Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani

Author:Frances Itani [Frances Itani ]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781443402521
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

TWENTY-FOUR

And that, Lilibet, is the real story of my marriage. Can I help it if the celebration part was short-lived? Is it my fault that sorrow lurks around every corner?

Mr. Ring had already heard the news of Harry’s polio. There were two other cases in town, diagnosed before we returned from Syracuse. Everyone knew who they were. When I went to see him, he promised that Harry could return to the jewellery store when he was better. “Your husband is the learner by nature, Mrs. Witley,” he said. “Also, he has the eye for design, for intricate work, and I will welcome him back. But only when he is better. Mrs. Ring and I will manage until then.” He took my left hand, eyed the wedding ring, nodded approvingly and patted me on the shoulder.

Ira had given me a week off for my honeymoon. As Harry and I had already paid a month’s rent, I moved into our rented house alone so that I could be close to both store and hospital. I had only my own salary, but told myself that I would find a way to manage. Part of me was afraid. I’d never lived by myself before; I wasn’t used to the noises of the house, the fall winds blowing through the eaves. At night, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to block the sound. In the daytime, I was fine. The house wasn’t that far from Ally and Trick’s place, and I saw them frequently. They were in the upstairs apartment of a house only two streets away.

When I returned to work, part of my job, as well as helping customers and ordering supplies, was to restock counters and displays. To get a few moments to myself, I sometimes went downstairs and walked between ceiling-high shelves in the stockroom, a windowless basement room where I stared up at rows of look-alike boxes, trying to familiarize myself with new products Ira kept adding to the stock. I tugged edges of torn brown paper over fabric ends to protect them from dust. I daydreamed down there, and thought about the husband I was not permitted to visit. I wondered about my future, which had shrunk from being an open space stretching before me, and had turned into a bottomless pit. I was still going round to the back of the hospital every day after work, and I was still concerned about the lasting effects of the disease on Harry’s health.

After what I now thought of as my “polio honeymoon,” I’d begun to notice that Ira had a new way of looking at me that I did not like. One day, he followed me down to the stockroom. I had my back to him and did not hear him on the stairs. He came up behind me and placed both hands on my waist and squeezed, sliding his hands upward. I let out a yelp and whipped around, elbowing him sharply in the ribs. I could see individual bristles on his cheeks.

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