Base Ten by Maryann Lesert
Author:Maryann Lesert
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
Published: 2018-10-14T16:00:00+00:00
19
On the Star Deck
KERAâS YELLOW JEEP WAS IN the driveway. Jillian spotted it as soon as they turned off the main road. She had insisted on being in the driverâs seat when they rolled up the long dirt drive.
âThis is it,â she said.
âThis is it.â Jack kissed her hand. âYou ready?â
Ready? For her mother and Kera and, oh god, her father, to see her looking like this? With her bowling ball stomach?
âNo.â She wanted to laugh, but laughing was so close to crying. âBut we canât exactly back up and spit gravel.â
Kera and Jillianâs mother were standing on the porch, but neither one of them moved. Had they discussed it? Planned to let themselves view her from a distance so their fears, their surprise, could be handled before they were all at close range?
âSure we can,â Jack said.
âWe can?â For a second, she wondered if he had a plan.
But his sigh was resigned. âI for one am glad Keraâs here.â
And she realized Jack was the one on the hot seat. This was Greer country. It was Jack who had to prove he was worth this obvious detour, this risk she had taken.
âYou know what?â She grabbed his hand. âI can do this. All my favorite people are here.â
âI donât know about the Jeep. Youâre going to get bounced all over.â
Kera hesitated on the stairs, then strode toward the car.
Jillian stopped to avoid lopping Keraâs head off as she thrust her head into the car interior and kissed Jack on the cheek. âHoly shit.â She was looking at Jillianâs belly. âI pictured it when you told me, but oh my god, youâre huge!â
Jillian swung out of the car. Kera didnât seem to be able to step toward her so Jillian made the first move. âIâm not contagious.â
Standing in the yard, they wrapped their arms around each other. âShit, Jilli. Holy shit.â Kera was doing what Jillian had been doing in the mirror for days, letting the shock wear off.
âHey, hey.â Jack opened his arms to Kera and she hugged him and patted his bony chest. Jillian liked the same spot. A thought passed quickly: how many other women had patted that spot? Jackâs eyes communicated his encouragement as she turned toward the house. He was there for her. Jillian would be the last, forever; the last woman Jack would ever touch if she wanted it that way.
Jillian walked toward the house, her house, with Jack and Kera firing questions back and forth behind her. So, California, huh? What an opportunity for you two. You have to start in ER on Monday? Man, thatâs rough. She loved the low porch, the way the wooden planks ran down, slightly, to drain the summer rain. And the roll-out windows above that flanked both sides of her bed. Her windows and her star deck.
âOh, baby.â Her motherâs feet plunked down the steps. âYou are such a welcome sight.â
Gayle was a sight, too. She had always been thin, but in her gauze dress, she seemed much taller, as tall as Kera.
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