16
The look Miaow gives him when she sees the name on the takeout bag in his hand almost makes risking his life in traffic worthwhile. “It’s all right,” he says, coming into the living room. “Don’t get up. This isn’t as heavy as it looks.”
“Good,” she says. “Then you can take it back.”
“Any word from your mom?” At the counter, he starts removing the food containers from the bag and laying them out in a finicky order that he thinks will irritate Miaow. He wishes he had bought some flowers. It would have been nice for Rose to find them in her room when she gets back. Why does he always think of these things too late?
“She’s eating,” Miaow says. “Probably someplace good.”
“Well, you know, it’s just that it’s the first time she and the baby—”
“And the whole platoon,” Miaow says. “She’s got the squad with her. And it’s two blocks. She’ll be fine.”
“Worrying is part of my job description.”
“Mr. Rafferty,” Edward says. “Do you think Leslie Howard is hot?”
“Aaahh. I’m more of an Errol Flynn man myself.”
“Errol who?”
“Flynn, but don’t let it bother you. He’s been under the sod since the last ice age. Hope you’re hungry, there’s a lot of som tam.”
Edward says, “Oh.”
“It’s not that he’s hot,” Miaow says. “It’s his voice.”
“Ahem,” Edward says, pronouncing it as it’s spelled. “Last time, it was his nose.”
“His nose and his voice,” Miaow says.
“The nose plays a very important role in the production of the voice,” Rafferty says. “I can see where you’d get them mixed up.”
Edward laughs but cuts it off instantly. “His nose,” he says, and then he laughs again.
Rafferty says, “Give her a break. It’s a very distinctive—”
The doorbell rings.
“She’s got a key,” Miaow says.
“Maybe the troops dropped her off,” Rafferty says. “She’s got a baby in her arms, remember?”
“Like Fon would let her come upstairs alone,” Miaow says. “Like I’m the only one in the world who can possibly open the door.” The bell rings again. “Okay, okay, okay.”
Rafferty is at the counter laying out utensils and napkins when he hears someone say something that might be, “Miaow,” and then he hears Miaow say, “What? Who—who . . .” and then scream, shrill enough to etch glass. The scream turns into a stream of words, “Go away go away go away,” and the front door slams. Edward says, “Miaow, what’s the—” and then Miaow’s bedroom door slams, so hard he thinks he can feel the floor shake, and from the other side of the door, Miaow is shouting, “Go away, go away, go away.” He charges into the living room, pushing past Edward, who’s shifting from foot to foot, the image of someone who has no idea what to do, and he opens the front door to see a filthy, ragged woman collapsed against the opposite wall, crying her heart out.