gets it every day, okay?”
Martha nodded again. She was trying to remember everything that Jaz told her, and then, without a word, Jaz handed her a black leather-bound notebook and pen. The breakfast was just the beginning of the instructions. Lunch and dinner were prepared by a cook who came in a few times a week, and stored the meals.
Jaz opened the big shiny refrigerator to reveal shelves full of delicious-looking meals, stored in clean, labeled Tupperware containers. It was the kind of refrigerator that Martha would love to have, full of meals that made her hungry just to read the labels—cold salmon and homemade mayonnaise, mini beef tenderloin sliders with horseradish sauce, fresh arugula with shaves of Parmesan, and little lamb chops, tiny and perfect.
“Don’t worry about getting the food ready,” Jaz said. “The cook writes everything down on this pad over here, and you just follow her instructions. It’s easy. Also, there’s always plenty, so help yourself to whatever you want.”
Martha wanted to stand and stare at the shelves all day. They were so neat and orderly. Imagine having this be your refrigerator! You’d never find an old peach or a soft sweet potato in there, never find a block of moldy cheese and have to wonder when you bought it. Martha was still staring as Jaz shut the door.
The instructions continued. Mr. Cranston could go to the bathroom by himself, but he sometimes needed help walking there, or getting up from his chair. He did not want or need help once he got there. “For now,” Jaz said.
He read all three papers every morning. He did not like to watch TV, except for the seven o’clock news, and sometimes Jeopardy if he was in the mood. If he was extremely tired, you could sometimes persuade him to watch a show; just suggest it like it was something you’d heard about and thought he would like. Nothing popular. No sitcoms. He did not like to watch shows where groups of adults lived together in the city and whined and acted like children. Stick to things like BBC miniseries, as long as there wasn’t too much melodrama.
He was an avid reader and would (at least twice a month) make a list of new books that he wanted. The local bookstore could be called—they had his account information—and they would drop off the books the next day. He had a computer, although he didn’t use it all that often. He did not e-mail. He did sometimes ask to dictate a letter, to an old friend or work acquaintance, which he would want typed up so that he could sign it. “He had a secretary for years,” Jaz explained. “It’s just something he’s used to.”
Mr. Cranston enjoyed crosswords sometimes, and did not like to be interrupted while he worked on them. He did not like to go outside, but Jaz insisted that he get out at least once a day, to go for a walk in his wheelchair. It made him feel like a baby, to be pushed around the block, but Jaz was firm. He needed fresh air and he knew it. If you were firm with him, he would be okay. Just a quick walk, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, down the street and maybe over by the park, but not in the park, because there were almost always children there, and they were so noisy, and he didn’t like to see the way that children were raised these days, like wild animals let loose. Why did they always have snacks with them, their grubby hands full of yogurts and drinks and crackers, like they were going to starve before they got home? “Just trust me,” Jaz said. “Stay out of the park.”
Ruby came over a couple of times a week, whenever she felt like it, really. She usually brought some sort of gift, a book, or a pint of frozen soup that she picked up. “She tries to help, bless her,” Jaz said. But Ruby was often in the way. She insisted that he go on an outing with her, to the store, or maybe to a restaurant for an early dinner.
“Even when he was healthy as a horse, Mr. Cranston never shopped. Never. And he never liked eating out,” Jaz said. “That man would rather eat a peanut butter sandwich than sit in a restaurant.”
His son, Billy, usually came only on the weekends, so Martha would probably never see him, but when he did come he just