"I see the kids, but I don’t seeher."
"That'd be just like her to dropthem off and leave."
"Should we callsomeone?"
Elizabeth tried to look aroundwithout moving to see what kids they were talking about. It wasn'tunheard of for parents to drop their children off at the pool andleave them unsupervised. It was one of the main reasons whyElizabeth didn't like coming here. There were always kids runningaround and very little parental involvement. Of course, she herselfhad just dozed off. She scanned to get a visual on her kids. Teddywas floating on his back and Sydney was playing with another girlin the shallow end. They were behaving, and Elizabeth relaxed againslightly. She heard the yammering of the women again.
"Maybe she's in the building. Youknow, with one of the lifeguards."
The other woman cackled. "Maybeshe's servicing them all. You know, making men out ofboys."
Elizabeth's stomach sank. Sheclosed her eyes and tried to remain calm.
She sat there and listened as thetwo women continued to make jokes and inappropriate comments abouthow Elizabeth might be servicing several men, and even boys, whileher children were out in the pool. She had imagined what peoplewould be saying, but this was so much worse. These women didn'teven really know her. How could they think that she was really likethis? Elizabeth sat there fuming and humiliated, each emotionrolling over her in waves. This was probably only a sampling. Thiswas what everyone was at least thinking, if not saying. She neededto get out of there. Finally, the two women left to go to the snackbar. Quickly, Elizabeth stood up and packed up all of their stuff.Feeling like a pack mule, she walked over to the side of the poolwhere the kids were.
"Hey guys. We've got togo."
"Aww, Mom," Sydney whined. "Can'twe stay for a little longer?"
"Sorry, pumpkin. Hop out of thepool."
Sydney started to pout, andElizabeth knew a scene was coming. She had to avoid that at allcosts. She didn't want any more attention than she was alreadyreceiving. And she certainly didn't want the people focusing on herchildren. Teddy must have sensed her urgency, and he climbed out ofthe pool and took his towel. Elizabeth dug his flip flops out ofthe bag, and he slid his feet into them.
"C'mon Syd. We've got to get going.We're going to get ice cream."
That did the trick and she was soonclimbing out of the pool. They headed to the exit, but not beforethe catty women spotted her. As Elizabeth passed by, she heard oneof them say, "It's about time you focused on your children insteadof putting out."
Elizabeth dropped her head, hottears stinging her eyes. She prayed that her children neither heardnor understood. They made it to the van, and Elizabeth sat in thedriver's seat for a moment, willing her tears to stop.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Sydney wasconcerned.
"Nothing, honey."
"Then why are you crying?" Teddyasked.
"I'm, um, not feeling that wellright now. I think I just need to lie down. Can we take a raincheck on the ice cream and just have popsicles at home?"
Sydney started toprotest.
"Please, honey. Mommy really needsto go home."
Something in her voice must havestruck a chord with Sydney, and her compassionate seven-year-oldsoul acquiesced. It was a wonder that Elizabeth possessed thewherewithal to be able to drive home, but somehow she made it. Asshe pulled into the garage, the kids scrambled out. Elizabeth justsat there. It struck her that this was her life. From now on,wherever she went, people would talk. They would speculate. Theywould whisper. It would follow her no matter what she did. It waslike being in high school all over again.
Oh, but this was so much worse. Inhigh school, she had been known as shy and innocent. A nerd. Aprude. This was worse. So, so much worse. And she would not havethe reprieve of college in a few years to escape and reinventherself. No, she was stuck here. It occurred to her that they couldmove. Could she convince Peter to move? Could she leave her parentslike that? At the moment, she felt that she truly could. That couldbe a ray of hope to hang onto. Peter grew up in the Midwest.Perhaps he would want to move back there. Or South. Someplace warm,where there would be no ice storms to bring one to the brink ofdeath and desperation.
That was it. That was the answer.They would have to move. She exited her car finally and went intothe house. All of the cleaning over the past week had actuallyhelped. She could continue cleaning and weeding out, working onhousehold projects until the house was in selling shape. She walkedinto the kitchen pantry and started cleaning out. This house had agreat pantry, and she knew it would be a selling point. She tookout a large black plastic trash bag and started cleaning outexpired cans and boxes. A half-eaten bag of pretzels that had abest-by date of two years ago. A remnant jar of baby food. Stalecrackers. Old beans. Trash, trash, trash.
One bag was filled, then another.The kids started helping, encouraging Elizabeth. She had all summerto work on the house, and hopefully they could be in a new placebefore the school year started. After the pantry was done, shetackled the junk drawers in the kitchen. Then onto the hall closet.First the downstairs one, then the upstairs one. Before she knewit, it was dinner time. Peter was due momentarily. Elizabeth lookeddown. Seven bags of trash. She was still in her bathing suit. Shehad to change before she made supper. Luckily, she was justgrilling salmon to put on salads. She could pull that togetherquickly enough.
She ran upstairs and changed. Shewashed her face and then released her hair from its clip. As herhair spilled down onto her shoulders, she could not help but thinkabout Jack and the night of Nancy's party. What an idiot she hadbeen! He must have realized that she didn't know about the book,but when? Before he asked to see her again? Was he hoping to actout some scenes? Did
