Linda. Clearly. It was all her fault. If she hadn't come to visit
the week before last, she wouldn't have gone through Rose's closet and
taken the only good sweater she had. But Linda was like that, even when
she was a tiny girl. If there was something to be had - a trinket,
earrings maybe - or a nice scarf, or the keys to the car - didn't
matter, Linda would figure a way to ask for it so that Rose couldn't
resist. And then later, kaboom! the anger would hit.
"Rosie!" Norma bellowed. "What are you doing in there? We need to get going."
Rose gave a slow turn of the neck toward the doorway, looking at
the nothingness between her and Norma with disdain. It was the kind of
move she admired in female movie stars, but like so many things in life,
she had missed her own chance at fame.
"I'll be right there," she yelled too loudly back in Norma's
direction. Still she figured her chances of actually having been heard
were 50/50. Plus, Norma was rummaging around her kitchen, looking for
the hidden Snackwells. Rose had to get more and more creative about
where to hide the cookies. Norma couldn't resist sugar, even if it was
made out of isotopes and partial strands of piglet DNA.
A crash shattered her melancholy revelry.
"Norma? Are you okay?" She pushed herself out into the hall only to
find Norma's meaty left ankle sticking up next to the fridge like a
disembodied plump mannequin. Rose couldn't imagine how the rest of
Norma's body must've been twisted to put her leg like that and was half
tempted to get the camera to document the moment, but Norma groaned and
she decided against it.
"For the love of Christ, Norma! What happened?"
She rounded the corner to see Norma looking up at her dazed and
sheepish, the box of Devil's Food Snackwells next to her smooshed face.
"Rosie? Rosie - I don't know what happened. Help me up. Or get Frank."
Rose rolled her eyes - all these women and their reliance on men.
Playthings, nothing more. Not meant for serious work, not useful for
paying bills, not worth calling in an emergency, that was for damn sure.
She let go of her purple walker and leaned down to help Norma up.
Problem was though, Norma's leg didn't want to seem to come untwisted.
Could it really be a two 911 day?
But then, what was the point really? Linda had her good sweater.
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