On the Tip of Her Tongue by Jerry Roth

Author:Jerry Roth [Roth, Jerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aberration Press books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

—Proceeding on the dim theory—

Millie Bain passed out cucumber sandwiches like she was dealing out a hand of euchre. Judy’s mother used to make them when she was little. She found it funny what she remembered and what she didn’t. If Johnny was behind her gaps, then she guessed her recollection about vegetable snacks was not on his short-list of threats to remove. Judy wanted to laugh, and if it were in a comedy, they would find her on the floor in a fit of guffaws.

Maddie took a sandwich and bit down, but Becky had a more cautious approach to the pickle-filled appetizer. She reached for one, sniffed it as a canine does, and slid a corner into her mouth. No sooner had her teeth cut through—the food was back out and into a napkin. She folded up the tissue like it was nuclear waste and turned up her mouth in disgust with no thought of Millie.

“It’s such a pleasure to see you after all these years,” Millie said, pouring tea in every available cup. “You’ve grown up.”

Judy gave a nod of respect even as another person spoke of an absent past, for her at least. The niceties that people spewed out as a courtesy were wearing thin. It wasn’t the old woman’s fault, but Judy was always in a game of catch up or charades trying to figure out what people were referring to and discerning their intentions or ulterior motives in a conversation were out the door. She had no hope of reading into what people were saying when her memory resembled Swiss cheese.

Otis sat opposite the ladies in uncomfortable silence, manufacturing a fake smile in all the right spaces in the exchanges and nothing else. His wife rattled on, and he never tried to stop her, but the distaste for their unannounced and uninvited visit appeared on his face. Judy didn’t care. She was an empty vessel, and he was someone who could fill her once more. She took his constant avoidance of her, like a parent hiding the truth, as an insult.

With Millie in the room, Otis didn’t plan to speak with honesty. Save for the AAU clinic itself—he kept Millie in the dark. Judy wondered if Otis saw the unraveling of the clinic and everyone involved as a dirty secret that didn’t need to touch his wife. Judy was in self-preservation mode and although she understood Otis’s misgiving about the past, her need for a future outweighed the old doctor’s desire to shield his better half.

After the second cup of tea, Judy gave Otis the Thousand-Yard stare that told him either the tea party was ending or prepare to invite Millie into their ugly affair.

“Sweetheart?” Otis waited until Millie turned. “I have two things... medical-related to speak to the girls about,” It was clear Otis had done this often. Like seeing a cue from a movie director, Millie was already packing up her tea. “I’ll be out of your way in a second,” Millie said.

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