Breath, Eyes, Memory - Edwidge Danticat [52]
The bed in her reading and sewing room squealed when I sat on it. My daughter liked the sound and laughed as we bounced up and down on it.
"Some things never change," my mother said, watching us from the doorway.
"I think we'll sleep here," I said.
"And your room?"
"The mattress there is too stiff."
"You can have my room," she said.
"Don't worry. It is only for one night."
"What about the baby?"
"She'll be okay with me."
"You're wondering what I've done with your things, aren't you?" she asked.
"I don't need those things anymore."
I am sorry.
"Please don't be so sorry. I can always get others."
"I was passionately mad," she said.
"And you burnt them?"
"In a very frustrated moment, yes. I was having an anxiety attack and I took it out on those clothes."
"Better on the clothes than on yourself," I said.
"In spite of what I have done to you, you've really become an understanding woman," she said. "What do you want for dinner? We'll have no more of that bulimia. I'll cure it with some good food."
"It's not that simple."
"Then what are you supposed to do?"
"For now, I eat only when I'm hungry."
"Are you hungry now?" she asked.
"Not now."
"You didn't eat on the flight."
"Okay," I gave in. "I'll eat whatever you make."
"I need to go out after dinner," she said. "It's very important, otherwise I wouldn't lose this time with my daughter and granddaughter."
"We'll be fine."
I gave Brigitte a bath in the tub while my mother cooked spaghetti for dinner. The cooking smells of the house had changed.
We ate at the kitchen table, watching through the low windows as a little girl skipped rope under a hanging light in a neighbor's yard.
Brigitte tried to dig her pacifier into my plate. I cut off a strand of spaghetti and put it in her mouth.
"After you left home," she said, "the only thing I ate was spaghetti. I would boil it and eat it quickly before I completely lost my appetite. Everything Haitian reminded me of you."
"It didn't have to be that way."
"I didn't realize you would call my bluff. I thought you would come back to me, humiliated."
She got up and cleared the table, leaving my full plate of spaghetti in front of me.
"I have to go now," she said.
"Are you still seeing Marc?" I asked.
"I want him to have dinner with you and your husband soon."
"So you're still seeing him."
"Very much seeing him."
"Are you going to marry him?"
"I have not even told Monman and Atie about him. At this point in my life, wouldn't it be senseless for me to marry?"
She grabbed her purse and started for the door.
"The sooner I go out, the sooner I can come back. I won't be long. If my phone rings, you can pick it up."
I dialed my home number from the living room phone. The answering machine picked up after the third ring. I heard my own voice, joyfully announcing that "You've reached the Woods residence. For Joseph, Sophie, or Brigitte, please leave a message."
I hung up quickly, not sure what to say to myself. I called again a few minutes later and left a message.
"Joseph, I'm back from Haiti. I'm in Brooklyn at my mother's. Please call me."
I left her number.
He called back a few minutes later.
"What's up?" he asked, as though we were just having a casual conversation.
"I'm okay and you?"
"Fine, except my wife left me."
"I am back. I'm at my mother's," I said.
"Is Brigitte okay?" he asked. "Can I speak to her?"
Brigitte grabbed the phone with both hands when I put it against her face.
"Is she okay?" he asked.
"She's fine."
"And you?"
"Good."
"Sophie, what were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry."
"Is this how we're going to handle all our problems? I was afraid something awful had happened to you. I call at all hours and you're never there. When I rush back to Providence all I get is a note. 'Sorry I needed to go somewhere and empty out my head.'"
"I wasn't away very long."
"What if your mother hadn't gone back for you? Wouldn't you have stayed longer?"
"I am back now, aren't I?"
"And what if you feel like leaving again?" he asked.
"Can we please talk about that later?"
"Are you coming home?"