Best to Laugh: A Novel by Landvik Lorna

Author:Landvik, Lorna [Landvik, Lorna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, United States, Women's Fiction, Contemporary Women, Contemporary Fiction, American, Literary, Humor & Satire, General Humor, FIC000000 Fiction / General
ISBN: 9781452943299
Amazon: B00M2C57MK
Goodreads: 21944427
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Published: 2014-08-21T05:00:00+00:00

ON THE TV, to the cop who had appeared on the scene, Santa was singing that he didn’t realize he was in a red-light district, blaming his reindeer Rudolph for guiding his sleigh there.

“Oh, Dill Williams,” said Melvin, sitting down on the plaid couch. “Good God, is that old geezer still alive? He’s older than I am! Here’s the ultimate broadcasting riddle: what came first, Dill Williams’s holiday specials or the invention of television?”

I laughed and Melvin’s gray dentures clicked as he smiled his appreciation.

“That’s Maeve’s mother,” I said, nodding at the miniskirted reindeer being cuffed by the cop.

“Ah yes, the inestimable Taryn Powell. She did a voice-over for a commercial I worked on back in the ’60s. ‘Queen Crisp,’ remember her?”

“Of course I remember Queen Crisp, but I didn’t know Taryn did her voice!” In an approximation of the animated sovereign, I cackled, “I order you knaves to eat these most delicious potato chips!”

“Not bad,” said Melvin. He looked again at the television, and together we watched as all the guest stars gathered around Dill to wish the viewing audience the “happiest of happiest.”

I turned off the television as the credits rolled.

“Can I get you anything, Melvin? I’ve still got some Christmas cookies left.”

“Nah, my daughter fed me well. Not necessarily deliciously, but well.” He patted his belly with a spotted hand. “No, what I came here for was, well, Francis had told me he was spending the day with you, and I just wanted to know if everything went all right?”

“Everything went great. He was a little tired when we got home, but I think he had, we all had—” I remembered Aislin’s words—“a lovely time.”

“Good,” said Melvin. “I would have taken him to my daughter’s house, but that wouldn’t have pleased either Francis or Nancy, so thanks for taking care of him.”

“I really didn’t take care of him. I enjoy his company and vice versa, I hope.”

“Oh, vice versa for sure.” Melvin’s hands made a raspy noise as he ran them over the knees of his pilly polyester pants. “He thinks you’re just about the cat’s meow. He told me the last home-cooked meals he had before yours were back in the ’50s, when he was still married to Rayna.”

“Rayna. Is that Frank’s mother?”

Melvin nodded, his face like a doctor’s affirming a bad diagnosis.

“It’s weird, I’ve never heard Francis or Frank talk about her.”

“That’s because she was a big reason, no, the reason for all of Francis’s troubles. The tax stuff—piffle—compared to what she did!”

He stared at the blank television screen for so long I began to worry that he was having a ministroke or something.

“Melvin?”

“Francis was very forward-thinking,” he said, his gaze still on the TV. “When he opened the club in the late ’40s, he brought in a woman as his business partner! Gladys had handled his studio when he was a dance instructor back in New York.” Finally he turned to me. “I’ll bet you didn’t know Francis was quite a hoofer, did you?”

I nodded.

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