The Misfortunes of Others (24 page)

“Childlike,” said Bernard.

“What? Your reaction?”

“No, no. The letters. Childlike, and spiteful. Like a jealous kid. Part of the same pattern as all the others.”

“Yes,” said Snooky, much struck by this. “That’s true. That’s certainly true.”

Bernard added cream and three sugars to his coffee and stirred it thoughtfully, looking out the kitchen window to the woods behind the house.

“Who thinks you’re trying to impress everybody, Weezy?”

She spread her hands in a gesture of bewilderment. “I have no idea. I told my students about the magazine interview because I thought it could help them. I never talked about my exhibit or anything else in front of them. Never!”

“But they knew you were going to have a show.”

“Yes,” she said reluctantly. “Yes, but beyond that we never discussed it. Frankly, they weren’t that interested. Even Elmo, if it doesn’t concern him directly he doesn’t give a damn.”

“Which of them thinks they’re better than you?”

“Well … Alice, I guess,” she said slowly. “But to be honest, she
is
. I don’t need a letter to tell me that. The same for Elmo, he’s a genius. Not the others, unless they’ve totally flipped out. I mean … well, that didn’t come out right, but you know what I mean. They’re not all puffed up about themselves.” She fell silent, wringing her hands together.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not sure about anything anymore. All I know is that
I want it to stop. I want to get on with my life and my work and not have to be looking over my shoulder, scared to death that somebody will trash my paintings or send me this kind of letter or hurt me.”

Bernard nodded, gazing out the window. Snooky took the letter gingerly, as if he were handling a scorpion, and stuffed it back into the envelope. There was a long, heavy silence.

“I’m going to disband the class,” said Weezy, with decision. “I can’t stand it any longer. I don’t have to tell them about these letters. I’ll just say that it’s getting too volatile in there, too frightening, and it’s hurting everyone’s work. I’ll say I’m going to wait and get a few more students, maybe dilute the mix a little bit, make everybody happier.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Bernard.

“And if you don’t mind, I’ll stay here a few more days. I feel safe here, somehow.”

“Absolutely. As long as you want.”

“Don’t tell Maya about this new letter, it’ll upset her too much,” said Weezy. “She shouldn’t see it, with the baby and all.”

“That’s nice of you, Weezy, but it’s not necessary. Maya can handle it.”

“Oh, no, no, men don’t understand. Maya is like a finely tuned racehorse coming down the home stretch with this pregnancy, I don’t want anything to get in her way.”

“I wouldn’t call the second trimester exactly coming down the home stretch,” said Bernard.

“Well, whatever. Now, remember what I said, both of you. Nobody breathes a word of this to Maya.”

They promised.

Weezy’s resolve lasted until Maya came home from shopping, a few hours later.

“Hi,” she said, hanging up her coat. “How’re you doing?”

Weezy burst into tears. “Look at this!” She held up the letter, waving it in front of Maya’s face. “I got another one, Maya! Another one!”

“What?”

“Another one!” cried Weezy, and fell into her best friend’s arms.

“Don’t feel bad,” Snooky said later. “You held out until she actually asked how you were doing. Never mind that it was a rhetorical question.”

Weezy was picking disconsolately at the cherry pie left over from dessert. They were seated alone at the great mahogany dining room table, Maya and Bernard having excused themselves after a late dinner and gone up to bed. “Oh, I’m disgusted with myself. But what can you do, it’s Maya’s fault, really. She’s so sympathetic. Just the way she said, ‘Hi, how are you?’ totally unhinged me.”

“Listen, I have an idea.” Snooky leaned forward and gathered her hands in his. “Why don’t we go away together? Don’t say no immediately,” he said when he saw the doubt in her face. “You don’t have anything keeping you here any longer. You’re going to stop teaching for a while, and God knows you could use getting away. I thought we could go to the islands together. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen my friends’ place on St. Martin.”

“Go away? I don’t know, Snooky … gee, I haven’t even thought …”

“Big modern place, painted pink, with floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere. Kind of glows at sunset. You can walk from the living room down to their private beach. I spent most of my time drinking rum and swimming.”

“Sounds nice,” she said wistfully.

“They’d love to have you. They have about a zillion guest rooms, the place is so big they can never fill it up. And they’re isolated there, really, it’s an act of charity to go visit them and give them some company. Peter and Nancy, you’ll love them, they’re old friends of mine.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’re dying for company. Out in this paradise of theirs.”

“They are, they are, they’re bored to tears. They’re perfect hosts—I mean, not to say a word against Maya and Bernard, but you don’t have to lift a finger while you’re there, they provide food and drinks and then leave you alone. It’s great.”

She twiddled a curl of hair between her fingers. “I don’t know. Maybe. It … it sounds nice. Relaxing.”

“Relaxing. Relaxing is the word, sweetheart. Relaxing, and far, far away from here.”

She nodded. Her face had a tired, anxious expression on it. “Well …” she said doubtfully.

“Say yes.”

She lifted her chin decisively. “Yes. Why not?”

“Good. I’ll call Peter and Nancy and get the tickets. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Are you crazy? I can’t get away, I have a class tomorrow. I can’t tell them I’m stopping class over the phone,” she said in response to his look. “Don’t be stupid. I thought I would tell them tomorrow.”

“All right. We leave the next day, then.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “The next day? Get a grip on yourself, sweetie. We can’t invite ourselves that soon.”

“Watch me,” he said, and picked up the phone.

“You can’t stop teaching!” cried Alice, distressed, when Weezy broke the news.

“Not forever, Alice, just for a little while.”

“Well, how long?”

“I don’t know,” Weezy said truthfully. “I need a break. I … I have some things going on in my personal life that are upsetting me, and I need some time to myself.”

She hadn’t planned to tell the truth, but confronted with their shocked faces she had felt it impossible to do anything else. Now she twisted her hands unhappily. This was harder than she had anticipated. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I can give you the names of some people in New York you can study with for a while.” She gave a faint smile. “It might do you good to study with somebody else, you know. All of you. A different point of view.”

“Some things in your personal life?” Alice repeated, as if she had not heard beyond that point.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Snooky suddenly found himself the focus of four hostile gazes. Mrs. Castor was the only one smiling. He swallowed and looked away.

“Hmmm,” said Alice sourly. She turned back to Weezy. “Will you—will you call us when you’re ready to teach again?”

“Of course I will.” Weezy was delighted with this apparent capitulation, just where she had expected the most resistance. She looked around the class. “Of course I will.”

Elmo had crossed his arms, his biceps bulging, and was staring at her with a frown on his face. “You don’t have to leave, Weezy. You could get rid of what’s bothering you easily.” He shot a look towards the back of the room, at Alice. “Easily!”

“That’s not fair,” said Alice, her voice rising. “How dare you imply—”

“Well, it’s clear what’s going on, isn’t it?” Elmo pounded his fist into his other palm. He was red with rage. “Weezy’s
running away because she can’t handle what’s happening in here. She’s so fragile she could break. A few things get messed up, and she drops us all.”

Weezy looked at him icily. “I wouldn’t call my exhibit just a few things, Elmo. I wouldn’t say the same to you about ‘Girl in White.’ ”

“Well, it’s damned unfair, Weezy. We’re all being punished for what one person is doing. One person!” he added, with another furious glance towards the back of the room. There was a wail from Alice.

“I didn’t do it—”

“Oh, the hell you didn’t—!”

“I didn’t do anything, I tell you—”

“Go to hell,” Elmo said crisply. “You’re screwing up everything for us here. Everything! Now you’ve driven Weezy out, are you happy? Are you finally happy?”

“That’s quite enough,” said Weezy. Elmo turned away, his shoulders rigid. Alice’s wails trailed off into silence.

Weezy turned to Mrs. Castor. “I’m so sorry about leaving you in the lurch right now, with the work you’ve been doing and all. It’s some of your best work ever, you know that as well as I do. And you don’t live in Manhattan like the others, so I don’t know who to refer you to.”

“That’s all right,” Mrs. Castor said, smiling at her. “You take care of yourself first, dear. The classes can wait.” She shot a reproving glance at Elmo and Alice. “Despite what some people may think.”

Alice pursed her lips, but she seemed too stunned by Weezy’s announcement to say anything more. She seemed deflated, like a large balloon with a tiny hole in it, slowly spiraling towards the floor.

Nikki was wringing her hands. “Oh, Weezy …” she fluttered mindlessly. “Oh, Weezy, I’m
so
sorry that … oh, Weezy …”

Elmo’s face was set in a cold, unforgiving expression. He packed up his paints and brushes neatly, picked up his canvases and left the room without a backward glance.

Jennifer, in his wake, looked at Weezy with an odd, faintly amused expression in her eyes. “I’m sorry. You know how he is.”

“Oh, yes, I know,” said Weezy, raising her voice. She bellowed down the hallway after him, “I KNOW HOW HE IS! HE HAS ALL THE EMOTIONAL MATURITY OF A TWO-YEAR-OLD!”

“Go to hell, Weezy!” he shouted.

“You go to hell!”

“You go to hell!”

“You go to hell!”

The front door banged shut.

“You’re going away?” Maya said incredulously, when they broke the news over dinner. “You’re going away—
tomorrow?
”

“Yes, Missy,” said Snooky. “Is that okay with you? Can the two of you get by without us?”

“You’re going away? Where?”

“I told you, Missy. St. Martin. To my friends’ place on the beach. Sun, sand and surf. I figured Weezy and I could use a vacation.”

“Oh.” Maya digested this. She speared some of Snooky’s perfectly cooked asparagus and forked it down. “Okay. I think … well, it sounds like a good idea.”

“You don’t mind, do you?” asked Weezy. “I was sure you’d be glad to get rid of us. I know how much Bernard hates company. I feel we’ve been straining him to the limit.”

Bernard did not contradict this. He continued to eat in silence.

“No, no, you haven’t been straining us,” Maya said distractedly. “No, it’s been fun. It really has. How long did you say you’d be away?”

“We don’t know, Missy. Maybe three or four weeks. It depends how much we like it.”

“Oh.”

Snooky eyed her, puzzled. “I didn’t mean to totally unhinge you, Maya. What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know, it just seems so … so
sudden
. I mean, we just got used to both of you being here, and now you’re going away? It seems so sudden.”

Bernard put an arm around her. “Change,” he explained. “The nesting instinct. Pregnant women don’t like change. It disturbs them.”

“Well, don’t worry, Missy, we’ll be back well before the baby’s born. I mean, it’s not due until October, right? October twentieth? And here it is, not even summer yet. There’s plenty of time. I wouldn’t get all ruffled up about it.”

Maya nodded.

“If the leaves start turning and we’re not back, give us a call.”

“Oh, stop tormenting her,” snapped Weezy. “I think the two of you should get away. You won’t be able to once the baby’s born, you know. And the second trimester is a perfect time to travel.”

“I guess so,” Maya said. She picked at her food dispiritedly. “What’s this stuff here, Snooks?”

“Shallots. You going to be okay while we’re away? Bernard will cook for you?”

“I’ll be glad to cook.”

“Wonderful,” said Maya. “Baked beans every night.” She got up and left the table.

“I’m sorry,” she said later, when Bernard came upstairs in search of her. He found her sprawled on the bed, watching TV, Misty curled up on the pillow next to her.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “You okay?”

“Uh-huh. I’m really sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t.” Her lower lip was sticking out. “You don’t understand. All I could think of was that the two of them can pick up and leave whenever they want, and we can’t. In a few months we won’t ever be able to take a real vacation again. Don’t look at me that way, with pity in your eyes. I don’t need your pity. I remember what it was like when my parents used to take us on vacations together. It was a nightmare. Snooky would drive William crazy, and William would drive everybody else crazy, and my parents would say they were never taking us along again, but then they would, and it would be just the same. I think everybody kept hoping it would be different, somehow.”