“Grover—” Irene stuck the sock monkey near the stalk.
“Mmmm,” Casey said, pretending to be the monkey eating the celery. “Crunch, crunch.”
Ella smiled, afraid to break the good feeling. “Unu is here.”
“What?”
“I mean, he’s not here right now, but he’s staying here with me. He’s had some troubles. David helped him get a job at St. Christopher’s, and he’s starting next month. Teaching statistics and pre-cal.”
“Is he all right?” Casey asked. “He’s living here?”
Ella nodded. “He’s much better now. I mean, he’s doing great, actually. But the gambling, Casey. You never told me. That it was serious.”
“It wasn’t your business,” Casey snapped.
“No, Casey, I didn’t mean that you had to tell me. I think you were respecting his privacy. I understand that. I do. I think you were right not to tell me. It wasn’t my business.”
Casey stirred her drink with the celery stalk. What would he say when he saw her? That’s why his phone was no longer in service. He must have moved out of the apartment.
“Where is he now?”
“He went to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. He’ll be back any minute. I didn’t want you to be surprised.”
“Why are you telling me all this? It’s none of my business.”
Casey had offered to take him to those meetings, but he had not gone. But now that he was at Ella’s, he was going. How did Ella get him to quit gambling and to get a job?
“Maybe I should go.”
Irene pulled at Casey’s shirt, pushing Grover into her hand. “Talk,” she said. “Make Grover talk.”
Casey picked up Grover. “Hi, Irene. Can we eat banana cake for lunch? Yum yum yum.” She made Grover kiss Irene’s cheek.
Irene laughed, but Casey’s mood had darkened considerably. She wanted to go back to the Gottesmans’。 She’d been trying to figure out what to do with her living situation in the fall. Now both she and Unu were living in other people’s houses. It was so pathetic.
Casey picked up her handbag.
“I do wish you would stay,” David said. “I’ve heard so much about you. All wonderful things. I wanted to hear about your hats. Did you make the one you were wearing today?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“It’s beautiful. Ella wore the one you made for her to my mother’s birthday party. She looked marvelous in it.”
“Oh,” Casey said. “That’s nice.”
“Everyone said I should wear the hat all the time,” Ella said.
Irene raised her arms, and Casey put down her drink to pick up the child. She kissed her on both cheeks, then put her down.
Casey tapped her jacket pocket. “May I?” But she remembered her friend’s allergies. “I mean, never mind. I’ll step outside for a minute.” She didn’t want to smoke in front of Irene anyway. “I won’t be long.”
In the backyard, Casey lit her cigarette and inhaled. White roses climbed the green trellised wall. They had faded a bit, but the smell was glorious. Irene’s toys were strewn about, and Casey felt comfortable seated on the Chinese ceramic stool. She would leave after her cigarette. Ella couldn’t really expect her to stay. What was the point of it?
She heard the sliding glass door opening.
“Wonder Woman, where are your cuffs?”
Casey smiled at him. A patch of gray streaked Unu’s forelock. He looked good to her, less tired than before. He smiled at her, too.
“I had planned on leaving after this cigarette.”
“Am I so awful that you’d run away?”
She shook her head no. “I’m sorry that I’m here. I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to—”
“Sit, please. Ella sent me out here to convince you to stay for lunch. She misses you terribly.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Do you?”
“We’re ridiculous.”
“Yes,” he said. “How was your summer?”
“I got the offer.”
“Are you going to take it?”
“Why did you ask me that?” she asked. No one else had asked her that except for Charlie Seedham.
“Because you hate it there.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“Okay, you don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it,” she said calmly.
“In a way, it’s tragic when you can do something you don’t like,” he said.