Cut

Six of us are at Rose’s house, girlfriends of sixty-five years, the catalyst of the meeting being that Adonica and her husband, Andy, accumulated enough reward points to stay in a nearby Holiday Inn. Andy is out playing golf with Rose’s husband, Babe. Diane and I live in town, and our husbands are at home. The other husbands did not make the trip.

I’m in the living room with Rose and Diane, the two of them on the sofa. I’m sitting in a wing chair, Diane to my left, Rose to her left, the others talking and laughing in the dining room behind me, all of us sipping wine. Diane starts tugging her hair and shifting in her seat, on the verge of saying something.

“I’ve got a busy day tomorrow,” she tells us. “Harrison’s got hip-replacement surgery in the morning. He’s tried to avoid it, but he can’t handle it anymore. I have to take him to the hospital and then drive to my haircut. My hair is hanging all over my face.”

“The hospital could still reach you on your phone,” Rose says. “You should be through with your appointment in an hour.”

“I’m getting color. It’ll be two or three hours.”

“If you went to the hospital’s cafeteria they’d have to call you there too,” Rose says, shrugging.

“Going to the cafeteria is not the same as leaving him to go to a salon,” I say, trying not to raise my voice. “What if you’re in the middle of having your hair colored and they call you? Will you run out the door and go to him?”

“That probably won’t happen.”

“Will you turn off your phone so you won’t be interrupted?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you sure? You know Harrison is seventy-six-years old and carries a lot of weight. There could be an emergency. Are you telling me you haven’t thought about what could happen?”

“He’ll be under the hospital’s care. I’ll be with him for many hours after the operation. I can’t help him when he’s in there and I can make it back before I could do anything for him.”

“In my opinion you should cancel your appointment,” I say. “You should be with him. If something goes badly wrong, the story could spread around town and leave a stain on you.”

Diane grimaces at me.

“I guess I’ll try to call them.”

She leaves, eyes on the floor.

“They’d be able to contact her if anything happens,” Rose says.

“If she answers her phone. Would you stay if it were Babe?”

She nods.

“I know she’s mad,” I say, “but what about Harrison? Is she thinking of him?”

“That’s up to her.”

“It is up to her.”

We hear a toilet flush.

Diane appears but heads to the dining room to be with the others. Rose and I join them.

I step next to Diane, who doesn’t look at me.

“Did you cancel?”

“I couldn’t get in touch with them,” she says.