8. Saturday, May 12, 2012
SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2012
O n Saturday morning, Julia took Robert to his T-ball game, and after lunch, Julia gave the kids privacy while they Skyped with Kevin. But afterward, during their weekly aquarium maintenance, Paige confirmed that sure enough, Robert spilled everything about the whale-watching trip and Mom’s new boyfriend, William.
Internally cringing, Julia set aside the weekly water testing supplies. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Paige continued siphoning detritus from the bottom of the tank. “Dad handled it fine, I guess. I could tell he wasn’t thrilled, and he changed the subject as soon as possible.”
Julia nodded. Then she scanned her daughter’s face for any sign of trouble. About ten minutes into the Skype call, Julia had taken Robert aside so Paige and Kevin could talk privately about everything that had happened in 2006, and about Phoebe’s revelation of Robert's paternity. But now, after that conversation, Paige’s face seemed placid enough – a hopeful sign.
Of course, that could have been because Paige loved working with Julia on the aquarium, almost as much as she loved painting. In fact, she derived a lot of inspiration for her art from it, since both the aquarium and her easel were in the den.
“How did your own conversation with your dad go?” Julia tried.
“Okay, I guess.”
When Paige didn’t elaborate, Julia prompted, “How are you feeling about it right now?”
“Fine.” Before Julia could probe any further, Paige suddenly straightened, still holding the bulb syringe she was using to clean debris from the sand. “Oh, guess what? Dad says he’ll be home from the Galapagos in time to take me and Robert for the Memorial Day weekend!”
“Oh,” said Julia in genuine surprise. Kevin had not mentioned anything about that on the phone yesterday; but then again, given their conversation, maybe it was no wonder it had slipped his mind.
“Now we won’t have to stay with Grandma Beale.” Paige’s grimace signaled how she felt these days about her monthly visits with Kevin’s parents. “Dad’s going to fly up to get us on Friday morning, and then fly us home Monday afternoon.”
Thanks for running that by me first, Kevin. But Paige’s revelation reminded Julia – she would have all of Memorial Day weekend to herself.
“That should work just fine.” Just fine indeed.
After the weekly aquarium maintenance, the business of preparing for dinner distracted Julia even further. William would come over that evening with the salmon from Cardone’s. In the meantime, Julia and the kids harvested green beans, shallots, and herbs from her mother’s garden. Then Robert accompanied Julia to the farmer’s market to buy cherry tomatoes, since they weren’t bearing fruit yet in her mother’s foggy garden. By the time they got home, there was only enough time to start prepping the vegetables before William was due, at five. And William was the most punctual person she had ever known – nothing filled him with more existential dread than running late.
Sure enough, at five on the dot, the doorbell rang. Robert dropped his kid-safe knife and hopped down from his stepstool by the kitchen counter, where he had been chopping basil. “Diego! Diego! It’s Diego!”
As he careened from the kitchen, Julia laughed and called out, “Hey, come back here! You know you’re not supposed to answer the door yourself. Besides, you look like a Martian, with all that basil juice on your hands. ”
Robert begrudgingly returned. “Hurry, Mommy, before Diego leaves!”
She chuckled, and after they finished wiping their hands, they went together to the front door. There was William, his guitar slung across his back, bearing a brown-paper-wrapped package. Diego sat alongside him, his tongue lolling from his mouth.
Without so much as a hello to William, Robert dropped to his knees and threw his arms around Diego. Paige came bounding down the stairs and brushed past both Julia and William to join her brother.
William grinned at Julia. “Who’s chopped liver now?”
“Guys,” Julia admonished. “Did we forget that manners are also for people, not just dogs?”
Both Paige and Robert laughed their apologies and greetings to William, then turned their attention right back to Diego.
“It’s okay; I agree – Diego is much more interesting,” laughed William, handing the package over to Julia. “First catch of the season, fresh off Uncle Frank’s boat.”
“Is he still fishing?” marveled Julia, ushering him into the house, followed by Diego and the kids.
“Of course. He’ll never pack it in. Besides, he’s not that old.”
“William,” interrupted Paige, “can we bring Diego out back to the patio? Grandma’s out there, too.”
William assented, and while Julia closed and locked the front door, he unleashed Diego and retrieved the dog toys from his backpack.
After the kids and Diego went out back, Julia beckoned William upstairs. “I’m just getting dinner ready. Wanna keep me company?”
“I can do better than that. Give me a job.”
In the kitchen, Julia showed William where her father kept his filleting knife, and William got right to work on the salmon.
“What’s for dinner?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s this one-pan salmon dish I make, with orzo.” Holding up one of the glass prep bowls, she added, “Tomatoes are involved.”
Laughing softly, he set down the filleting knife and came to give her a peck on the lips. “You know me too well.”
She beamed up at him, but judged it best not to distract him any further – not with sharp kitchen implements and open flames nearby. “B ack to work, chef. The kids get hangry if I serve dinner much later than six.”
After Julia plated dinner, William carried them out to the patio table. By the time Julia brought her own plate downstairs, Paige and William still lingered in the in-law unit, where he marveled over Paige’s latest artistic endeavor, still drying on her easel. It was an oil painting of the splendid dottyback in their aquarium.
Spotting Julia, William said, “You told me Paige is talented, but I had no idea you meant this talented.”
“Every bit of artwork in this room is something she painted,” Julia replied.
Wide-eyed, William crossed the room to the framed serigraph of an octopus. “Paige... you made this ? ”
“Yeah. I actually prefer making serigraphs over this kind of stuff,” Paige said, gesturing to her easel.
“She’s won tons of awards,” Julia added, “and she already has some of her art in galleries around the city.”
“I’ve even sold four pieces,” Paige admitted.
“This is incredible.” William turned to Paige as if she had just leveled up yet another notch in his esteem. “But doesn’t it take special equipment to make serigraphs?”
“Yeah, but it’s too messy and takes up too much space, so I make my serigraphs at Aunt Brigid’s studio.”
William gave a quizzical tip of the head. “Aunt Brigid?”
“Yeah, she’s...” Frowning, Paige turned to Julia. “Mom, how is she my aunt, again?”
“She’s your grandpa’s sister,” Julia clarified, “so technically, she’s your great-aunt.” For William’s benefit, Julia added, “She’s also my cousin Aaron’s mom.”
“She runs this amazing art studio and teaches all these different classes,” Paige added. “We have a monthly membership.”
“I’m always amazed at people who have artistic gifts like yours,” William replied.
“Oh, come on – you’re a brilliant photographer,” Julia pointed out.
“But photography is a completely different art form. I’m talking about people who can see something so clearly in their mind, or even just bring i t to life from a model in front of them. My brother Mike can do that, but I draw like a four-year-old.”
“You and me both,” Julia laughed.
At her mother’s prompting, the three of them filed out to join her and Robert at the patio table. Diego came to sit patiently at Robert’s feet, poised to salvage any errant food scraps. He had learned quickly during his previous visit who his most likely supplier would be.
Julia’s mother poured wine for herself and Julia. William spent a while catching up with Robert, who regaled him with a play-by-play of his tee-ball team’s victory that morning. William listened attentively and celebrated Robet's home run with a high-five, then prompted him to take a breath just long enough to sneak in one bite of dinner.
While Robert chewed, William turned to Julia’s mother. “I take it Paul is at work?”
“Oh yes,” Julia’s mother replied. “I keep suggesting that maybe it’s time to retire, but he says when you retire is when you die.”
William gave a short laugh. “How does he figure that?”
“Oh, who knows,” Julia’s mother replied with an exaggerated wave of her hand. “So then I nag him to hurry up and hire a new sous chef so at least he can take off Saturdays, as well as Sundays. But he keeps saying he can’t find anyone good enough; and besides, he insists the head chef is the one who’s supposed to work on Saturdays, not the sous.”
“He’s not wrong,” Julia interjected.
“I know that, dear. You may remember, I helped him run that restaurant for over forty years,” her mother snapped. To William, she added, “Maybe he’ll listen to you if you try to talk some sense into him.”
William got that deer-in-the-headlights look, so Julia intervened. “Mom, Dad’s ego makes Gordon Ramsay look like the Dalai Lama. If you can’t even get through to him, how is William supposed to?”
“Because I’m merely his wife,” she retorted sardonically before once again giving a dismissive wave of her hand. “Anyway, how is your mother doing, William?”
Recovering from the whiplash of the abrupt subject change, William replied, “She’s hanging in there. Still processing through the stages of grief. Now that it’s been two months, people aren’t visiting as often, so she has more time to sit and stew on it. ”
“My goodness, has it already been two months since your father passed away?”
“Yeah; it was March 8th.”
Julia’s mother clicked her tongue in dismay. “Well then, I’m glad we’re going over there tomorrow. I’m long overdue for a visit.”
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy that. Kelly and I have been trying to give her the space she needs to grieve, but at the same time we encourage her to stay active, at least a little. But I have a feeling something is going on, because when I came over today, I saw a lot of taped-up moving boxes in the living room.”
“Oh,” Julia’s mother said, breathless. “Is she moving to Treemont already?”
“I don’t know. She was pretty evasive when I asked about it.”
Julia couldn’t help noticing her mother’s distraught look, and she reached across the table for her hand. “It’s okay, Mom; even if she’s moving, it’s only a mile or two away.”
Julia’s mother set her fork down, and her chin quivered. “I know; I just can’t help feeling like it’s the last straw. The last of the old guard, abandoning this neighborhood. We’re the lone holdouts now.”
Julia glanced at William, who wore a sheepish look – he hadn’t known the topic would upset Julia’s mother. Julia offered him a faint smile of reassurance.
“Mrs. Dunphy, I know Mom would love to have you over as soon as possible,” William interjected. “And you know she’s never stood on formality, especially with her good friends; so you can drop by any time you want.”
“And besides, Mom – you and Dad aren’t the ‘lone holdouts’ around here. There’s Diane, and the Vecchios, and–”
“I know, I know,” her mother grumbled. “I just remember when you and Alison were kids, you would run in and out of each other’s houses. The doors were always open. And now, everybody’s doors are closed, and nobody around here even speaks English anymore…”
Julia’s mother dissolved into tears, much to her grandchildren’s shock. Julia did her best to hide her annoyance, while at the same time refusing to dignify her mother’s racism and xenophobia by pointing out that young white families were starting to move back into the neighborhood. Besides, her mother would just argue they weren’t the right kind of white families. And if you asked her what that meant, she would answer with some variation on “good, wholesome, practicing Catholics.”
For Julia's aging, increasingly frail mother, change was terrifying. Julia knew her mother was grieving the monthly, sometimes weekly loss of lifelong friends – some by distance, others by death. Friends whose children she had practically helped raise, and who had helped raise hers. Friends she had gone to church with and played bridge with for fifty years or more. Whose weddings, baptisms, and now funerals she attended.
Robert climbed out of his chair and rounded the table to wrap his arms around his grandmother’s neck. “Don’t cry, Grandma. If you’re lonely, Jacob will talk to you.”
Through her tears, Julia’s mother gave Robert a quizzical look. “Jacob?”
“He lives across the street, and he’s almost a grownup.”
Smirking, Julia clarified, “He’s in Kindergarten.”
Julia’s mother gave a ragged laugh and blew her nose into her napkin. Then she tugged Robert into her lap. “Okay, little Tadpole – I’d love to meet Jacob. But we should introduce ourselves to his parents first.”
Julia figured it wasn’t the best time to mention that Jacob’s parents didn’t speak English. “Mom, no matter what happens with friends and neighbors, Alison and I will always be right here in the city. We’re not going anywhere.”
William cleared his throat. “Mrs. Dunphy–”
“Karen,” Julia’s mother corrected, wiping her eyes and nose on her napkin. “You know you don’t have to call me Mrs. Dunphy anymore, William. You’re an adult now, and you’re practically family.”
He and Julia exchanged bashful glances before he continued, “Then maybe you’ll understand why that goes for me, too – if you or Paul need anything, I’m at your service. I’m positive I can speak for my sister Kelly, too. She’s staying put, and she’s only three blocks away.”
“I know, kids. I’m sorry,” admitted Julia’s mother. “I didn’t mean to break down in front of everyone. ”
Julia took her mother’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay, Mom.”
Her mother squeezed Julia's hand right back. Then, glancing around at the tabletop, she heaved herself to her feet. “Whoops! You forgot the saltshaker, Paige.”
“I’ll get it, Mom.” Julia started to stand, but with a faint wink, her mother stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder. Julia got the message: her mother just needed a minute to collect herself. After her mother retreated into the house, Julia lifted her eyes to William’s, and they offered each other an apologetic little wince.
Straightening in his seat, William cleared his throat and said, “Hey, guys, guess what I saw today on the boat?”
He recounted how a mother and baby gray whale swam right up to his boat. Paige and Robert both bemoaned that it hadn’t happened on their Tuesday excursion, so William retrieved his phone to show them a video one of his customers shared. As the kids watched, he looked up and caught Julia’s eye. She offered him a grateful smile, and his eyes softened and lingered for several long seconds. Once again, Julia's cheeks flushed with heat – but this time, it wasn’t from embarrassment.
Until Robert brought the moment to a screeching halt. “Hey Mommy, do baby whales come out of their mommy’s blowhole?”