Learning to Swim(43)

I wandered over to the window and peered outside. Jones Island seemed so tiny from up here.

“I know what you're thinking. I might have suggested the swimming lessons, but I most definitely did not suggest anything else. I can't say I was surprised to find out that he had become so fond of you. I knew that once he got close to you, well, he'd love you as much as I do.”

Love? Had she just said love?

“He did mention one terrible mistake he made,” Alice said coyly.

My mind flashed back to last night when I'd gone all looney on him for having an ex-girlfriend. I knew exactly what he was referring to. “Let me guess. Going on a date with me?”

Alice chuckled. “You really are dense sometimes.”

“What?” This was really not a great time for Alice to be laughing at me.

“He said Mora was the mistake. If it wasn't for her, he would have found you sooner.”

Unfortunately, this information made me feel even worse. On top of not noticing that Alice had been sick, I had also overreacted the previous night. I was just so certain that my relationship with Keith would turn out the same way my mother's always did: with me being left alone and devastated when he returned to his girlfriend.

But before I could share any of this with Alice, we were interrupted by the nurse, who added another bag of clear liquid to Alice's IV. “We're going to start prepping you for surgery,” she said to Alice. “I'm afraid your guest is going to have to leave.”

My heart plummeted into the pit of my stomach as my breath caught in the middle of my windpipe. Alice and I looked at each other, both aware that it would've been a great time to make a joke, if we could have thought of anything to say.

Finally, Alice motioned toward her bedside table. “There's something in there I want you to have.”

I opened the drawer. On top of a King James Bible, there was the notebook and pen that Alice used for her lists.

“I'm certainly not going to be needing them for a while,” she said with a weak smile.

Despite her bravado, I could see the fear in her eyes. I was afraid too, but when I sat on her bed and hugged her tightly, I reminded myself that I had to be as strong for her as she'd been for me.

“You're my best friend, Alice,” I whispered.

“And you're mine,” she replied.

Doris, Thelma, and I went into the waiting room and planted ourselves on a pleather couch. There was no way any of us was going home until Alice was out of surgery. I couldn't speak for Doris and Thelma, but I didn't care how long it took. I was just going to camp out there in my maid outfit all night—all week, if need be.

I sat sandwiched between Doris and Thelma for what seemed like hours, watching lame soap operas and listening to Thelma and Doris argue. Every now and then I left them to duke it out while I perused the vending machine. Finally, the doctor came out to talk to us. The moment we saw him, we all held hands and braced ourselves for what turned out to be the best news I had ever received in my entire life.

Alice's surgery had gone so well that she would be able to return home in a few days. After the doctor gave us her prognosis, he said with a knowing wink, “She's in great shape for a fifty-nine-year-old!” And of course, we all thought that was hilarious. Alice had been telling everyone that she was fifty-nine years old, but forgot that she was in a place with medical records and accurate dates of birth.

I left the hospital feeling as though Alice's illness had given me a new perspective on life. Her brief brush with the grim reaper, combined with Keith's confession about his dead mother, had made me feel grateful that I at least had a mom. I was determined to go home and turn over a new leaf. As I walked up the steps to my apartment building, I made a silent promise to the powers that be that no matter what, I would do my best to get along with Barbie from here on out.

Of course, that was before I knew she had progressed to stage seven: the finger move.





17


When I walked in the door, the map was spread out on the coffee table with a purple Sharpie beside it.

I heard a noise and turned. My mom was leaning against the kitchen doorframe. She looked terrible. Her mascara had run all over the place and her eyes were red and puffy. “How do you feel about Ellicott City?” she asked.

“You and the jackass broke up?” It was a dumb question to ask, because I already knew the answer.

“Oh, Stef,” she said. And then came the waterworks.

The acid in my stomach started overflowing as the reality of what was happening began to sink in.

“If you could've heard him this morning, you just wouldn't have believed it,” Barbie said. “I mean, how could this happen? Just yesterday, he told me he wanted to marry me. But now… now.” She shook her head. “It's that daughter of his. Last night she tracked us down at the hotel where we were staying. She waited for us in the lobby and pounced just as we were about to go out to dinner. She told him she would never talk to him again if he left. She said she wanted nothing to do with him. She would never forgive him.” Barbie looked at me, totally bewildered. “Can you believe that? And he bought it. Lock, stock, and barrel.”

Honestly, I was impressed. He loved his daughter so much that he didn't want to hurt her. But apparently this concept was quite foreign to Barbie. “Well, she's his child,” I said. “I'm sure he just wants to protect her.”