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.Her easel, holding a tall pad of paper, faced the empty chairs.Payton, Helen, Felicia and Amanda chatted near the refreshment table in the Artpost while waiting for the class to start.Helen stood uncharacteristically to one side.Her face was pale.She held her keys in her left hand and rattled them in an unconscious gesture.Payton took them from her fingers and dropped them into her oversized handbag, receiving an appreciative look from Felicia who slid the bag under the middle chair.“We’ll start as soon as Sylvie arrives.”“Claire’s not coming?”“I don’t think so.She hates painting.Besides, she just not—lately she’s just not right.”“I don’t think Sylvie is either,” Helen said.“Coming…or quite right?” asked Felicia.No one responded.“Yesterday Sylvie told me she would be here,” Mamie said.“We had a-a confrontation.” Helen sat heavily in the end chair.Her knuckles were white against her black, white and tan flowered dress.“I didn’t have time to bake anything for our get-together so I stopped at the supermarket on the way here.I was trying to decide between the pastry and the cookies when Sylvie came up beside me.I said hello.She looked at me, her face turned red and she started shouting at me.Shouting! She said I was the l-lowest form of scum on this earth and I should be ashamed of myself.She said I should c-crawl in a hole and die.”A chorus of “nos” and “whats!” came from the women.“Did she say what was wrong?” Felicia asked.“I haven’t spoken to her since the day of the race.” Helen’s round body trembled.Amanda poured her a paper cup of water.“Everyone in the place was listening.It was terrible.The manager came over and told us to take it outside like we were some sort of street brawlers.”Suddenly Amanda laughed, and then so did Felicia.Payton almost did too.The vision of Helen and Sylvie rolling on the supermarket floor, pulling hair and screaming obscenities amongst spilled oranges and cucumbers, was very vivid.“I’m sure it didn’t help that I threw a tomato at her,” Helen admitted softly.“What!”“I couldn’t help it.I was so mortified she’d spoken to me that way.You all know me.I’ve always said that if any of you have a problem, just come to me so we can talk about it.”“Helen,” said Mamie, the only one of the five able to maintain a totally serious air.“I can’t picture you throwing things.”“Are you all forgetting that time at the Wanderlust meeting when Sean told everyone he was going to become a life insurance salesman?” Felicia said with a laugh.“She threw a blueberry scone at him saying what a terrible agent he’d make because he’d chase all the wives and he’d be the one to need the policies.”The corners of Helen’s lips twitched.“You really did that?” Payton asked.“‘Fraid so,” Helen said.“I always felt sorry for his poor mother,” Mamie said.“Having him late in life the way she did, and then having him turn out to be such a bad boy.”“In what way was he bad?” Payton asked.“He was always into something,” Mamie said.“Conning kids out of their lunch money and toys.He was arrested at least once for breaking and entering when he was about twelve.”“Didn’t he also get arrested once for rape?” Felicia asked.“Attempted,” said Helen.“It was that young Brice girl, Zoe.”“Isn’t that the family who lived in my house?” Payton asked.“I thought Harry Brice only had one son.”“No, there was a daughter too.She left town just after the trial.She’s never been back that I know of.The judge practically laughed the case out of court.She was a bit of a…”“Tramp,” finished Amanda.“Where did she go? I mean, she couldn’t have been more than fifteen.”“Sixteen, I think,” Helen said.“She went to live with relatives in Oregon.The family had been about to send her away anyhow.She’d been in a lot of trouble.”“So Sean didn’t really rape her?”“No.At least nobody thought so at the time.” Helen shifted in her chair and sighed.“I’m sure my escapade in the supermarket will make the front page of this week’s Gazette.” Some of Helen’s color had returned and she was seeing a little humor in the situation.“I can see the headlines now,” Felicia said.“Helen Mortenson’s first pitch of the season is a strike.”“What was she angry about?” Payton asked.“That’s the thing.I have no idea.”They finally got down to the lesson, but the air was heavy.It wasn’t fifteen minutes before Payton wondered how Mamie could possibly be such a bad teacher.She was impatient almost to the point of being rude [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]