sort of have a little kingdom here, don’t you?’’ ‘‘A lot of people think so,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Sort of queen of your domain,’’ he said. ‘‘No, just the queen’s knight. Vanessa’s the queen,’’
said Diane.
‘‘I hear you there. Lunch would be nice. I tend to
skip meals since Evie’s been working with this anti
drug group. She’s trying to make some meaning out
of Donald’s death. I guess I should learn how to cook,
but I don’t have much of an appetite anymore.’’ Diane ordered a couple of steaks, baked potatoes,
a salad, and chocolate cake, and asked that it be
brought to her office.
‘‘I won’t turn down a good steak,’’ said Izzy. He
looked like he might have found his appetite. Diane took a pile of books and papers off the table
and readied it for lunch. She and Izzy made small talk
until it arrived. He seemed to appreciate the break.
Diane knew what a struggle it was for him and his
wife—looking for meaning where there was none,
looking for closure that didn’t exist.
‘‘They tell me you moved from your apartment,’’
he said.
‘‘They asked me to leave,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Too many
things happening in and around my apartment for them.’’ ‘‘I hadn’t heard that. Who asked you to leave?’’
said Izzy.
‘‘My neighbors. They met with my landlady and
took a vote.’’
‘‘You know that’s not legal,’’ said Izzy. ‘‘You could
have fought it.’’
‘‘I know, but I understood their position. Sometimes
you just need some peace,’’ said Diane.
Izzy nodded. ‘‘You’re right about that. Sometimes
you just need peace.’’
He stared off in the distance for a moment, then
looked back at her and gave half a laugh as if embar
rassed for getting lost in thought.
‘‘How’s Frank treating you?’’ he said. ‘‘He hasn’t
played that accordion of his for you, has he?’’ Diane laughed. ‘‘No, but he is teaching me the
piano,’’ she said.
‘‘Piano. That’s nice. Evie plays a little bit.’’ It didn’t take long for the order to arrive. Izzy
looked at the food like he’d never seen food before,
or like it reminded him of a life he used to have.
Diane remembered what it was like to not have an
appetite, having grief eat at the pit of your stomach
so you thought it would never hold anything again.
She also remembered that when she began eating
again, her body started coping better.
‘‘This is really good,’’ said Izzy after taking a couple
of bites of his steak. ‘‘I can’t remember the last time I
had a really good meal. I need to bring Evie to the
restaurant here soon. We haven’t been out together
since, well, since before . . .’’ He let the sentence trail off. ‘‘I do like the food here,’’ said Diane.
