I guess he’ll eventually find out anyway, so I tell him, “I’d like to open a salon and spa like Chantal,” I answer, but I don’t say where.
They look at me like I said I want to become a bird and fly.
“An LLC?” Marv clasps his hands on the table.
“Yes. I don’t want to put my personal assets at risk.” I just looked that up the other day.
“The beauty industry?” Claire has a frozen little smile on her face. I don’t think she shares my vision.
“Personal-care services fall into NAICS category 8121,” I tell Marv.
He seems to take me a bit more seriously and leans forward. “Why a salon and spa?”
“I’m interested in hair and makeup and facials. I believe that if you look good, you feel good about yourself. I gave the girls at Livingston custom hairstyles and they were in high cotton afterward.”
When they put on their coats to leave, Marv is still contemplating my dream and asking about a business plan. “Since you’ve lost your memory, no one expects you to have the same intellectual capabilities as you did before, but we have a number of attorneys who can assist you.”
I don’t think he means to insult me, so I spare him the torture of my most painful kid joke. “How did the beautician win the race?” I ask as we walk toward the entrance.
Marv gives a heavy sigh. “Not this again.”
“By shear willpower,” Claire says, quite pleased with herself. “Get it?”
“That’s a good one.” I’m surprised she’s playing along. “But no. She took a shortcut.”
Claire chuckles but Marv doesn’t even bother with a pity laugh. He’s not frowning, though, which I figure is progress. I think we’ve come a long way since our first meeting in El Paso. They aren’t the monsters I once thought, and I’m not as crazy as they thought—or at least I like to believe so.
In the entrance, I thank them and give them each a hug. Marv pats me on the back as if to say, “Okay, we’re done for the night.” Claire is less stiff, and I think she teared up before she turned away and walked out the door.
All in all, I count my first dinner party as a success. They even toasted the meal, and Claire took part in my lame joke. Marv still acts like I might be prone to emotional outbursts and my jokes give him a migraine, but I think he likes me.
I put tinfoil on the chili and throw it in the refrigerator for tomorrow. The parents didn’t finish their Frito pie, but I guess not everyone has as finely tuned a palate for Tex-Mex as I do. I rinse the plates and my company phone rings. I don’t recognize the number but I answer anyway. “Hello?”
“I’m out.”
“What? Who is this?”
“Katrina. You told me to give you a holler when I got out of Livingston.”
I didn’t think she would or could, but she did say a person could find anyone if they knew where to look on the internet. I guess she knew where to look. “It’s nice to hear from you.”
“I know, it’s been a while. I’m living in Sterling Heights. Not far from the Golden Butthole,” she adds.
I’ve never heard of Sterling Heights, but I have heard of the Golden Butthole. It’s actually a big gold ring sculpture somewhere.
“Where are you?” she asks.
“I’m in Detroit.”
“Oh, I’m only twenty minutes away. Livingston sucked after you left.”
“Livingston sucked before I left.”
She laughs and tells me about a new girl in the group and her plans to take some classes at Wayne State University next semester. She says she needs to pick up foreign-language and literature credits, and her future plans sound more solid than mine.
Katrina’s bubble is a little short of plumb and the wheels might fall off her wagon, but she’s my only friend in the world. We make plans to meet for coffee soon.
Two days after dinner with the parents is October thirty-first and Meredith picks me up for Halloween in the Park. It’s nice to breathe clean autumn air and get out of the city. It’s nice to be with faces I know. Rowan and Magnus are in matching cat costumes, and Georgie’s stuffed into a padded dog costume that he’s fussing about. I came prepared with eyeliner and lipstick, so I draw cat whiskers on Rowan and give Georgie a pink puppy nose to complete their looks. Meredith and I are wearing witch hats, and we take turns pulling a red wagon filled with blankets, the kids, and a dog in a cat costume.