Francie. The thought of her pierced his heart with pleasure. Licking his oily fingers, he walked back out into the hall, picked up the telephone, and dialed. He glanced into the parlor and stuck out his tongue while he waited for Francie to answer.
The telephone rang and rang. Cold air seeped under the front door and gave Andrew gooseflesh on his bare legs as he stood there. Where is she? he thought impatiently. Maybe she went to school already. It annoyed him that she wasn’t there. The stupid sister wasn’t even around to answer the phone. Andrew hung up and wandered back into the living room. He was feeling cold now and irritable. And the body was still there. Like a problem that you couldn’t solve.
He reached down and picked up the stained pants from the floor. He pulled them back on and zippered them up absently, staring all the while at the inert human-shaped debris on the floor. It was safe for now. But it wouldn’t last. He had to get rid of it. Sooner or later someone would wonder. He couldn’t just bury it. Someone, the dentist probably, would demand an explanation of where she had gone. Leonora Vincent, dental hygienist, would not just quit her job without informing her employer and leave town on the first bus. She had never liked to leave Oldham, except to go to work.
His head filled with possible lies, and he weeded through them as he stared blindly down at the body. Think of a good one, he warned himself. You’d better. And fast.
MIKE SIGNALED THE WAITRESS
to bring the dinner check and then turned back to Francie. “So it sounds as if you were having quite a tour for yourself today while your sister was charming her clients.”
Francie shrugged. “I did walk a pretty long way.”
“From Beth’s office on Spruce Street to the Reading Terminal Market. I’d say that’s quite a hike.”
Mike’s niece, Gina, a lively, round-faced girl, leaned over to Francie. “I love that market. You can really pig out there.”
Francie nodded solemnly. “I had a bagel with a cannoli, and three kinds of chocolate chip cookies.”
“Ugh,” said Gina appreciatively.
“By the time she got back I was sure she had gotten lost,” said Beth.
“No, I found my way around pretty easily,” said Francie.
“And how’d you like Beth’s office?” Mike asked.
“Nice.” Francie nodded.
“Maxine adopted her right away,” said Beth.
“I liked her. I wrote a letter while I waited, and she mailed it for me some kind of way like pony express where it gets there in one day.”
“Overnight express,” said Mike. Beth looked vaguely surprised at the mention of the letter.
“I didn’t know they had that,” said Francie.
“Everything is instant these days,” said Mike. Then he looked around and spoke in a confidential tone. “Except, perhaps, for the service in this restaurant.”
Francie and Gina smiled, and Beth elbowed him as the waitress appeared suddenly at his elbow with their bill. As Mike counted out the money, Beth indicated to the younger girls that they could start putting their coats on.
“I feel sick,” Gina groaned as she pulled on her worn leather bomber jacket. “I ate so much.” Francie gazed admiringly at Gina’s jacket.
“You two ready?” Beth asked.
Gina nodded.
“That’s a nice coat,” said Francie.
“Isn’t it excellent? I got it in a secondhand clothing store right here on South Street,” said Gina proudly.
Francie shoved her hands into the pockets of her old parka and nodded. “It’s really cool.”
“We can go down there and look in the store,” said Gina. “They’re open at night.” She turned to Beth. “Let’s walk down there and show Francie, okay?”
“Sure,” said Beth. They all had reached the front door, having threaded their way through the closely packed tables in the Mexican restaurant.
“Okay, Uncle Mike?”
Mike indicated the door. “Sounds good. Lead on.”
“Did you like that Mexican food?” Gina asked Francie as the two girls pushed open the glass doors.
“Yeah. I never had it like that before. I’ve had chili, but what was that green stuff called?”
“Guacamole.”
“That was good.”
“I love it,” Gina said in agreement. “I ate so much I could burst.”
“This was a brainstorm,” Beth said to Mike as they followed the girls out the door and slowly began to stroll down South Street.
Mike pulled her arm through his and smiled a little smugly. “I thought so.”
“You’d think they were old buddies.”
“Well, that Gina is a good girl. And she never met a stranger. I figured they’d get along. They’re just about the same age.”
“It’s nice to see them having a good time,” Beth said thoughtfully.
“What about you?” Mike asked.
“Hmmmm…”
“Are you having a good time?”
Beth nodded. “Yes.” She watched the girls, who were chattering away, a few steps ahead of them. “I can’t believe Francie’s so talkative around you. She’s always so silent with me. That business about Max mailing the letter for her. She never even mentioned that to me.”
“She probably forgot about it.”
“I wonder if that letter was to Andrew. I’ll bet it was,” Beth said in a gloomy tone.
“Why don’t you ask her if you’re curious?”
“I don’t want to butt in like that. But I’ll bet it was.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it in any case. It was just a letter.”
“I suppose,” said Beth. “Anyway, it’s none of my business.”
A couple, both dressed in studs and black leather, with matching Mohawk haircuts were walking toward them. The young man’s stripe of hair was dyed electric blue, and his girl’s was magenta. She was wearing dangling metal earrings and a short leather skirt and ankle boots, while he was resplendent in crisscrossed bandoliers of metal studs. Francie stopped dead and stared at them as they went by, while Gina poked her and giggled.
As Beth and Mike caught up with them, they heard Gina saying to Francie, “South Street is sort of like the Greenwich Village of Philadelphia.”
“Oh,” said Francie, “I’ve never been to New York.”
“Everybody looks like that in New York,” Gina informed her in a confidential tone.
“Not everyone,” Mike said with a wry smile.
“That’s the store I meant,” said Gina, pointing across the street. “Meet you there,” she said to Mike.
Mike waved indulgently at them as they sprinted across the street in the direction of secondhand treasures.
“Amazing,” said Beth, shaking her head.
“What?”
“Francie. She’s having the time of her life.”
“It’s good to see her smiling,” said Mike. “She’s got a really sad aura about her. You can tell those eyes have seen some sorrow.”
“It’s true. They have.”
“Well, if anyone can make them sparkle, Gina can. She’s kind of goofy, like most kids, but she has a way of drawing people in.”
“It’s a gift,” Beth said ruefully.
A bell overhead tinkled as Mike and Beth entered the musty clothing store. The two girls were trying on old hats with veils and making fun of each other.
Gina began to hunt through the racks of old clothes and finally pulled out a faded leather jacket with a crow of triumph. “Try this on,” she insisted.
Francie looked at the coat. “That’s a nice one.”
“The lining’s perfect,” Gina pointed out.
Francie shrugged off her parka and tried on the coat, looking at herself in the cheval mirror in the corner. “Too big,” she said.
“It’s supposed to be big,” said Gina. “That’s the style.”
Francie looked at it doubtfully. “I don’t think so. I don’t like it as well as yours anyway.”
Gina pulled off her own coat and exchanged it for the one Francie was removing. She tried it on and admired herself. “Well, I like this better than mine.” Impulsively she hugged it around herself and rejected her own coat, which Francie was holding out to her. “No, you keep mine, and I’ll get this one.”
Francie looked horrified. “No, I couldn’t.”
Gina forced it on her with a laugh. “Yes. I’ve got some Christmas money, and I like this one better than mine anyway.”
Francie frowned at the jacket, her cheeks pink.
“Please?” said Gina.
“I’ll pay you for it,” said Francie firmly.
“No, no,” said Gina. “Just get rid of that old parka so I won’t be embarrassed to be seen with you.”
A blush of humiliation began to creep up Francie’s neck, but a glance at Gina’s kindly smile seemed to reassure her. She put the coat on with a shrug. “How do I look?”
“Great,” Gina shrieked.
Mike and Beth exchanged a glance. “She reminds me of you,” Mike said.
“Who? Francie?” Beth asked in surprise.
“It’s that stubborn little I-don’t-need-nothin’-or-nobody streak. All genuine offers met with suspicion,” he said in a bemused tone.
Beth was about to protest the unfairness of the remark, but she lapsed into silence instead as she mulled it over. After a minute she said, “You think I’m like her?”
“No, I think you’re a little worse.”
“Thanks,” she said indignantly.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re gonna have to work to keep up with these two.”
After a few more stops along the way Mike finally convinced Gina that it was time for her to go home and drove her down to his sister’s house in South Philadelphia. Beth leaned forward and held the seat down as Gina started to climb out and then reached back to give Francie a hug.
“When are you coming back?” Gina asked.
“I don’t know,” said Francie.
“Well, let me know.”
“I will.”
Beth felt herself getting a cramp in her side as she held the seat at its awkward angle during the lengthy good-bye. They were congratulating each other on their coats again. You’d think they were sisters, Beth thought.
“Come on, girls,” she said irritably.
“I had a great time,” Gina caroled as she bounded up the stoop to the front door of her house. She waved as she let herself in.
“She’s really nice,” said Francie as Beth pushed the seat back and slammed the door shut. Mike drove to the comer and then headed back uptown in the direction of Beth’s house.
“She is a nice girl,” said Mike.
“She’s your niece?”
Mike nodded. “The oldest daughter of my oldest sister. I have five other nieces and nephews too. Gina has two younger brothers.”
“I know,” said Francie. “She told me.”
“Now my younger sister has only one child. A boy. But I am partial to him because he’s named after me.”
They chatted on amicably for the rest of the ride home, Francie questioning Mike about his family and Mike cheerfully filling her in. Beth sat silently in the front seat, staring out the window.
Mike and Francie were still chattering as Beth unlocked the house, and they followed her inside. “We’re here,” she announced.
“Anyone want a cup of coffee?” asked Mike as he headed into the kitchen.
“No, it’ll keep me up all night,” Beth said, hanging up her coat.
“No, thanks,” said Francie. She flopped down into a chair in the living room. “That was fun,” she said.
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” said Beth.
“I’ve never been in a city before. There’s so much going on at once here. It’s like a circus.”
“I’ve always liked it,” said Beth. She could remember very clearly her first time in the city. There had been a street fair going on, people smoking dope in the sunshine and Hare Krishna monks chanting on the corner. It had scared her a little but instantly convinced her that she wanted to stay. She wished that Francie would ask her about it or at least seem interested. Words to describe that kaleidoscopic day waited eagerly for an opening.
Francie took off her glasses and squinted at them. She fished in her pocket, found a Kleenex, and began to wipe them off. She was still wearing the coat that Gina had given her. Beth thought for a minute of the necklace she had bought for her in Maine, the day they had gone to the lawyer. She hadn’t yet seen Francie wear it.
“We’ll be leaving fairly early tomorrow,” Beth said in a stilted tone.
“Oh, okay.” Francie sat up straighter in the chair and replaced her glasses on her nose.
“You’d better get some sleep. It could be a long trip again.”
Mike came into the living room carrying a cup of coffee as Francie was getting up from her chair. “Going up already?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired.”
Mike nodded.
“G’night, Mike. It was nice meeting you.”
Mike smiled broadly at her. “The pleasure was all mine. See you again.”
“Night,” Francie said to Beth. “Thanks for everything. I had a good time.”
Beth smiled briefly at her. “I’m glad. Sleep well.”
Mike leaned back and sipped his coffee. “That’s good instant,” he said, smacking his lips.
Beth nodded, her face sunken into a frown.
“I thought the evening went swimmingly,” he said.
“Mmmm,” said Beth. “I guess so.”
“They had a blast.”
“Yeah.”
“So you don’t sound too thrilled.”
Beth shrugged and sat up, hugging herself. “You know, Mike, I felt pretty good when she agreed to come down here with me. I—I don’t know. I guess I thought we might be making progress. But—”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. I feel as distant from her as ever. More than ever—”
“I thought she was quite friendly. She was clearly enjoying herself.”
“I can’t talk to her,” Beth complained. Then she sighed. “Well, that’s just the way it is. Too much has happened. All the arguing and the bad scenes up there. I should be grateful we can even tolerate each other and leave it at that. It doesn’t matter all that much, the little we see each other.”
“Can I tell you what I’ve noticed about you two?”
“Go ahead,” said Beth.
“I think she wants to be friends with you. She seems pretty willing—”
“In other words, it’s my fault,” said Beth, running her hands through her hair. “Look, Mike, we’re just not on the same wavelength. You don’t understand. I can’t just chatter away with her the way you can. I don’t feel comfortable doing that. I’m not like that.”
“Wait a minute. Wait. At the risk of sounding—well, it seems to me you’re both willing. But you’re being altogether too polite. I mean, you seem to keep on saying all the polite things, but you’re not really saying anything. Maybe if you just jumped right on in. She’s your family after all. You can talk at her if you want to. Say whatever comes to mind. You don’t have to be formal with your family.”