Best Place to Die (23 page)

‘Do you miss it?' Lil asked.

‘I don't. I loved it at the time, building a business and watching it grow and knowing that it was our doing. But it was time, we made out great and it's not something I'd do again. I like my life here . . . my life with you. But it's your turn now. You have a passion for writing, you need to do this.'

Her words were like a balm. ‘Fleming told me to take one of the side stories.'

‘Then do. But go with your strengths. This is your town and you know everyone involved in this story. And screw the bastard, don't let him get into your head. If you get the better story, he'll have to use it.'

‘I don't know about that.' There was a banging at the front door, and then the bell rang. ‘Coming,' Lil said, spotting Rose and Alice through the window, still in their mismatched borrowed sweats and new walking shoes. ‘What's up?' she asked, opening the door.

‘Is my daughter here?' Rose sounded winded.

Ada followed behind. ‘Mom?'

‘I've made a decision,' Rose stated, a glow in her cheeks from her walk by the lake. ‘I don't know why you didn't think of this before. But I like it here. This is so much nicer than that death trap you dumped me in. Don't you agree, Alice?'

The demented redhead turned at the sound of her name. ‘Yes, it's pretty.'

‘Wouldn't you rather live here?' Rose asked Alice. ‘All these walking paths, and we met such lovely people at the lake.' She turned to Ada. ‘Why didn't you tell me there was so much to do here? Did you know they have bus trips to the city twice a week, and it's only forty dollars including lunch and a show? And the grounds; it's like living in a park . . . you must pay a fortune in common fees. How many gardeners do they have?'

Alice smiled. ‘I like the ducks.'

‘It feels like home,' Rose continued. ‘This woman we met by the lake, Candace . . . do you know her?'

‘No,' Ada said, her expression wary.

‘Nice lady. Used to be a travel agent. She was saying they offer water aerobics. My orthopedist was saying that would be the best thing for my arthritis. Remember how much I used to love going to the Y? Candace said you have two Olympic-size pools, and that the health club is free to residents. Is that true?'

‘It is,' Ada said. ‘Do you want to buy a condo here?'

‘Why would I do that?' Rose smiled at her daughter. ‘You're obviously not living in yours. I can see that. It's just Aaron. Why couldn't Alice and I move in? There's three bedrooms. It's ridiculous having them empty like that. We'd each take one and Aaron has his.'

‘Which one's the boy?' Alice asked, looking at Lil and then at Ada.

‘They have a point,' Lil said, trying to ignore Alice. ‘At least for the short run.'

Ada stared at her mother. ‘Of course you can stay as long as you need to, Mom. There's no question about that. But Alice's family might have other plans . . .'

‘Please,' Rose said, ‘it's just her grandson, Kyle, and his sister in Manhattan. And you saw that poor boy; he's got enough on his plate without having to worry about his grandmother. And he said his sister is a big-shot realtor in the city.' Rose's voice lowered to a whisper. ‘No way in hell she's going to take care of Alice.'

‘Kyle's a good boy,' Alice said with enthusiasm. ‘Are we going home?'

‘We are home,' Rose said.

‘Oh goody!' Alice's face lit with joy. ‘Goody goody goody.'

‘But, Mom . . .' Ada looked panicked.

Lil looked at Rose and out-of-it Alice, and an idea took root. She had two displaced Nillewaug residents living with her. This was a story, or at least it could be. The more she thought about it, the better she liked it. A chance to get away from the reporting of numbers – six hundred displaced, tens of millions in damages and all of the factoids that, while important, robbed the story of its deeper meanings – people had lost their homes, their sense of security and, in five instances, their lives. ‘Rose, would you let me interview you for the paper?'

‘Of course, Lil. But why would you want to write about me?'

‘Lil?' Ada looked at her. ‘What are you thinking?'

‘I think I found my story. Could we do this now?'

‘Sure.' Rose took a couple of steps toward the rock garden and bench. ‘But someone has to keep an eye on Alice, and Aaron's sleeping. Ada? Could you?' Rose looked at her daughter. ‘Ada, don't look so scared. I know you're trying to think of reasons why I can't live here. But it's the logical solution.' She then turned to Lil, her expression serious. ‘Lil, I'm old, but I'm not stupid. You and Ada need to make the decision. Whether or not you decide to tell me what's going on is also your choice, the both of you.'

‘OK then,' Lil said, not knowing how to respond, as she realized Rose had guessed that Ada and she had moved beyond best friends. ‘Ada, could you stay with Alice while I interview your mom?'

‘Of course.'

The two women's eyes met, and Lil went to Ada. Her voice low: ‘I think she knows about us.'

‘Probably,' Ada replied. ‘And she still wants to move in. Do you think she's right? It makes sense, at least for now.'

‘I'm OK with it. In some ways this place is a better fit for her than for us.'

Ada nodded, deep in thought. ‘Let me get Alice better settled. I think at any rate she'll be with us for a bit. We'll talk later.'

‘Good.' Feeling the eyes of the two older women on them, not to mention their across-the-path neighbors, Lil resisted the urge to kiss Ada. It rankled as she realized that when Bradley had been alive, a quick peck as they parted on the walkway would have been standard. Here, with Ada, it would be cause for gossip. ‘I love you,' Lil whispered.

‘Same here, I think we're about to find out if that's enough.' She turned back toward her mother and Alice. ‘Hey, Alice, let's get you set up.'

Rose let go of Alice's hand. She smiled as she looked at her demented friend's pink walking shoes. She glanced at Lil and shrugged. ‘I got black but she insisted on the pink.'

‘You went practical,' Lil offered.

‘Or blah. Can we chat outside?' She looked toward the stone bench in the middle of the rock garden with its tidy evergreens, budding crocus and tender iris shoots.

‘Of course, almost no one sits out here.' Lil thought about running inside for her recorder or at least a pad, but something told her to not lose the moment.

‘What a waste,' Rose said, settling her stocky frame on the bench. ‘Perfect height for me.' She sighed. ‘Isn't that funny?' she added, looking at the condo across the way.

‘What?' Lil followed her gaze.

‘I just saw the curtain in that window move.' She smiled and waved in the direction of Bernice Framm's kitchen. ‘This is what living in the country is supposed to be. I'm glad to be out of that place.'

‘What was so bad about it?' Lil asked, realizing that this was the first time Rose and she had had any kind of real conversation without Ada around.

‘Where to start?' She turned and Lil was struck by the depth of her earnestness. ‘It was . . . is . . . a place to die. It's lovely and the food was good, but lipstick on a pig and it's still a death house. An abattoir for unwanted grannies.'

Lil chuckled. ‘You don't think that's a bit much?'

‘No. Everyone was so old . . . and yes, I have no illusions about my own age. But it's one thing to know you're ninety, but another to live in a world where you're constantly reminded of it. The dining hall was the worst.'

‘How so?'

‘The conversation, and I tried. But all anyone wanted to talk about was how no one visited, and of course . . . their bowels.' She stared down the path, through her thick glasses her eyes were magnified and seemed unfocused. ‘Those were the two themes – depressed and constipated. The food really was good, though. But it was getting to where I'd just as soon stay in my apartment and microwave frozen dinners.' She shook her head. ‘I don't blame Ada, though. I know it sounds like I do. In case you haven't noticed, Lil, it sucks getting old. And New York was getting bad. I couldn't leave my apartment alone any more. Between my eyes and my hearing, it was too much. I never told her, or my other children . . . last fall I got mugged.'

‘That's terrible. What happened? Were you hurt?'

‘It was stupid and it happened fast. I went to the pharmacy, and didn't feel like waiting for them to deliver. Some kid with a hood over his head followed me out and grabbed my purse. Like an idiot I didn't let go.' She shook her head. ‘I was so mad, he broke the strap of my favorite bag and then pushed me hard. I was lucky I was close to a building; if I'd fallen I would have broken my hip. He was swearing at me, like he hated me. He couldn't have been more than sixteen, probably Aaron's age. I can still picture him. There was spit flying out of his mouth. I screamed at him, “What's wrong with you?” My bag ripped open and he grabbed my purse and my prescriptions and ran. Probably thought I had some good pills . . . hope he enjoyed my diuretic.'

‘Did you call the police?'

‘Why? It was done. I had twelve dollars in my purse, and when I got home I cancelled my credit card, and called my doctor to ask him for new prescriptions. But that was the last time I left my apartment alone. I hated feeling that way, frightened to go outside.'

‘Why didn't you tell Ada?'

‘Because it would just have become more fuel for the “what to do about Mom” discussion. I'd pretty much resigned myself to staying in my apartment until they carted me out in a box. The nurses came, although even they were making trouble. When I had my heart attack last year and stayed with Ada, they'd told me if I couldn't walk and get around my apartment they wouldn't come. There was a whole list of things I had to be able to do, or they'd refuse to reopen my case. They said they couldn't take on the liability.'

‘I remember,' Lil said. ‘There was a checklist.'

‘I was so frightened. It was my last bit of freedom. If I couldn't do each of those tasks, I was convinced I'd land in a nursing home. It was humiliating. I'm a grown woman and suddenly I'm being graded on can I get in and out of bed, out of a chair, on and off the toilet. Can I wipe my own butt? And in the end –' clapping her hands in front of her – ‘say what you will, but Nillewaug for all of its fancy furniture and ridiculous prices was a nursing home. At least it didn't smell like piss.'

‘But everyone depressed and constipated.'

‘Yes . . . and one other thing, dirt poor.'

‘Excuse me?' Lil perked at the use of a description not generally applied to the affluent residents. ‘That place was not cheap.'

‘You ain't kidding. My buy-in was close to four hundred grand, and that was after Ada bargained them down from over five. And the monthly fees were three thousand five hundred.'

‘That kind of argues against poor. Your typical Nillewaug resident had to have a sizeable nest egg.'

‘Exactly.' Her teeth clenched. ‘That was the other topic of conversation, and boy did that place feed on it.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Money and fear. You're lucky, Lil. And I know Ada's set, and because of her I don't worry about it too much; it's not like I'm going to end up on the street. She put up most of the buy-in for Nillewaug. If it had been my money, I would never have done it. But money was something that got talked about a lot. And boy did those people play on it.'

‘The Nillewaug Promise?' Lil asked.

‘Yes, the promise.' Rose's mouth twisted. ‘I got sick of hearing about The Promise. “Don't worry, you're set until death you do depart.” But people did worry . . . a lot. And they were angry.'

‘About?'

‘About being poor, about losing control. We were all encouraged to sign things over to our children, or in some cases our grandchildren.'

‘So on paper people would appear to have nothing.' Lil thought about Fleming's criticisms of her last story. Yes, she'd brought up the Medicaid fraud angle; what she hadn't done was explain it. ‘Did that happen to you?'

‘I don't have much. Ada's the one with money. But some of the other residents were loaded. We're talking CEOs, family money, or just people who'd invested well and saved for retirement. You'd think that getting us in there and then hitting us up for those monthly fees would have been enough, but that was just the beginning. Is this what you wanted to hear about?'

Lil nodded.

‘Good. The day I moved in there was a thick packet on the kitchen counter and an invitation for “three complementary sessions” with the fat man – Mr Doyle. I imagine it has something to do with why he shot himself. Something wasn't right.'

‘Do you have details? Or know who would?'

She rocked back slightly catching the sun on her face. ‘Trusts; he pressured a lot of the residents to sign their assets over to their children. I can give you some names, and I know that they weren't happy about it. Felt like they were forced into doing it. Others . . .' She looked toward Ada's condo door. ‘Like Alice, if someone gave all her money away, would she even notice?'

‘Her grandson would.'

‘Yes, but think about it, Lil. Kyle would do anything for Alice.' She chuckled, and mimicked Alice: ‘
He's a good boy.
But how many children and grandchildren are just waiting for their inheritance? What if some fat guy in a suit with a bunch of degrees behind his desk told you that you didn't have to wait for grandma to kick the bucket?'

Lil was struck by Rose's savvy, and felt slightly ashamed for not having noticed her keen intelligence sooner. ‘So collusion between prospective heirs and Nillewaug. It's a good theory, Rose, and not far from what I've been thinking. What I need is proof.'