Before leaving the club, Fritzy kissed Virginia on the crown of her head, saying to the bartender, “Feel free to dilute their drinks.” Chuck, on his third beer, laughed and raised his glass to Virginia’s dad. The kids clustered in groups of threes or fours around the perimeter of the bar—its walls covered with class photographs and Princeton memorabilia—drinking and catching up on any news since June. Some ate the burgers and chicken Mrs. Craft had ordered beforehand. Casey knew everyone except for a couple of the girls from Brearley who’d come by to say hello. They were much like the girls from Ivy—cool legacy types with a casual manner and Ivory girl complexions. Expensive haircuts that didn’t look fussy. All terrific at cocktail prattle. It was impossible to imagine them mixing with their fellow Brearley alumna Ella.
After the Crafts left, Virginia and Casey went off by themselves to a secluded table below the photograph of an ancient crew team. This was Casey’s first vodka gimlet for the night, and it was delicious.
“How is it living with Ella Shim?” Virginia pulled her lips to the left corner of her mouth. She did this when peeved.
“It’s tolerable.” Casey frowned, feeling a little disloyal to Ella. “She’s nice.”
“And has Jay called?” Virginia, who’d always liked him, was not yet willing to give up on him as Casey’s beau. Jay Currie was a dick for what he did, but it was unquestionable in Virginia’s mind that he loved her best friend. It wouldn’t have surprised Virginia if they got back together. “Or should I ask, how many times has he called?”
“He’s called Tina, but she’s not allowed to tell him where I am. Nor are you.”
“Understood,” Virginia said, still not getting Casey’s decision to live with Ella. “You could have stayed with me. At Newport.”
“You were visiting your grandmother—”
“Lady Eugenie would’ve been happy to have you.”
“Thank you,” Casey said graciously, having told Virginia about the fight but not the hitting.
“And if you want to be in the city, you could stay with Jane and Fritzy. They love you, too. But Ella Shim?” Virginia couldn’t remember Ella uttering a word out loud in the six years she’d known her at Brearley. Did the girl even speak?
“She’s not so bad.” Casey could hear Ella’s voice in her head from only a few hours ago, how she’d pleaded with Ted to get her a job. “I’ve known her from Sunday school. And she has an extra room. C’mon, I can’t stay with your parents.” Casey made a face. “They’re super, but—”
“Yeah, neither can I,” Virginia said. Jane and Fritzy were a particular drink of water. They were also not young parents, both in their early sixties. Their excessive politeness could be construed as detachment or, worse, a social frigidity. They didn’t mean to be that way; they just didn’t know how to be intimate or talk like regular people. What also polarized their household was that they’d sent Virginia to a shrink ever since she could talk almost, so they’d raised this girl to have all these feelings when they appeared to have none. “They’re very sweet,” Virginia said of her parents, “but tough to live with. I’m sure my biological parents were deeply troubled individuals, highly emotional. And verbal. I bet my biological mother was a screamer.” She smiled with some satisfaction.
“Hmm. . .” Casey fiddled with the ice in her drink. Over the years, Virginia had imagined her biological mother as everything between a hooker and a nun.
“And how are you?” Virginia asked.
“Fine. I just have to get a job,” Casey replied.
“You’ll get one,” Virginia said, wanting to figure out what else was going on in that tough nut of hers. She’d never met anyone so proud in her life. “I mean, do you like living with Ella?”
“She’s not you,” Casey said. There was always a pecking order among girlfriends. “Once I get my cash flow in order, I’m moving out. Find an affordable place in Manhattan. No problem.” She said all this confidently, as though it were just a matter of time.
“You can come to Italy.” Virginia raised her hands enthusiastically. “How cool would that be?”
“I can go to the moon, too, but NASA won’t return my calls.”
Virginia smirked. “You can live with me.”
“Not in the cards for this girl.”
“Why not? They let Koreans into Italy the last time I checked.”