Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Author:Catherine Ryan Hyde [Hyde, Catherine Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

He guided her to the table, and slid her chair in underneath her as she sat.

“I was right,” she said. “It’s what I thought it was! I almost worried that it was too much to hope for.”

“Spinach, tomato, and cheese.”

“With sour cream?”

“Of course.”

“Your father took you to that lovely restaurant for brunch?”

“Yeah.”

“How very thoughtful of you to bring me this back.” She touched the edges of it with her fork and knife, probably to see how much he had given her.

“It’s about a third of it. The rest is in the fridge.”

“Still a lot,” she said, taking her first bite.

She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

“Just do your best with it.”

“This I can do. So very kind of you to bring this, Raymond. So delicious. Every bit as good as the first one, even reheated.”

She ate in silence for a time. Raymond only sat with her, staring through the curtained window at nothing.

“How was your visit with the kids?” he asked after a time.

She worked quickly to swallow before speaking.

“Harder than I thought it would be. They are like a mirror for this huge loss. They don’t completely understand yet. Well, they do and they don’t. It’s a hard thing to take in at their age. Oh, who am I fooling? It’s a hard thing to take in at any age. Even mine.” She took a small sip of her wine. “And how was your weekend with your father?”

“Pretty good, actually. Better than usual. I feel like we actually managed to talk about something. You know. Something real.”

“Good. Good. Now tell me one other thing, Raymond. I’ve been wondering about it while you were gone. So I will simply ask. Why are you so afraid for me?”

“Afraid for you?” he asked.

He turned his head to look at her face. For clues, maybe. It was angled toward him as if to help her listen. Slightly tilted, like a dog trying to identify a curious sound. Her fork and knife stood poised in the air, completely still. He could see that he had her full attention.

“Am I afraid for you?”

“It seems to me that you are.”

“Well . . . people have to eat, you know.”

“People can go many days without eating.”

“I suppose. But . . .” And then he felt it. The thing she had asked about. It was there. It was coming up through him. It was about to make its way out of his mouth. Out into the world, where he could not take it back again. Not deny it anymore. “I feel like . . . now that Luis is gone . . . you just seemed to have this really strong will to live, and I guess I worry that you’re losing that.”

“I see,” she said. She set down her fork and knife. Dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “Well, then, Raymond. Let me tell you more about me, so you will know. Many people I have known died young. And that is all I care to say about that.

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