Nonna was on edge all the time since Rhiney and Dez came to live with her. Dez said she was on the rag, or change of life, but Rhiney didn’t think that was it. Nonna was just pissed they’ve been dumped on her. Their mother hadn’t been around since the day she dropped them off. Nonna tried calling her, even at work but no one would put her through and Ma never returned the calls. Nonna kept getting more and more stressed out. She took it out on them and had Rhiney and Dez doing all this stuff around the house. Dez said it was like they were her personal slaves but Rhiney didn’t mind. She even helped clean the basement for Nonna’s landlord when he complained about them being there and overusing the plumbing. But Rhiney had done it just to help out and make everybody friendlier. It hadn’t done much good though. Nonna just kept exploding about money. Ma had left them without leaving any money. She sent a check once but it bounced which had made Nonna totally ballistic. 

 

“Goddamn, guttersnipe!” Nonna had shrieked to Dez when he forgot to bring down the trash bags. “Freeloader, you do some friggin’ work around here or I’ll put you out in the street with the trash.  You and that half-wit sister of yours.”

 

Dez was instantly angry. Rhiney could see he was deeply insulted, enraged even. Nonna and Dez had been sort of stalking each other for weeks now and Rhiney had begun to sense the Dez was getting dangerous. Like he was going to let it rip. Not that he ever had before. But now suddenly he seemed older, more like a man and his anger was meaner and Dez told Nonna he wanted more respect. He was driving her places and fetching stuff at the store for her and he expected credit for that. But Nonna didn’t want to give him any. She wasn’t any good with boys. She snorted when he said that. The sound she made was like a horse in a field but with evil in it. Sometimes Rhiney felt Nonna was baiting him like she wanted to push him until he couldn’t keep the lid on anymore. Rhiney knew that now that Dez had Nonna’s car, Tom was making him go places he didn’t really want to go, places where guys could get drugs and guns. She knew Dez could blow from that pressure, too. But it wouldn’t be Tom Dez screamed at. It would be Nonna.  And then what? Dez liked to be nudged to do stuff, teased and such. Now Dez was like a sleeping animal; if disturbed he growled and made her want to get out of his way. It was scary. But it just made Nonna nuts. She seemed not to know what Rhiney knew, that it was better to just leave him alone. This morning he had left the bathroom door open when he was taking a piss and Nonna had started right in on him for being such a pig. He slammed the door in her face like he might break it. Later he scowled and smoldered when he came into the kitchen to make his breakfast. Nonna started right in on him about the trash. He grabbed food with his hands and then turned and looked really cocky from her to the trash bags stacked by the stove. He managed to give the impression that they had absolutely nothing to do with him, no direct connection whatsoever. He even lifted his leg as he passed them as though they were just too gross to even touch him. Then he glided out the door with a snort of defiance. 

 

“Get back here, you little bastard. You think you’re goin’ to do nothing for your keep around here?”

  Rhiney stood very still hoping no one would notice her but inside she was frantic to figure out a way to get to the door. Behind her was a door to a little porch where the clothesline was connected to a tree but she couldn’t get out that way unless she jumped. She needed to be on the other side of the kitchen so she could split with Dez. But her grandmother’s angry mass stood like a wall between her and that escape. She thought of opening the door behind her very quietly and just slipping out into the brisk May morning, hiding out on the porch until it was all over. It was pouring rain out there but the noise of Nonna’s screaming would be muffled, distant. There was nothing out there, she reminded herself, just the clotheslines and the black asphalt yard below. There were cars parked down there, haphazardly claiming a  legal square inch of off-street parking. Maybe Angel would come, Rhiney thought. He’d come once before. He might come into the back yard in his car with the salt and rust all over it and she’d fly to him …swing down on the clotheslines maybe.  He’d whisk her away for a ride or to The Mall. She closed her eyes tight to preserve the vision. But she knew The Mall wasn’t even open this early. 

 

Nonna was yelling still. Dez had reappeared in the door, his jacket zipped. 

 

“I’m outta here,” he informed her scornfully, inflated with his brand new macho defiance. “And I ain’t taking your trash, old woman, so you better plan on getting off that fat ass and hauling it yourself,” he told her cruelly. “ And I’m taking your car.”

Nonna grabbed Dez by the jacket but he was too strong for her. But Nonna’s rage propelled her now and she lunged at his jacket again. This time he flung her off and then shoved her for good measure. She was thrown back against the stove, howling at the indignity as her massive bottom landed with a thud and she stumbled to the floor.

“Get out and don’t come back,” she told him. Rhiney could hear from her voice she was winded.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll get out all right but I’ll be back, too. I got a right to live, you know.” Dez spit out the last sentence.

“Not here you don’t. You ain’t my responsibility, you piece of shit. Call that whore mother of yours. You her problem not mine, you little bastard. You and your retard sister.”

Rhiney could barely distinguish the words but she panicked anew when she heard her name. She wasn’t insulted or upset, just terrified and trapped. Nonna was wheezing and Dez was leaving.  She couldn’t get by her grandmother splayed out there on the floor with the gross fat of her upper thighs showing. Those black hairs, the stockings rolled like tightropes… Rhiney couldn’t look. Something awful’s gonna happen. She knew it. Dez was so mad and she couldn’t leave with him.  Something awful’s gonna happen. 

Just then Dez swooped down and then up again quickly. He loomed in the doorway huge and angry, his eyes squinty and mean, his face all blotchy red. Rhiney and Nonna both stared. Something bad is gonna happen.

Dez had Cookie by the scruff of the neck. The old dog just hung there just dull-eyed and waiting.

 “Cookie!” Nonna howled,  this time in pain more than anger.

 

 But it was too late. Dez took the little dog by the collar, just hooked his finger in and with one angry defiant glance at his grandmother, he slammed its little body against the table like the kids did to the frogs in the science lab. The dog screamed a sharp little wail that sounded more like a person than a dog. Noona started to her feet, stumbling, her eyes like slits, looking from Dez to the dog to her frying pan. 

 “Don’t bother, you disgusting,  old ‘ho,” Dez spat out his words again and Nonna fell back like he’d pushed her. Had he pushed her?

Outta here…outta here…outta here…It echoed inside her head. It thundered. How do I get by Nonna to the door?

Dez tossed the limp poodle into Nonna’s lap and turned on his heel without a glance at his sister. 

Outta here….outta here…

For a moment Nonna just stared down at the furry mass in her lap, not touching it, not yelling, nothing. Rhiney thought she could run for it, just leap across those tree-trunk legs and run, but before she could do it Nonna remembered her, and her head snapped up and she was alive with rage again. 

“You!” She started, shoving the dog aside, grabbing the chair to pull her huge body up. 

“No.” Rhiney knew she’d be going for the frying pan, knew that it wouldn’t help to offer to take the trash out, that this time she had to get out.  But her grandmother’s impassable bulk was still between her and the exit. Propelled by accelerating panic, she turned and push open the door onto the balcony. The wind and rain slapped her, but she climbed over the railing without hesitation and held herself steady for just a second. Then she heard the voice behind her bellowing, “Get back in here, you little….” And she jumped for the pavement two stories down.  

 

2.

 

“Isn’t this place bogus?” Rue asked Rhiney when she came to see her in the psychiatric hospital where she was sent after her broken leg and cracked pelvis were set. Rhiney was surprised by the question. She hadn’t thought too much about the hospital, any more than she had thought about the first one. She was just there and it was boring sometimes, but people came to see her. Even strangers took a real interest and everyone was super nice. Her grandmother had come to the hospital and wasn’t mad at all. Everyone suddenly seemed to take Rhiney real serious now that she’d tried to commit suicide. Now Rue was here and maybe her mother would show up, too. Nonna had promised she would try and call and let Cheryl know about Rhiney. 

“Don’t you know Nonna’s only being nice ‘cuz she doesn’t want you to tell them why you jumped? You’re such a ninny, Rhine….I know you weren’t tryin’ to off yourself,” her sister announced dismissively as she waddled along like the empress penguin. They were going to Rhiney’s room to have their visit. Rue had been there exactly four minutes. Rhiney didn’t answer her. Rue sounded like she was pissed at her, but maybe she was just jealous because somebody else was getting some attention for once. But Rhiney didn’t say that. Rue’s boyfriend’s mother, her “soon to be mother-in-law,” Flo was with her and that made Rhiney even more reluctant to speak her mind to her sister. They filed into Rhiney’s cell, a tiny room with a bed and one stiff-backed chair. Rhiney manipulated her wheelchair with ease. 

“Ain’t you got a better chair ‘n that, Rhiney?” Flo asked indicating the stiff back chair. “Rue and that baby’ll never be able to fit, much less be comfortable,” she complained.

“I’ll sit on the bed, Flo,” Rue said as she heaved herself onto the bed and propped herself against the headboard. “This place is creepy. Don’t they give you no bureau?”

Rhiney began to feel depressed. She had been so glad to hear that Rue was coming, then so glad to see her, fat and pregnant as she was, but now it seemed like nothing was right to Rue. Rue thought the hospital was for off-the-wall cuckoo birds and Rhiney felt guilty and stupid because up until this moment she had liked it all right. Now she felt obliged to defend it while suspecting she ought not to have liked it so much herself. 

“It ain’t that bad, Rue. There’s a closet, see, with shelves.”

Just then Rhiney’s new friend Ashley appeared at the door. She was very friendly and kept up with things on the ward, She had taken Rhiney under her wing and now she contributed a fuller picture of Rhiney’s experience there. 

“They won’t let us have our makeup though, which is a complete and total drag…”

“No makeup? How come?”

“I don’t know. Gotta ask every morning for my hairdryer and makeup. Dorkey, huh? But the food’s great. Nobody bothers ya…ya teacher’s here….Miss Jackie Kennedy…she comes to see Rhiney every afternoon. Hey, is this your twin?” It had taken Ashley a few moments to notice the resemblance. Rue’s face was puffy with her pregnancy. 

“Who’s ‘Miss Jackie Kennedy’?” Flo asked. “Not the Jackie O. She’s dead.”

Isabel McNally appeared in the door and paused politely. 

“Hi, Rhiney. Hey, Rue, I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you doing? Expecting I see.”

“Hey, Miz McNally! Yeah, my baby’s due in three weeks. Are you Rhiney’s teacher?”

“Well, I’m trying to be but your sister has lots of visitors so we haven’t gotten much teaching or learning done. Do you think you could let me have Rhiney for a bit?”

“Whadda mean? We just got here!” Flo protested. Isabel gave her a long, unblinking look. 

“Are you Rhiney’s mother?” She asked in a level voice.

“Goddamn, no,” Flo protested. “I’m Rue’s soon-to-be-mother-in-law and let me tell you, my kid is smart!” 

“Too smart to jump out a window, ya mean,” Rhiney remarked drolly. 

Just then Nonna appeared accompanied by Dez and carrying a large wicker basket out of which emitted tiny whimpers. Isabel felt the urge to roll her eyes.

“It’s Nonna, with the new puppy!” Rhiney squealed, whirling her wheelchair around. 

Everyone was grinning. Isabel watched as Dez took the very small white poodle from the wicker basket and placed it in Rhiney’s lap. 

“Isn’t he cool?” he asked. “We’re naming him Floyd.”

“We’re naming him Cookie,” his grandmother proclaimed and an argument ensued.

“Excuse me. You’re Rhiney’s grandmother?” Isabel asked. “Her guardian?”

“No!” Dez, Rhiney, and Rue protested at once. Isabel just looked from one to the other. She realized Dez was a familiar face from school and saw the familial connection to his sisters. The grandmother was less obviously related but that could have been because corpulence blurred her features. 

Isabel cleared her throat. No one offered any further clarification of connections but the entire crowd in Rhiney’s small bedroom were delighted with the puppy who could not have been more than six or eight weeks old, She cleared her throat again. 

“Mrs. Colango?” She asked.

“No!” the fat grandmother howled again. She lumbered toward Flo sitting in the stiff back chair. “Gimme that chair, woman. Can’t you see, I’m sufferin’ here?”

Isabel tried again. “Are you Rhiney’s grandmother?”

“Yeah. But I’m no guardian, so don’t be asking me about all this business,” she answered combatively without taking her eyes off the puppy. 

“Well, I’m her tutor and I’m trying to get in some time tutoring. Without much luck. I thought you could help with that.” 

“Nah. That’s between you and Rhiney,” Nonna snapped, again without taking her eyes off the puppy. 

“Just stay and visit, Miz McNally,” Rhiney placated. “We can do the tutor part another time.”

“Well, thank you but I can’t,” Isabel answered wearily, thinking that there was nothing less appealing to her than remaining in this tableau. “I’ll call the nurse’s desk and set up an appointment, Rhiney, but I can’t keep coming here and finding you too busy to get to your studies. You’re missing so much at school.” 

“It’ll be summer soon,” Rhiney answered as though the change of season would obliterate her academic obligations for the second semester of the current academic year. Isabel thought better of enlightening her. Poor kid had enough to deal with. As she left, she heard the two older women huffing with indignation. 

“Who she think she is, anyway?” Flo asked.

“Ms Jackie Kennedy,” Ashley announced and they all laughed, the grandmother loudest of all. 

3.

Isabel found time during the next school day to report to Richard Leland. Claire Howard was leaving the principal’s office as Isabel arrived. She left the door open as she exited and Leland signaled her to close it. Isabel stood her ground. 

“I’m not staying long,” she announced. “I just want to report that I am getting nowhere tutoring Rhiney Colango. She fights me. She’s got a million visitors, a million excuses. If you want anything accomplished there, we’ve got to get a parent involved.”

“Talk to guidance,” he responded indifferently. “All I know is that we’ve got to clock time spent there. So keep it up. I’ve got another one for you for summer. A brighter kid. You’ll like this one. What’s his name?” he asked himself rustling through papers on his desk. “Caroline’s kid,” he continued, as though Isabel would know who Caroline was. 

“Richard, I don’t have time for anymore. I have plans for summer.”

“Too bad. You’ll be busy. Here’s the slip. Caroline Shorter. Her kid’s name is a ….Noah. Very bright. He was homeschooled and now needs to be caught up so he can start at the high school on time. Here’s the number and address. Call her. Make the arrangements. You’ve got all summer to catch him up. And you’ll love him. Bright. Motivated. Right up your alley.”

Isabel stared at the slip of paper in her name. It included a residential address. Stone Street. She heaved an audible sigh.

“Why doesn’t he just go to summer school? There is a summer school for these kids, Richard.”

“Not this one,” he answered. “She’s a friend. Plus, he’s bright. Motivated. As I said.”

They stared at each other for a long moment and then he spoke.

“So get it done.” Then he looked deliberately to the open door of his office. Isabel looked down at the sheet in her hand, heaved another audible sigh and left his office.