A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson

Author:Jean Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

III. GRACE AND LAURA

Whenever Grace taught a yoga class for the park district, she could expect three or four of her regular ladies to enroll. She was fond of them, and they of her, but privately Grace would have been just as glad to see the last of them. They took class after class without ever getting much of anything right, they chattered away while Grace tried to explain things, and they bossed the new students around under the guise of encouraging them. Peggy, Helen, Rita, Flo: they were all senior citizens with enthusiasm for self-improvement activities, and they all assumed that Grace needed their opinions, commentary, and cautionary advice about her personal affairs.

Grace did what she could to keep them gently at arm’s length, but they were oblivious. Why didn’t she have a boyfriend? They knew some nice boys she could meet. She was such an independent modern girl; they worried about that. Tonight Flo, who was somewhere north of seventy, and who favored hot-pink headbands and T-shirts, had told Grace that she shouldn’t wait too long to have babies. “I know you’re just as fit as a fiddle, but Mother Nature has a few tricks up her sleeve. My daughter had her first when she was thirty-six, and her little private parts have never been the same.”

“That’s something to think about.” Grace made a point of nodding gravely. She knew Flo’s daughter, who ran a carpet-cleaning franchise. Fortunately, there were other options in town for carpet cleaning, operated by people who kept their private parts private. As for having babies, if that was something that kept not happening, she guessed she was all right with that. Mother Nature could go jump in a lake.

The class met from six thirty to seven thirty. The students finished up their corpse poses and namastes and helped her roll up mats and stow blocks. Grace waited until they’d all gone, then used a push broom to sweep the studio floor. It was a welcome moment of quiet that helped her center herself, get back a little of the tranquillity that was always lost when she wound up directing traffic in Yoga for Life. She said good night to the park district guy who worked the front desk and walked out into the fine October evening, a welcome edge of chill in the air.

And this was the very last moment she would be untroubled by dread, the last before all the sorrow in the world was let loose. She followed the sidewalk out to the parking lot and her little car. The park district classes went on for another hour and there were still people coming and going. Lights were on at the outdoor basketball court and three boys were shooting hoops, the ball making a pleasant smacking sound on the pavement. Her muscles were light and loose from the class. The hot shower she’d take when she got home would feel good. She got into the car and started it, then dug her phone out of her bag to turn it on and check it.

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