Save Me

Chapter Twenty-three

Rose made pizza bagels for the kids, then put John down for a nap and installed Melly in the family room with Princess Google and a Harry Potter DVD. Sunshine poured through the lavender in the bay window, and while the two women cleaned up the kitchen, Rose told Annie the whole story.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Ro.” Annie shook her head, a stiff cap of onyx curls. Her eyes were large and a rich brown, with a faint almond shape that hinted at her biracial parentage. Her warm skin tone freed her from makeup, though she was one of the most-sought-after makeup artists in New York.

“Still, I feel terrible.” Rose rinsed a dish and loaded it into the open dishwasher. “I wish I had gotten them both out.”

“You did, essentially. Amanda ran back in, and you couldn’t have known that.”

“I should have.”

“You’re not superhuman. You’re just a model.”

Rose smiled. She had stopped thinking of herself as a model, ages ago.

“I’d have done the exact same thing, if it were Joey or Armen.” Annie had two boys with her husband Simon, a sculptor and art history professor at NYU.

“You would?”

“Totally.” Annie twisted the plastic bag of bagels closed and put it back in the freezer. “Meanwhile, these were good, for frozen.”

“I know, they’re fine, right?”

“Totally.” Annie yanked up the skinny strap of her purple boho sundress, which showed off tattooed arms encircled with fire-breathing red dragons, Chinese symbols, and an orange koi that had reminded a younger Melly of the cartoon Nemo, so a nickname was born for her godmother.

“Remember when we had to have Murray’s? They were the cool bagels.” Rose rinsed tomato sauce from a tablespoon. “We’d stand in line every Sunday morning with all the investment bankers?”

“I still do that.” Annie smiled.

“Well, I still do this.” Rose dropped the spoon into the silverware holder in the dishwasher, keeping it with the other spoons.

“Oh no!” Annie burst into laughter. “Set that spoon free. Let it hang with the knives and forks.”

“I’m telling you, sort the silverware before you wash it, then it saves time when you put it away.”

“It saves no time,” Annie shot back. It was an historic disagreement, from their years sharing a one-bedroom in the East Village, which was so small that they stored their boots in the oven.

“Melly agrees with me. She thinks Aunt Nemo’s crazy.”

“Aunt Nemo is crazy, but that’s not why.”

“But for real, tell me the truth. You would have done the same thing?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think I’m a horrible person?”

“I know you’re not. You’re the sweetest person I know.”

Rose smiled. “Should I keep fishing for compliments?”

“Go right ahead. I love you, and you know it.” Annie’s smile vanished. “And I hate how Melly gets bullied. If Amanda hadn’t been teasing her, they both would have been outside on the playground when the fire started. Ever think of that?”

“I did, but Leo would say that’s only a but for cause.”

“Whatever. All I know is that Melly could have died of smoke inhalation because of that brat.”

Rose winced. “Don’t say that.”

“I know it seems mean, but what about you guys? You moved once already because of the bullying. You can’t move again. You’re running out of planet.” Annie picked up the sponge and wiped the kitchen table. “When I read what they were saying about you on Facebook, it made me nuts.”

“Was it bad? I’m afraid to look.”

“You should remove all those posts. Those people are insane.”

“They’re just upset about Amanda.”

“Please. Did you read them? Those women are jealous of you, just because of the way you look.” Annie finished wiping the table and rinsed out the sponge. “You’re going through hell, but nobody ever feels sorry for the pretty one.”

“That’s not what’s going on, and I’m only ‘catalog material,’ remember?” Rose was quoting her old modeling agent.

“What an idiot he was! You were better than the other girls. Not only were you gorgeous, you were the only one who was nice to everybody, even the makeup gypsies.”

Rose didn’t reply. She liked the past to stay past. She needed it to.

“You know, if Melly hadn’t come along, you’d be making a fortune. Even Bernardo said so. It was the only thing he was right about.”

“Nah, they all use actresses now. I got out just in time, and luckily, Melly did come along. Anyway, let’s talk about here and now. What if we get sued? We could lose the house. Now that scares me.”

“Oh, man. That would scare me, too.” Annie frowned under her dark curls. “You can’t get sued for saving your own kid, can you?”

“Leo seems to think you can, but it’s not his field.” Rose screwed the cap on the jar of tomato sauce and returned it to the fridge. “He doesn’t want me to go to the wakes, but I really feel like I should pay my respects, and it’s tonight. It’s too bad that the one night you’re in town, I ditch you. Sorry.”

“Oh, you’re not ditching me. I haven’t seen you in, like, six months. I’m going with you.”

Rose felt touched. “You are?”

“Sure. You shouldn’t go alone, and I have nothing else to do.”

“But you don’t even know these people.”

“Neither do you.” Annie smiled, crookedly. “Besides, I go to lots of parties where I don’t know anybody.”

“It’s a wake, not a party, and don’t you have to get back to Philly?”

“I’ll follow you there in my car, then leave. Lend me a sweater, to cover my tats.”

Rose smiled. “Now, that’s a best friend.”