Tapestry of Fortunes A Novel - By Elizabeth Berg Page 0,133
in the kitchen door, call out hello. I feel bad that I’m half an hour late. But I wanted to stop for groceries. Lasagna, we’ll have tonight. I’ll put some spinach in there so I’ll feel virtuous. And Lydia has promised to make her famous caramel apple pie.
I put the bag of groceries on the counter. “Hello?” I yell again.
Nothing. I go to the bottom of the stairs, yell, “Rita?” And then, “Lydia?” Nothing.
They must have gone somewhere together. Well, that’s good. Now Rita will see what I like so much about Lydia, she’ll see what a great choice she was for a roommate. Although she will be gone soon, she and Thomas are getting married in two weeks. I sigh, thinking about it. I really should find another roommate to take Lydia’s place. The rent from Ms. Blue won’t be enough. And besides, she’s too quiet, and too weird—she’s gone a lot, and when she’s home, she stays by herself in the basement almost all the time. I want someone who’ll be good to talk to, as Lydia was. I’ve had a sign up in a few places for a few days, but there have been no calls yet.
I’m putting the last of the groceries away when the door opens, and Rita comes in with King. “Hey!” Rita says, her eyes wide, her cheeks flushed.
Oh my God, she did it. She slept with him.
“Hey, Rita,” I say, evenly. “Hi, King.”
He nods at me, unwinds his scarf from around his neck. “We were ice-skating. At the rink, you know, that rink off Ninety-four?”
“Yeah, I know it. You didn’t have to work today?”
“No, tonight. Security, at the mall. Do you want to go skating? We came back to get you and Travis.”
“No, I … don’t skate.”
“We don’t either!” Rita says. We. “That’s why it’s so great! We spent all our time on our butts.”
“I don’t think so. But if you guys want to go back, it’s okay. Just go.”
I see Rita and King exchange glances, and then Rita says, “Actually, I think I’ve had about enough.”
King looks at me, then wraps the scarf back around his neck. “Yeah, I’ve got some errands … I’ll see you later, Sam.”
I nod tightly.
“Good-bye, Rita.”
She goes to the door, hugs him. “I loved meeting you.”
I’ll bet she did. I pull a pan out of the cupboard. “Want lasagna for dinner?”
“What’s the matter, Sam?”
“What? I just wanted to know if you wanted lasagna for dinner!”
“Are you mad about something? Again?”
I get out the olive oil, the garlic.
“Come on, Sam. It’s me.”
I look at her. “I just … he’s my new friend. And you’re …”
“What? Wearing him out? Using him up? I’m sorry, he called here looking for you; I didn’t have anything to do …”
“It’s okay,” I say. “I’m just tired. Forget it.” He called looking for me.
“Let’s eat out,” Rita says. “All of us. My treat. Really, I wanted to take you all out at least one night. Let’s do it tonight.”
“All right.” I come over to the table, sit down. “Rita? You didn’t try to seduce him, did you?”
“Oh, Sam.” She leans over, starts tugging at her boots. “Jesus.”
“Well, remember you were saying how powerful it would make you feel? How you wanted to—”
“Yes. I remember.”
“So, tell me the truth, now. Did you try?”
She stares off to the side, considering. “Well, no. I mean, I didn’t really try.”
“What did you do?”
“I just … I asked him if he wanted to do it.”
Cartoonlike, my mouth falls open. I knew it.
“But I wasn’t really serious!”
“Weren’t you?”
“Well … no! I mean, if he’d said yes, I—”
“What? What would you have done?”
“Well, I don’t know! I mean, maybe I would have done it.”
I sit back in my chair, stunned. “What about Lawrence?”
“Oh, Sam. We’ve been married a long time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, fifteen years. That’s a long time, don’t you think?”
“I don’t mean how many years!” I say. “I mean … well, what do you mean? You’re married for a long time, so it’s okay to have affairs?”
“This wouldn’t be an affair, Sam! It would be … you know, a friendly gesture, that’s all! A public service. Well, a private service.”
“What about … disease?” This is not what I mean. Not at all.
“He’s all but a virgin, Sam.”
“And God knows you’re not.”
A beat. And then Rita says, “I’ll just let that go, Sam. I think you know me well enough to know … Look. He didn’t want to. And anyway, you’re not interested in him that way! Are