The Influence(46)

“Uh, sure…” Lita said.

“That’s great! I’ll be right back!” She ran into the house, shut the music off, and came flying out seconds later, purse in hand. “Let’s get outta here!”

Slightly bewildered by her friend’s manic energy, Lita got back in the car and started the engine.

“I was gonna walk, but since you showed up and were goin’ there anyway…”

“No problem,” Lita said.

“So. How are things with you?” JoAnn turned in the seat to face her and stared, waiting for an answer.

“Uh, fine. But I stopped by Darla’s before I came over, and she didn’t seem so fine. I was wondering what’s up with her. Have you noticed anything…strange?”

“I ain’t seen Darla much, actually. Been too busy. Weston has about all the jobs he can handle, and I been promoted at work. This weekend, we’re actually buyin’ a new freezer! Can you believe it? I think it’s gonna be a good year.”

“Yeah? I’m glad to hear it. But I’m worried about Darla.” And you, too, Lita thought. “She didn’t say anything, but something’s wrong. I was wondering if you could look in on her. Or give her a call. Today, if you can. Then call me and tell me what think.”

JoAnn nodded, but…

But Lita didn’t think she would do it.

That was a weird thought. Had JoAnn and Darla had a falling out? Maybe they had and, subconsciously, she was picking up on the signals.

No, Lita decided. It was something else. Both of her friends were acting strange, and she watched and listened to JoAnn as they shopped at the market, looking for some kind of clue, some indication that would tell her what was going on.

Back at home, Dave and Ross were acting oddly, too. Almost conspiratorial. Was she just being paranoid? Her period was due any time and her hormones were swirling, so it wasn’t out of the question, but she didn’t think that was the case.

What was the case, then?

She didn’t know. The entire day was crazy. Everything was all topsy turvy, and she felt anxious and unsettled. She didn’t want to confront Dave—he was having a difficult enough time right now without her piling on—so she cornered Ross in the yard, quizzing him. He said Dave was worried about the chickens and the eggs they were laying. She already knew that, and while she didn’t think Ross was lying, she still had the sense that he was keeping something from her.

That night, in bed, Dave was more charged up than he had been in a long time. They’d been in a lull lately, even before he’d gotten the news about his parents, but tonight he came roaring back. He felt bigger and harder inside her than he ever had before, and while that was great, he pounded away with such ferocity that it hurt, and afterward her crotch was so sore that it was painful even to roll over and go to sleep.

But sleep she did, eventually, and she dreamed that all of her friends and family were planning a surprise birthday party for her. Only…when she walked into the room and they jumped out and yelled “Surprise!”, they were standing behind a black birthday cake with black candles, and the smoke from the candles coalesced above their heads into the shape of a terrible horned demon.





FIFTEEN




Dylan didn’t remember Mr. Noodle.

Darla ate dinner silently as Tom and Dylan talked enthusiastically about who they thought would be in the playoffs this year. She felt sad. When he was younger, she and her son had done everything together: making beds, making lunch, dusting the furniture, reading books, playing games. She’d been there for every moment of his life, had suffered through Teletubbies and Barney, had sung along with Sesame Street songs and laughed with him at the slapstick antics of his favorite character, Mr. Noodle, on Elmo’s World. Today, she’d discovered that he didn’t even remember Mr. Noodle. It had come up casually in a conversation, and when he’d stared at her blankly after she’d made the reference, Darla realized for the first time that all of those special moments they’d shared, all of those memories she thought they’d been building, were completely one-sided. She had memories. He didn’t. And she had never felt so depressed in her life.

Still, she looked at him across the table and realized how lucky she was, how lucky she and Tom both were. They had a great kid, a wonderful family, and God had blessed them. It was churlish of her to worry about and obsess over such a small and ultimately insignificant matter as Mr. Noodle. But finding out that he’d forgotten about the Elmo’s World character was symptomatic of a larger realization: Dylan was growing up.

Darla experienced a profound sense of loss. They’d done so many things together, but there were so many things they hadn’t done, things he was too old to do now, and she wished that every year of his childhood could last five years so they would have time to do it all.