said.
“Yeah and I live all the way in Denver! It’s not like I can get back here that easily. I have little kids Rachel.”
“I guess I haven’t been a good grand daughter. I don’t have a great relationship with Grandma. She wasn’t the nicest growing up. She was always yelling at us…”
“You don’t have any relationship with her Rachel. You never did.”
“When is the last time you saw her?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh so you are going to criticize me on Grandma? How long has it been Jessie, like three years?”
Jessie was quiet. I guess she didn’t feel like getting into it at the moment. I thought back to when our mother was alive and realized that my sister and I really didn’t have much of a relationship with our grandmother. My mother never said anything bad about Grandma but she would make comments like, “Your grandmother once told me that my cleaning lady did such a nice job with our house.” We never had a cleaning lady. Once my mother told me that my grandmother made the comment, “It’s your dad’s house; he can do whatever he wants.”
I knew comments like this sent my mom into a tizzy. She and my dad had many heated arguments over my grandmother’s nasty tongue. Mom would say, “Bill why can’t you stand up to that woman?” Dad would just shake his head and tell her that it was his mom and what was he supposed to do? The excuse was always that she treated everyone like that. Mom was just supposed to suck it up like everyone else.
I guess that’s why we never really visited much growing up or now. I wondered if everyone else in the family thought the same thing about Grandma. I felt a little sad thinking this; I felt even worse knowing I wasn’t really sad that she was gone.
My Aunt Debra’s house was a four bedroom colonial that set on top of a hill. The two acre property backed into a corn field. She once awoke to a herd of cows in her yard. There was a dairy farm down the road and the cows decided to go for a walk one day and ended in her yard.
Aunt Deb loved company so when we showed up with my sister’s kids she was never happier to see everyone. She had a large house and now that my cousins were grown she said it reminded her of the old days to have young kids here. I’m sure she was especially reminded when Dakota threw his stuffed monkey at her glass vase from Tanzania. She had done a Peace Corp stint over there years ago and this was one of her prized possessions she had brought back from some village.
“I’m so sorry!” Jessie said grabbing Dakota.
“It’s okay, I can probably glue it,” Debra said.
“I show up with my two kids and now this. How can I ever make this up?” Jessie said close to tears.
“No worries. We have enough to think about in the next couple of days. Why don’t you girls go upstairs and get settled. I made some chicken stew for dinner. I’m sure everyone is hungry.”
“Yeah that it part of the problem. Our plane delay caused a lot of problems.”
“Where’s Uncle Jack?” I asked changing the subject.
“He’ll be home soon. He could have retired but he insists on working.”
My Uncle Jack was a principal at an elementary school. He had been there for thirty years, but I guess he loved it.
“I thought he’d be home by now,” I said.
“They had a meeting tonight.”
“Go on and get cleaned up and by the time you do that it’ll be time to eat.”
We climbed the stairs and our rooms were next to each other at the end of the hallway. There was a Jack and Jill bathroom adjoining our rooms. Jessie took the room on the right as it had a double bed and a trundle for the kids to sleep on. My aunt had bought that for when her daughter comes to visit with her little girl. My cousin Stacy was a piece of work. She wasn’t able to come in for the funeral. She was a District Attorney in D.C. and couldn’t get away from a case. I flopped down on the queen bed and closed my eyes for a minute. I wondered when Dad was going to show up. I wondered what his new girlfriend was going to be like.
***
The doorbell rang. I looked out the window and there was Dad and the new girlfriend. I figured I would check her out before going down to meet them. She was tall and blonde, athletic looking. Dad had mentioned that she was a runner and they had met at a 5k race a few months ago; The Race for the Cure, which my dad ran every year since mom died. I pulled at the locket around my neck; I didn’t need to open it to remember the picture of mom with her head shaved wearing her pink tee shirt the day we all ran it together. I wondered if she was watching us now.
“Hi Dad.”
“Hi Rach! Come here I want you to meet someone.”
“I’m Rachel,” I said.
“I’ve heard so much about you. Your dad talks about you all the time.” She said trying to hug me.
“I wish I could say the same. What’s your name again?” I said reaching to shake her hand. Dad gave me the look.
“Rachel, you know this is Sharon,” Dad said irritated.
“Right, I am so bad with names,” I said smiling.
Aunt Deb said, “We are just about to eat some dinner. Rachel why don’t you help your dad and Sharon take their things upstairs.”
“Okay,” I said and grabbed Dad’s duffle bag from him. “Follow me you guys.”
Dad grabbed Sharon’s large suitcase and dragged it upstairs. I looked behind me and said, “You guys bunking together? There’s plenty of room in here with me Sharon.”
Dad gave me another look and then I ducked back into my room before he could say anything. Shortly after my slighting Sharon there was a knock on my door. Dad didn’t wait for me to respond he just appeared. “So do you want to tell me why you are acting like you are sixteen instead of twenty five?”
I went to feel for my locket again. “How could you Dad?”
“How could I what?”
“Mom has only been gone for two years and you already have someone else. And then you bring her here, to Grandma’s funeral?”
“First of all it is really none of your business. But I will humor your little tantrum. I miss your mom terribly; no one could ever replace her. I am trying to move on with my life Rachel. I am lonely. I just want someone to go out to dinner with or go for a run. I’m not looking for anything permanent. Sharon was on the board to get Race for the Cure started in our area. We have a lot in common. She lost her sister to breast cancer.”
“Whatever Dad. I don’t think it is appropriate to bring her to a funeral.”
“She insisted. She is very supportive. I have become attached to Sharon. She is easy to be around. I’ve had enough drama the last couple of years. Be nice Rachel.”
Dinner went well. Aunt Deb had given the boys some snacks while everyone else was settling in so they actually sat nicely at the dinner table. We kept the conversation pretty light and everyone seemed tired from their travels. That is until Uncle Jack asked me about work.
“So Rachel,” Uncle Jack started, “How is work going?”
“Fine. This week I had one case of herpes, a kid who was talking to himself because his ADD medicine was off, one teen who thought it was okay to have oral sex…”
“This is at the middle school?”
“Yep, it’s a lot different than when we were in middle school. The worst thing I ever told the school counselor was that I had hidden Amy Alden’s training bra in another locker in gym class. She had to go the rest of the day without her bra.”
“What’s oral sex?” Dakota asked.
My sister gave me the mommy look.
“What’s herpes?” Darcy chimed.
“I think it is time for you boys to help me get the apple crisp out of the oven,” Aunt Deb said, saving the day.
“So you are a school counselor?” Sharon asked.
“Yep. Didn’t Dad tell you?”
“What do you like most about it?” Sharon asked avoiding my question.
“I don’t know. I guess I like helping the kids.”
“What is the worst problem you’ve had with the kids?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“Rachel,” Jessie said with her mommy tone.
“Well maybe she just wants to take the focus off of herself,” I said. “Shouldn’t we be asking you questions? We barely know you.”
“That’s enough Rachel.”
“Apple crisp is served,” Aunt Debra said.
***
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment