Rachel Alexander 02 - The Dog who knew too much

“Everyone says that. Beginners use wooden swords. Your foot’ll be safe.”
    “I have some stuff to do tonight,” I told her. “Maybe next week. Hey, thanks for lunch. And for not holding a grudge.”
    “No problem,” she said.
    “Janet, you aren’t going to get mad at me now, are you, because Avi —”
    “Nah. I was pissed at Lisa for all of a sudden acting so nasty to all of us. Shit, Howie was in tears one day. Truth is , I wouldn’t be the favorite even if you never showed up. Avi likes pretty girls. He says I look like a boy.” She picked up the cap and ran her hand through her short hair. “I don’t get my period anymore,” she whispered. “Not enough body fat. Are you eating this?” she asked, picking up her chopsticks and pointing them at my last dumpling.
    “No, go ahead.”
    “You sure, woman?”
    I nodded.
    She didn’t have any breasts to speak of. She had well-developed pecs instead. Even her skin had coarsened, and her jaw was as square as a boxer’s, the human kind.
    She ate the dumpling, dipped the rest of the fried noodles in duck sauce and ate those, and then drank the rest of her soup.
    “What happened between Lisa and Howie to make him cry, Janet?”
    “I don’t know. Neither of them would tell me. Say, that’s your cousin’s necklace, isn’t it?” she asked after wiping her mouth and dropping the napkin onto her plate.
    I felt for the jasper heart. It looked as if it had been molded from melted crayons and the artist had left a thumbprint dead center before it hardened.
    “Like I said, I’m staying at her place for now.”
    “And using her stuff?”
    I shrugged. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like she needs it anymore.”
    “Ain’t that the truth. ”
    She got up, and Dashiell and I followed her out. On Sixth Avenue she handed me a card with my appointment on it and a pass to the gym at the Archives building, on Christopher Street .
    “I trained Lisa, you know,” Janet said, nodding.
    “Lisa? Even though Avi —”
    “Look, Rachel, if you haven’t found out yet, you will. The man’s got a Napoleon complex. Everything has to be done his way, no exceptions whatsoever. You have to draw the line somewhere, at least if you’re going to keep your sanity you do.”
    “So he knew that Lisa—”
    “Nah. It was our little secret.” She winked. “Lisa said it helped her with sword class. Those mothers are heavy. You need strength here,” she said, slapping her left shoulder with her right hand. “You’ll see.” Then she feinted a punch toward my shoulder and took off.
    That evening I took Dashiell for a long walk along the waterfront. Playing with a flirty husky bitch, he seemed to forget the rest of the world existed. Later, after reparking the car, I read unfathomable Zen stories to him as he lay snoring at my side.

15

This Is Going to Hurt

    I COULD HEAR the rain tapping lightly on the roof when I woke up. I told Dashiell to find the cordless phone and, when he had, dialed Lili .
    “I was just thinking about you,” she said, the way she almost always does.
    “Me, too,” I said. “That’s what I was calling to say.”
    “Ted’s working late tomorrow, some buyers in from out of town, I think. Why don’t you come out? We can go to that nice Japanese place in Nyack.”
    “Can’t,” I told her, in a rush now that I’d gotten what I needed from the phone call. “I have to work.”
    “Bummer,” she said.
    “Maybe next week.” I hung up without waiting for an answer.
    Wednesday. Excellent. I had the car. Now I needed a driver. I dialed again.
    “Paul?”
    “Rachel? Is that you?”
    “I’m sorry about the other day, running off like that. It’s just that I remembered something I’d forgotten. An appointment I’d scheduled.”
    “I thought it must have been something important, for you to run off like that.”
    “I was wondering if I could make it up to you, buy you dinner ?“
    “Rachel, you don’t have to—”
    “How about tomorrow night?”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “Just say yes , okay?”
    “Let me check.”
    I heard him put the phone down, but I couldn’t hear him walking away. Maybe he was barefoot. Or his appointment calendar was right near the phone. Or he was pretending to check his calendar in order to save face.
    “Yes,” he said. “Consider yourself lucky. Tomorrow’s okay .“
    “Great. I’ll pick you up at the Club. Is five okay?”
    “Rachel—”
    “It was all my fault. Five. Okay?”
    Once again, I hung