Joe said, “I am. Marguerite’s a little banged up.”
“I used the … the wrong pedal,” I said. I was trying very hard to act normally, but my chest did hurt rather a lot, and I was also very embarrassed. “The car went up over the curb and hit the parking meter.”
Fred laughed. Susie said, “Shutup,Fred. Oh, Marguerite. How terrifying.”
“Terrifying for Joe, you mean,” I said.
Joe said, “Let’s get you inside and take a look at that.”
Susie said, “I’ll help. Fred, take the list and do the shopping.” She opened her purse and drew out a piece of paper. It would, I knew, be written up systematically, with the items in order of their appearance in the supermarket, right to left, all through the aisles. Susie was, to nobody’s surprise, a marvel of a homemaker.
“Yes, ma’am,” Fred said, and took the list.
“And don’tbuy anything that isn’t on it,” she said. “Lasttime, you came home with beef jerky, pimento cheese spread, and marshmallows. Marshmallows!”
“I hear and obey,” Fred said, and sauntered off.
I laughed. It hurt.
For once, I barely noticed the beautiful floral green wallpaper in the hallway, or the dark-green chair rail separating it from the sage-green paint above. I didn’t even register my so-pretty green-and-yellow kitchen, which was dearer to me than any part of the five-hundred-room DresdenResidenzschloss,because I had created it myself. Well, dearer than anything but the kitchen of the palace. Kitchens, I thought irrelevantly as Joe sat me down on the couch and began to unbutton my blouse, were indeed the best rooms in a house, no matter how grand. Kitchens were where the heart lived.
Wait.Joe.I said, “I can do it,” and brushed Joe’s hands away as Susie, hovering, said, “What did you hit?”
“Steering wheel,” Joe said. “What the—why do women have to wear so darned many layers? Sorry, honey, but we’re going to have to take off your slip, too.”
Susie said, “How about a cup of tea? And a bag of ice, I think. I have one of those refillable bags upstairs. Fred’s always banging something.” Being tactful, I thought, as Joe pulled the slip over my head.
She didn’tgo get the bag, though, because she took one look at my chest—my nearlynakedchest—and gasped.
“Yeah,” Joe said grimly. “Hospital.”
“I don’t need the hospital,” I said. “Ice, yes, but not the hospital. What can they do?”
“But you must have broken ribs,” Susie said, “with bruising like that.”
I sighed. “Get me the ice, if you would be so kind, and I’ll explain.”
“How is it,” I asked a few hours later, “that I can manage many other things, but can’t manage to drive a car without calamity?”
“No,” Susie said. “How is it that I’ve known you for almost two years, you’re my landlady, I’d havesaidyou were my friend—you were my matron of honor, for heaven’s sake!—and I knew absolutely nothing about you?” She’d made sandwiches and a creamy potato soup, which wasnotfrom a can and tasted delicious, and she, Fred, and Joe were sitting on the floor and eating this impromptu picnic on the coffee table while I lay on the couch with a fresh icepack.
“But these things are not what is important about me,” I said.
“Oh, really?” she said. “That you’re a hemophilia carrier? That you’re aprincess?These are just tiny little details, are they, that you don’t need to share with your bestfriend?”
“You’re speaking in a great many italics,” I said. “It grows wearisome. You and Joe and Fred must go back to playing cards after this, and I’ll enjoy your jokes and read my book in peace. The only thing to do with such injuries is to ignore them as best one can, and trust that they’ll be better tomorrow. But I’m afraid, Joe, about the car?—”
He said, “The car can be fixed. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. It’s insured, and I’ll call the agent tomorrow. And what do you mean, you can’t drive a car? Of course you can’t drive a caryet.You’ve had one lesson!”
“But if I end each lesson thus,” I said, “we’ll soon be bankrupt.” Joe laughed, which was annoying. Or good; I couldn’t decide.
“The trouble with you, Marguerite,” Fred said unexpectedly, “is that you’re used to being able to do everything well, so as soon as you can’t, you think it’s some big disaster. If you’d fallen down on the job a few more times like us mere mortals, you’d be easier on yourself.”
“What he said,” Susie said. “Every now and again, Fred, you make an excellent point.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said, and they both laughed. I’d have laughed, too, but it hurt.
“But of course I don’t do everything well,” I said. “I’ve failed many times.”
