ever have dreamed would arouse her heart and all her senses – someone who looked like some barbaric warrior or dragon-tamer. Penny the little princess, desired, caressed, touched, seen at last as a grown woman. The same Penny who would soon need to open up a heavy trunk, plunge into it, and let herself be forgotten like an old wedding dress stored in mothballs.
She had to get used to it, and so she went out under a relentless rain.
Her grandma was awake. The news from the doctor was heartening. No fatal consequences, fortunately – perhaps even by some miracle. She’d still need to stay in the hospital for a few days, and once she was home she’d have to take a mountain of drugs.
Penny wept at the sight of the extremely pale Barbie, so close to her in looks except for her long, now slightly dishevelled hair. ‘Thank you for staying here with me,’ she whispered, though Barbie couldn’t make it out through her sobs.
‘I think I was a little sick,’ her grandma said with a jaunty smile. ‘Maybe I ate too much birthday cake, but you only turn eighteen once.’
‘Well, eat a little less next time, all right?’ Penny whispered. ‘You have to stay here for a few days so you can rest and get back on your feet, and then we’ll go home.’
‘All right, but you make sure to lock the door at night and have Marcus keep you company.’
‘Do you remember Marcus?’ asked Penny, a little disturbed at her grandma’s selective memory. She had just said she was an eighteen-year-old girl who had had too much cake, just back from the revelry of her own birthday party, but Marcus was still there in her thoughts.
‘Of course, darling, he’s that handsome boy who lives upstairs. The one who’s so in love with you.’
‘Er . . . yes . . .’ Penny mumbled. It would have been better if she had forgotten him so Penny wouldn’t have to explain why he was gone in a few days’ time.
She left the hospital a couple of hours later, quieter and more hopeful. The rain fell and stopped and then fell again. Bundled up in her red duffel coat with the hood up and her bright green lock of hair peeking out, she thought of the doctor’s last words. Barbie could not be left alone; she now needed supervision 24/7. A return to Well Purple was therefore out of the question, and she would need to find another job. A neighbour could keep Barbie company during the day, and she was sure that the ladies in the building would willingly lend her a hand, but there was no one who could help her at night without pay. In the end, Marcus had won.
She did not immediately realise where she was going until she found herself in front of the window with the smiling golden cat. The Gold Cat was packed at that hour. Its retro air, with its mustard-yellow wallpaper decorated with psychedelic flowers, and the large pendant lights, Formica shelves and, along the walls, numerous movie posters from the Seventies, attracted a young and lively clientele. Sherrie waited on tables, assisted by a lady in her forties dressed in a similar yellow dress and with an identical cotton-candy hairdo. Many of the clients were women, and Penny thought they must feel comfortable in an environment run by other women who were neither young nor beautiful, which didn’t foster a competitive environment.
Sherrie recognised her immediately and went to greet her with a smile.
‘Come on in, honey, there’s a free table for you. I’ll be right over.’
Penny sat between the counter and a golden jukebox that may or may not have just been for show. She scanned the menu, but she wasn’t there to eat. After a while Sherrie approached her table, as bouncy as any twenty-year-old, and the first thing she said to her was, ‘Isn’t Marcus with you?’
Penny blushed like a girl caught red-handed just as she’s about to kiss a photo of her favourite star. ‘Er . . . no.’
‘That’s a pity. I wanted to ask him a favour. I got a delivery this morning and wanted to ask him to bring it home for me. It’s a little heavy and I know he has a car now. So how are you?’
Penny shrugged; she was so tired that this one ridiculous little movement felt like an earthquake in her body. In a few words she told Sherrie about her grandma,