Gandhi's Guide to Getting By

chapter twenty-two

Mom's in the hospital. I don't bother waiting for the elevator. I take the stairs two at a time. I manage to tell Stella and the others about my Mom. I hear myself say, "It's my mom, she's at the hospital. I need to be there." No one asks any questions. It's like we're all on auto-pilot. Shelby and Stella race outside to hail a cab. Dad calls while Jen gently leads me outside to where Stella has managed to grab a cab. Kate follows behind, muttering how it's going to be alright. Dad doesn't want me to panic. I motion to Stella, who is having some sort of argument with the cabbie, to keep it down because her screaming is making it hard for me to pay attention to what Dad is saying.

"Keep it down," she says to the cabbie.

"I think she was talking to you," the cabbie says.

"We were afraid it was a heart attack," Dad says. His voice sounds tired. "It's what they're calling a stress attack. Sometimes the symptoms are the same. The point is, she's going to be okay, Emma. I tried calling you. Anyway, just get here."

I check my missed calls. Dad's left me thirteen messages, Ax six, Gran two. "How did I miss all these?"

"No clue," Stella says as she pushes me into the cabbie. She gets in herself, then grabs Kate. "Quick, sit on my lap."

"No way," the cabbie says. "I get caught with so many people, I get fined. You told me it was only four of you getting in."

"So I lied," Stella says, "Sue me."

"Get out."

"Listen, I need to get to the New York Presbyterian hospital now. I'm about to have a baby. On top of that, I've got a real weight on me which can't be good--"

The cab driver has heard enough. He pulls away from the curb and tells Stella he'll get her there as soon as possible.

"Real weight?" Kate says.

"You're not as light as you pretend, Kate."

"My Dad says it's a stress attack."

Stella nods. "That's good," she says, "Well, not good, but at least it's not a heart attack. You know what bothers me?"

I look at my cousin. She's whispered her last sentence which, with Stella, usually means it's something important. I don't know what I expect to hear, maybe something about my mother or something about how everything is going to be okay. What she whispers is, "That prick of a cabbie didn't even argue when I told him I was pregnant. Does that mean I look fat? How fat can I look?"

I tell her to relax, the cabbie hardly looked at her. "It's just most people don't lie about being pregnant," I say, "So when people say they're pregnant, whoever they're saying it to tends to believe it."

"I'm sorry," Stella now says in her normal voice. She and Kate sit on my left. Anne, who has Shelby on her lap, sits to my right. Jen sits in front. 'If you weren't so busy saving me... I swear, Emma, no more craziness. Next time I call you from Paris, I really will be in Paris. Oh, by the way, I don't have any cash on me. Also, you should leave him a good tip. He's doing a really good job weaving in and out of traffic. Also, I'll be calling you collect the next time I call you from Paris."

I don't have the energy to tell Stella what a comfort she is. Anne squeezes my arm. "I'm sure she's fine, Emma, it always sounds worse than it is." Jen turns around from where she sits in the front seat and gives me a smile.

"Maybe don't tell your parents about the Paris thing," Stella says. "They'll tell my Mom and you know how she gets. She'll make it into this big deal about how my being crazy is some sort of karma payback for what she did to our grandfather. Then she'll probably start asking questions and then she'll find out about my affair with Greg and who knows what she'll turn that one into."