“Okay,” Casey said.
“Good night, baby. And drink that detoxification tea I bought for you. It’s on the counter next to the espresso machine.”
She nodded, letting Sabine kiss her on the cheek good night. As soon as Sabine closed the door, Casey climbed out of bed and grabbed her purse. She opened the window as far as it would go and lit a cigarette. Unu would be asleep, she thought. He always slept on his left side, facing the middle of the bed, his left arm tucked in by his shoulder, his hand beneath his cheek. When she came home late and he’d been sleeping, he’d open his eyes and murmur, “Hey, babe, you’re home. Come to bed.” Sometimes he’d continue snoring quietly. Casey stubbed out her cigarette on the window ledge and lit another.
11 BASTE
THE SILVER CUFFS SHE COULDN’T POSSIBLY WEAR lay on top of the dresser. Tina fingered the extravagant gift Sabine had made to her sister and that her sister had later made to her. There was no way Tina could have refused them, but the gift only reinforced in her mind that her sister was out of touch. It was a kind gesture, surely, but what did she need a pair of matching bracelets from Tiffany’s for? Where was she going with a two-month-old that would require her to wear Wonder Woman cuffs? As it was, she and Chul barely had money for groceries, diapers, and the occasional video rental. They took the BART everywhere because they couldn’t afford to keep Chul’s Toyota in San Francisco. Besides, even if the edges were smooth, the hard metal would bother Timothy when Tina was feeding or bathing him or changing his diapers. That night in New York, right after Tina and Chul had dropped Casey and Unu off at their apartment on the Upper East Side, Tina had slipped off the cuffs and dropped them into her diaper bag.
In forty minutes, Timothy would wake from his nap and need to nurse again. Hopefully his last feeding for the night. Chul was still studying at the library. He was taking summer classes to accelerate graduation. She’d made tuna salad for dinner, but he’d called to say that he’d grab a burrito before he got home. She had spent another day alone in the apartment with the baby. Tina craved her books, her classes. Seeing adults. It was Friday night. But it could have been any other.
What was her sister doing right now? Tina wondered. In their last brief phone conversation, Casey had dismissed any possible worries about their mother’s health. She was thoroughly anxious about getting a permanent offer from Kearn Davis. Tina had thought of reassuring her, but it wasn’t easy to do with Casey. You never really knew if she was listening. Also, Casey was single again. She had screwed some guy she used to work with on some out-of-town business trip, then confessed. “But I felt like such an asshole for not telling him.” Tina had kept from saying, Well, now he probably thinks you were an asshole for sleeping with another guy. For now, Casey was staying with Sabine and Isaac until she got her shit in order. Nice life, Tina thought. Nice landing.
Tina dialed her parents’ number to make her Friday night call, and Leah picked up.
“Yuh-bo-seh-yoh.”
“Mom, it’s me.”
“Ti-na. How is the baby?” Leah asked. She remembered Timothy’s softness, the round black eyes beneath the ruffle of his dark lashes.
“He’s good. He’s sleeping now.”
“And eating well?”
“I’m nursing constantly. Some days it’s like twelve or thirteen times.” Tina blew the overgrown bangs away from her face. Whenever the baby wasn’t nursing, it felt as though Chul were trying to slip his hands beneath her shirt. She still had thirty pounds left to lose, but Chul didn’t seem to mind. Her engorged breasts made him horny, he said. Her boobs had become communal property. Had her mother ever felt like that?
“How are you?” Tina asked.
“Umma is okay.”
“But Daddy said you missed church again.”
“Umma is okay. Have you heard from Casey?”
“Last week.” Why didn’t her mother just pick up the phone and call Casey?
“I thought Ella’s cousin was nice,” Leah said.
“They broke up,” Tina blurted out.
Before her mother could ask any more, she said brusquely, “Let me talk to Daddy now.”
“But they seemed happy,” Leah said, her voice cracking.
“It didn’t work out, I guess,” Tina said, trying to skip the details. She hated being the messenger.
“Where is she living then? I don’t have her phone number.”
“She’s staying with Sabine Gottesman. Until she finds a place.”