The Last Time They Met Part 4

Linda's appet.i.te was gone. The cheeseburgers seemed obscene in their lakes of grease, soaking into the paper plates.

-She could be stubborn. Jesus, could she be stubborn. Thomas smiled at a memory he did not divulge. Thomas smiled at a memory he did not divulge. And oddly brave. She wouldn't cry when hurt. Though she could certainly whine when she wanted something. And oddly brave. She wouldn't cry when hurt. Though she could certainly whine when she wanted something.

-They all do.

Thomas ate his cheeseburger, holding his tie as he did so. Well, he'd have to eat, wouldn't he? Linda thought. Otherwise, he'd have starved to death years ago. He glanced at her untouched plate, but said nothing.

-She was a good little athlete, Thomas said. Thomas said. I used to take a plastic lawn chair and sit and watch her T-ball games. Most of the kids would be in the outfield picking dandelions. Some would just sit down. I used to take a plastic lawn chair and sit and watch her T-ball games. Most of the kids would be in the outfield picking dandelions. Some would just sit down. He laughed. He laughed.

Linda smiled. I remember those. Someone would hit a ball to the outfield and all the kids would run to get it. I remember those. Someone would hit a ball to the outfield and all the kids would run to get it.

-They say it would have lasted less than a minute. The drowning. A child gulps in water more quickly than an adult. And it was always possible she was knocked unconscious. I've spent years praying for that. That it was a blow and not a drowning. Amazing, isn't it? Hundreds of hours of prayer just to spare her that one minute.

Not amazing, Linda thought. She'd have done the same.

-It's awful to think I'm letting go, he said. he said. And I am. I don't remember as much as I used to. I don't even remember what I don't remember. And I am. I don't remember as much as I used to. I don't even remember what I don't remember.

She touched him then, on the arm. It would have been inhuman not to. There are just no words, Thomas. There are just no words, Thomas.

-No, there aren't, and isn't that ironic? We who thought we had all the words. Jean, with her camera, has made us irrelevant.

A motorboat with a young blond woman at the helm sped around the corner. The girl seemed exuberant with her own beauty and the first warm day of the season.

Thomas bent his head slightly forward. Scratch up near my shoulders, Scratch up near my shoulders, he said. he said.

On the way to the ferry, Thomas, who was either exceptionally hot or desiring to be cleansed, went into the water. Linda sat on a hillock and watched the way he dove in and stood, staggering with the shock of the cold, shaking his head like a dog, hiking his boxers up to his waist. They hung low on his thighs when he came out and molded his genitals, which had grown longer in the intervening years.

-It's like electric shock therapy, Thomas reported as he used his s.h.i.+rt to dry himself. Thomas reported as he used his s.h.i.+rt to dry himself.

He s.h.i.+vered on the ferry, despite his jacket. Later they would learn that the lake was polluted. He held his s.h.i.+rt in a ball. She stood near to him to warm him, but the s.h.i.+ver came from deep within and would not be appeased. He seemed oblivious to curious stares, in the boat and at the entrance to the hotel, his hair dried into a comical sculpture by the water and the ferry breezes. He got out at her floor and accompanied her to her room, looking for all the world like a refugee from a disaster (and of course he was, she thought). He stood at the door and finger-combed his hair.

-I won't ask you in. She meant it, actually, as a kind of joke, as if they had been on a date. But Thomas, as ever, took her seriously. She meant it, actually, as a kind of joke, as if they had been on a date. But Thomas, as ever, took her seriously.

-What's the harm?

-What's the harm? Linda asked, incredulous. Linda asked, incredulous.

-Antecedents, he said. he said. Does this exist on its own, or because of what went before? Does this exist on its own, or because of what went before?

-Because of what went before, I should think.

He studied her. What large drama, do you suppose, will part us this time? What large drama, do you suppose, will part us this time?

-There doesn't have to be any drama, Thomas. We're too old for drama.

He turned to leave, then stopped. Magdalene, Magdalene, he said. he said.

The name, the old name. Nearly an endearment.

Against her better judgment, she looked for evidence of others before her and found it in a single hair, disturbingly pubic, on the white tile beneath the sink. She was farsighted now and could blur her reflection in the mirror, and sometimes she did that if she was in a hurry. But today, she wanted sight: dispa.s.sionate and objective.

She unb.u.t.toned her blouse in the way that a woman who is not being watched will do, unzipped her jeans, and kicked them from her feet. The underwear, unmatched, could stay. She put her hands on her hips and looked into the mirror. She did not like what she saw.

She was what was never possible: a fifty-two-year-old woman with thinning blond hair; no, not even that, not blond, but rather no color, a gray if you will, closer to invisible. Invisible at the roots and spreading out to a dirty gold that did not exist in nature. She examined squarish hips and a thickening waist that just a year ago she'd been convinced was only temporary. She'd read about girls who thought they were too fat when in fact they were frighteningly thin (well, Maria's friend Charlotte had been one); whereas she, Linda, thought she was in general a thin woman when in reality she was overweight. And of course there were her hands, the skin long roughened, announcing her age and then some.

She turned abruptly away from the mirror, a peevish physician annoyed by his patient. She took the terrycloth hotel robe from its hook and meant to put it on, but instead she froze with it in her arms.

Was she mad? What had she been thinking? No one would see her body. So why the lover's examination?

She tried her daughter again, this time on Maria's cell phone. Though Linda had offered to pay for the calls, Maria had refused, her independence, even in the face of impressive student loans, no surprise. Whereas Marcus. Marcus needed to be taken care of, had developed charm to compensate for common sense, a nascent charisma to attract someone who might watch out for him. Such as David, Marcus's lover, who was, at times, excessively protective, monitoring Marcus's eating habits and sleep in a way she herself hadn't done in years. Marcus was brilliant and would never use it; indeed, would make a point of denying this advantage.

Linda lay back on the bed, holding the telephone, hoping her daughter would answer and smiling when she did. Is this a bad time? Is this a bad time? Linda asked. Linda asked.

-No, I'm finis.h.i.+ng lab reports. Maria was truly happiest when doing two things at once. Maria was truly happiest when doing two things at once. How are you? How are you?

-I'm at a writers' festival, Linda said. And quickly thought, One needn't tell the truth. The truth being that she'd become unhinged by the unexpected. Linda said. And quickly thought, One needn't tell the truth. The truth being that she'd become unhinged by the unexpected.

The merits of the northern city were discussed.

-I was just thinking about your father, Linda added. A partial truth, though it had not been thoughts of Vincent that had unhinged her. And for that she felt a disloyal pang. Linda added. A partial truth, though it had not been thoughts of Vincent that had unhinged her. And for that she felt a disloyal pang.

-You're missing him, Maria said. Maria said.

Linda could see herself in the mirror over the dresser. She looked better in the softer light of the bedroom - - smaller, possibly even desirable in the plush hotel robe. smaller, possibly even desirable in the plush hotel robe. Will you get any time off this summer? Will you get any time off this summer? Linda asked. Linda asked.

-A week. Maybe ten days if I'm lucky.

-Could I talk you into coming up to Maine?

There was a second's hesitation, long enough to forfeit plans already made or hoped for. Linda heard the pause and was annoyed with herself for having asked. She remembered when Maria and Marcus had been children and had begged for rides downtown or had hoped to invite friends to the house. And her own moment's pause while parental agendas had been consulted and discarded. Of course I can. Of course I will. Of course I can. Of course I will. When had nature flipped the balance, causing the parent to ask the favor of the child? At twenty? At twenty-two? When had nature flipped the balance, causing the parent to ask the favor of the child? At twenty? At twenty-two?

-Just for a few days, Linda said immediately, qualifying her request. Linda said immediately, qualifying her request. I don't expect you to give up your entire vacation. I don't expect you to give up your entire vacation.

-No, I'd love to come. To her credit, Maria sounded enthusiastic. To her credit, Maria sounded enthusiastic. We'll see about the dates. We'll see about the dates.

But Linda would release her daughter from this promise; release her to her own young life. Are you getting any sleep? Are you getting any sleep? the mother asked. the mother asked.

Static stole her daughter's answer. Linda rolled over, dragging the phone off the nightstand. She pulled it up by the cord. One day Maria would be a pediatric cardiologist. Staggering to think of that. Staggering for Linda, who'd been the first in her family ever to go to college.

-I've met someone, Maria said, apparently for the second time. Maria said, apparently for the second time.

For a moment, Linda was confused, afraid the words had issued from her own mouth.

-Tell me about him.

-He's a resident. His name is Steven.

An image formed in Linda's mind, doubtless incorrect, doubtless composed of other Stevens, though she couldn't think of any at the moment. And you like him, And you like him, Linda said cautiously. Linda said cautiously.

Another pause on Maria's part, possibly for emphasis. I do. He's very good-looking. I do. He's very good-looking.

-That counts, Linda said, never one to dismiss beauty in a man. Linda said, never one to dismiss beauty in a man.

-Maybe I'll bring him to Maine with me.

And Linda thought, This is serious.

-What were you remembering about Dad? Maria asked. Maria asked.

-About his white s.h.i.+rts. And the way they fit across his shoulders. The daughter was silent in the face of a memory too private for a child to share. The daughter was silent in the face of a memory too private for a child to share. Are there people at the festival you know? Are there people at the festival you know? she asked instead. she asked instead.

-I do now, Linda said, wis.h.i.+ng to dispel the sense of being needy. Linda said, wis.h.i.+ng to dispel the sense of being needy.

-Good, Maria said, unburdened. Maria said, unburdened. I'd better go. If I don't have these lab reports done by six, the resident will kill me. I'd better go. If I don't have these lab reports done by six, the resident will kill me.

Linda doubted that, though the sacrifice required of someone wis.h.i.+ng to be a doctor was staggering. Mistakes were made from lack of sleep. One day Maria, in a fit of tears, had confessed her own.

Linda put the phone down, disconcerted by the mix of truth and lies in a conversation with a child. More lies than truth this time, though it had often been so. One could not prepare a child for the future; such knowledge might be intolerable.

The quiet in the room was absolute. Even the air-conditioning had stopped its hum. It was as though all traffic had suddenly ceased, all radios rendered silent. What time was it? Nearly four? She imagined people lining city streets in homage to the pa.s.sing of some great hero.

She went out into the suns.h.i.+ne only to retreat from it. In this city, she had been told, there were shops that she should visit (the exchange rate was very good), but when she entered a famous department store, she was saddened by the sight of people buying things to make them happier, or thinner, or impervious to death. She fingered a silk scarf and ran her hand along the shoulder pads of suits, neatly aligned with s.p.a.ces in between to indicate best quality. She admired a negligee and remembered nights with other negligees, and still the sadness, that cloud, was not swept away. She went up the escalator, up and up, preferring the concrete evidence of floors to the free flight of elevators. She saw a lemon sweater with delicate edging in Children's and tried to think of anyone she knew with a baby, and then reflected that it would have to be a grandchild now. She stood at an entrance to a cafe, ravenous and impatient to be seated, but when she had been shown to her table, she felt the store to be suddenly airless. She could smell the chemicals in the clothes as she fled, wafting off Men's s.h.i.+rts in fumes. What had she done? She had raised a family. She would not be remembered. She was deteriorating daily. She could not let her body be seen. She would never sit unclothed upon a beach. Some things could not be gotten back. Most things could not be gotten back. Even her images of Vincent were fading: he was more substantial now in photographs than he was in her memories, like children are after they have grown.

She went outside, supremely conscious of herself as a middle-aged woman in a sensible raincoat despite the heat. Men, as if they had been programmed, did not turn their heads. Whereas Vincent, her admirer, her lover, had p.r.o.nounced her beautiful even on the morning he had died.

-You're beautiful, he'd said. he'd said.

-I'm fifty. No one is beautiful at fifty.

-You surprise me. Of course you're wrong.

Amazing how one yearned to be called beautiful, how much the single word could please. She saw a couple, in expensive clothing, arguing as they walked. He had blond hair and a beard and moved inches ahead of his wife, while she gestured angrily and said, I can't believe you said that. I can't believe you said that. He kept his hands in his pockets and didn't answer her. He would win the argument, Linda thought, with silence. He kept his hands in his pockets and didn't answer her. He would win the argument, Linda thought, with silence.

She stood before a building of Gothic spires and darkened stones, though she supposed she would never truly be able to regard a Catholic church as just a building. Its authenticity beckoned between the excess of the smart boutiques on either side. (Yet weren't the spires evidence of excess in themselves?) She entered a musty narthex and remembered that as a child she had refused to believe the scent a product simply of mold and dust; instead, she'd been convinced that it was the holy water in the font that had produced that somewhat frightening smell. She was momentarily embarra.s.sed to interrupt a Ma.s.s in progress (she who had known Sat.u.r.day church only for Confession), and she moved quietly to the pews, not genuflecting, not crossing herself, though her body wanted to from habit.

The interior cooled the perspiration at the back of her neck. She let her coat slide from her shoulders and was glad she did not have crinkly and noisy packages. It had not been so long that the words were unfamiliar to her, but still it had been years, and so she listened to the liturgy with small mental exclamations of surprise. And as she did, she had a startling thought: her own poetry mimicked those cadences! How had she not noticed this before? How had someone else, a critic perhaps, not have noticed this as well? The similar rhythms could not be missed. It felt a stunning discovery, like unearthing a letter that explained one's childhood after all.

An older woman in front of her was crying copiously (what grief or sin had caused such tears?), but Linda could not see the features of the other paris.h.i.+oners, ten pews up or more. She said a quick prayer for Marcus, who needed it the most, and when she was finished, she glanced up at the darkened stained gla.s.s (so little sunlight between the tall buildings on either side) searching for a likeness of Mary Magdalene. She found John the Baptist and a tableau of the Last Supper, but not the woman she was looking for.

She administered to Him of her substance.

And then, as she had nearly always done in church years ago, she let her mind drift. And with the drifting, she saw images. When she'd been a girl, the images had begun, say, with a mental picture of the cherry tree in the backyard, then would segue to a gla.s.s of cherry c.o.ke, and then would find their way to the knee and leg of a boy she had once seen at the diner in a leather jacket ordering a cherry c.o.ke. But that afternoon, she saw faces (Vincent's and Thomas's) and then rumpled bedclothes (from Vincent and her on the day he had died) and then a small, neat package of laundered linens from Belmont Laundry that had sat upon a chair in her bedroom unopened for months, each image leading to the other as if by a fine thread, the thread invisible, the connections both supple and labyrinthine. The images were sometimes disturbing and at other times pleasing to her, evidence of a life lived, though some memories attested only to foolishness, appalling naivete.

But then an unbidden and unwanted image sneaked in amongst the others almost before she'd realized it, and instantly she tried to ward it off. She felt it dragging her down, but she could not, for the moment, pull away. She heard a m.u.f.fled sound - - a word? No, more a gasp or a whisper, a man's mouth pressed into the bone of her shoulder, his weight heavy on her thigh. Had he hurt himself, or was this (more likely) yet another utterance in the new language he was teaching her, that strange dialect that had no vocabulary or sentences, but seemed, all the same, full of meaning a word? No, more a gasp or a whisper, a man's mouth pressed into the bone of her shoulder, his weight heavy on her thigh. Had he hurt himself, or was this (more likely) yet another utterance in the new language he was teaching her, that strange dialect that had no vocabulary or sentences, but seemed, all the same, full of meaning - - full of need and mute pleadings and silent, if extraordinary, grat.i.tude? full of need and mute pleadings and silent, if extraordinary, grat.i.tude?

Her dress, pale blue, was dry upon her skin and floated like tissue over the hollow of her belly. The sun was on the daybed and on her face. It would be ten or ten-thirty in the morning.

The bristles of his short beard were not soft but instead were p.r.i.c.kly like the fur of the thistles that grew in the vacant lot at the end of the block. After the first time, when she, dazed as if by the noonday sun, had examined herself in the mirror, she'd seen that his beard had rubbed the thin skin at the base of her collarbone a s.h.i.+ny pink; and that soreness combined with the other, had been a reminder, all that day and the next, of the fearful thing that had happened to her. But she was not afraid. Not of the man, who seemed if not entirely irrelevant, then not what occupied her mind; and not of the event itself, which she had allowed to happen four times. For something within her welcomed - - indeed, was almost glad for indeed, was almost glad for - - these extraordinary attentions. these extraordinary attentions.

She heard another nonword then, also precise in its meaning. He wanted at her chest and was even now fumbling with the b.u.t.tons of her dress and pus.h.i.+ng aside the cloth. He fastened his mouth on her breast, which was new and always changing now. She could not see his face and did not want to - - his eyes squeezed shut, the neck wrinkled, the grime caught in the creases. For the thing that they were doing was best done in private, one's own face turned away, the eyes averted. his eyes squeezed shut, the neck wrinkled, the grime caught in the creases. For the thing that they were doing was best done in private, one's own face turned away, the eyes averted.

Her body loosened, and there was a fluttering in her belly. She was moist between her legs, fat there as she was not elsewhere. He hitched himself higher up on her body and struggled for a moment with her skirt. The sucking was like being bled, she thought, and she remembered pictures of leeches covered with bell jars, the gla.s.s making perfect circular welts on a woman's back. He pushed a finger inside her, then two, more hurried now, even somewhat frantic. She wondered if it would be like running a finger around the slippery insides of a narrow jar. A fingernail caught on her skin and she flinched, but he seemed not to notice. And now it was not his finger, but the other thing (she had never said the word aloud), and she understood that soon it would be over.

She craned her neck so that she could see through the window at the head of the daybed. A large bird sat motionless on the roof of the house next door. The man finished, as he always did, with a convulsive shudder and a slight hiccup. And when he pulled away, she felt a bit of the wetness trickle out of her, a small spill of fluid upon her thigh. She watched him as he sat at the end of the bed, white and shocky all about his eyes. He zipped his pants and laced up his shoes.

She had no tender word from him, nor did she want one. He said only when he stood, "Don't tell anyone what we did here."

As if she would. As if she would.

In the pew, Linda began to tremble violently from the memory, not retrieved in years, until words - - rea.s.suring and comforting rea.s.suring and comforting - - allowed her to be still. It wasn't her doing, she told herself. And it hadn't ruined her life. Life was more than childhood violations, childhood victories. Life was work and loving someone else and having babies; life was Vincent and Marcus and Maria. But as soon as she had the thought, allowed her to be still. It wasn't her doing, she told herself. And it hadn't ruined her life. Life was more than childhood violations, childhood victories. Life was work and loving someone else and having babies; life was Vincent and Marcus and Maria. But as soon as she had the thought, Maria, Maria, Linda began to tremble again. Seen from the eyes of a mother, the episode was inexcusable and terrifying. All she had to do was imagine Maria on the daybed, and she was filled with fury. Beside her, people filed slowly along the aisle, some glancing in her direction. The Ma.s.s was over, and she hadn't noticed. Linda began to tremble again. Seen from the eyes of a mother, the episode was inexcusable and terrifying. All she had to do was imagine Maria on the daybed, and she was filled with fury. Beside her, people filed slowly along the aisle, some glancing in her direction. The Ma.s.s was over, and she hadn't noticed.

She took a long breath and slowly let it out. Vincent had been antidote to memory. Now, without him, was she losing that protection? And why that shameful image after so long a time?

She returned to her room, needing food and a cup of tea, but the message light was flas.h.i.+ng. Sitting at the edge of the bed, her coat still on, she composed questions and worded probable replies: How did your panel go? Dinner? Are you sure? Do you think the others would mind? How did your panel go? Dinner? Are you sure? Do you think the others would mind? But when she listened to the message, she heard that it wasn't Thomas who had rung, but rather David, Marcus's lover, asking her to call him as soon as she got in. Proximity to another's grief made her panicky as she misdialed the number twice, saying But when she listened to the message, she heard that it wasn't Thomas who had rung, but rather David, Marcus's lover, asking her to call him as soon as she got in. Proximity to another's grief made her panicky as she misdialed the number twice, saying s.h.i.+t s.h.i.+t before she got it right. How long had she been gone from the room? One hour? Two hours? before she got it right. How long had she been gone from the room? One hour? Two hours?

-Marcus has been arrested for drunk driving. The lover spoke without preamble. The lover spoke without preamble.

Linda leaned forward, as if she had not heard correctly. When? When?

-Early this morning. Around five A A.M.

Instinctively, Linda looked at her watch. They had waited twelve hours to tell her.

-And there was an accident, David added. David added.

-Oh G.o.d, Linda said, incapable of words of more than one syllable. Linda said, incapable of words of more than one syllable. Was he hurt? Was he hurt?

-He's banged his knee up pretty bad. He's had an x-ray. They say he bruised some cartilage.

-Was anyone else hurt? Linda asked quickly, already terrified of the reply. Linda asked quickly, already terrified of the reply.

-No.

She sighed with relief. And to think that she had just said a prayer for Marcus. Is he there? Can I talk to him? Is he there? Can I talk to him?

One could not mistake the deliberate pause at the other end. She imagined David - - Marcus's height, but stockier; reddish hair and pale eyes; something soft around the edges though his clothes were beautifully tailored Marcus's height, but stockier; reddish hair and pale eyes; something soft around the edges though his clothes were beautifully tailored - - standing in the kitchen of their Brookline apartment. Or was he with her son in the bedroom? standing in the kitchen of their Brookline apartment. Or was he with her son in the bedroom?

-Mrs. Fallon, David said (David, who seemed incapable of calling her Linda, even after repeated invitations to do so; David, who'd said he couldn't read poetry and hoped she didn't mind), David said (David, who seemed incapable of calling her Linda, even after repeated invitations to do so; David, who'd said he couldn't read poetry and hoped she didn't mind), I think Marcus and I need to handle this together. I think Marcus and I need to handle this together.

Linda, dismissed, was silent.