She picked up the phone cord and imagined winding it around Sid’s thick neck until his face turned purple and his tongue hung out of his mouth like a fat, slimy slug.
Instead, she apologized. But her words were met by dead air.
Sid had hung up on her.
Natalie slammed the earpiece into the cradle. “Asshole.”
Dr. Young went to the same church as the Scotts and made room in his busy schedule to accommodate Jill. After numbing Jill’s hand, he gave the wound a thorough cleaning. While he worked, Jill told him how the injury had occurred.
“An animal scale?” His Einstein brows twitched with amusement.
“I think so.”
Dr. Young reached for a pair of tweezers and dug around in the raw flesh of Jill’s palm. Unable to watch, Natalie grabbed an issue ofGood Housekeepingand flipped to a random page.
“Got you.” Dr. Young brought the tweezers closer to his face. “This tiny splinter was keeping you from healing right. Sometimes, the body breaks them down or pushes them out through the skin, but this guy wanted to stick around. Now that it’s out, we’ll use butterfly bandages to help close the cut. Is she up-to-date on her tetanus shot, Mom?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Young grunted in approval as he applied the butterfly bandages. “Do you have the scale with you, young lady?”
Jill’s good hand disappeared into her shorts pocket. Natalie couldn’t see what she gave to the doctor, but he slid on a pair of magnifying glasses and studied it with interest.
“I think you’re right. It’s a scale. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s a nasty-looking bugger, isn’t it?” He turned to Natalie. “I’ll write a script for antibiotics. Just to be on the safe side. We can’t have this mermaid missing any swim meets.”
Because she didn’t have time to drive Jill home, Natalie had arranged to meet Una at the library. She would’ve preferred to have Una come to the office, but she had to load Jill’s bike into her station wagon.
Jimmy could’ve picked it up on Saturday but had chosen not to. Natalie wasn’t surprised. Everything always came down to her. He only helped with the kids if she left him a specificlist. If something unexpected happened—like their daughter riding her bike to the library in the rain or having an infected hand—he either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“Do I have to go to sailing class?” Jill asked before getting out of the car.
Natalie pictured her daughter pulling or releasing ropes with one hand. “No. You can help Una with dinner instead.”
Jill smiled for the first time that day. “Thanks, Mom.”
Having taken care of one problem, Natalie waved at Una and drove away.
As soon as she was alone, she practiced what she’d say when she called Dr. Sherif at noon. She was gesticulating to an imaginary Dr. Sherif when a red car with a thunderous engine pulled up next to her at a red light. It looked and sounded like Don’s car, but when Natalie glanced to her left, she saw a brunette in the passenger seat.
She was about to turn away when she noticed the white fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror. Don had received the same pair last December at the neighborhood’s white elephant party.
As Natalie leaned forward to get a better look at the driver, she saw a large, masculine hand slither down the front of the brunette’s low-cut blouse. As the hand fondled the woman’s breast, she closed her eyes and arched her back in pleasure.
Though Natalie was still unable to see the man’s face, she couldn’t stop staring at the brunette. Her beauty was otherworldly. Her every movement was sensual. As Natalie watched, she grabbed the man’s hand and started sucking his index finger.
The light turned green, but Natalie didn’t move. She was mesmerized by the man’s gold pinkie ring.
Behind her, someone honked, and the sound jerked Natalie out of her trance.
She gave a wave of contrition to the driver she was holding up and then darted a final glance to her left. She saw Don Pulaski grab a fistful of the brunette’s hair as he guided her head toward his crotch.
Natalie hit the gas, and the station wagon lurched forward.
Behind her, Don’s car remained stationary.
And as it receded in Natalie’s rearview mirror, the fuzzy dice looked like the eyes of some cartoon character, laughing at her as she sped away.
23
