Roy’s mother’s fourth and final husband, Barney Roper, was a member of the Brotherhood of Ganders Lodge, a secret and fraternal organization. Wives of those members were referred to as The Gathering of the Geese. Privately, however, many of the Ganders jokingly called them “The Waggle Gaggle Gals.” Four times a year, to celebrate the seasons, the Ganders had balls, which were really more on the order of drunken parties. Formal wear was required to attend, and Barney insisted that Kitty accompany him on these occasions.
It happened that Roy, who was eighteen years old, was visiting his mother and sister, Sally, who was six, in Rock City, Illinois, a town of 150,000 in the central part of the state, when one of the seasonal balls was held. Barney Roper worked for his two older brothers, Ben and Bradley, as a plant foreman at Roper & Roper Dry Ice. Kitty’s husband, the third Roper, was an employee, not a partner, a position, he assured Kitty, that he would at some point achieve. This never happened due to Barney’s eventual mishandling of certain accounts receivable for which his brothers decided to terminate his employment but declined to prosecute him.
During Roy’s brief visit, his mother and her husband attended the Ganders event honoring the winter solstice. Kitty wore her best dress and jewelry given to her by Roy’s father, her first husband. Barney Roper, as was customary, wore a tuxedo.
Roy and Sally were seated on a couch in the livingroom where Roy was reading to her a Nancy Drew mystery story when Barney and Kitty arrived home. Barney Roper was at the wheel of his 1962 Pontiac Bonneville when it smashed into the garage door, shaking the house and shocking both Roy and Sally. Kitty came rushing through the front door, shouting and crying, her hair and clothing awry.
“That’s it!” she yelled. “It’s over! I’m through! I’m getting a divorce!”
She passed through the livingroom without looking at her children and went directly into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Kitty continued ranting and raving, scaring Sally. Roy embraced his little sister, expecting Barney to appear momentarily, but he did not. Roy heard the car back down the driveway and be driven away.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he told Sally, and went outside to inspect the damage.
The garage door had a large hole in it and was dangling from one of its hinges. Pieces of splintered wood were strewn on the ground, along with the outdoor lamp that had been mounted above the door.
Roy reentered the house but Sally was not in the livingroom. The bedroom door was open so he walked over and looked in. Sally was sitting on the bed watching her mother throw the contents of a closet and then belongings from a dresser onto the floor. As she was madly flinging shirts and socks and underwear out of the drawers, she suddenly stumbled and collapsed on the piles of clothing. Sally screamed and Roy bent down and attended to Kitty. She had fainted so Roy tapped her cheeks and spoke to her.
After several seconds Kitty regained consciousness and looked up at Roy. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and there was no light in them. The top half of her dress had fallen off, exposing most of her breasts. A strand of pearls had broken, leaving only a few still attached to the string.
“I’m not beautiful anymore, Roy,” she said. “I used to be, you remember, when you were a little boy, how I looked then, how everyone stared at me, how the other girls envied me, my complexion, my hair, my figure.”
“Yes, Mom, I remember.”
“It’s gone now, I’m gone.”
“You’re not gone, Ma, and you’ll look fine again. You’ve got to get out of this marriage, that’s all. Move back to Chicago with Sally. You’ve got to be well and take care of her.”
Kitty closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“Is mom all right, Roy?”
“Yes, Sally. She just needs to rest for a little while.”
Kitty laughed, softly at first, then louder but gently, without opening her eyes.
“My goose is cooked,” she said. “Isn’t that funny, Roy? It’s me, I’m the goose.”
She fell back to sleep but her breathing was labored and a whistling noise came from her nose.
“Are we going to move back to Chicago?” asked Sally. “I want to.”