That meant he had no spectacular reason for not having called me.I sighed.“That’s a relief.I was worried.”
“Frankly,” my mother said—unnecessarily, because she was always frank—“I’m surprised you to have to ask me.That’s the kind of question you have every right to ask him yourself, since you’re paying him so much money.You should have asked it at the time you retained him.”
“It didn’t seem necessary then.He spent five full days here.He wouldn’t have been able to do that if he’d had anything of a spectacular naturegoing on back home.I was just wondering if anything’s come up since, and the reason I haven’t asked is that Cooper is the one who talks with him most.”
“Cooper?”
“Yes, Mom.Cooper.You know, my friend Cooper, who is accused of—”
“But why is Cooper doing the talking?”
“Because that’s the way it should be.Cooper’s the defendant.”
“I wantyouto talk with Peter.I wantyouto get to know him.”
“Why is that, Mom?”
“Oh,please, Jillian.Must I spell it out?”
She didn’t have to.I knew just what she was going to say, but I wanted to hear her say it anyway.“Yes.”
She gave a sigh that seemed to convey the years of frustration I’d single-handedly caused her.“What am I going to do with you, Jillian?There are times when I wonder where your mind is—but I do know where it is.It’s up there in that godforsaken old house you have on that godforsaken cliff.I felt a glimmer of hope when you called for the name of a lawyer for your friend.It was clearly the right thing to do.I thought that maybe your mind was beginning to work again.But it isn’t.It’s atrophying up there.If you can’t even see that Peter Hathaway is husband material, you’re a lost cause.”
“Husband material for whom?”I asked, all innocence.
“You!Who else would I be concerned about!”
“But he must have dozens of women in the city,” I remarked, then held my breath and prayed that Mom was just riled up enough to lack her usual perception.
My luck held up.She sounded indignant.“If he had dozens of women in the city, I’d never be pushing him on you.No daughter of mine needs used goods,particularlyin this day and age.There’s so much going around!That’sallwe need.”
“It only takes one contact with the wrong woman to do the damage.”
“The man is very careful, Jillian.I checked that out before I ever called you with his name.”
“What do you mean, you checked it out?How can you check out something like that?”
“I know people.I know people who know people, and one of those people knows an old flame of Peter’s.It seems he’s a one-woman man.He doesn’t run with the crowd the way some of them still do, AIDS or no AIDS.He had a long-term relationship with this particular woman, and before that there was a long-term relationship with another woman.”
“And before that another one?How about after?What’s he been doing with himself since that old flame friend of your friend?”
“He dates casually.Nothing more.”
“Does he use condoms?”I asked, thinking how far I’d come from the day I couldn’t tell my mother I’d gotten my period.
“Good Lord, Jillian, how would I know something like that?”
“You know everything else.”
“Not everything.I don’t know for sure why none of those relationships ever ended in marriage.”She grew pensive.“I do wonder about that.It’s surprising that, successful as he is, he doesn’t want a family.”
“He’s in his prime.He has time.”
“Still, it’s better to have children when you’re younger.Look at your father and me.We were just out of school.Our children are grown now, but we’re still young enough to lead active, exciting lives.”
I wanted to remind her that they’d led active, exciting lives even when we’d been kids.Money could buy whatever child care was needed.That didn’t mean the children always benefitted from the arrangement, but it did permit their parents to lead active, exciting lives.
I fantasized differently about Peter.“Maybe he wants to wait to have children until he’s at a stage in his career when he can afford to be an active father.Men are doing that nowadays.”
