Having not yet eaten breakfast, Rebecca peeled three bananas and sliced them on the table. When she opened the refrigerator to get milk, she saw a carton of eggs. Taking out two, she set them on the table and opened the cupboard to get a bowl. Inside the cupboard she saw granola. After pouring the granola into the bowl meant for the eggs, Rebecca returned to the refrigerator and saw a tub of yogurt. With the yogurt in her hand, she turned back to the table and froze, unable to decide if she should add it to the sliced bananas or the granola.
The plastic yogurt container in her hand began to sweat. Rebecca remained where she was, the refrigerator humming behind her. She saw that fruit flies had already found the peels. She knew all she had to do was decide: bananas, granola or eggs. Still she stood there, frozen with indecision, until the phone rang. Picking it up, Rebecca pressed it against her ear.
“Rebecca? Is this Rebecca?”
“This is Rebecca.” She recognized the voice but couldn’t place it.
“It’s Edward.”
“Edward Zimmer?”
“That’s right.”
“Hello, Edward.”
“How are you, Rebecca?”
“I saw that you cleaned out #207.”
“I did.”
“How does it feel?”
“I was just trying to figure that out,” Rebecca said. She thought about the ways she could answer this question. She was almost positive that she felt very different, but she couldn’t be sure she accurately remembered what she had felt like before.
“Rebecca? Are you still there?”
“I’m here,” Rebecca said. Her grip on the phone was hurting her hand, so she dropped it, watching it fall to the carpet. She picked up the phone, placed it back on the charger and returned to the kitchen table. Seeing that the refrigerator door was open, she closed it. The phone rang again. She waited until the third ring, then picked it up, although she still did not speak.
“Rebecca?”
“Yes?”
“Maybe we should have a talk. You know? Maybe you should swing by and we can talk. Can you do that for me?”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Edward.”
“Edward Zimmer?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I’m doing very well, Edward.”
“Then you should come see me.”
“Where?”
“E.Z. Self Storage.”
“Yes. I can do that.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Do you need directions?”
“I’ve been there a million times.”
“That’s true …”
“Well, maybe not a million.”
“Rebecca, maybe you could just do one thing for me?”
“What’s that?”
“Will you take a taxi?”
“Why?”
“Picture turning left, against traffic.”
“Oh. Yes. It doesn’t matter anyway. I left my car somewhere.”
“Do you want me to call a cab for you?”
“No. I’ll be okay.”
“Can I just make one other suggestion?”
“Yes.”
“Wear what you wore yesterday.”
Rebecca looked at the peeled and sliced bananas, the box of granola, the eggs and the yogurt.
“Yes,” she said. “I think those are both good suggestions, Edward.”
“You’ll be fine, Rebecca. I promise.”
“Okay,” Rebecca said. She set the receiver gently in the cradle and stood beside the telephone. She was unable to decide if she believed him or not.
Twenty minutes later, dressed in the clothes she’d worn the day before, Rebecca stood at the southeast corner of Dundas and Ossington, trying to hail a cab. She had debated whether she should walk to the corner and hail one, or call one and wait at home. Unable to decide, she had flipped a coin.
A number of cars passed, but none of them were taxis. This made her angry. But then, half a block away, she spotted an orange car with a sign attached to its roof. Rebecca raised her hand. The taxi approached, then passed without slowing. Watching it continue east on Dundas, Rebecca felt crushing rejection. Tears welled up in her eyes. The feeling was as intense as any she’d ever had—as if she’d just been dumped or passed over for a promotion she richly deserved.
When she saw a second cab, she was too nervous to raise her hand. But as she watched it come closer, the feeling of rejection began to disappear. When the taxi was fifty metres away, she raised her hand, but it, too, drove past her. Rebecca became furious. “You fucker!” she yelled at the driver. She stomped her foot on the ground. She put a piece of nicotine gum in her mouth and chewed ferociously.
Her anger evaporated when the third taxi came into sight. She raised her hand. As the cab slowed down and stopped in front of her, Rebecca was overcome with joy. She began bouncing, jumping up and down on her toes while raising her arms over her head. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, climbing into the back seat. She sat in the middle, leaning into the gap between the seats. “I’m so happy that you stopped! I’m really, really happy that you stopped.”
“Oh, yeah,” the driver said, turning on the meter. “Where to?”
“E.Z. Self Storage. Broadview and Queen!”
The driver said no more. The taxi pulled away from the curb. Rebecca looked down at her hands, wondering what she’d just been so happy about.
Edward Zimmer greeted her at the door. He certainly is tall, she thought.
“Hello, Rebecca,” Zimmer said. He could not gauge Rebecca’s emotional state, and this caused him great concern.
“Hello,” Rebecca replied.
“Do you know me?”
“You’re Edward Zimmer.”
“How well do you know me?”
“I met you on April 14th, seven years ago, when I first rented unit #207.”
“Are we friends?”
“We’re on a first-name basis. That must mean something.”
“What does it mean?”
“That we’ve known each other a long time?”
“Is seven years a long time to know someone?”
“It’s longer than I’ve known most people.”
Taking his hands out of his pockets, Zimmer gently set them on Rebecca’s shoulders. With tender pressure, he steered her into the back office. Zimmer turned off the video monitors. He closed his laptop and turned off the radio. The room became quiet. The cars travelling on the expressway became audible, and the sound of constant traffic made Rebecca feel safe. Zimmer pulled out a chair for Rebecca, and she sat down.
“You have to describe everything you’re feeling,” Zimmer said.
“I’m not really feeling anything, Edward.”
“What about the small things? How are you reacting to small things?”
“You’re right about that. I just wanted to kill a cabby and then I practically kissed the next one.”
“And the big things?”
“Like what?”
“Like your sister.”
“I don’t think I feel anything at all.”
“Are you confused?”
“Only when you ask me questions.”
“Other than that, nothing?”
“I’m not very good with decisions right now.”
“When did you empty unit #207?”
“Two nights ago? Maybe three?”
“And what did you keep?”
“Nothing.”
Zimmer gasped. “Nothing?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“No photographs? No souvenirs? Not a high school yearbook or a piece of jewellery?”
“I threw everything away.”
“But you must have kept something at home?”
“Everything was here.”
“You threw it all in the Dumpster? Around back?”
“Yes.”
Zimmer swirled in his chair and looked at the calendar on the wall. It was Tuesday. The garbage should have been picked up Monday night, but there was still a chance. “Wait right here,” Zimmer said. “Don’t do anything.”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious, don’t do anything. Nothing.”
“I’m not a child.”
Zimmer did not feel like arguing. Forcing himself not to hurry, he walked across the parking lot behind the building. The Dumpster came into view. The top was flush. It looked empty to Zimmer, but he approached it anyway. He pushed up the lid and looked inside. A yellow plastic bag was stuck to the bottom, along with several pages of newspaper. He let the lid fall, making a loud, metallic crash.
Straightening his tie, Zimmer walked back across the parking lot. He found Rebecca sitting in exactly the same position he’d left her in. She looked up and tried to smile, but once again failed.
Zimmer went straight to the telephone and dialled the number of One Man’s Treasures from memory. “Yes, this is Edward Zimmer. E.Z. Self Storage. Client number XET-860. Yes, I’ll hold,” Zimmer said. Tucking the phone under his chin, Zimmer pulled a pack of gum from the inside pocket of his jacket. He unwrapped a piece and put it in his mouth. Then he offered a stick to Rebecca. Rebecca stared at the gum but could not decide whether she wanted a piece or not.