My Name Is Venus Black(72)

“So, are you moving across town or farther away?” asks Tony. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Probably not far,” she says with a girlish shrug. “Mainly I want to downsize.” She is fidgeting with her fingers. No rings. Her nails are unpainted. She seems almost as nervous as he is.

When Tony scans the kitchen, he notices that the appliances are all outdated. He also sees yet another picture of Leo, on the windowsill above the sink. At the end of the kitchen is a back door that leads to a carport. And, catty corner from it, a door that must lead to a basement.

“Let me show you the upstairs bedrooms first,” Inez says. She leads him back to the hallway. The first door on the left is a bathroom. He peeks in. Ordinary. Clean. Pink porcelain tub and toilet, cheap fixtures, and a plastic shower door with that bubble glass you can’t see through.



At the end of the hall she opens a door to what is clearly a boy’s room. Leo’s. Tony’s gut tightens. He walks in, looks around. Shit. Obviously she hasn’t changed this room since Leo went missing, but it’s clean and dusted. A red toy car sits on the floor by the bed; a blue plastic ball is in the corner. The curtains are decorated with spaceships. The rug is the “right” blue.

Oh dear God. She has been waiting and hoping for Leo to come home for six years. For a second, he feels dizzy. He puts a hand on a dresser to steady himself.

“I see you have a son,” he says with a catch in his voice.

“Yeah,” she says. “He’s out with friends right now.” Tony could swear that she knows he knows she is lying. Her face is flushed and she quickly leaves the room.

“This is the master,” she says, turning toward the door opposite the bathroom. Tony follows her in. “I’m afraid there’s no adjoining master bath. Just the one across the hall. But there’s another bathroom—no tub but a shower and sink and toilet downstairs. I think they call it a three-quarter bath?”

“Great,” says Tony.

“So, you said you have a daughter?” she asks. Tony is totally taken aback by the question. He forgot he’d said that. “Sure do. She’s seventeen.”

“And your wife?”

“She passed when my daughter was born,” he says. He’s remembering the old advice that when you have to lie, use the truth whenever possible.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she says, combing a hand through her hair. “That must be hard. Being a single parent.”

“Yeah,” says Tony. “But we get by.”

“I know what that’s like,” she says. “I’ve been widowed for a while.”

Tony hadn’t expected for the conversation to get this personal. His eyes quickly dart around her bedroom. The bed is plain, a white nubby bedspread. A painted white headboard. Two pieces of art that look like garage-sale buys. On the nightstand, yet another photo of Leo.



Tony thinks it is weird that there are no photos of the daughter, Venus. Then again, given what happened, maybe it’s not weird at all.

Pretending to be serious about looking hard at the house, he opens her closet door. When he sees the jumble within, he quickly shuts it.

“I’m sorry, I’m kind of a slob!” she says, with a laugh.

“So am I,” says Tony. “I like to think it’s a sign of creativity, so maybe you’re creative, too.”

“I don’t know about that.” She shrugs. “Are you an artist?”

“Kind of,” he says, shaking his head. “So, when was the house built?” These are the kinds of questions he needs to be asking.

“You know, I think around the late forties. But I’m not positive.

“Let’s go downstairs,” she offers. “It’s a basement but partly finished.”

For the rest of the tour, he sticks to buyer-oriented questions. Downstairs, he compliments the knotty-pine paneling in the bedroom. It contains a stripped bed, small furniture, and packed boxes.

After she shows him the bathroom, which opens right off the bedroom, Tony takes a big breath. “Well, I think I’ve bothered you enough,” he says.

“No bother,” she says. But he can tell this whole tour has been a torture for her. She doesn’t offer to show the garage and he doesn’t ask, just turns away and starts upstairs, desperate to get out.

At the door, Inez says, “I just have a question.”

“Yes?”

“How did you know my phone number?”



Tony is caught off guard. “Well…I got it off the COMING SOON sign out there.”

She nods. “Oh. I didn’t even know it was on there.”

Tony turns back to her at the door, realizing he screwed up. “I really like the place. I’ll probably give your realtor a call once I’m back home and see what we can do.”

“Sure,” she says. “Thanks.” She moves toward him and awkwardly extends her hand. He shakes it. Their eyes meet briefly. Sad gray eyes with brows shaped exactly like Leo’s.





It’s a Sunday evening in February, and I can tell Inez is startled to see me on her porch.

“Venus,” she says.

“Yeah,” I answer, like I’m disappointed it’s me, too.