have Paul’s watch,” whispers Estelle. “Can I have my papers?”
“Oh, it’s Paul?” Rainey looks at the boyfriend. “I don’t have Paul’s watch.” She doesn’t, in fact, have a watch at all; she is waiting for her father to give up his. She swirls the cape and turns theatrically to Tina, who appears delicate in the leather jacket. “You have the watch, right?” Rainey sighs dramatically and runs her hands over the cape down the curves of her body, staring at Paul, who looks back at her with the directness of someone who respects the gun too much to move but is not exactly afraid. This intrigues Rainey tremendously.
“I thought Paul would like me better, but
she
got the watch, so apparently not.” She’s just playing, but it seems to her that Tina looks at her sharply. “Listen,” she says to Tina, “let’s go. I’m great. I have every single thing I need.”
She is surprised to see hurt flash across Tina’s eyes.
“You’re great?” says Tina. “Why are you great? What’ve you got that you need?”
Paul sits forward.
“Shut up,” says Tina, though he hasn’t said anything.
“Don’t,” says Rainey. She is holding her grocery bag with one arm and has a hand on the doorknob. “I said I believe you. Let’s go.” But Tina remains plastered to the hearth.
“What’ve you got that you need?” says Tina. When Rainey doesn’t answer, she says, “What? You’ve got an albino freak who—” She stops, possibly because Rainey is staring her down, possibly out of restraint.
“An albino freak who what?” mutters Paul.
Rainey looks at Tina, flaming against the amethyst walls, radiant in her distress. She feels the gaze of Paul upon her. “I have everything I need
from this apartment
,” she says, as if talking to someone from a distant land.
“Oh.” Tina visibly relaxes, as if warm water were being poured through her. “I don’t.” She turns a slow, thoughtful quarter circle, looking around the room.
“Oh no,” says Estelle. “Please go. Please please please go.”
“Get those scissors, would you?” says Tina, taking a step toward Estelle.
Rainey picks them up off the nightstand, where she’d set them down after taking souvenir snippets from Estelle’s clothes, and swings them from one finger. “What are you going to do, cut her hair?”
Tina smiles. “No, you are.”
“Really? Seriously”—again she almost says Tina’s name—“what are you planning to do with her
hair
?”
“Same thing I was going to do without it,” says Tina.
Estelle lets go of Paul’s hand and clamps both her hands around her hair. “For Christ’s sake,” says Paul.
Rainey wonders if the gun belongs to Tina now. Estelle’s hair belongs to Estelle; that much is true. “No,” she says. “This is between me and you.”
“You said everything was okay,” Tina says. “You said you believed me. You said, ‘I’ll prove it.’ ”
“I think she’s proven quite a bit,” says Paul.
“Whose boyfriend
are
you? Be quiet,” says Tina, still pointing the gun at Estelle.
Rainey sets the grocery bag on the floor and puts her face in the bowl of her hands, scissors still dangling, so she can think. Tina is telling the truth now. It’s Rainey who’s lying: she does not believe a word about the grandmother, and things are not okay. She looks through her fingers from Estelle, who has wrapped her long hair protectively around her fist, to Tina, who waits to see if trust can be restored.
She almost asks again about the woman in the picture. It’s the right moment: she holds the scissors, and Tina holds the gun. Instead she takes a deep breath of amethyst air. “Forgive me,” she says, and for a moment, while neither Tina nor Estelle knows whose forgiveness she requires, she feels nearly free.
“Here,” says Rainey. She bends over quickly, so the tie-dye scarf falls forward and the violet room swings back, grabs a thick sheaf of her own long, dark hair, and
“Oh, it’s Paul?” Rainey looks at the boyfriend. “I don’t have Paul’s watch.” She doesn’t, in fact, have a watch at all; she is waiting for her father to give up his. She swirls the cape and turns theatrically to Tina, who appears delicate in the leather jacket. “You have the watch, right?” Rainey sighs dramatically and runs her hands over the cape down the curves of her body, staring at Paul, who looks back at her with the directness of someone who respects the gun too much to move but is not exactly afraid. This intrigues Rainey tremendously.
“I thought Paul would like me better, but
she
got the watch, so apparently not.” She’s just playing, but it seems to her that Tina looks at her sharply. “Listen,” she says to Tina, “let’s go. I’m great. I have every single thing I need.”
She is surprised to see hurt flash across Tina’s eyes.
“You’re great?” says Tina. “Why are you great? What’ve you got that you need?”
Paul sits forward.
“Shut up,” says Tina, though he hasn’t said anything.
“Don’t,” says Rainey. She is holding her grocery bag with one arm and has a hand on the doorknob. “I said I believe you. Let’s go.” But Tina remains plastered to the hearth.
“What’ve you got that you need?” says Tina. When Rainey doesn’t answer, she says, “What? You’ve got an albino freak who—” She stops, possibly because Rainey is staring her down, possibly out of restraint.
“An albino freak who what?” mutters Paul.
Rainey looks at Tina, flaming against the amethyst walls, radiant in her distress. She feels the gaze of Paul upon her. “I have everything I need
from this apartment
,” she says, as if talking to someone from a distant land.
“Oh.” Tina visibly relaxes, as if warm water were being poured through her. “I don’t.” She turns a slow, thoughtful quarter circle, looking around the room.
“Oh no,” says Estelle. “Please go. Please please please go.”
“Get those scissors, would you?” says Tina, taking a step toward Estelle.
Rainey picks them up off the nightstand, where she’d set them down after taking souvenir snippets from Estelle’s clothes, and swings them from one finger. “What are you going to do, cut her hair?”
Tina smiles. “No, you are.”
“Really? Seriously”—again she almost says Tina’s name—“what are you planning to do with her
hair
?”
“Same thing I was going to do without it,” says Tina.
Estelle lets go of Paul’s hand and clamps both her hands around her hair. “For Christ’s sake,” says Paul.
Rainey wonders if the gun belongs to Tina now. Estelle’s hair belongs to Estelle; that much is true. “No,” she says. “This is between me and you.”
“You said everything was okay,” Tina says. “You said you believed me. You said, ‘I’ll prove it.’ ”
“I think she’s proven quite a bit,” says Paul.
“Whose boyfriend
are
you? Be quiet,” says Tina, still pointing the gun at Estelle.
Rainey sets the grocery bag on the floor and puts her face in the bowl of her hands, scissors still dangling, so she can think. Tina is telling the truth now. It’s Rainey who’s lying: she does not believe a word about the grandmother, and things are not okay. She looks through her fingers from Estelle, who has wrapped her long hair protectively around her fist, to Tina, who waits to see if trust can be restored.
She almost asks again about the woman in the picture. It’s the right moment: she holds the scissors, and Tina holds the gun. Instead she takes a deep breath of amethyst air. “Forgive me,” she says, and for a moment, while neither Tina nor Estelle knows whose forgiveness she requires, she feels nearly free.
“Here,” says Rainey. She bends over quickly, so the tie-dye scarf falls forward and the violet room swings back, grabs a thick sheaf of her own long, dark hair, and
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