Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette

Author:Claire Luchette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

42.

Two photographers—a woman with slumped shoulders who kept sneezing, and a bald man in a leather jacket who called each girl “babe”—came to take the school yearbook pictures. In third period, Nadia and I waited for our turns in the fifth-floor chapel. I watched her work a plastic comb through a knot in her hair. She’d spilled coffee on her ivory sweater, but she didn’t seem to notice, or care. We were in the back of the line, and ahead of us were all our third-period students, who were peering into pocket mirrors and moving each other’s hair around in preparation.

“What does one give one’s mother?” Nadia said. “I have to find a gift for my mom. Her birthday is”—she looked at her watch—“well, tomorrow.”

It was thrilling how relaxed she was with me, as if she didn’t know I was a woman religious, or didn’t care. “Flowers?” I said. “I don’t know. What does your mom like to do?”

“Drink,” Nadia said, and shrugged. “Whistle. Watch those shows where women take other women to the mall and tell them what pants to buy. She lives in South Boston. When I was a kid she sold perfume door-to-door. It was a pyramid scheme, I’m pretty sure. Then she married Ralph, who does something with oil. He calls me ‘kid.’ They go on cruises.” She gave up on the knot and stuck the comb in her pocket. “Flowers are a good idea. Last year I bought her a tin of cheese popcorn.”

Two more students went to sit and grin in front of the blue backgrounds, and Nadia and I stepped forward. She asked me about my mother—where did my mother live?

“Oh, she died a long time ago,” I said.

Nadia’s face fell.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s been years.” But then she reached for me, and we were hugging. Everything Nadia did was a little astonishing: it was so easy for her to do the things that scared me.

I tried to think of something to say to undo the quiet, but nothing presented itself.

“How do I look?” Nadia asked me, when it was time for us to have our pictures taken.

“Amazing,” I said.

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