Wednesday, August 9
CHAPTER 25
Ernie blinked and held on, keeping his eyes closed for over a minute. Opening his right eye first, he saw dust dancing in the sunlight. He turned his face to the pillow and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He heard snoring rise from a whisper to a roar before falling to a wheeze.
“Lisa,” he said. She’d moved in before the funeral, camped out in Nanny’s room and had shown no inclination to leave.
He couldn’t escape the nightmare of his Uncle and now there was Lisa, the walking nightmare. She filled up the house with her demands. “WHERE’S THE MILK? WHERE’S THE CEREAL? HAVEN’T YOU GOT ANY CORN FLAKES? ERNIE, GET ME A POP. IT’S SO HOT IN HERE. HOW COME YOU DON’T HAVE AIR CONDITIONING? WHAT’S FOR SUPPER? AUNTY BETH WHERE ARE THE SANITARY NAPKINS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE OUT? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? MY MOTHER ALWAYS BOUGHT THE NAPKINS!” Ernie took to raiding Lisa’s stash of candies. She’d put them under some of Nanny’s clothes in a drawer and whenever the opportunity arose, he’d grab a handful and stuff them in his pocket. Lisa had begun to stand very close, sniffing his breath and saying, “ANYTHING TO CONFESS?”
Nightmares of Uncle Bob came every night. Sweat and the smell of onions stayed with him. Lisa had to have onions with every meal. She fried them, boiled them or ate them raw. Even over the dusty, lingering scent of his grandmother’s cigarettes, there was the ripe, thick, sharp stink of onions.
He pulled on sweats and a T-shirt. Ernie remembered the salads Nonno used to make: tomatoes, yellow peppers, cucumbers, lettuce with vinegar and olive oil. Then he remembered onions. Nausea ground him down.
Scout lifted her head and stretched her front paws.
Ernie rubbed her under the chin. She followed him downstairs. He looked for the oxygen line before remembering it was one of the first things his mother had thrown out. Next, she tossed the cigarettes.
WHEEZE!
He couldn’t smell his grandmother anymore. Just onions. He closed his eyes and hoped when he opened them again, he wouldn’t feel that itchy, annoying, rough, scratching against his eyeballs. For a day or two, crying had eased the irritation.
He opened the sliding glass door and let Scout out. He reached for the remote on the coffee table, pressed power then sat on Nanny’s love seat.
The news was on. “Love dolls and the men who buy them.” The reporter didn’t smile. Her eyes stared down the camera. Her black hair was parted down the middle and curled behind her ears. A shot of an ambulance pulling away with the Bow River weir in the background. Back to the reporter. “The recent drowning of a Calgary man has raised many questions about love dolls and men who spend up to $7,000 to buy them.” Next a clip of a life-sized doll in a teddy sitting in a wooden crate. The reporter said, “More on V Channel at six.”
Ernie pressed the power button. The picture faded. “Can’t even watch TV anymore.”
Scout scratched at the door.
Ernie stuffed the remote down between the cushions. “Let Lisa go crazy trying to find it.”
He remembered the look on his mother’s face when Lisa cried, “MY PARENTS SOLD THE HOUSE. NEW PEOPLE MOVED IN. WHERE AM I GONNA GO?”
Ernie let Scout in. She put her paws on his knee. He rubbed her under the chin. “How about a walk?” She ran for the back door, then ran back to see if he really meant it. The she waited, tail sweeping the linoleum as he attached the leash to her collar and opened the dead bolt.
“TELEPHONE!” Lisa said.
Beth rolled over and looked at the ceiling.
“TELEPHONE!”
Beth blinked and had her feet on the floor before she had time to think.
“TELEPHONE!”
“I heard you!” Beth stumbled into the hallway.
“YOU DON’T NEED TO YELL!” Lisa fell into an injured silence.
If I’m lucky, she won’t talk to me for the rest of the morning, Beth thought as she lifted the receiver.
“I HEARD THAT!”
Beth suppressed the urge to scream, then said, “Hello?”
“Beth? It’s Judy. I’m so sorry, it just wasn’t possible to make it back for Mom’s funeral. Besides, I didn’t know if I’d be welcome.”
Beth recognized the tone of voice. It was all at once patronizing, slick, syrupy and tinged with just the right amount of guilt.
“And poor Ernesto dying on the same day. I don’t know how you coped,” Judy said.
Beth heard Atlantic waves. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. A part of her longed for sand and salt water sifting around her ankles. If she played it just right, Judy might invite her down. Beth shook her head and said, “What do you want?”
“Pardon me?”
Beth heard the real Judy. The Judy who always got what she wanted. “This is the way you talk to me when you want something. So, what do you want?” Beth said.
Lisa appeared in the doorway, “DON’T YOU TALK TO MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!”
Beth turned her head and stared, momentarily freezing Lisa with a glare.
“I’VE GOT SUCH BAD CRAMPS!” Lisa said, held her stomach, and retreated into the bathroom.
You can still hear what we say from the bathroom, Beth thought.
“Is Lisa okay?” Judy said.
If you’re so concerned, why isn’t she with you? Beth thought.
Judy said, “It’s so good of you to take her in for me. I don’t blame you for being upset with me for missing the funeral, but we’re all that’s left of the family. We’re still sisters.”
“Do you want to talk to Lisa?”
“Oh no, we need to talk. Like sisters. Like we used to.”
“Talk?” Beth said.
“Well, you know, this business opportunity came up on the island and I just couldn’t turn it down.”
“Bob show up yet?” Beth said.
“Not a hair.”
Beth was sure she heard relief in her sister’s voice. “We haven’t seen him either. Lisa would like to talk with you.”
“I don’t want to bother her,” Judy said.
“You sure?”
“Look,” Judy said.
Here it comes. The bottom line, Beth thought.
“They’re attempting to freeze my assets.” Judy was all business now.
“I thought only the daiquiris were frozen in the tropics,” Beth said.
“It’s no joke. There’s an investigation.”
“What kind of investigation?”
“Something to do with the RCMP and the divorce,” Judy said.
“Divorce?” Beth said.
“Bob and I got divorced a little over a month ago.”
Beth thought for a moment. Up to a couple of months ago, Judy’s only assets had been a house with a second mortgage and a car dealership that was slowly going bankrupt.
She decided to push Judy a little harder. “Then, why did you phone us to find out where he was?”
“Forget about that. I want my share of the inheritance.”
You won’t be happy with the will, Beth thought. An idea blossomed. “She did leave some money. How do I get it to you?”
“Well, it’s complicated.”
She expected me to put up more of a fight, Beth thought.
“I’ve got to have some kind of address if I’m going to send it.”
“It has to remain absolutely confidential.”
Beth reached for a pen and wrote down the address. “You like living on the beach?”
“What did Lisa tell you?”
“I can hear the surf, Judy.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sure Lisa would like to talk with you,” Beth said.
“I can’t right now. Send her my best. How soon will you be sending the money?”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks. Bye.” Judy hung up.
“Okay.” Beth set the receiver down. “Lisa, have you got a passport?”
“YES.”
Beth moved to the hallway. Through the bedroom doorway, she saw Ernie’s empty bed. “Where’s Ernie?”
“HOW WOULD I KNOW WHERE HE IS? HE’S NOT MY BROTHER.”
