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Authors: Maria Grazia Swan
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and forgot to tell you."
"This is my personal account." She lowered her eyelids. "God's punishing me."
"Let's leave God out of the banking business."
"I wrote the check to my hairdresser. I got a notice this morning saying my account was overdrawn and I'd have to pay a penalty. I thought it was a mistake. I mean, such a small amount. I called the bank." The glass was still in her hands. "No mistake—at least, not from their end. The manager told me two more checks I'd recently written weren't going to be covered. I jumped in the car and drove down there." She drank the rest of the wine and handed me the empty glass.
Without a word, I went to refill it. Why would Ruby have her own account? I doubted she had any personal income. We'd been friends for years and she never mentioned a thing about this oh-so-personal account. Where did she get the money? Could it be severance pay from the Register ? When I came back, Ruby was staring at a photo of Nick and me I kept on the Italian credenza. I gave her the glass, and she turned away from the picture, flushing. Perspiration had formed on her upper lip, and her skin glistened. Her hands trembled and the wine in the glass swashed around in slow motion, a lazy wave fading before reaching the shore.
"The teller showed me a large withdrawal. 'How did that happen?' I asked. She was nice about it. 'Ruby,' she said, 'you withdrew the money two days ago. Don't you remember? I had to okay it because you came in without your checkbook again. You were wearing a red dress.' I went home, saw my red dress in the dry cleaning pile and here I am."
"What did you do with the money?"
She didn't answer.
"You're getting all worked up over nothing. Tom will put money into your account to cover your bills. As for the rest, you're still going to experience memory gaps, but you said before you're having fewer. It takes time and patience. The doctor explained it to you from the beginning."
"If it weren't for Tom"—she paused—"and you, I would have put an end to this a long time ago."
"Ruby, you're alive." I stopped short of adding that Nick wasn't so lucky. I knew she sensed it.
She nodded and left.
It wasn't like Ruby to have money and an account she never spoke of. A personal account; pocket change or big bucks? Maybe she needed it for a sense of security. Why? She had Tom for that.
They'd met about the time I started making potpourri sachets for the gift shop at the mission. Ruby was still wearing her neck collar back then. It made it hard for her to drive, especially in reverse. She'd just left her doctor's office and was backing out of her parking spot when she hit Tom's car, a white Ferrari Testarossa. Stuff dreams are made of.
I sighed, enough dreaming for today. I didn't know how long I had been sitting and reminiscing. The room flaunted an early shade of dusk, and my body and spirit felt fully drained, refusing to move, almost in a daze. I still had no idea how the Porsche ended up in the parking garage the night before, only to be gone by morning.
The front door swung open, and Kyle pranced in. "Mom, why didn't you tell me about your neighbor? She's great."
I sensed that wasn't the original description he had in mind, but even in the dimness of the living room he must have noticed the fire shooting from my eyes.
"Kyle, dear God, is that all you can think about?" I knew as soon as I said it that it wasn't fair to lash out at Kyle because I was frustrated.
But instead of answering my question he launched into Audrey's bio without pausing to ask if I cared to listen.
"Do you know that Audrey used to live in Arizona? She was telling me about high school kids going down there from California during spring break. She may drive over to Palm Springs and watch us filming. David, her little brother, would come along, and then we'll all take a ride to Arizona. I've never been there." At some point he must have realized this was a one-way conversation, because he stopped talking for a
"This is my personal account." She lowered her eyelids. "God's punishing me."
"Let's leave God out of the banking business."
"I wrote the check to my hairdresser. I got a notice this morning saying my account was overdrawn and I'd have to pay a penalty. I thought it was a mistake. I mean, such a small amount. I called the bank." The glass was still in her hands. "No mistake—at least, not from their end. The manager told me two more checks I'd recently written weren't going to be covered. I jumped in the car and drove down there." She drank the rest of the wine and handed me the empty glass.
Without a word, I went to refill it. Why would Ruby have her own account? I doubted she had any personal income. We'd been friends for years and she never mentioned a thing about this oh-so-personal account. Where did she get the money? Could it be severance pay from the Register ? When I came back, Ruby was staring at a photo of Nick and me I kept on the Italian credenza. I gave her the glass, and she turned away from the picture, flushing. Perspiration had formed on her upper lip, and her skin glistened. Her hands trembled and the wine in the glass swashed around in slow motion, a lazy wave fading before reaching the shore.
"The teller showed me a large withdrawal. 'How did that happen?' I asked. She was nice about it. 'Ruby,' she said, 'you withdrew the money two days ago. Don't you remember? I had to okay it because you came in without your checkbook again. You were wearing a red dress.' I went home, saw my red dress in the dry cleaning pile and here I am."
"What did you do with the money?"
She didn't answer.
"You're getting all worked up over nothing. Tom will put money into your account to cover your bills. As for the rest, you're still going to experience memory gaps, but you said before you're having fewer. It takes time and patience. The doctor explained it to you from the beginning."
"If it weren't for Tom"—she paused—"and you, I would have put an end to this a long time ago."
"Ruby, you're alive." I stopped short of adding that Nick wasn't so lucky. I knew she sensed it.
She nodded and left.
It wasn't like Ruby to have money and an account she never spoke of. A personal account; pocket change or big bucks? Maybe she needed it for a sense of security. Why? She had Tom for that.
They'd met about the time I started making potpourri sachets for the gift shop at the mission. Ruby was still wearing her neck collar back then. It made it hard for her to drive, especially in reverse. She'd just left her doctor's office and was backing out of her parking spot when she hit Tom's car, a white Ferrari Testarossa. Stuff dreams are made of.
I sighed, enough dreaming for today. I didn't know how long I had been sitting and reminiscing. The room flaunted an early shade of dusk, and my body and spirit felt fully drained, refusing to move, almost in a daze. I still had no idea how the Porsche ended up in the parking garage the night before, only to be gone by morning.
The front door swung open, and Kyle pranced in. "Mom, why didn't you tell me about your neighbor? She's great."
I sensed that wasn't the original description he had in mind, but even in the dimness of the living room he must have noticed the fire shooting from my eyes.
"Kyle, dear God, is that all you can think about?" I knew as soon as I said it that it wasn't fair to lash out at Kyle because I was frustrated.
But instead of answering my question he launched into Audrey's bio without pausing to ask if I cared to listen.
"Do you know that Audrey used to live in Arizona? She was telling me about high school kids going down there from California during spring break. She may drive over to Palm Springs and watch us filming. David, her little brother, would come along, and then we'll all take a ride to Arizona. I've never been there." At some point he must have realized this was a one-way conversation, because he stopped talking for a
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