'What about your father?'
'He works in the Quarter. He's a cook. I got two younger sisters still in school and a brother who's in the army. What about you?'
'I have twin brothers, twelve years old. Where do you live, Sophie?'
'On the other side of the Quarter. I take the car to Canal Street.'
We waited for the streetcar together.
'How long have you worked in the hospital?' I asked her.
'Little more than a year.'
'Don't you want to return to school? There's a lot more for you to learn,' I said.
She dropped her eyes quickly. 'Can't,' she said. 'Gotta work.'
'Why? Doesn't your father make good money as a cook?' I knew good cooks in the Quarter were valuable.
Sophie shrugged. 'Maybe,' she said. 'We don't know for sure.'
'What? Why not?'
'He doesn't live with us,' she told me just as the streetcar came around to our station. She hurriedly boarded, I sat beside her, and we both looked out the window as the car rattled down the track. 'He doesn't even come to the house anymore,' she continued. 'He just sends some money around from time to time. If I want to see him, I have to go down to the restaurant, but he never has time to talk much.'
'I'm sorry,' I said. When the car approached my station and I stood up, Sophie looked very impressed.
'You live in the Garden District?'
'Uh-huh.'
'I never even walked down here,' she said.
'Maybe one day you can stop off and have dinner with me,' I suggested.
'Really?' Her smile faded. 'I usually gotta get right home to help Mama.'
'Maybe you can work it out,' I suggested. 'See you tomorrow. Thanks for helping me get started. Bye.'
'Bye,' she called.
When I got home everyone wanted to hear about my first day at work. The twins made faces and groaned when I described some of the cleanup work I had to do, but when I told them about the death of Mrs. Conti, the twins' eyes lit up with interest.
'You saw a dead woman?' Pierre asked.
'Yes.'
'Did you touch her?' Jean said.
'No.'
'Did she smell?'
'I think we can change the topic until after dinner,' Daddy said. 'Don't you, Pearl?'
'Yes, Daddy.'
I went on to tell them about Sophie, but the twins weren't interested in anything except Mrs. Conti, When I told Daddy about Dr. Weller, he sat back and looked at Mommy.
'He just met you and he wants to make you dinner?' she asked.
'I guess because we aren't going to study until after work. Why?'
Daddy looked troubled.
'I'm sure he's just impressed with Pearl, and since she's shown an interest in medicine . . .' Mommy said.
Daddy thought for a moment and relaxed. 'I suppose you're right, Ruby. You usually are when it comes to people. Your mother's going to have a new exhibition in two weeks,' he added proudly. 'And your picture is going to be part of it.'
'That's wonderful, Mommy.'
We talked about Mommy's artwork, and after a dessert of creme brulee, Daddy took me to buy some soft-soled shoes, and Mommy went to work in her studio.
'Well,' Daddy said in the car, 'after being on the front lines, what do you think?'
'I think I want to become a doctor even more, Daddy.' He nodded. 'What really stopped you, Daddy?' I asked again. I knew his family had the money to put him through medical school and that he had been a very good student.
'My family was upset with me, especially after your mother became pregnant. I was very upset with myself for leaving Ruby, and for a while I was self-destructive. I drank heavily while I was in Europe, and I wasted my time and talent. And then . . .'
He paused and I saw how his eyes focused on a memory. 'And then I heard that Ruby had married Paul. I soaked myself in self-pity, cut classes, and wasted time. Suddenly one morning there was a knock on my apartment door. When I opened it, I found your aunt Gisselle standing there. For a moment I thought she was Ruby. They had such identical faces. I let myself imagine, and your aunt Gisselle encouraged my illusions. The rest you know. Gisselle and I were married, and I returned to work in the Dumas enterprises.
