Jane Doe(33)

Four emergency room visits later, it turned out it was just a migraine. She got a lot of pain pills out of it though, so it was a win-win for her.

“Paralysis!” she finally warbles. “Daddy’s right side is paralyzed! He can’t hardly lift his foot!”

“Is it temporary or permanent?”

Uh-oh, I can tell by her silence that I’ve got her. “They . . . they say you can never be sure.”

“But they think it’s temporary?”

“Sure, but he’s gonna need a wheelchair for now at least, Jane. We’ll have to make updates to the house!”

She means the trailer. The latest trailer in a string of trailers, each one smaller and more run-down than the last. I don’t think those aluminum doors are wide enough for a wheelchair, so a ramp won’t do any good anyway. “I’m sure Ricky can help with that. He’s pretty handy. No point throwing money into that heap.”

“That’s our home, you heartless bitch!”

“Then you’d better find a way to make it work. If it needs medical fixes, I’m sure Medicare will accommodate you.”

“Family takes care of family.” She’s lost the helpless warble and moved straight into a hard, spitting screech. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Your own father is on his deathbed, and you could care less! There’s a devil in you, you uppity cunt.”

“You just cost yourself a hundred dollars,” I say. “Care to try for more?”

“You!” she screams. “You evil little . . .” But she gets control of herself. She knows damn well that I’ll cut her off without a dime. “Jane, I need that money.” Helpless wheedling again. “How can I take care of Daddy if I can’t stay close?”

“It’s Enid. Four hundred dollars should go a long way. I’ll send it today. Be sure to make it last.”

I hang up. When the phone rings again, I switch it off. I feed my cat and grab my coat and some gloves. It’s cold outside. When I step out of my apartment, I wish I’d brought a hat too. I’m thankful for the warmth of the convenience store when I stop to put $400 on a card. There’s a post office on the way to work, but I’d rather steal a stamp from my company, so I walk on. I’m not worried she’ll notice my mail is coming from Minneapolis. I travel for work, and my family doesn’t even know who Meg was, much less why I’d be here.

I call the hospital before I get to the office and ask about my father. He’s in room 223. I hang up before the call transfers. I don’t want to speak to him. I just want to be sure my mother isn’t running a scam. This was a little too close on the heels of that car repair.

Twenty minutes later the card is in the mail and I’m working on data entry. Steven walks through the room and catches my eye. He winks.

I ignore him and return my gaze to the computer. It’s time to pull back a little and make him work for it. Maybe I’ll grab lunch with Luke after all.





CHAPTER 25

Luke looks delighted to see me again. I’m not sure why. I only have thirty minutes, so we’re definitely not going back to his place for a quickie.

“You said yes,” he says as he meets me on the street in front of the restaurant. It’s an Indian buffet I figure Steven would never stumble upon.

“I was tired of playing hard to get,” I joke.

“Thanks for throwing me a bone.”

He knows I don’t have much time, so we head inside and get right in line with our plates. I load mine up with a little of everything and I notice Luke does the same. He even grabs an extra plate to hold naan for both of us, along with a few dipping sauces.

“How’s your week going?” he asks as we find a table.

“Really good. I’m getting a lot of stuff done. How about you?”

“Same old, same old. How’s the cat?”

“She’s great.”

“Does she have a name yet?”

I shrug. “I asked, but she’s being pretty cagey.”

“Cats, man.”

We dig into our food. It’s not the best Indian I’ve ever had, but the chicken is spicy and the naan is warm and fresh out of the oven, and that’s good enough for me.

“I hear it’s going to snow tonight,” Luke says.

“Sure feels like it.”

“Can I talk you into coming over to hide under the covers and watch a movie?”

I stare blankly at him for a moment. “You mean have sex, right?”

He turns bright red and coughs.

I can be charming. In fact, I’m really good at it. Small talk doesn’t make me nervous, so I ask all the right questions and make people feel special and engaged. I’m good at lying and I enjoy it. It’s an intricate, beautiful dance. But, like a dance, it takes concentration and effort, and pretending that I actually like that jackass Steven is draining me.

I don’t want to lie right now. I don’t want to be charming and warm and human. I just want to relax.

Luke gulps some water and recovers, though his cheeks are still pink. “No,” he says. “I mean yes, maybe sex too.”

I nod.

“But I was mostly asking about the movie.”

I don’t like movies as much as books. With books, the narrator explains what people are feeling and thinking, so I don’t have to figure it out. But some movies are easier than others. “Okay. Something with action, maybe? Explosions?”