To Each Her Own

ONE FOR THE MONEY

 

'Heidi, put some salted peanuts in the little white dish that's on the card table. You can take two or three, no more. Aunt Blanche and Uncle
George are coming over again to play Canasta. Be sure to say 'hello' to them, then excuse yourself and go to bed. 'Mom, can I listen to Inner Sanctum?' 'Heidi, dear. Is your homework all finished. Did you check it carefully?' 'Yes, Mother,' I reply. 'OK,' she tells me to put lights out at nine.'

 

At 8:30 our door bell rings. Daddy in his brown bedroom slippers that have leather heels, clomps to the door.  Loudly he welcomes his brother but doesn't mention Blanche. I sit cross-legged in the upstairs hall , waiting to see Aunt Blanche. Daddy asks for her coat so he can hang it in the hall closet but she isn't ready yet. She stands there saying nothing, waiting for my mother to come out of the kitchen. Mom appears carrying a tray with two bottles of Ginger Ale and four glasses on a tin tray. She asks my father to get the bottle opener, a couple of paper napkins and a bucket of chopped ice. So far I haven't heard her even say 'Hello, Blanche.' My aunt seems unaware of the snub as she slowly removes her coat, turning in circles for my parents to see her new fur coat. 'Look, Sarah, isn't this coat beautiful? George bought it for my birthday.' I know she knows I am listening as she is really talking loud. 'Sarah, look, feel it. This is real Persian lamb. What do you think?' My mother is silent for too long. 'Well, Sarah?' As if my mother was talking about fish she bought, she replies with no emotion, ' It's nice, Blanche. Wear it well. Let's play cards.' I know my mother better than she knows herself. She enjoyed hurting Blanche.

 

I go to my room, close the door and turn on Inner Sanctum. Whispering comes to me from my parents' room. Once they are in bed I can almost make out what they are saying. Daddy's voice is rough , Mom's is soft. Dad slams his fist on the bureau. Then there is silence. Before I go to school in the morning I realize my parents aren't talking to each other. This coldness lasts for three days and nights. I have become their whipping post. Do this, do that, don't you dare! I ry to stay out of their way and set the dinner table without being told.

 

It's Wednesday night again. Aunt Blanche and Uncle George are not coming to play Canasta. My parents are actually going to their house but I am not invited. At the door, Mom calls me. 'Come here, Heidi. Come quick. I want to show you something.' She is waiting in the hall, wearing a Persian lamb coat with a matching hat. My eyes pop. 'Heidi, isn't this beautiful, just like Aunt Blanche's.' Then her eyes change, her finger shakes in my face. 'Don't say a word. My coat is not like Aunt Blanches. Mine is fake fur. I shopped all over Newport until I found this perfect copy. Doesn't it look real?' What do I know about fur? Nothing. But I know I have to praise her new coat. 'Mom, it is beautiful and it looks gorgeous on you.' Daddy too  sternly tells me to 'Hush.'

 

They are ready! They are set! And away they go to Aunt Blanche's house.