“Look here. Let’s you and me go on up to the bank in a few minutes, and I’ll see if I’ve got enough to help you out.”
I wanted to refuse, but there wasn’t any denying pain like this. I wanted to save that tooth like the dentist said, but at this point there wasn’t any choice but to pull it. Even that’d be a couple hundred bucks. I nodded and pulled Mr. Joe into me. “I can’t stand it anymore. You know I’m good for it.”
He smiled proudly and said, “I got your back.” Then he added, “Hey, D. Don’t you know a good girl like you could do a whole hell of a lot better than somebody like that Harry?” Then he looked down at his feet. “I know people aren’t supposed to say things like that, but I’ve sat around here and watched him hurt you about long enough now. I’d say it’s time to move on.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach from being in so much pain for so long. I took a deep breath, put my hand on my jaw again, and said, “Mr. Joe, think we might be able to go right now? I can’t make it much longer.”
Mr. Joe led me to the car, and I swear I don’t much remember the rest of it. Next thing I knew, I was crying I was so happy because that tooth was numb. I couldn’t bear to put my tongue there, on that big hole in my mouth. I’d sworn up and down that I wouldn’t be like my momma, I wouldn’t just get my teeth pulled and get some dentures later on. But I’d sworn a lot of things that didn’t really pan out these last forty years.
“I’m real sorry, Doc,” I said. “I wanted to save that tooth like you said, but I don’t have any insurance.”
He had a mask over his mouth, but you could tell by the way his green eyes were sparkling that he was smiling. “It’s okay, Miss Diana. I have this new machine I’m testing out that makes crowns, so this one is on the house.”
“Crowns… Wait…” I thrust my tongue back on my molar. My tooth was there! With a crown. Maybe I was a princess after all. My eyes filled up again. “Oh, Doc. You didn’t take my tooth out? I promise I’ll pay you every last penny and—”
“Diana, you’ve been a really good patient all these years, and besides, sometimes we all need a little help. You just help somebody else out when you can, and we’ll call it even.”
I leaned up and hugged him tight. He laughed and said, “You should be as good as new.”
I wasn’t all that used to somebody really helping me out. I mean, I was always kind of scraping by and whatnot, more used to somebody pushing me down than pulling me up, so this was a nice treat.
He turned back to me and said, “Oh, and Diana?”
“Yeah, Doc.”
“This would be as good a time as any to quit smoking.”
I groaned. Tomorrow, maybe. Tomorrow I’d quit.
Mr. Joe was in the waiting room, and he jumped to his feet when he saw me. “You okay?”
I smiled as best I could with my cheek all numb. “Good as new. Let’s get to it.”
My job at the photo lab wasn’t a real natural fit for me because I’d never been any good at computers. But it was the only job I could find after the plant I’d been working at closed down a couple years ago, so I took it. I’d probably have looked for a new job if I had time, but, even still, I liked it pretty good. When somebody came to pick up their pictures, it was like I knew them already. We weren’t just meeting over the counter. I’d seen their kid’s school play and them posing with their momma at her seventy-fifth birthday party. I’d seen some other stuff too, but I’m lady enough to look away and not talk about it to anyone. Well, maybe Harry. I felt a pang in my stomach for Harry. He wasn’t a bad guy when you got right down to it. He simply wasn’t made of sturdy stock like me.
I looked up from where I was alphabetizing the photos and saw Mr. Marcus, the owner, walking in. He was tall and slender, and you could tell all the suits he wore were expensive. It almost made you laugh to see him and Mr. Joe walking beside each other, like he was a Great Dane and Mr. Joe was a little Chihuahua running alongside to keep up. I sighed under my breath. He was real nice about it, but I was always getting in trouble with Mr. Marcus for doing something or another wrong. Today was no exception.
“Hi, Diana.” He smiled.
“Hi, Mr. Marcus,” I said, getting up and wiping my hands on my pants. I tried to smile and lisped, “Sorry about my swollen face.”
“You’re a real hard worker, Diana,” he said. “I admire that. Most people would have laid out after having their tooth worked on.”
I nodded and said, “Thanks,” knowing that my loyalty to the job was the only reason Mr. Marcus kept me around. Well, that and the fact that I’d half raised his kids that year his wife got the harebrained idea to run for Senate.
“Look,” he said, “this probably isn’t the best time, but you should know that I’ve had a couple of complaints lately about photo cropping and, you know, people’s heads being chopped off.”
“I’m real sorry,” I said. “The machine just wasn’t—”
He put his hand up. “It’s all right. Just consider it a warning.”
I got back to my alphabetizing but looked up when a pretty girl in a short skirt came in, looking like she just got out of a tennis racket ad with her long skinny legs and blond hair. I wondered what it would be like to be one of those girls, all tan and pretty and lying around by the pool all summer. Probably not too bad. But I’d never know.
“May I help you?”
“Sure. I need to pick up some photos for Howard.”
“Got them right here,” I said. I knew from the photos that she had a little boy. Blond like her. She had some professional shots of her and the boy on the beach.
