opal saves mrs. womack (chapter two)

8/9/2019 Opal Saves Mrs. Womack (chapter two)

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Chapter Two

The sun wasnt up over Squaw Peak yet, and it feltlike just Opal and the birds were awake. She was out

walking to be walking. Up ahead on the backasphalt, that would soften underfoot by noon, an oldwoman in an orange flowered pantsuit was walking atiny white dog. She was scolding the dog for takingtoo long. The tags on the dogs collar jingled while itskipped around each palm tree and sniffed butapparently wouldnt pee. The round woman bentover the dog with audible effort and snapped on the

leash. She tugged to keep moving. Opal focused onthe silhouette of the mountain in front of her and haddecided to turn around and head back when she wasstartled by the womans loud shriek.

Opal looked over at the row of palm trees and sawthe woman lying on her stomach, her armoutstretched and the dog racing away with the leash

attached. Oh, oh, oh! the old woman moaned.Opal wanted to slink away but found that she wasimmobile. She approached the prone woman slowlyand put her hand out. Here, are you ok? Opalasked in a whisper of a voice. The birds wereincreasing their morning chatter. Opal saw thewomans palm and chin were embedding with thegravel from the asphalt and her chin was bleeding.

The little jingling dog skippered by and Opal stompedon the leash, jerking the dog to a stop. Oh,Snowdrop! Oh you bad, bad dog. Snowdrop wasobviously used to this talk or deaf. Or maybe it wasa bad, bad dog. The dogs Opal knew would behanging their heads and looking very remorseful


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right now. Not Snowdrop, who sat and panted andwould have bolted again had Opal not been standingon the leash, which Opal picked up and not knowingwhy, took the old womans arm and said, Ill walk

you back to your house. The fabric of her top wasthick and the large white geometric flowers stood inrelief. Opal wondered why anyone would wearsomething that must have been so uncomfortable.

Youre a sweet girl. Thank you. Im in theapartment right here, on the first floor. What are youdoing out by yourself so early? The old woman took

slow tentative steps toward an iron gate.

I dont know. Opal couldnt sleep any later and themorning air was so nice before the sun came up.Opal had no idea that was why, plus, she wasrestless.

My name is Mrs. Womack. Snowdrop youve met.

Shes my bad dog.

She laughed a deep laugh that came fromsomewhere else. They were through the iron gateand the interior of the complex was thick with palmsand banana plants and hibiscus. Mrs. Womack wasunlocking a door. On the right side of her doorframewas an ornate little ornament shaped like a crayon

on a slant, that Mrs. Womack touched with herundamaged hand and then kissed her hand. Opalleaned close on tiptoe and tried to read symbol on itbut couldnt make it out.

Thats a mezuzah. She informed Opal. In the


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Jewish faith it is placed on the doorpost as areminder of gods presence and gods mizvah. Insideis a tiny scroll of parchment with Hebrew prayers.

She moved inside and Opal waited on the stoop.

Come in, come in. I want to give you something foryour trouble.

Opal hesitated. She wasnt supposed to be out at all,and her mother had no idea where she was. Asharmless as this old woman appeared, she was still a

stranger and Opal knew better than to go into astrangers apartment.

Shut the door behind you so this bad, bad dogdoesnt make more trouble. Its all trouble with you.

You are a bad, bad dog. Mrs. Womack was feedingthe bad dog treats now. No wonder the dog was somessed up.

Opal stepped inside. The apartment was verydifferent than any shed seen. The furniture allseemed to match and there were pictures on the walland sleek lamps on end tables. Everything seemedto have been put in its place with a plan, but itwasnt fake or stuffy. Mrs. Womack had disappeareddown the hall then came back out to the entry and

set a solid navy patent leather handbag on the table.It stood open and Mrs. Womack pulled out Kleenexand keys and a needlepoint glasses case and setthem down. Then she pulled out an unopened roll ofButterRum Lifesavers and handed them to Opal.


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There. Thats for your help. Thank you for helpingan old woman and her, she turned and scowledtoward the kitchen, bad, bad dog.

Above the entry table was a mirror and Mrs.Womack looked at her chin and scowled again. Shestarted dabbing her chin with some of the Kleenex onthe table, licked it and dabbed some more.

Opal smiled and said, Youre welcome.

She slipped quickly back out through the door and

down the sidewalk lined with towering banana leafsand palms. She was deliberately quiet opening andshutting the heavy iron gate and walked back outonto the asphalt and toward her apartment. The sunwas just now peeking around the edge of SquawPeak and a mourning dove was calling. A few morecars were now out on the road and a lawn mowerstarted, drowning out the early morning birdsong.

Opals legs felt rubbery and she was trembling allover. She jogged slowly until she reached herapartment and very quietly opened the sliding glassdoor. In the dark kitchen she took a bowl off theshelf and filled it with grape*nuts, adding two spoonsof sugar and powdered milk then held it under thetap for a second and brought it into the living room.Opal turned on the TV at its lowest volume she was

careful not to wake her mother up - and sat on thefloor cross legged and watched the Banana Splits.

Judging by the empty jug of red wine in the sink, hermother was going to be hung over and grumpy. Thiswas the Saturday morning routine, and more often


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that circled the complex. This would guarantee hermother would be up soon and she was thankful thatshe had cleaned the kitchen and emptied the trashbefore she was up. She quietly let herself back in

through the sliding glass door and replaced the trashcan with a new paper grocery sack in the pantry.She gently closed the door when she was in herroom, pried off her shoes and lay down on her bedand started reading her novel.

The skateboard kid went by her bedroom windowand was calling to the other kids. She heard her

mother groan and the bed squeak. Her body tensedand she took a deep breath. Wont be long now,she thought and tried to loose herself in The Lion,Witch and the Wardrobe. Shed read it before butdidnt have anything new and didnt want to go tothe library. The bed squeaked again and then sheheard the bathroom door close. The toilet flushedand Opal anticipated the sound of the kettle being

filled and the click of the stove lighting, but insteadshe heard a mans voice, low and then her mothergiggle.

Opal was fascinated. The strange car in their spotwas not the only anomaly in her morning. Hermothers bedroom door opened, I will make somecoffee and get some eggs started, her mother said

in a light tone. The mans voice answered low, Illbe right there to help. More bed squeaks, the toiletflushed again and the sink on then off. Then kitchensounds and small talk and giggles. Opal wasparalyzed with confusion and knowing. She sat onthe side of her bed holding her book, her thumb


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stuck in where she left off reading. Why did she feelembarrassed?

Opal stood and opened her door, listening. Coffee

and melted butter smells made her hungry again.She inched toward the kitchen and stood out of sighton the sticky linoleum behind the fridge.

4Chapter Three

The wind had picked up but the snow was still just athreat. They had made it to the airport with littletime to spare, and no weather delays had beenissued.

Here, Ill drop you at curbside and Ill go return the

rental car. You check the suitcase and Ill meet youon the plane. Here, take my carryon. Ive got myticket in my small bag. Clayton slowed and pulledover in front of the Frontier Airlines curbside checkin.

Right, man. If the flights delayed for any reason Illmeet you in the bar nearest the gate, the partner

got the suitcase and the carry on out of the trunk,pounded the roof of the car twice and waved.

Clayton pulled away from the curb and the partnergripped the textured plastic handle of the bigturquoise suitcase and shouldered the leather carry


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on. He set the suitcase on the platform of thebaggage check and started filling out a name tag andlooping the tiny elastic onto the handle.

where are you flying today? asked the older blackman.

Phoenix. Back to the Valley of the Sun! smiled thepartner.

Lucky man. Just this bag? May I see your ticket?the baggage handler quickly looked at his ticket and

attached the appropriate tags to the suitcase andlugged it off the platform and onto a large trolley.

is the flight on time? asked the partner.

Delayed just an hour. Planes here but I thinktheyre waiting to see what the weather will bring.

Youre going to be departing from Gate 4. You have

time to get lunch or a newspaper. The handlernodded thank you as the partner put two ones in hishand.

The partner entered the airport and looked for themens room. It was across from the newsstand. Thegleaming Mexican tile floor echoed the footsteps ofthe travelers and reflected the neon of the

newsstand sign. A long carved wooden bench withleather seats sat outside the mens room and thepartner stopped there to tie his bootlace. He put hisfoot on the seat and dropped the carry on to the floorand retied the lace. Straightening he stretched hisarms over head and turned his head this way and


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that to stretch his neck. He ran his hands throughhis greasy shoulder length hair and rubbed his faceand two day stubble. He wondered if Clayton had arazor in his dop kit, from when he was clean shaven?

He sat down on the bench and pulled the carry on tohis lap and opened it to search for a razor beforegoing to the newsstand to buy one. He grasped thedop kit and then saw the leather gun case.

The partner sighed deeply and shook his head. Thatprick.

He opened the dop kit and found shaving supplies.Closed it again and stood up. He thought for amoment. He ran through the possible chain ofevents of what would have happened had he put thatbag on the security conveyer belt and walkedthrough the metal detector. He grimaced andstormed into the mens room and into a stall. He putthe lid down and sat the bag on the lid. Then very

quietly he lifted the top off the tank and set it on thefloor. He opened the carry on and removed the guncase. He unzipped it for no reason and saw the pearlhandle and several fifties folded inside. He removedthe cash, zipped the case and lowered it gently intothe water of the tank and replaced the lid.

He left the stall and went to the urinal on the wall

opposite and relieved himself, finally. At the sink,after washing his hands, he took the dop kit out ofthe carry on and fished for the razor, shaving soapand brush and lathered his face. There was no hotwater so he took his time and used paper towels toclean up. He was trying to decide if he should


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confront Clayton immediately, waiting for him in thelobby before going through security, or see howsurprised Clayton is when he boards the plane andthe partner is there and not in jail. By the time his

face was shaved clean, he was ready to go throughsecurity.

He was going to get a paperback at the newsstand,but had found a copy of the Milagro Beanfield War inthe carry on. He breezed through security withoutincident and went to the bar near gate 4 and ordereda beer and started the novel, which he enjoyed

immediately. An hour and fifteen minutes later, aftertwo beers and a plate of nachos, the partner wasdeep into the novel and the flight was announce tobe boarding. The partner looked for Clayton, whowas nowhere around the almost empty gate area.He dog eared the page where he stopped, pocketedhis change from the second beer, unwrapped thecomplimentary peppermint and popped it into his

mouth. He continued to turn and look for Clayton ashe walked to the line of passengers, and gave onefinal searching glace after the flight attendanthanded him the stub of his boarding pass, thenproceeded down the ramp to the plane.

The anger he felt at Clayton for setting him up likethat had become less interesting than the itching

curiosity he now felt as the doors closed and theplane took off, and the empty seat next to thepartner was filled with questions. What the hell wasgoing on? Was the gun an oversight? Clayton wasthe most anal person the partner had ever known.He felt it was impossible for Clayton to do anything


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by accident. Every breath he took was orchestratedand calculated to be of personal benefit.

The partner wanted to continue reading the novel, he

opened it and could only get through a few wordswhen his thoughts returned to the empty seat nextto him. Clayton was so damned calculating that thegun could not have been in the carry on by accident.And knowing that he would certainly be arrestedgoing through security, Clayton couldnt risk beingassociated with him, ticketed together would spellguilt by association. So he must have just split, he

didnt return the rental car, and he never planned to.Hes probably driving back to phoenix right now.

The partner decided that had to be it, and he wasfeeling more confident about his insisting that theysplit the cash back at the hotel before they hadheaded out to the airport. He had his split hidden inthe lining of his jacket. He just didnt have any clue

as to why Clayton would shit on him like this. Thebusiness they had started was working fine, and aslong as they kept it low key it would be a nice steadycash flow. He probably thought he could do it soloand double his profit, now that hed met the partnerscrew contacts. Greedy bastard.

The flight attendant began rolling the drink cart up

the aisle. She stopped at the partners seat andhanded him a small paper napkin with a tiny bag ofpeanuts. What can I get you to drink?

Tequila? the partner asked hopefully


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Hmmmm. Yes, with orange juice or soda? the fightattendant handed the partner a miniature bottle of

Jose Cuervo.

how about two more of these teensy things andsome lime wedges?

No limes, sorry, I can only sell you two teensythings. Want to reconsider the juice or soda?

Okay, orange juice. Ill buy my two teensy things.How many are you allowed to give me gratis?

Um. The flight attendant laughed and dug a can ofreconstituted orange juice out of the bottom of thecart. She put a cup of ice and the can of orange juiceon his tray, and two more teensy things. thatll besix dollars.

Pleasure doin business with ya. The partner

grinned and started pouring the teensy things overthe ice and added a splash of orange juice. Helooked down at the solid grey carpet of clouds mistand darkening sky and sipped his drink. He decidedto think the worse of Clayton until he learnedotherwise, and that combined with the drink let himconcentrate on the novel again, which he very muchenjoyed.

By the time the flight attendant had announced theirdecent and cleared the snack and drink items, hewas deep into the novel and wishing the flight werelonger. He looked at the front of the book and


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learned that it was a trilogy, and this seemed to bethe best news hed had all day.

The last trilogy he had enjoyed was the Lord of the

Rings, and he felt sure this was going to be assatisfying. The best vacation hed recently enjoyedwas a long weekend at his uncles cabin up inPrescott when he made a big pot of chili and hadplenty of firewood and the Lord of the Rings. Oncehe put this pearl handled pistol bullshit with Claytonto rest he was going to the library and get the nexttwo volumes of this Beanfield trilogy and head up to

Prescott for a few days. The plan put him in a muchbetter mood than he should have been, consideringthe potential shitstorm that could have been his lifehad been narrowly avoided. It was just a whim toshave. It could have easily waited until he washome. Clayton had grown his beard a year ago,there was no reason to think that he would haveshaving gear in his dop kit. Its so funny how the

things add up. And finding this novel was just asmuch a fluke as all the rest. He could have lived hiswhole adult life never reading it, never even hearingof it. Lifes crazy.

Back at the Albuquerque airport, a janitor was calledfix a toilet that wasnt flushing in lobby mens room.

Jesus pushed his cart into the mens room and

stopped to set up a closed for cleaning coneoutside. Inside the stall he closed the lid and rattledthe handle, then took the lid off the tank and foundthe problem.

5


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After eating their fill at La Cucaracha, the numbingeffect of Claytons two beers, the hum of the tiresand the darkening winter afternoon sky was makingthe both Leo and Clayton drowsy.

They began taking turns filling and sipping the acidiccoffee from the thermos cap.

We need new tunes. Wheres that hush puppiesbox? Clayton reached behind his seat with his freehand to get the box and set it on his lap.

Try the Moody Blues. That fits the weather,suggested Leo.

Clayton found the tape and studied the front then theback. He then picked up another tape, Ahh.Howzabout Tubular Bells? What do you say chief?And waved the second tape.

that ones a trip. Creepy. Youll like it.

I know, they used this music in the Excorcist.

no shit?

I shit you not. I read that in Esquire. Clayton reada lot of magazines and felt being in the know of all

cultural minutia was an important part of who hewas. He loved current events and cultural trivia andwas always quoting an article or culture piece onmusic or movies.

I meant moody creepy not possessed by demons


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creepy, clarified Leo. He was not a scary movie fanand would never have considered seeing the Exercistor reading the book, which he had heard was muchmore terrifying.

Not demons, the big guy. I saw that movie in an oldtheater in New Orleans. I dont mind tellin ya, it dida number on me. Didnt sleep a wink that night.

Not my style of movie, too negative. I dont like itwhen they use kids, or child actors to manipulate theaudience, ya know? To make you feel more worked

up about the problem or the melodrama. I like thistape though. I just dont want to associated it withsome little girl with a demon in her.

OK, I hear you. Lets just enjoy the tunes. Claytonstared out at the darkening desert and thought abouthow hed fucked up his day. What kind of mess washe going to have to clean up when he got to

Phoenix?

Clayton was now convinced that he had taken thegun out of the leather duffle bag where the dope hadbeen before they sold it and the cash was after. Heand the partner had divided up their shares, he hadthought to put several fifties in the gun case andzippered it shut and tucked it into one of his prized

kangaroo boots. His boots were zippered into acustom tooled leather boot bag that took up almosthalf of his side of the large suitcase. But maybe hehadnt? He was trying to remember if he had put itback in the leather duffle with his dop kit and novelor into the boot in the suitcase.


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The partner had kept yammering on about missingthe flight and hurry up with the counting. Of courseyou count twice, it has to be accurate, right? Thats

what had broken his concentration and led to thismess.

There were dire consequences, for sure, if he had putit back into the leather duffle. The partner would bein police custody by the time he had hit the lobbyand he was wise to have avoided making that plane.Conversely, if the gun was now in the belly of the

plane, in the boot, in the suitcase, then the partnerwas now landing safely in Phoenix and wonderingwhat the hell had happened to him. He needed tocome up with a plan for both outcomes.

If the partner is on that plane, then the simplestexplanation would be that he was delayed inreturning the car and missed the flight. He couldnt

book another because of the weather and hitched aride instead It was flimsy, but the partner wasntgoing to be too worried if he has his share of the cutand hes not in jail. He wont question a lame story.

On the other hand, if the worse case scenariopresents itself and the partner gets one phone call,who would he call? Not him. And if he needs bail

money who would he call? The partners wife hascompletely had it with him and his long weekendsand going AWOL whenever he needs some space.Plus, she doesnt have the money. Hes probablygoing to call Dolores, and then the shit will hit thefan. Dolores will post bail and then there will be hell


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to pay.

Clayton had been buying from Dolores since his exwife and daughter had moved into a dump of an

apartment after their separation and he spotted herin the carport after dropping off his daughter. Shewas either a pro or dressed for Mardi Gras. She waslifting a bag of groceries out of a convertible MG andhad a large German Shepherd on a leash. He offeredhis assistance and ended up with her number, incase he got lonely or needed some party favors. Shehad been generous on both accounts and when he

and the partner had started their business, she hadput Clayton in touch with her boss, Marsales.

If the partner calls Dolores for bail, and she goes toMarsales for the money and he is made aware of thisfiasco, their business was dead and they mightconsider leaving the state for their own safety.Marsales was not one to give second chances and did

not want to deal with amateurs who could be tracedback to him. Clayton admired and feared him.Mostly feared.

Leo stopped in Winslow for gas and pushed on toFlagstaff. It was dark now and the snow was startingto stick.

Id planned on driving straight through, but theweather being like this, we could stop in Flagstaff forthe night. I have a cousin who works at a hotel therewho could cut us a deal. Leo looked tired and washoping Clayton wasnt in too much of a hurry.


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Yeah, why not? I could use a good nights sleep.We could start fresh with plowed roads in themorning. Clayton liked this idea.

Alright. When we hit Flagstaff Ill stop and give hima call. He always works nights. Hes a student at theUniversity. Studying hotel and restaurantmanagement. I never understood why you needed acollege degree for that. Anyway, hes always tellingme to visit and how hell get me a package deal andall. Nows his chance.

At the service station in Flagstaff Leo used the payphone while Clayton went to the mens room. Oncethey were both back in the van and had directions tothe hotel Leo gave him the good news.

Seems theres a big wedding party staying at thehotel and the reception is still going on. My cousinput us in one of the rooms reserved for the wedding

party. He says they wont ever know the difference,just we cant order room service or movies. He evensaid we could stop by the kitchen with him and getone of the wedding guest meals. Nice, huh?

Clayton cracked up, I forgot my tux in my otherbag.

The cousin was barely nineteen and was working thegraveyard shift at the desk. He took great pleasurein orchestrating this caper for the two men. He leadthem up to their room, a large suite with two kingsized beds and a balcony. Clayton glanced into thebathroom and noted there was a trimline phone on


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God Damn, what a day Ive had. What a fuckinday, and he refilled his wine glass and cleaned hisplate. He continued to laugh softly to himself.

Its true. When I first got sight of you kneeling onthe side of the road in the freezing cold, well, I neverwould have thought wed be enjoying such a finemeal together, and have such comfortableaccommodations. Heres to cousins! Leo raised hisglass and they all mirrored his toast.

My cousins are all assholes, so heres to your

cousin, Clayton said with a snide grin, and they alllaughed and clinked their crystal wine glasses again.

Heres to the brides daddy not looking too closelyat the bill, said the cousin and again the clink andlaughter.

This is great, but the portions are puny. Hey, can I

get another one of these? Clayton gestured at hisclean plate.

Why not? and the cousin stood and walked intothe kitchen and returned with two more untouchedplates and another open bottle under his arm. Itsall going into the trash when we kick them out of theballroom in an hour. Eat up!

The second bottle of red wine was gone before theband had stopped and the men were full but stillthirsty. The cousin went back to the kitchen foranother bottle and returned this time with someplates of cake as well.


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The three of them were surprised that they liked thecake so much, but couldnt agree on what flavor itwas.

Definitely a lemon or citrus of some kind. Said Leo.

Orange. I taste vanilla and orange. Said Clayton.

You are both right, sort of. Each layer is a differentflavor cake and the frosting between the layers isdifferent. Some slices have raspberry filling, some

lemon, some a blood orange frosting. Its quite apiece of work this cake. The cousin felt proud ofhimself for remembering all this. The cake itself is avanilla chiffon on one layer and lemon on theothers.

and no body eats it after all that. Thats a shame. IfI were the chef Id be steamed too. Said Leo sadly.

Well, were eating it. Im enjoying the hell out of it.Ill tell the chef its the best damned cake Ive everhad, confused flavors and all. Said Clayton.

The chef didnt make the cake. It was brought upfrom a bakery in Phoenix. Theyll never know itwasnt eaten. Or that its intended recipients were

too tweaked on blow to be hungry. The cousin wasenjoying this diversion but was due back at the frontdesk. Okay, you guys need to finish and head backto your room. Ive got to go back to work.

The three men walked back through the kitchen and


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thanked the chef, who ignored them. The cousinsaid good night at the elevator and headed back tohis post behind the front desk. The two men foundtheir room and barely had time to remove their

shoes before sleep overcame them. Clayton thoughtbriefly about he phone in the john and couldnt thinkof a single person he could call who might be of helpto him now.

6.

The steam from Dharmas mug of tea was foggingthe window. Her hands and feet were freezing andshe held the mug for warmth as she considered herlist and rubbed her wool socked feet together under

her chair. On the kitchen table she had arranged heraddress book and a calendar and her list. She onlyhad a couple weeks before this baby was due andshe had started to panic about time. She was hardlyever able to sleep more that a few hours a night, sotonights tea at two ritual included making her list.


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She was living in her mothers tiny bungalow andsleeping on the office futon. She had borrowed abassinette and had hand me downs of everything she

could need. What little money she had been makingas a nightclub singer was over, because a big oldpregnant single singer just aint sexy. No hardfeelings, said the owner, its just business. Mycustomers want to be entertained and forget theirtroubles. Right now you would just remind them oftheir troubles. Hed smiled sympathetically andshook his head.

One of your customers got me into this trouble,she thought. But she got it, and put her lastpaycheck into her purse and went to have lunch withher mom.

**

Well, Im officially a clich. A statistic. A poor,unemployed, single knocked up black chick withbarely a high school education. Should I startdrinking now? Or shooting smack? Maybe Mick

Jagger will write a hit song about me. Dharmadropped her purse on the kitchen table in hermothers bungalow and lowered herself heavily into achair.

Youre pregnant? her mother shrieked in mockhorror. Her mother, Mela, was the original rebel inthe family. She came from good stock, was wellbreed, attended the country club functions and had acoming out at cotillion. But during her sophomore


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year at SMU she had to drop out because she waspregnant, and she refused to get married. And ifthat werent enough, then her parents learned thather boyfriend, Eli, and the father of the baby was

from New York. They were stunned into silence. Mela(she was Pamela then, Pammy since she was aninfant.) explained that her boyfriends parents werevery into the arts. His mother was a poet and hisfather was a jazz pianist. if you open your mind towhats outside of Dallas, you will see how specialthey are and how much I love him. She pleaded.She probably should have told them earlier that Eli

(now Elijah) was black. And so, Mela and Elijahmoved to Taos to have their baby, and named herDharma.

shut up. Dharma folded her arms on the table andburied her head. Her long curls splayed out in alldirections like seaweed.

you hungry? Stupid question. Ill heat up somesoup and how about a grilled cheese?

its going to be a race to the finish. Dharma tookan apple from the carved wooden bowl on the tableand bit into it. my semester is over in two weeksand this little bastard baby is due in ten days. Whatdo you bet the bastard will win?

Mela sliced cheese while the butter melted in thelarge cast iron skillet. She laid the bread in thebutter and layered the cheese slices. She stirred thesoup. your studies will always be there to pick upagain later. Right now you need to not stress and


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know this baby will come when he wants to and noton anybody elses schedule. Let go of trying tocontrol this. Breathe. Have you done that today?

Taken a deep cleansing breath?

no. I stopped breathing eight months ago when thestick turned blue. I havent exhailed since. Dharmathrew the apple core into the paper sack linedgarbage can across the kitchen. yes!

compost. Said Mela, flipping the sandwiches tobrown the other side.

The smell of butter and melting cheese and thesweet curry smell of the lentil soup had turned hermild hunger to a ravenous ache.

oh my god Im so starving. What is wrong with me?I think I have a serious problem. How can someonebe painfully hungry, then painfully full and then

starving again in 40 minutes? This kid better weighat least 35 pounds or I am going to be in double digitsized jeans for a very long time. Dharma lurched upand shuffled over to the refrigerator and took out apitcher of bright orange juice. this isnt orange juiceis it?

Carrot. Fresh squeezed last night.

really? How does one squeeze a carrot?

smart ass. The carrots were squeezed with a juicer.Fresh juiced? Its fresh and good for you. And youknow enough about childbirth to want a very sensibly


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sized six-pound baby. Remember what your midwifesaid about the third trimester: Whatever you pack innow you push out later. Dont over think it. Here sitdown and eat. Mela set her plate and bowl on a

woven placemat of her own making and handedDharma a matching napkin.

Mela had been weaving home and kitchen textiles fortwenty years. She had developed a following andmany boutiques in artist communities in the SouthWest like Scottsdale, Sedona, Taos, and now sometonier shops in Dallas and San Francisco carried her

work. She had recently sold some of her designs to alarge designer business and had them reproduced forthe Crate and Barrel crowd. Now she was global. Soshe bought a juicer.

This impending baby inspired her to start a babyblanket line. Pastel alpaca yarns with geometric andHopi and Navajo motifs. The first batch sold out and

she was going to need help to keep up with theorders that were coming in. Mela had offeredDharma the opportunity to stay home and help herwith the weaving and while it wasnt her dream tooperate a loom, she agreed it was a good idea. Sheneeded an income and couldnt afford a place of herown or child care.

all baby stuff doesnt need to be pastel. Can we dosome bright colored baby blankets? Purple, brightaqua, hot pink and orange. And how about somewith dragons and rockets and wizards or bugs

Lets fill the orders for whats flying off the shelves


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and then we can branch out a bit. We can put in ateaser with the next big order we fill and see if itsparks interest. I like your ideas though. Bugs.Lightning bugs. Praying mantis.

a headless praying mantis would sell. She tried notto sound bitter.

in New York maybe. Mela felt like keeping Dharmafrom looking at everything from the most negativeperspective was becoming a full time job. She triedto keep things darkly humorous or food oriented to

keep her pregnant unwed daughters spirits up.

This is the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten.The bad news is it has already been eaten. Can Ihave three more?

Ah, no. go lay down and rest a bit while I clean thisup. Sketch some blanket ideas. There are some

colored pencils on my desk. Mela took herdaughters plate and shook out the place mat andnapkin over the sink.

Mela washed the lunch plates and the skillet and setthem on the drain board and reached for a dish toweland began to dry the plates and put them away. Shewatered the three potted violets in the window over

the big white cottage sink. Granny Mela. Shethought. She giggled.

Dharma leaned carefully over her mothers desk toget the pencils. She had to reach and stretch andfinally side step around the desk to reach them. She


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was suddenly short of breath and felt her whole torsotighten like a drum. The Braxton Hicks contractionstook her breath away for a moment and the fullstomach didnt help. The indegestion would kick in

soon if she didnt chew a few tums now. Lying downwould make it worse so she took the pad of sketchpaper and the colored pencils to the couch andpropped pillows all around her and under her knees.She opened the sketch pad and began testing colorcombinations, and then almost immediately fellasleep.

Mela lifted the paper bag out of the garbage can androlled it down she opened the back door to take it tothe big trash can outside and met Roofus. He hadbeen waiting and rubbed her leg quickly and slippedin the door. Mela filled his bowl but he had alreadyfound Dharma and curled up in what tiny spaceremained between her belly and her thighs. Dharmahad named him Roofus because they had found him

on their roof. No one claimed him and he hadclaimed Dharma. His purr could be heard across theroom.

Mela finished drying the lunch dishes and decidedthat her next major extravagance was going to be adishwasher. She had managed all this time withoutone, but now she wanted one and could finally afford

a little creature comfort. Some country clubhousewife appliance. What next? Would she startwaxing her legs or plucking her eyebrows?

opal saves mrs. womack (chapter two)

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