The Child by Sarah Schulman

Author:Sarah Schulman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Published: 2010-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

15

Mary and Eva at home. Dim lights from last night’s candles melted on the table. Remnants of a great meal. Wine glasses. It’s morning now. Those last moments of making love again before the day just has to begin.

“Come on, girlie.”

“Whoa.”

“Yum.”

“Kiss me,” Eva said. And then, “You scare me.”

“You like that.”

And then the phone rings, and the bed gets left behind.

“Eva, it’s for you. Some guy.”

Eva could smell Mary’s hair. She brushed her face against it. So soft, blonde, and light. A miracle, really, like the ocean. She ran her hand one more time over Mary’s ass and then took the phone out of bed.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Dr. Pollack at the clinic. I was just reading over my films from last month and noticed a minuscule mass in your left breast. It’s probably nothing, but for your own peace of mind I think you should go see your breast doctor and have her take a look. Even if it is a malignancy, it would be in such an early stage, but I would say you’ve got a ninety-nine-percent chance it’s nothing. Do you understand?”

“I don’t have a breast doctor. Can you recommend somebody?”

Mary got out of bed and walked over to her computer. They called it “nude writing.” Eva’s version was “nude housework.”

“Sure. Why don’t you call Dr. Gita Kumar? K-U-M-A-R. She’s at Park Avenue and Seventy-second Street. She’s a great doctor.”

“Thank you. I’ll call her right away.”

“And Eva?”

“Yes?”

“Get some good insurance.”

Eva looked at Mary, how sleek she was. She never tired of the familiarity of Mary’s body. Its lanky shapeliness. Mary would be able to handle this. Fear of disease is a normal part of daily life. In this second the knowledge was still private. Between Eva and the clinic. She was about to tell Mary, but she looked at her first. Eva watched her.

The most important thing in Eva’s life was to belong to somebody. She belonged to Mary. Everything would be all right. Nothing out there is ultimately that important when you have love. Someone to love. Each person on the planet has strengths and weaknesses. So did Mary. So did Eva. Eva accepted this. There is no person without problems; there is no relationship without conflict. As far as Eva was concerned, the difference between people who split up and people who stay together is that some people split up and other people stay together. There was no problem that couldn’t be dealt with if they face it.

Whenever something disappointing had happened between them, Eva did everything she could to make it be okay. She would sit and try for hours and days to figure out what it was that upset her, what she thought was causing it, and what she thought would help make it better. Then she would prepare. This meant think it through so that she knew clearly what she felt. Then she would share all this information in a clear and loving way so that Mary could understand. Then she would sit back and listen to how Mary responded.

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