Claire LaZebnik - Knitting Under the Influence

“He watches movies and game shows all day long. How is that spiritual?”

“I’m through discussing this with you,” her mother said with a little stamp of her well-shod foot. “I’ll simply say this: if you want to stay a minute longer in this house, then you'll treat its occupants with respect. If you can't do that, then-much as it pains me-I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I will not let you ruin another family holiday.” She turned to Lucy. “Lucy, you, of course, are welcome in my house, now and at any time. I hope you'll stay, no matter what.“

“Thanks,” Lucy said with a panicked look at Sari.

“It's okay,” Sari said. “I’ll behave. There's no point to any of this, anyway.”

“And we'll have a nice, civilized dinner together?” her mother said.

“You go on in and set up, Mrs. Hill,” Lucy said. “We'll be right there.”

“But no more fighting,” Sari's mother said. “It's just too hard on us all.”

“Of course not,” Lucy said. “Don't you worry.”

Eloise Hill left the room. For a minute or two, the three adults in the room silently watched planets exploding on the television screen. Then Sari looked at Lucy. “You see?” she said.

Lucy sat down and put both her arms around Sari's shoulders. “We'll just get through dinner and then go.” She glanced at Charlie. His lips were moving in sync to the movie's dialogue. She said quietly, “Poor guy.”

“Yeah,” Sari said. “I used to fantasize about grabbing him and making a run for the door. Not really doable, though.”

“Probably not, given your relative sizes,” Lucy said. “She doesn't really just let him watch TV all day, does she?”

“I don't know,” Sari said. “I honestly don't know. But every time I come to visit, this is where I find him. He used to notice me more, used to actually seem glad I was here. Now it barely registers. And the worst part-I mean it's all the worst part-but the worst part is someday she'll die and then what? It'll be too late. He won't have any skills to deal with the world, even if he wants to.” Her voice dropped to almost nothing. “She won't die soon enough for me to help him.”

There was a pause. Then, “I could kill her now, if it would help,” Lucy said.

Sari leaned against her. “That's why I love you-you always know the right thing to say.” She rested her head on Lucy's shoulder, and they sat like that until Sari's mother called them all in for dinner.

Kathleen wore the necklace Kevin had given her, and his father spotted it immediately. “Tiffany's?” he said, gesturing to her neck, after giving her a paternal kiss on the cheek.

She nodded. “From your son.”

“Tell him to get you diamonds next time,” he said with a wink. “A pretty girl like you should wear diamonds. Kevin should know that already, but he's always been a slow learner.”

Kathleen looked at Kevin, who smiled at her as if his father had just said something nice.

They sat down to eat soon after she arrived. First they had pumpkin soup, fragrant with cinnamon and cloves, then roast turkey with three different kinds of stuffing steaming in separate crystal bowls, mashed potatoes golden with butter and garlic, warm rolls and cranberry sauce and green beans, all of which was followed by the traditional desserts-pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cake-and hot fresh coffee. The food was brought to the table by servants wearing black and white and cooked by the Porters’ aging resident chef, a French woman named Marguerite who came out at the end of the meal to receive their thanks and congratulations. Caro blew her a kiss. Jackson thumped her on the back. Marguerite staggered back to the kitchen, looking exhausted but triumphant.

Obscene amounts of food were left over, both because there had been way too much to begin with, and also because the women of the family-the sisters-in-law and Caro-had barely eaten anything. None of them had touched any of the stuffing, let alone all three kinds. Kathleen, who had eaten six eggs for breakfast, still managed to put away ten times as much food as any of the other women.

After dessert had been cleared, Jackson uttered a quiet “Ahem.” Every face immediately turned to him. “If the women will excuse us, I do have a couple of small business matters to go over with the men.” He held up his hand as if to forestall objections, even though there weren't any. “I know, I know, its a holiday. But it's not often I get a chance to sit down with all three of my boys, and I’d like to take advantage of this time together to address a few important items that have come up recently.” Kathleen wondered if anyone was going to point out that he saw all three of his sons at the office every day. But:

“Of course,” one of the sisters-in-law said immediately.

“You should!” the other said-the one who had kids, a boy and a girl, who had eaten a few bites of food at the table, then started hitting each other before one of the women in black and white had whisked them out of the room.

As they all rose to their feet and moved away from the table, Kathleen said to Kevin, “We'd better get going-I told my mom we'd be there at six.”

“I can't go right now,” Kevin said. “My dad-”

“It's already past six-thirty.”

“Can you call her and tell her we'll be late?”

She lowered her voice. “Can't you just skip your father's meeting?”

“That's not a good idea,” he said, his eyes flickering over to check where his father and brothers were. They hadn't left the room yet.

“Why not? You'll see him on Monday.”

“This stuff is important, Kathleen. I can't not be there. It wouldn't be right. Can't you just wait until we're done?”

“How long will it take?”

“Half an hour?” he said with no conviction. “Maybe less, maybe more. I honestly don't know.”

“In that case, do you mind if I head on over to the McMansion by myself?”

He looked relieved. “Not at all. You should. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done and join up with you there.”

He kissed her lightly on the lips and then scurried to catch up with his brothers and father, who were leaving the room in a tight knot. Kathleen doubted she would see him at her sisters’ later.

Oh, Lord,” Eloise Hill said, “we thank you for your bounty and for bringing us all together on this special day and for providing us with food for our table and shelter for our bodies and…”

She went on for a while longer like that.

Sari rolled her eyes at Lucy, who kicked her in the shin under the table.

“Can we eat now?” Sari asked as soon as her mother had finally said “Amen” and lifted up her head. “Or do we have to thank God for giving us the 405 freeway, too? Because, you know, we couldn't have actually gotten here without it.”

“Here, Lucy,” Sari's mother said, picking up a pretty painted bowl. “Please try the potatoes. I may not have made them myself, but I tasted them in the kitchen and I must say they're delicious. A tiny bit on the salty side…”

“Yum,” said Lucy, who hadn't touched a potato in any form in over five years. She took the bowl and made a show of putting a spoonful on her plate.

“Who's having wine?” asked Sari's father. It was the first thing he had said all afternoon, other than a brief, vague greeting.

“I’d definitely like a glass of wine,” Sari said, and Lucy pushed her own glass toward Gerald Hill and said, “Me, too, please.”

Everyone had a glass of wine, except for Charlie, who drank white milk and ate only the mashed potatoes. After he had finished his plateful of potatoes, he got up from the table without another word and clomped his way back into the family room.