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“You don’t hate me, Fay. You hate yourself for being
such a coward.”
My heart leaps into my throat.
“You want Ruthie to respect you?” Aunt Marty continues.
“Get yourself a respectable life—one that both of you
can be proud of. If you don’t, you’ll be the one to push
Ruthie so far away from you and Odessa you’ll never see her
again. That’s the truth.”
Again, I hear the swishing of Aunt Marty’s shopping
bags as she scoops them off the floor and strides to the sunporch
at the back of the house. Her footsteps echo across
the hardwood floor. Then she abruptly stops.
“Just so you don’t think you’re the only one being nailed
with honesty tonight, Fay, you should know that Richard
left me. Over a month ago, I came home to a letter from his
attorney telling me I had six months to find a new apartment
and start a new life. He might as well have shot me
in the heart. It’s already a bloody alimony fight, probably
the beginning of the end for ‘Martine on Men.’ That’s my
reality.”
A deafening silence spreads through the whole house.
Her voice shaky, Aunt Marty adds, “For the first time in
my life, I couldn’t handle being alone. That’s why I came
home. Not to take Ruthie, but to be with the only family I
have left.”
Mom sighs. “Oh, Martha. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Aunt Marty doesn’t say anything for the longest time.
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