Part 16 (1/2)
”No, I meant why you look so ... tired. It must be incredibly hard on you. Are you getting enough sleep?”
”Of course I am. Well, maybe not always ... sometimes it's hard to get my eight hours.”
”Eight? You look like you've been getting two.”
”No no, I'm fine, really, sleep like a top. It's just that JJ and I have been really busy the last few days. And when you get close to something, you get excited, and sometimes adrenalin keeps you up all night. I'm fine, really. I don't need much sleep.” I'll sleep when I'm dead.
”You should take care of yourself too, you know. Not just your mother. Give yourself a break.”
Noel nodded. ”You sound like the Bath Lady.”
”The who?”
”The ... the day nurse who comes in. Sancha.”
”Well, you should listen to her. You have to take time out for yourself, you know.”
There's no time out, Noel thought, even when I'm in bed. Either my brain is still in the lab or my mother is burning a light into my eyes. ”I try.”
A lowboy beside the bed caught Samira's attention, a fine piece but spotted and scarred. She reached over and traced a line in the dust on its walnut surface. ”Don't you have any relatives who can help out?”
”Not in Montreal. But my uncle in New York has promised to help.”
”How exactly?”
”Well, he ... he didn't really say.”
”Can't you hire somebody?”
”We have the Bath Lady, who comes in twice a week. We can't afford anyone else.”
”But ... Norval said you were rich. And this house, it's a palace. Or was.”
”We used to be ... comfortable.”
”What happened?”
Noel heaved a long sigh. He had never been able to tell anyone- including his relatives and best friend-what had really happened, the gory details. It would've been a filial betrayal.
”You don't have to answer that. It's none of my business.”
He looked deep into her eyes, boldly, for the first time ever. She stared right back. He barely knew her, but it didn't matter. ”What happened? Everything just seemed to ... unravel, fall to pieces, when Mom took early retirement. Not right away. But after a few weeks of idleness-recuperating, I should say-she started acting a bit ... strange. Out of character.”
”What do you mean? Like forgetting things?”
Noel paused. ”She began giving all her money away. Or most of it. Writing out cheques to childhood friends, distant acquaintances, dubious charities ... even beggars on the street. Not to mention every canva.s.ser that phoned or knocked on the door. She fell for the usual telemarketing scams, about winning a Tahitian holiday or helping to free some political prisoner in Chad ... It was very uncharacteristic of her. She used to have a radar for that kind of thing.”
”And that was when she began to have her ... memory problems?”
”Right.”
”Couldn't you have tried to get her into a part-time ... help centre or whatever they're called? Something subsidised?”
Noel nodded, relieved to be able to skip some of the details. ”Adult day-care. I did. A place called Sun Valley a.s.sisted Living. I planned to drive her there and back every day. The first time she was waiting for me on the porch with all her luggage. Like she was going to stay there for the rest of her life. What she couldn't fit into her suitcases, she'd stuffed into plastic bags and pillowcases. 'Please don't make me go there,' she said to me, so softly I could barely hear her. 'Couldn't I stay here with you, dear? Just a bit longer? I'll try to be better.'”
”Oh my G.o.d. So what'd you do?”
”I grabbed her bags, took them back upstairs, told her she could stay with me forever.”
[image]
Except for JJ's snoring, the house was still until dawn. In her troubled state, Samira decided to take the sleeping pills that Noel offered, two crude blue pills that looked home-made. She slept blissfully. Noel had taken the same pills, but tossed and turned until someone with a light entered his room.
”There's a man downstairs,” his mother said in his ear, her voice and hunter's lamp quivering. ”A big man with red hair. I caught him redhanded, making bacon and ... those round things. Shall we call the police?”
Noel squinted at her shaking hands, one almost entirely covered with blue-ink reminders, like tattoos. ”No, Mom. He's a friend of mine, you've already met him, he's staying here.”
”He's got a knife.”
”I'm sure he's just-”
Here a head poked through the door, a head with orange stick-up hair. ”Morning, people. I thought I heard some voices. Morning, Mrs. B.”
”You put quite a scare into my mother, JJ. She thought you were coming after us with the carving knife.”
”Now Noel, I did not say that. I only said-”
”That's all right, Mrs. B. Entirely my fault. I'm the intruder. Takes some getting used to. Are you hungry? Feel like a good old-fas.h.i.+oned pet.i.t dejeuner quebecois pet.i.t dejeuner quebecois?”
Mrs. Burun shook her head. Who is is this man? ”No, I ... I'm not really hungry.” this man? ”No, I ... I'm not really hungry.”
”I found another alb.u.m of photographs, in with the recipe books. I was wondering if you'd take me through it. If you have time, that is.”
Mrs. Burun's aspect changed, as if she'd just recognised a childhood friend who had come over to play. ”The alb.u.m ... in the kitchen? With the recipe books?”
”That's the one.”
”Some of those pictures are quite dear to me. They were taken by my mother, you see.”
”Were they, now? I noticed a picture on the cover. A beautiful girl with curly blonde hair. By the seaside.”
”Why, that's ... me.”
”No!”
”Let's go down, shall we?” said Mrs. Burun excitedly. ”Take a look? Did you manage to find everything in the kitchen ...” Here she paused, trying to remember the gentleman's name. She should should know it, he's been around here long enough ... How many days, now? know it, he's been around here long enough ... How many days, now?
”Not everything,” said JJ. ”I've been looking high and low for the tea strainer. I said to myself, JJ, you must be blind!”
”I can't find it either! I think somebody must have stolen it!” She turned to look at her son.