Things moved quickly toward the holidays. Since I'd taken over the finances, we'd saved enough to buy Christmas gifts for our short lists, even without the income from my waitress job. I bought a medium-priced collectable figurine for Mom and a new set of leather gardening gloves and a magazine subscription for Dad. I got some sexy lingerie for Candy, some whiskey and a barbeque set for her parents, and a bottle of nice wine for Carole. Craig bought for his sister and widowed mother, who lived together in Skokie.
I was especially anxious to visit Carole. She'd been living in the city for years, and I couldn't put off a visit any longer. Next to Candy, Carole was my oldest friend. She'd been a senior in Bitumen High when I was only a gawky freshman, embarrassed by my height. Carole was tall, too, but carried it off with grace and confidence, and she never lacked for boyfriends.
Although I was forever entangling myself in my growing limbs, the coaches almost twisted my arm to get me to play women's basketball, and they assigned Carole to be my mentor. I was barely competent at the game, but Carole and I became good friends on and off the court. We remained friends even after she went off to Northwestern University and came home only every second or third weekend. While I'd rotted in the trailer park, Carole had married, graduated from college, and had a five-year old son. As if that weren't enough, she was able to move on in her life plan, thanks to her husband. He came from serious money, and had been able to ensure they could both attend medical school together.
"Am I going with you?" Craig asked.
I was occupied trying to decide which dress to wear. "No. Carole and I will have a lot of catching up to do, and her husband is on shift at the hospital. You'd be bored. Anyway, the holiday's coming and this place needs a thorough cleaning."
"I just cleaned two days ago."
"Under the sink? The refrigerator shelves? Behind the toilet? The radiators? Really?"
"Well..."
"As I thought. What's clean to a man is usually filthy to a woman. I want to come home to see the place looking like new."
"Can I put some clothes on while I work?"
"No. I need to know you're obedient even when you're out of my sight. Turn up the heat if you need to."
The Red Line took me north to within two blocks of the Croft home, a three-story mansion in the moneyed part of Evanston. In summer, a street like this would be quiet and lushly overhung with trees. You could forget you were in the middle of a huge, noisy metropolis. Their apartment was the third floor of her in-laws' home, with a separate entrance and driveway.
It pays to marry a little money
, I thought.
From Baltic Avenue to Park Place in one move
.
During those high school years, I'd continued to grow until I was inches taller than Carole. Now when she hugged me hello, she reached around my waist rather than over a shoulder. "It's been such a long time," she said. "It's a shame we can't get together a few times a week, like the old days."
I laughed. "I guess one of the great things about life is you get to eat dessert first. You get to be the carefree kids and teenagers, but now we have to buckle down and work and worry like our own parents." I handed the gift bag to her. "Merry Christmas, girl."
As Carole took my coat, a little face peered around a doorway behind her.