Even though Flo’s ancient bike zigzagged across the bike lane, threatening to spill Flo into the gravel ditch, Zoe still had to push hard to stay close. Two wheels were faster than four, Zoe reminded herself, but she was about a fifth her grandmother’s age so she should be able to keep up, right?
“Wait,” Zoe called. “Let’s watch the ball game for a few minutes.”
Flo dragged her foot on the pavement to slow down, ignoring the brake. She leaned her bike against a bench with flaking green paint facing the ball field and looked back at Zoe. “Can’t keep up with an old lady, huh?”
“Busted.” Zoe swiveled her wheelchair alongside the bench. Her grandmother might be losing her marbles, but she still had moments of awesome smarts. And she had never been easy to fool. Her dad had asked Zoe to try to find out what Flo thought about the Assisted Living center they visited, since Flo refused to discuss it with him. But if Zoe brought it up, her grandmother would see right through her.
Zoe watched the skinny kid at the plate, spitting in the dirt and knocking his bat against the ground in a parody of professional players. He wiped his hands on his green shirt, positioned the bat, and waited. Why did baseball involve so much standing around? Life was too short to waste time. Flo sat on the bench with her hands on her knees, fingers positioned in that yoga secret hand signal. Did that mean she was meditating or something, and didn’t want to be disturbed? Zoe studied Flo’s face wondering what it felt like to have your brain disintegrating, swirling right down the toilet and sucking your life along with it. No wonder she didn’t want to talk about Assisted Living.
The skinny kid hit the ball hard. It arced over the infield and bounced twice before a red-shirt player caught it. The batter made it to third base and his grin made Zoe smile too. He looked about Gabe’s age, eleven or twelve. He was probably a Forest Park kid; maybe he’d be at Gabe’s party next Saturday.
That was going to be so weird, chaperoning a dance party. Gabe wanted retro decorations—crepe paper streamers and a rented strobe light. Her friends never had parties with themes and dancing and decorations. Or maybe they just didn’t invite her.
“Zoe?” Flo said.
Zoe looked at her grandmother. “Yeah?”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Can’t a girl take a ride around the park on a beautiful day with her grandma without having an ulterior motive?”
“Sure. But I know you, and you’re preoccupied with something.”
“A couple of things,” Zoe admitted. “Like, I’m worried about you living alone and everything. Have you thought about that place on the hill?”
“Don’t be a stool pigeon for your dad. What’s the other thing?”
Zoe blushed. She told her father it wouldn’t work.
“The other thing is that Gabe is having a birthday party next weekend, and I’m supposed to help chaperone. I’m nervous about that.”
“Gabe?”
“You know. He and his mom—that’s Pippa—live downstairs with my mother and Emily?”
Flo still looked puzzled. Like a cloud covered her face, all shadows and gray air.
“Remember? Gabe’s dad was in prison because of those two little kids dying a few years ago in the park? They all lived in that commune. His parents weren’t married or anything.”
“Charlie and I weren’t married,” Flo said slowly.
“Who’s Charlie?”
Flo stood up. “You can tell your dad that I’m not going to that place. He can live there if he likes it so much.” She grabbed the handlebars of her bike and awkwardly settled herself on the seat. “I’m perfectly fine and I’m going home. Alone.”
Zoe watched Flo peddle back along the bike path. What just happened? What did she say wrong? Should she follow her? Better not—Flo would be majorly pissed off.
And who was Charlie?
Flo had to get away. She didn’t want Zoe seeing her blubber like a baby. Not that she didn’t have plenty of reasons to cry and more reasons cropping up every day. Just that morning she found herself sitting fully clothed in the bathtub with no water and she couldn’t remember getting in, or why. She had sniffed her armpit and figured out she needed a bath, but by the time she climbed out of the tub to take off her clothes, she decided to brush her teeth instead.
Maybe she’d better add that to her list: take off clothes and put water in bathtub before getting in.
And that wasn’t the only item to add. There was Charlie. Decades ago she promised herself never to mention him, and she just did it again, to Zoe. If she were a superstitious person instead of a communist she might think that Charlie was trying to contact her, hurling surprisingly potent ghost memories of their time together across lost decades. But that was the substance of paperback romance novels, not real life.
She wobbled under the arch at the park entrance and pressed the crosswalk button at Sumner Avenue. When the signal changed, she pushed her bike across the street and then stopped. Which way was home? The buildings all looked the same, even though she could see they were different colors, shapes. Unfamiliar houses, wooden houses in yards rich with trees and shrubs, some squat brick apartment buildings. She had a feeling she belonged here somewhere, but she recognized nothing. She had no idea which way to turn.
How could her brain betray her like this?
If only Mimi were here with her, to say, “Earth to Flo” and remind her where she was going. If only she were back home in Maryland; she would remember how to get to the apartment on River Road. If only that arch across the street could be the entrance to Glen Echo Amusement Park. If only Charlie were here with her. If only.
She leaned her bike against a wrought iron fence and sat down on the curb. She let her head settle into the cradle of her arms. Just for a minute, to rest. Then she’d get up and figure out how to go home.
Sam put the finishing touches on a new website for the Hampden County Home Care agency. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. His ex-wife’s cousin Emily used to work for the place and her job got them all into trouble. His part of the trouble was rescuing Jeremy and Timothy from the forest, when their parents broke the law. He was fond of the twins, although he hadn’t seen them in ages. Zoe said they’d be in town for Gabe’s birthday party and that she was chaperoning the party. Of course, he wasn’t invited, but Zoe said it was happening downstairs so he might manage to bump into them. He was thinking about ways to make this happen when the doorbell rang. He rolled his desk chair to the front window and looked down.
A police cruiser? Uh-oh. Did something happen to Zoe? He flew down the outside staircase.
Next to the mailbox at the foot of the stairs, an officer stood with his mother, holding her arm. Flo looked down at her feet but he could see tears staining her cheeks.
“Do you know this woman?” The officer asked.
“She’s my mother. What’s wrong?”
The officer’s voice was kind. “She was wandering around the farmers market at the X, looking confused. She, uh, doesn’t seem to know where she lives, but we found this in her pocket.”
Sam took the folded flyer from the officer, one of dozens Flo had helped him distribute promoting his website design business, offering a discount to neighborhood residents. It had his photo—not your best side, Flo had criticized—and his address.
Sam took Flo’s hand in both of his.
“My bike,” she said, finally looking up at him. “I’ve lost my bike.”
He guided her to the stairs. “We’ll find it, Ma. Later. Come inside. I’ll make tea.” He turned back to the officer. “Thank you.”
Halfway up the steps, Flo stopped.
“Do you need to rest?” Sam asked.
“I’m fine,” she said. “But don’t even ask. Because I’m not going to that place.”