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------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- Morris sat watching the chickadees at the bird feeder. When the piano trio ended, he took the disk from the player and put it in its case. He turned on the radio and picked up a book. Terry was knitting a brightly colored sweater. -------The phone rang. Ten o’clock at night? Morris answered it. There was half a minute of strained silence before he spoke. ------- “You sure, Ma?” ------- Terry heard squawks from the phone. She put down her knitting. ------- “Course I’ll come, Mom. Where are you now? That’s the nursing home, right? No, I bet you don’t like it. Let me get off the phone and make a reservation.” -------Morris hung up and looked at Terry. ------- “Anna says she’s dying. I have to go to Florida.” ------- “Oh, Morris, that’s terrible. I’ll come with you.” ------- “You don’t have to. God knows what’s really going on. I don’t trust her.” ------- “Don’t you want me to come?” ------- “Sure I do, it’s just... My mom can be difficult. It’s hot as hell down there in July.” ------- “They have air conditioning.” ------- “Only inside.” ------- ------- They were at the Tampa airport, waiting for a cab to Clearwater. Morris could feel the sweat dripping down his body. -------“Regular steam bath.” -------“I’d never get used to this.” Terry said. ------- “They have to. Got to pave the roads, build the houses. It’s probably like this all the time in Brazil.” ------- “It is?” ------- “I don’t know. Here’s our cab. The driver looks cool.” ------- “The cab’s air-conditioned, Morris.” ------- ------- They had a guest room on the fifth floor of the Live Oaks Assisted Living Facility. The woman at the desk said they could visit Continuing Care any time. Morris suggested they take their bags to the room, and he’d go see Anna alone the first time. ------- There was a long, bare corridor from assisted living to the nursing home. They should put up travel posters, Morris thought. Aruba, Rio, the Pyramids. He went through two sets of swinging doors. A cheerful nurse at the reception desk pointed him to Anna’s room. ------- “You can give the aide a break.” ------- “Sure,” Morris said. ------- Anna was sitting in a wheelchair. She looked mummified. The young Asian girl in the chair beside her glanced up from her paperback. ------- His mother opened her eyes. -------“Albert!” She reached out her shriveled arms. “Get me out’a here!” ------- Morris kissed her on the cheek. ------- “I want to go home, Albert!” ------- “To your apartment?” he said. “Shouldn’t you be here, Ma? I mean...you’re sick, right?” ------- “I’m dying, Albert, but I can’t stay here with all these zombies!” ------- “Hey, okay. I’ll ask.” ------- “Tell ‘em, Albert! You can make people do things!” ------- “Sure. First thing tomorrow.” ------- ------- “That’s all she said?” ------- “Not even ‘hello.’ She looks awful, Ter. She’s gonna be pissed, but I don’t see how she can go back to her apartment.” ------- “Is she going to die, Morris?” ------- “Wouldn’t put anything past her.” -------Morris stared at the blank television screen. “Christ, I don’t know what to do. You see a TV Guide?” ------- ------- “It’s our decision to keep her in the nursing home, Mr. Meyers. You want me to tell her that?” the head nurse said. “We’re used to being the bad guys.” ------- Morris thought about it. “No,” he said, “I’ll tell her. I just hate to see her like this.” ------- The nurse nodded. “Even the smart ones like your mom lose their judgment at the end. She was in her apartment, with Vera her companion, and she demanded we move her to the facility. The doctor won’t move her again. ------- ------- “This is Vera,” his mother said. “She’ll get me back in my old room.” ------- Vera was shaking her head. ------- “Don’t you desert me, Vera!” ------- “I’m not deserting you, Anna. It’s the doctor. Dr. Hershey never comes to see her. Maybe you can get her another doctor?” ------- Morris glared at Vera, and she closed her mouth in a grim line. ------- “That’s right, Albert! Get me a doctor who’ll let me go back to my apartment.” ------- “Listen, I don’t think...” ------- “You got to do it! I’m gonna die here!” She was shouting. Her voice was amazingly strong. “I’m in pain. You want me to die in pain? My mouth’s dry.” ------- There was a glass of water and a straw on the bedside table. ------- “Can’t they can give you something?” Morris was feeling desperate. ------- “They just give her aspirin,” Vera said. ------- “I’ll talk to them,” Morris said. -------The nurse was smiling grimly. She’d heard it all. -------“Your mom knows how to lay on the guilt. She hasn’t complained about pain before. I’ll give her a couple of aspirin.” ------- ------- “She’s scared, Morris,” Terry said, “but there’s nothing more you can do. I’ll go with you this afternoon. Maybe she’ll have calmed down. What do we do about lunch?” ------- “The nurse said the hospital cafeteria’s okay. Anywhere, as long as we don’t have to eat with all the little gray heads.” ------- “It must be awful getting old, Morrie. Don’t you get old.” ------- “I’ll try not to,” Morris said. ------- ------- “The soup looks okay,” Terry said, “clam chowder. It’s cheap, too.” ------- “Yeah, but I’m having two fried eggs over easy, sausage, and home fries,” Morris said. Terry frowned. ------- “Hey, what can happen?” Morris said. “It’s a hospital.” ------- They found an empty table in the brightly lit room. It was only 11:30, but staff in scrubs and uniforms were eating lunch. How could they be so cheerful and spend the day with people with sick people? Maybe Anna should go back to her apartment, but he couldn’t afford to stir up trouble here. He shouldn’t even be in Florida. ------- ------- “A half hour ago, Mr. Meyers. They took her to the hospital. Low potassium. They have to give it intravenously. Vera’s with her.” ------- “Vera, huh?” ------- The woman smiled. “Your mom likes her.” ------- ------- “You’re no use to me, Albert. You might as well go home.” She was a shriveled monkey in the big hospital bed. ------- “Hey, Ma.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. ------- “Doesn’t help.” She turned her head.” ------- “Okay,” Morris said. “Okay!” He walked out of the room. ------- Terry took his hand. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” ------- “Sure she does,” Morris said. “She’s right. Nothing I can do. I figured we’d have to leave tomorrow, anyway. Not a good place for me.” ------- ------- Morris made plane reservations for the next morning. At six they took an air-conditioned cab to a restaurant. It was pleasantly cool inside. ------- “My name’s Michael,” the young waiter said, as he brushed back his long hair. “I’ll be your server tonight. We have two specials, seared tuna with our Al Fresco remoulade and island jerk chicken. Can I get you something to drink?” ------- “Tap water,” Morris said. They’d need a minute to look at the menu. The waiter drifted away. -------The restaurant looked out on a bicycle trail that followed the route of the former Coastline Railroad. There was a public park beyond the bike path where flowers bloomed under the palms. The fronds waved in the breeze. -------“Hot as Hell out there,” Morris said. -------“You think there’s a Hell, Morris?” -------“Why not? Sartre says Hell is other people.” ------- “Sartre?” ------- “A writer. Anna was a real pistol when she was young. Fun to be with. Too bad she can’t go quick and easy.” ------- “That man’s watching us, Morrie. In the pink shirt.” ------- “I know. I’ll tell pretty boy to bring the check with the food. Probably lookin’ at you. Classiest dame in the place.” ------- “Just the youngest,” Terry said. ------- ------- “Who the hell’s this?” ------- They were watching the eleven o’clock news when someone banged on their door. Morris got up and opened it. ------- “Surprise!” Anna said. Vera was pushing the wheelchair. They both looked triumphant. ------- “I got a doctor at the hospital to sign her out to her apartment,” Vera said smugly. “The creep at the desk wouldn’t give us the key to Anna’s security lock, so we’re staying in your room tonight.” ------- “Fine,” Morris said. “We’ll get a cab to the Holiday Inn.” ------- ------- The long trip back to the Cape was tiring but uneventful. Morris was slumped in his favorite chair that evening, waiting for the late news on TV. Suddenly his shoulders shook as he began to sob. Terry put her arms around him. ------- “Sorry,” he said, wiping his eyes. ------- “Don’t be sorry,” Terry said. “It’s okay.” -------Morris pulled himself together and lit a cigar. Terry went back to the kitchen. -------The news came on. The usual stuff, but Morris sat up in his chair when the account of a bizarre double murder in Florida was reported. The women, seventy-eight year old Anna Meyers and her paid companion, Vera Koslovsky, had been shot as they slept in a guest room at the Live Oaks Assisted Living facility. ------- “Terry!” Morris he called. ------- “What?” she answered from the kitchen. ------- He hesitated. “Nothing,” he said. “Remember to close the back door.” ------- In a moment he heard the satisfying sound of a door being closed. ------- ------- |