Worth

Chapter 12 (cont.)

Soon sweetener packages being shaken and torn and spoons clanging against the insides of coffee cups moved a defeated silence onto other topics of conversations, like Evelyn's favourite nail salon being cited for improper ventilation, and Olivia and Lee's planned trip to the Dominican Republic. At last, Mel returned with time to sit and discuss her price list and availability for working with the Grand. She made Violet a parting package, a pink box tied with a yellow ribbon containing one of each flavour of cupcake. Violet had never been a fan of Maple and there was nothing Mel could do about it. She wished she could exchange it for another delicious Mint Julep but she didn't want to seem unappreciative.

Tying up their coats, Olivia tried to bolster Violet again. "That kiss still means something."

"A good kiss lasts a long time," Evelyn agreed. "I've told you girls before, you father is not a romantic man, but he doesn't have to be because he's a good kisser."

"Eww!" Her daughters giggled like adolescents.

"I didn't just lose a tooth and find you two under my pillow, you know."

"We know," they said looking at each other.

Evelyn looked at Violet as only a mother can.

"We'll see," Violet said, feeling a little lighter.

"Don't be chicken. When's the last time you pretended not to agonize over somebody this much?"

Sadly, Violet could not remember.

They crossed the parking lot and piled into Olivia's car. When she turned the ignition, the car coughed and choked and ultimately refused to budge.

"Is the battery dead?" Violet asked from the back.

"I don't know," Olivia grunted. She popped the hood from inside, got out and told her mother to start the car again. All signs indicated she knew what she was looking for, but some inventive foul words exposed her frustration. Violet and her mother got out. Olivia kicked the tire and topped off a stream of obscenities with the sad little cherry, "Stupid, useless, dump-junk turd-box!" Violet stared at her. Olivia's chest sank. Out of a deeply ingrained childhood belief that inanimate objects came to life when no one was looking, she pet the car and whispered, "I don't mean it."

A man just exiting his parked car was witness. Olivia asked if he could give her a boost. He dawdled around to his trunk and took out some cables. "Get back in and start it when I tell you," he said. Olivia tried and tried but the car had lost its will to live.

"Looks like your starter's gone," he said.

"Is that bad?"

"It's not good. Do you have a phone? You're going to need a tow truck. I have a number."

Olivia grabbed her cell and made the call. The tow truck was on scene in about ten minutes. The driver, obviously accustomed to the fuming and ranting of defeated motorists, barely said a word. Violet and Evelyn, likewise accustomed to the fuming and ranting of defeated Olivias used the same strategy.

Olivia paced the lot angrily like a little Godzilla over asphalt Tokyo as she called Lee next. He was at his weekend soccer game with his own father, Mr. March, and a friend named Mike.

"Lee, the car died and we're stuck in Thorncliffe."

"The car died? What did you do?"

"I poured sand in the tank. I didn't do anything! The starter's dead. It's just been towed. We're going to catch a bus back to the subway so I'll be home a little late."

"Don't do that. I'll come and pick you guys up."

"You're sure?"

"Sure. The game finished early. You're going to wait forever for a bus on Sunday."