“Oh, maybe just a spritzer for me,” Clarabeth said. “You know, I try not to imbibe lately. It’s not good for my blood sugar or a long list of other things. That’s what my internist tells me. He’s so darling. Do you know how many pills I take every morning? And then there are more at night!”
Carl looked at her like she was a little cracked, which she was not. She was, well, just long-winded.
“A glass of red would be nice,” Ted said. He put his arm around Clarabeth and gave her a squeeze to quiet her.
The usual niceties were exchanged and pretty soon everyone had a slice of pizza on a dinner plate with some tossed salad.
“You know, one of the best things about having children is that you can justify double cheese with pepperoni and mushrooms. This is so delicious,” Adam said, finally joining the conversation.
“Isn’t that the truth?” Eve asked, and laughed. “I love this stuff!”
It was unclear to me why Eve thought Adam’s remark was funny. Maybe she’s nervous, I thought. If Cookie were my mother I’d be a wreck.
But soon the wine began to work its magic and I wasn’t nearly as annoyed as I had been. In fact, the mood softened all around and Carl had my attention. We were both being duped by our spouses, I thought.
Carl refilled my goblet and then everyone else’s—except Clarabeth’s. She was already on her second spritzer.
“Gosh, Daphne has grown up so much since last summer,” I said. “She must be five inches taller!”
“And your boys too!” Eve said.
“True,” I said. “Sometimes I think I can hear them growing in their sleep.”
“Daphne already has little boys calling the house,” Eve said with pride.
I was horrified. I looked over to where the children sat at the breakfast bar to see little Daphne removing each round of pepperoni with her fingers, blotting away the grease, and then eating them one tiny nibble at a time.
“She’s only six and she’s already worrying about her clothes and is she getting too fat! Isn’t that ridiculous?”
“You know? I just have boys. It’s kind of a rough-and-tumble existence.”
I said this with a smile because I wasn’t a child psychologist.
God, people are screwed up, I thought.
Was Eve pushing her little girl toward serious self-image problems? Eve had obvious food issues. Was she passing that on to Daphne? Why would she? I thought it was completely asinine, even unhealthy, for a child of six years old to be thinking about her weight. I looked back over at Daphne. Max and Luke were entranced with her, arguing over who was the smartest twin, trying to impress her. And Carl was sucking in his abs and leering at me. Maybe alcohol brought out the Casanova in him.
Oh, hold me close, Lord, I thought, there go my babies. Right down the rabbit hole.
Then I had an idea.
“Hey, kids?” I called across the room. “Why don’t y’all go down to the playground?”
I turned to the others and said, “We have at least three more hours of daylight, right? Let them all go get good and tired!”
“Excellent!” Eve said. “But you kids come home as soon as the streetlights go on, okay?”
“Shouldn’t they have some adult supervision?” Clarabeth said.
“I think so,” Ted said. “Why don’t you and I watch them? Cookie? Would you like to join us?”
“I can’t think of anything I’d like better in all the world!” Cookie said, her voice dripping with pretension.
With that, Clarabeth and Ted stood, and, joined by Cookie and the children, they left the condo single file, promising to be back when the day began to fade.
“Hey, I brought the latest Madonna CD with me,” Eve said. “Y’all want to hear some music?”
Carl ignored her and turned to Adam. “So, tomorrow morning? You and me? Eighteen holes?”
“Sure,” Adam said.
“I’m always happy to hear Madonna,” I said to Eve, thinking to myself that I wished I had a dollar for every time Adam talked over me. “I love her.”
The music began to play, more wine was poured, and stories were told. I was feeling pretty mellow and better disposed toward Eve. Adam excused himself to use the bathroom and I was suddenly inspired to use a bathroom as well.
Eve noticed my frown and said, “Just go upstairs and use mine! You know where it is! We have the same floor plan.”
“Thanks.”
I watched as Eve refilled her glass and drank deeply, as though it was water. I wondered then if Eve had an alcohol problem.
“I’ll be right back!” I hurried upstairs and found relief. I flushed the toilet and opened the medicine cabinet to see what products Eve used on her skin. There was nothing there that I couldn’t buy at a Rite Aid. Just then the door opened and there stood Carl.
“Oh, sorry! Wait, can I help you find something?”
I was caught in a very awkward position.
“Dental floss. I was just . . . pepperoni stuck in between my teeth.”
“Ah, that’s the worst.”
He stepped past me. The bathroom was so small it was nearly impossible for him to get around me without us having some physical contact. I inhaled and held my breath. Carl reached into the drawer on the far side of the vanity and produced a pack of dental floss. He handed it to me.
“Thanks!” I said with a slightly guilty smile.
“You know, if you didn’t have pepperoni stuck in your teeth and if I didn’t want to be friends with you and Adam, I’d lay one on you right here and now.”
“Really? I don’t think so.”
“Oh, yes, and you’d love it. And you’d beg for more!”
I flossed, giggling inside. I rinsed my mouth, turned around, and there he was. The next thing I knew he was kissing me. I did not respond, but I also didn’t completely resist.
Finally, he stepped back and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Are you serious?” I said. “I’m married and I don’t want to cheat on Adam.”
“Oh,” he said. “It’s just a kiss.”
Just then we heard “Carl! Come quickly! One of the kids is hurt! Carl!”
Panic set in and I nearly fought Carl to get out of the bathroom first. We both ran down the stairs. Adam was already running to the playground. Carl was on his heels.
Ted was there in the living room, out of breath.
“It happened so fast!” Ted said to Eve.
“Who’s hurt?” I almost screamed.
“It’s Max. He fell and hit his head.”
I turned on my heels and began running toward the swings and jungle gym, which were only a few buildings away. Eve followed me, jogging quickly, leaving Ted, who was still struggling to catch his breath, to return to the scene behind everyone else.
There was a small crowd gathered, both adults and children. There was a strange quiet to the group which frightened me even more. As I got there I saw Max’s limp body in Carl’s arms. He was unconscious. Max’s head was covered in blood and his arm dangled at an odd angle. I nearly fainted at the sight of him.
“Oh, my God! Max!” I screamed.
“Is he gonna die?” Luke said. He began to wail, and for the first time since he was a toddler, he reached up to me to be picked up.
Daphne began to cry, throwing her arms around Eve.
Adam put his arm around my waist and said, “It’s going to be all right.”
Of course, Adam knew no such thing, but I knew he wanted to believe it so badly he just kept repeating it over and over.
Eve said, “Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?”
Carl said, “There’s no time! Let’s go! Adam, come with me. Eve, you and Eliza stay here with the children.”
“Adam, take my purse! The children’s insurance cards are in my wallet!”
“We’ve got to get him to the hospital. Right now,” Carl said, looking into Max’s eye with his free hand, pulling Max’s lids apart. “Probable concussion. Fracture of the arm.”
&n
bsp; Within a minute, Max’s bleeding head was wrapped in a towel and he was in the backseat of Adam’s car with Carl.
“Call me!” I yelled out to him.
Adam nodded to me solemnly and I knew that Adam was praying, begging God to make things right.
We all went back to Eve’s condo because that was where the evening had begun. Ted, Clarabeth, Cookie, and I sat at the dining room table.
Collapsing into a chair, Clarabeth shook her head back and forth as she wept into her handkerchief. “I feel terrible, just terrible. I wouldn’t let anything hurt that precious baby for all the money in this world! I feel so terrible! This is all my fault! I should’ve told him to come down.”
“I didn’t see a thing,” Cookie said.
“We did tell him to come down. He wouldn’t listen,” Ted said.
“He never listens,” Luke said and climbed onto my lap.
I put my arms around him and stroked his hair back from his face.
“Hush now,” I said. “What’s done is done.”
“All my fault,” Clarabeth repeated. “Oh, I wish it had been me, and not poor Max.”
“It’s no one’s fault, Clarabeth!” Ted said. “It was an accident.”
Cookie said, “Ted’s right. It was an accident.”
“What exactly happened?” I asked.
“He was climbing on the jungle gym,” Daphne said. “He got on top of it and I told him, you’d better come down or you’re going to fall!”
“We both told him to come down, but you know Max!” Luke said.
“It’s not so smart to be a daredevil, now, is it?” I said to Luke and Daphne.
“No, ma’am,” they said solemnly.
“I’ll make a pot of coffee,” Eve said.
She got up and went to the kitchen.
“He was pretending to be a tightrope walker,” Daphne said.
“Dear God,” I said.
“Dumb idea,” Luke said.
Naturally, Cookie, Clarabeth, and Ted were horrified that something like this had happened on their watch. Luke and Daphne were deeply frightened.
“I haven’t been so upset since Adam was a little boy and his appendix almost burst. What a nightmare! He had to get blood and oh Lord, I thought his mother would never calm down!”
Clarabeth said, “There’s nothing more terrifying than an injured child.”
I was in a total state of jangled nerves and struggling to quell my worst fears. What if? What if? My hands and feet were ice cold. I felt a little nauseated and disoriented and I couldn’t get the image of Max’s bloody head out of my mind. Concussion? What did that mean? And he was unconscious, which scared me to death. I knew they would set his arm and stitch up his head, but would he be okay? And where was I when this all happened? Snooping around in Eve’s bathroom and kissing her husband.
I would’ve gone back to my place to lie down, but I was afraid I would fall asleep and miss the phone call from Adam or Carl. So I sat there with the others. Eventually Daphne and Luke peeled away from the adults and went to the bedroom to play quietly. Luke was building a Lego fort and Daphne had dolls.
Eve said, “Listen to me, Eliza. Here is the reason I love Carl. He can move the world to make the right thing happen. There’s no one I’ve ever known like him. No one. When the chips are down? Carl takes over and everything works out fine. You’ll see.”
“God, I hope you’re right,” I said.
We drank cup after cup of coffee and pushed some second-rate apple pie from the grocery store around on dessert plates. I noticed that Eve opted to continue drinking wine. Ted moved to the sofa and drifted off, seated next to Clarabeth, who had become very quiet. Hours passed and there was still no word from Adam or Carl. Finally, at ten thirty, my cell phone rang. I answered it with shaking hands. It was Adam.
“Hey, sweetheart. It’s me.”
“How’s Max?”
“He’s going to be fine. He got about fifty stitches in his head and they set his arm, which was broken in two places.”
“Oh God! My poor baby!”
“They’re gonna let him come home in the morning because they just want to watch him overnight. He hit his head pretty darn hard.”
“Should I come and sit? I’ll come and sit!”
“If you want. I’ll tell you one thing, though.”
“What?”
“God forbid there’s an accident, you want Carl by your side. You should’ve seen him in action. There was no pediatric orthopedist or pediatric neurologist on call tonight. He made two very emphatic phone calls from the car and boom! There was a team waiting for us at the entrance of the ER. And a plastic surgeon. We really owe him. He even wanted to stay here all night. Just to watch over Max.”
“Really? Gosh, that’s awfully nice. Listen, if you think everything’s okay, tell him to drive your car home and I’ll bring it back. Are you hungry? Can I bring you anything?”
“No, I’m fine. But thanks.”
“You sound exhausted. I know I am,” I said.
“I haven’t even thought about that yet. I’m just relieved. God, Eliza, if he had hit his temple like just one more inch, we could’ve lost him.”
“Don’t even think it.”
chapter 8
bonded
1995–2008
On the terrible night of Max’s accident, I waited for Carl in the parking lot of our condo in Wild Dunes. I stood under a floodlight mounted on the side of the building, pacing, looking and listening for Adam’s car to appear. Finally, I heard the familiar approach of his engine as Carl pulled into our parking spot. He got out and even in the dark I could see that his shirt was caked with Max’s blood. The sight of it made me weak in the knees.
“How’s Max?”
“Fine. Don’t worry. He’s gonna be fine. Look, here’s the thing. With head injuries, you just have to keep watching for complications of concussion. But I saw the MRI. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”
As he handed me the car keys he took my hand in his and began to apologize for what he said to me before the accident, when we’d met unexpectedly in the bathroom.
“Look, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Carl said. “I am so sorry.”
I looked at him, almost having truly forgotten about the illicit kiss. Given the events of the day, I could not have cared less.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“No, really. If there’s anything I hate, it’s crass behavior.”
I smiled then but I was anxious to get to the hospital. I climbed into the car, started the engine, and rolled down the window.
“Maybe wine does something to you—you know, makes you overly frisky or something.”
“Maybe. Anyway, I apologize. I can’t help it if I am attracted to you.” He extended a hand for me to shake and I took it, shaking it quickly. “Friends?”
I thought about it for a minute. Carl was attractive to me as well, but hell would freeze before I let it get the better of me.
“Friends. You’re sure Max is okay?”
“He’ll be as good as new in no time,” Carl said. “Kids heal a lot faster than adults.”
“Right. Okay. And Carl? Thanks. I heard you were wonderful with Max tonight. See you in the morning.”
He gave me a nod and turned toward his condo. I put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. I didn’t look down into the backseat to see what I was sure was a bloody mess. I couldn’t. I just wanted to be at Max’s side. Being upset about some ridiculous bit of grape-fueled flirtation was stupid. However notable the actual kiss may have been, what mattered was that Carl may well have saved my son’s life. He got my little boy to the hospital as fast as possible and, according to Adam, saw that he got the right care. I drove as quickly as I could without getting in an accident myself. And I all but ran through the parking lot and the corridors to Max’s room. I burst through the door and there was my son, sitting up in bed, head bandaged, arm in a soft cast and a sling, talking to Adam as though i
t was the middle of the afternoon, any day of the week.
“Well, here’s Mom!” Adam said.
“Mom! Hey! Am I in trouble?”
I went to his side, took him in my arms, and kissed him tenderly on his cheek.
“No, sweet boy. You are not in trouble.” Tears began to slide down my cheeks and I began to laugh, truly incredulous, relieved in every fiber of my being, and exhausted all at once. “You’re not in trouble. You are trouble!”
I had thought that we would go home to the country when Max was released, but as Eve pointed out the next morning, if we stayed rather than cutting our vacation short, Max would have his own personal pediatrician looking over him for the balance of their time there. And he did. Carl absolutely doted on him, taking him back to the pediatric orthopedist to have his hard cast set and showing him how to slide a bamboo chopstick up or down the inside of his cast to quell an itch. Of course, he showed him how to cover it to take a shower. The cast, which stretched from his upper arm down and over his hand, was a cumbersome thing that caused him no end of bother. No one blamed him when he complained.
Clarabeth and Ted couldn’t do enough for Max. Even little Daphne, the once and future heartbreaker, spent time just sitting next to him on the sofa. Cookie, however, didn’t get involved except to seem to think (almost out loud) that Max’s situation was his own stupid fault and he was lucky to be alive.
As a result of all of the attention, Max’s spirits remained high. He began to heal quite nicely and quite quickly. But he still had occasional headaches and was more reticent than before. Even though I offered to affix a combo of plastic wrap and a plastic bag over the cast so he could cannonball, he wouldn’t go in the pool. The most we could get him to do was to sit in the kiddie pool when the temperature rose to a fires-of-hell level.
Over the remainder of our vacation, Luke was slowly transformed into an alpha male. He began to blossom, taking small but obvious leadership roles in which game they would play or what they would watch on television. And he was especially nice to Max, even protective.
“I’m getting a juice box,” Luke said to Max and Daphne. “Y’all want one?”