with the money, going to college like she wanted, becoming something important…that’s how you honor her memory. You keep her alive through your actions.” Gerdy smiled up at me, the freckles on her nose crinkling. “You’re one of the good guys, Jack. She didn’t want you to spend your life in the kitchen or at the sink of some little hole-in-the-wall diner in Pittsburgh.”
“I’ve spent my entire life thinking that is all I would ever be. I can’t just change that. I can’t spin on a dime like that. I have no idea what else I want to do.”
“You’re a wonderful artist,” Gerdy said. “Maybe you should pursue that. You’re a good cook, too. Maybe you can open a restaurant. You don’t have to decide today, or next week.”
“Today, I just want to be a dishwasher and a cook.”
Gerdy nodded. “Then today, that is what you’ll be.”
“So you won’t tell anyone?”
She ran a finger over her lips. “Not a soul. Not until you’re ready.”
I leaned forward and kissed her. She hadn’t expected it. I didn’t either, but it felt right. It felt nice. Stella entered my mind and I forced her away, the guilt burning at me.
As we parted, Gerdy smiled up at me, her eyes glistening in the morning sun. “I’m okay with being the other girl,” she whispered.
I placed my hands on either side of her face. “I’m not. You’re better than that.”
There was so much more to say, and I had none of the words to say it. Instead, I opened the door to my building and held it open for her, and the two of us stepped inside in utter silence.
On the third floor, I led her to apartment 304. “It’s this one.”
When I only stood there, when I didn’t knock, Gerdy did. She reached for the door and gave it three loud taps. When a minute passed and nobody answered, she knocked again.
“Go away,” a voice said from inside, muffled by the door.
“Ms. Leech? It’s Jack, from across the hall. We need to talk.”
“It’s not grocery day. I don’t want to talk. Go away.”
“We just came from Dewitt Matteo’s office, Aunt Jo’s attorney. He said he spoke to you.”
“I told him I don’t want no kids. This world is no place for kids,” she said from behind the door. Still muffled, but closer this time. “You said, ‘we.’ Who’s with you?”
“My name is Gerdy McCowen, Ms. Leech. I work with Jack at Krendal’s Diner.”
She was at the door now, probably pressed right up against the other side. “I told the attorney that Jack boy is a thief. He stole my book. He can’t be trusted. He probably has no business being in the company of young ladies, either. You’re not safe with a boy like that.”
Gerdy looked at me and mouthed, Book?
I turned back to the door. “Do you mean Great Expectations?”
“You took the book from me, said you’d bring it back, and you never did. That’s theft, and thieves are an evil lot.”
“I have it right across the hall in my room, Ms. Leech. I can get it if you want, but I still read it all the time. It’s one of my favorite books. I folded some pages and marked up others. Maybe I should get you a new one?”
She fell silent for a moment, then: “I do love a new book. It’s been years since I was the recipient of a new book. Maybe something else, though. I don’t much care for Dickens.”
I leaned against the door. “How about this? Make a list of your favorite authors, and I’ll bring you ten new books on Thursday with the groceries.”
“Ten?”
“Ten.”
“How about twelve?”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, twelve.”
“And a new copy of Great Expectations to replace the one you stole. I don’t much like an incomplete collection. There’s a hole on my bookshelf home to nothing but dust.”
“Deal.”
There was a click as a lock disengaged, followed by another, another after that. When Ms. Leech opened the door, she opened it just enough to glance at the two of us, then up and down the hallway, no doubt confirming we were alone. When satisfied, she opened the door a little further and ushered us inside. “Hurry.”
Gerdy stepped past her, with me at her back. Ms. Leech closed the door swiftly behind us, engaged three dead bolts, and set the security chain.
It had been years since I last saw the inside of Elfrieda Leech’s apartment, and at first glance, I couldn’t help but wonder when someone