Elizabeth wanted to call Julia to check on her,but she had to get to the market first. She had promised to bringpopsicles in for Teddy's class tomorrow. Cherry Road had a stricthealth food only policy, so no bomb pops here. Instead, Elizabethhad combed Pinterest to find a "healthy" and gluten-free red, whiteand blue popsicle recipe. The only problem was it called forrefrigerated coconut milk. It was supposed to be refrigerated forat least twelve hours before you whipped it up to make the whiteportion. Elizabeth calculated that if she was home from the marketby ten-ish, she could freeze the coconut milk for six hours,putting her at four o'clock in the afternoon. Then, the popsicleshad to be assembled, freeze for three more hours, and then thesticks put in. Elizabeth sighed. Her whole damn day would beconsumed by making these stupid things.
With much cajoling to get dressed, and then atrip through the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru, Elizabeth finallylanded at Super Shop 'n More with the two kids in tow. Shehurriedly pushed the cart up and down the aisles, looking for theingredients for the popsicles, as well as for a few other staplesshe needed for the house. She really hated this grocery store, muchpreferring the other chain in town. But she felt obligated to shophere because of Nancy. She knew that if she set foot in the otherstore, it would get reported back to Nancy, and Nancy would lookdown on her. And it seemed, every time Elizabeth went to themarket, she ran into someone she knew. She had pulled her hair backinto a ponytail, and put minimal make-up on. Her cobalt blue tanktop and black shorts were nothing remarkable, but were at least notthe dumpy, drab and dilapidated clothes she used towear.
Going up and down the aisles, dodging first onechild, then another as they walked in front of her, Elizabethspotted Nicole Bovee. She waved and smiled, but Nicole must nothave seen her, as she turned around without reciprocating thegreeting. Elizabeth shrugged it off, and continued the hunt for thecoconut milk, finally locating it in the Hispanic foods section.Out of curiosity, Elizabeth cruised by the frozen foods. The namebrand bomb pops were $3.49 for a package of twelve. The store brandwas only $2.99, on sale with the savings card for $1.99. She wasspending at least twenty dollars on the ingredients for the"healthy" ones, not including the popsicle sticks she would need togo out later and buy. That didn't account for all her time andeffort, either. Sometimes, she hated the community. Out of spite,or maybe defiance, she grabbed a box of the generic bomb pops andtossed them in the cart for Teddy and Sydney. They should have someunhealthy memories of childhood.
When Elizabeth got home from the market, shetexted Julia to check in on her. She put her phone aside, andtackled some cleaning and laundry she had been avoiding.Mid-afternoon, she again loaded the kids up in the car, and droveto the craft store in search of popsicle sticks. Sydney, of course,begged for first one craft item, and then another. Knowing thatsummer vacation was soon approaching, Elizabeth conceded, andstocked up on some relatively low-mess crafting supplies. Being apre-school teacher, Elizabeth knew she should love crafts, but shesecretly loathed them. Frankly, to her, it was just another mess toclean up. But, if it kept Sydney occupied, then maybe, just maybe,the mess would be worth it. Elizabeth drew the line at glitter andcompromised with some activities that could be doneoutside.
Once home again, Elizabeth set about making theberry sauce for the popsicles. First with blueberries, then withthe strawberries. She was impatient, as usual, when working on aninane food project, and burnt her hand. Cursing, she stuck herright hand under the cold water. At that moment, her phone rang andshe struggled to extract and answer it with her left hand. It wasAgnes.
"Since you're alone again, why don't you bringthe kids over here for dinner tonight? Your father is trying a newpork chop recipe."
Elizabeth, although not looking forward toloading up the kids yet again, had a personal motto to be gratefulfor any meal she did not have to cook. "Sure. Sounds great. Whattime?"
"Five-thirty."
Elizabeth looked at the clock. It was 4:45 now.That gave her a half-hour to assemble her pops. It would be tight,but she thought she could do it. "Okay, I've got to get some stuffdone before. See you then."
Agnes had disconnected before Elizabeth couldeven say goodbye. Elizabeth shut off the faucet, dried her hands,and began spooning the blueberries into the molds. Within the halfhour, twenty-four popsicles were layered with blueberries, whippedfrozen coconut milk and strawberries. She popped them in thefreezer and went to round up the kids. As she herded them out tothe van, she checked her phone. Julia had never responded. Weird.She was usually very prompt with her replies. Elizabeth hoped shewas all right.
As she got into the van, Elizabeth connectedher Bluetooth headset and called Julia. It went to voice-mail.Elizabeth wanted Julia to know she was not upset about being leftat the party. She decided to leave a message, although she usuallydidn't. "Hey Julia, it's Elizabeth. Just calling to check on you,see how you were doing today. I ran into a friend from high school,and he brought me home, so all is good. Hope you're all right. Callme when you get a chance."
Elizabeth wanted Julia to know that not onlywas she not upset about being left; but also that she would standby her while the others gossiped. She didn't really care that Juliahad made an ass out of herself. Of course, she felt badly for herfriend, but it wouldn't affect their friendship in any way.Elizabeth
