Cracks in the Sidewalk(39)

Doctor Belleau shrugged and waited for her to continue.

“Spite,” she finally said. “Pure spite. Jeffrey is a mean-spirited person. He’s the type who would do something hateful like that. Why else would you take little children away from a grandma who loves them?”

“Do you think Jeffrey feels spiteful toward you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Claire answered, “but he does. Maybe he realizes I’m onto him. Maybe he’s worried I’ll tell people about his chippie girlfriend.”

“Would you?”

“No, but not because of him,” she said. “I wouldn’t do it because it would hurt Liz more than it would hurt him.”

“If you had the chance to hurt Jeffrey without upsetting Liz, would you?”

Claire turned away and didn’t answer.

“Okay then,” Doctor Belleau finally said. “Let’s talk about your grandchildren. Since they’re so young and impressionable, do you think their mother’s condition might upset them?”

“Christian is an infant. He wouldn’t know the difference.”

“What about the older children?”

“David and Kimberly have seen Liz sick before. She went through a rough time when she was carrying Christian, and she was sick quite often.”

“More than morning sickness and headaches?”

“Yes. Sometimes she was bedridden for days on end.”

“Who cared for the children then?”

“I did, of course,” Claire said. “I’m their grandma.”

“And now that Jeffrey has someone else taking care of the children, how does that make you feel?”

“How should it make me feel?” Claire said angrily. “I’m the grandmother! A mother should be there to care for her daughter’s children, not locked out of the house like some stranger!”

“Have you tried to telephone the children?”

“Of course. Elizabeth and I have both tried, but Jeffrey doesn’t answer the phone. If he does happen to answer, he says they’re sleeping or playing outside. He makes up any excuse to keep us from talking to the kids.”

“Have you considered that they might actually be sleeping?”

“They’re not,” Claire replied disdainfully.

Doctor Belleau continued to ask difficult questions, making Claire believe he was trying to trick her into saying things she had no intention of saying. Gradually her answers slipped into brief one word statements—yes, no, perhaps. Once that happened, Doctor Belleau suggested it was time for him to talk with Charles.

The doctor escorted Claire to the reception room. Claire planned to warn Charles of the doctor’s trickiness, but there was no chance. Doctor Belleau waited while Charles replaced the magazine he’d been reading, and then the two of them disappeared down the hall together. After that Claire could only sit and worry as the minutes ticked by.

Eventually they called for her to join them. The moment she entered the room, Claire noticed Charlie’s calm demeanor had given way to the gruffness she’d expect if he’d gotten a speeding ticket or had an exceptionally bad day at the office. Claire settled into the third leather chair and before she had time to cross her legs, Doctor Belleau turned on the tape recorder again.

“I understand that your daughter, Elizabeth, now resides at your home and you care for her, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Claire answered. “She wanted to go back to her own house where she could be with her husband and her children, but Jeffrey wouldn’t hear of it. A sick wife was supposedly too much for him to deal with.”

“But isn’t it true that Elizabeth isn’t simply sick, she’s dying?”

Charles angrily spoke up. “So are you. You’re dying, I’m dying, we’re all dying, every last one of us. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Yes, but wouldn’t you say Elizabeth’s death is imminent?”

“No one but God knows when someone will die. Life doesn’t come with guarantees. In the blink of an eye you could be struck by a car, hit by lightning, shot by an intruder.” Charles stared square into the doctor’s face. “How imminent is your own death when you consider that these things can happen?”

“Isn’t there a difference in that those are unexpected occurrences, whereas based on Elizabeth’s medical condition, her death is expected?”

“Expected when? A year? Five years? Ten years? Nobody knows. Right now the growth of that tumor has stopped, and she’s doing quite well. Maybe next week or next month some pharmaceutical company will announce a miracle drug that can get rid of the tumor altogether.”

“Do you believe that will happen?” Doctor Belleau asked.

“Can you swear it won’t?” Charles answered.

Doctor Belleau checked the time and waited to see if Charles would say something more, but he didn’t.

“Well,” the doctor finally said rising. “Our time is up, so let’s leave it here.”

Claire and Charles took one last gulp of cool air; then they walked back down the three flights of stairs, climbed into their sweltering car, and drove home.

“When do you think this weather will end?” Claire asked, fanning her face.