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lead me to it. I hobbled up
to the plaza. A woman with matted hair and tattered clothing sat on the grass
verge. She was barefoot.
The bottoms of her feet were black horns of callous. She spied us.
Please, lady, do, she said to me. Beg you little money. I ain t eat from
morning.
I m sorry. I don t have any. It was the God s truth. I didn t have one red
cent.
Please, lady, she said again.
Here. Evelyn gave the woman a bill.
Thank you, lady. Bless you.
We went on. I stopped and dithered around a bit, looking from one entrance to
the other. Evelyn
dithered right alongside me.
That little boy, she said. It would be incredible.
What would?
It s just possible; an isolated archipelago like this. An evolutionary
branch. . .
This sort of looked like the entrance I wanted. I began up the stairs. Evelyn
followed.
It worked for Darwin, she said. The finches, you know?
The library archives are full of reported sightings of mermaids off Cayaba,
I said. Newspaper
clippings, people s diaries from long ago.
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We passed a fancy women s clothing store. It was lit in screaming pink and
yellow neon. The skirt on the
mannequin in the window was so short that even though she was plastic, I felt
embarrassed for her.
Time was, I could have gotten away with a skirt like that.
We rounded the corner, and there was the food court, and the cambio. I made
for it. Evelyn stood
beside me while I punched in the numbers. She was almost vibrating, she was so
excited. You knew this
whole time, didn t you? she said. About the child, I mean.
I don t know, I just suspect. Could be wishful thinking. Nothing in the
chequing account. But I think I
bucked up another one like him when I was a little girl.
You lie! Wide-eyed, she grabbed my arm. When? Where? Did you talk to it?
How come you never
said?
I stopped and looked at her. At school, you mean? To whom?
To your friends, she replied. Then, Oh.
I didn t have to tell her that she and I hadn t yet met when it had happened.
All is fair in war. Anyway. I
was there last night when they brought his parents out of the water. I saw the
daddy. He had the same
adaptations as Agway. I tried a cash advance on my credit card. It laughed in
my face. I didn t even
bother to check my savings account. It had always been a joke. Savings
accounts were for people with
something left over to save. I took a deep breath. Evelyn?
Yes?
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Can you possibly lend me the money to take the waterbus back home, please?
The words hurt coming
out of my mouth, like spitting out glass.
Oh! Yes. Of course. She dug in her purse and I looked away, ashamed.
Wait a minute, said Evelyn. Her hand was still in her purse. Where you said
your car was?
I sighed. At the mall by the medical centre.
So how you plan to get to your house when you reach Dolorosse?
Walk. In my high heels, one of them broken. Over the rocky ground.
And how long that will take, Chas. . . Calamity?
I shrugged. An hour, maybe. More like two, and massive blisters on my feet,
shoes on or off.
No, that won t do. She snapped her purse shut, linked her arm through mine.
Come along. She
began walking me back through the mall.
What? Come where?
Why are you walking like that?
I broke my shoe. Evelyn, I have to get home.
And I will take you home. Let me just see if Samuel s finished work yet. She
pulled a phone out of her
purse, hit speed dial.
Samuel? Hello, my love. Surprised you re at home at all. No, I m at Courtice
Plaza. I m with a friend.
No, I. . . She giggled. After you know I don t have eyes for anyone but you.
Listen; you can come and
get us? Me and my old school friend Calamity. We have to take her home to
Dolorosse.
I knew that tone so well. Had heard it a million times in the school cafeteria
as Evelyn organized her
posse to do just what she wanted them to. I pulled my arm out of hers. You
don t have to take me
anywhere. Just lend me the waterbus fare. I ll pay you back tomorrow. I had
no idea how I was going
to do that, but never mind.
What? Evelyn asked me. Into the phone, she said, Hold on a minute, nuh?
She took the phone away
from her mouth. Calamity, we re going to take you. All right? End of story.
Anger was like a red mist in front of my eyes. She started to talk to Samuel
again. I turned on my heel
and walked away from her. Maybe a passer-by would lend me waterbus fare.
Calamity!
I ignored the sound of shoes tap-tapping behind me. I headed for one of the
exits.
Calamity! She caught up to me, put her hand on my elbow. I yanked it out of
her reach.
No, Evelyn. You can t order me about. You re not queen of the schoolyard any
more. You can t
always have your way. Go home to your beloved Samuel and leave me alone! I
could feel my eyes
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springing water. Somehow, the blurriness made the garish micro minis on the
mannequins in the clothing
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store look even more shameful, if that were possible. I was to the steps,
making my way down with that
careful, crabways movement that old women in heels adopt. When had I become an
old woman?
Calamity. I m sorry.
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