“Your shyster LA lawyer”
“The very one – I might need him to do the deal – and I need to decide whether Kit would remember Penn so he can do the deal for me. All she needs to know is that someone wants to buy the café “
“But is Roger up for it?”
“He doesn’t have a choice frankly – if he needs money for Kit’s rehab – then he gets her agree to sell the café – well her share of it “
“So how was Thanksgiving other than that?”
Bette nodded “It was better than I feared. Tina managed to make dinner without her mother interfering too much. We had some iffy moments “
“How did her folks take to Shane ?”
“Very well – you forget that Shane has a charisma “
“Yes – the same charisma that usually leads to sobbing and hysterical reactions from baby dykes ?”
“Slightly different type of charisma but she is entertaining company and Tina’s folks took to her. Her mom wants to feed her up because she thinks she’s too thin and she knows more about football than Tina or me so she watched the game with her dad and chatted and found they had some common ground “
James nodded “How would they have liked Alice?”
Bette frowned “I dread to think and it’s never going to happen is it ?”
“So you buying the café doesn’t mean you are going back to LA to live ?”
“The café is small change compared to my gallery and this city is our home”
James nodded – the Alice remark had probably been a dumb ass one. But Bette was in a good mood so she hadn’t chewed him out.
“What about the wedding plans – going well?”
“I managed to get hold of Peggy “
“Where was the crazy old bat? “
“The West Indies “
“With Helena ?”
“No – I gather there have been some incidents in London and Helena Peabody has a permanent seat in the dog house. Peggy was muttering about cutting Helena out of her will and all that “
“Will she?”
“I doubt it – she’s Peggy’s only child so she will get as many chances as she needs. But she will cut her allowance off”
“No idea why any grown up needs an allowance”
Bette shook her head “Luckily for me Helena is not my problem – however Peggy will be at the wedding “Bette dropped into Peggy’s deep voice “Nothing would keep me away from your wedding darlings “
“Did anything ever come of the scripts that Tina assessed for Peggy ?”
“Yes – Peggy is going to talk to Tina about it – you know what she is like – there will be something she wants to drag Tina into”
“I like Peggy – she should make the wedding lunch go with a swing “
“She has taken it very well that I ended Helena’s relationship with Tina”
“Well she likes you more than she likes Helena – blood aside “
James got up “I better open the gallery and see what emails have come in over the weekend”
“I had some time on Sunday after Tina’s folks had gone home and Tina and Angie had gone shopping so I went through the inbox and deleted loads of stuff and moved others – you know I like a good tidy inbox. I have marked in pink the ones you can leave to me”
Bette worked for the rest of the morning and after James had taken his lunch-hour she took her winter coat and headed to Shane’s bar. She had tested Roger over Thanksgiving and offered to meet him to discuss her offer of buying them of the café. She wanted to see him alone – she knew that Tina’s views and while she understood where Tina was coming from she also had her own reasons in seeing him again; She didn’t think he fully understood how complicated her relationship with her sister was and she just wanted to talk to him about addictions – he seemed sweetly naïve of how difficult the whole thing was.
Roger was sitting in a booth at the bar when Bette arrived. She went over to chat to Shane
“Order us both a beef sandwich and give me whatever he is drinking and I will have a coffee – how are you anyway ?”
“I am doing great – Bette – thanks again for inviting me to your place for Thanksgiving. I had a good time “
“Bet you haven’t met a killer before “Bette said smirking
“He doesn’t fit the stereotype “
“No – if there is a stereotype for a killer he doesn’t fit into any of your expectations”
“I thought he was rather sweet “
“He is -in case you hadn’t noticed Angie has him on a string “
“Angie has most people on a string -just because he is her grandfather doesn’t make him more liable to fall for her smart ass charm”
Bette laughed “She is a smart ass”
“I will tell you what was funny “
“What’s that?”
“Tina always mothered us – she was always the maternal head of the gang – making sure we were taken care of when we were sick and being sweet”
Bette smiled
“So to see who she got it all from – it was funny”
“I hope you know that her mom is as good as her word – you will be getting food parcels”
“If that pie was a sample – well then bring it on”
Bette laughed “I confess I love her pastry – I have to be careful because I will put on weight if I eat as much of it as she wants me to. The freezer is full of pies – and her cakes – man her cakes are good”
“I do have a weakness for a good piece of cake “
“The first time I went to see her – when we were breaking the ice between the two sides she gave me some cake to bring home for Tina. The tin was an old one – Tina just melted when she saw the tin – it was such a reminder of home and the life that she had walked away from “
“I guess we all have items that remind us of the past – I am not sure if I have anything in my life that reminds me of being a kid – well not in a good way”
“You survived that and you are doing well – you seem happy “
Shane considered the question as she prepared Bette’s coffee. She put the cup down onto the bar and nodded
“I am -New York suits me better than LA now. I won’t go back “
“Neither will we – Angie is a total New York kid now and as you say -this city suits us and its good for our relationship. Plus, nothing would get Tina away from her family now and I wouldn’t want to even suggest it “
“You better go and talk to Roger -he’s been here for over half an hour -he looks lost”
“I am not surprised”
Bette picked up her coffee and a bottle of beer and walked across to join Roger. As Shane said – he looked lost. Bette sat down and pushed the beer across the table to him
“Thanks”
Bette sighed – this wasn’t easy for her but at least she had experience of this – both from the point of view of the addict and the helpless witness to the train wreck.
“Have you heard from Kit?” Bette asked
“Not since Thursday – she was determined to open the café and none of the staff would come in because they had all be told by her that she was going to stay closed”
Bette shook her head – this was so familiar. It was sad how much she recognized the behavior swings and insane moods.
“All you can do is react to the mood she is in at the time – take nothing she says as set in concrete and expect the unexpected “
“I don’t know what to do Bette – I have another week here – we need the money but I spend night after night lying in bed telling myself I should be in LA taking care of her”
“Bills still have to be paid. It’s hard to know what to do for the best – in the end you have to take care of yourself Roger “
“I have been taking care of myself since I left care when I was 16. That is no big deal for me – – taking care of someone else – that is a whole other ballgame baby “
“It’s hard to cope with “
Roger looked at Bette
“I do adore her – she’s smart and funny and ballsy – but this is so hard for me to deal with “
“You should get help as well. It’s really easy to neglect yourself when you are dealing with someone who is so high maintenance. I would like to do more but “
she exhaled “I have my own sobriety to protect and being with Kit when she is drinking and being vile – it would be too much for me “
“Do you fear for your own sobriety ?”
“I never drank because of anyone but me – and if Kit tells you that she drinks because of you or anyone else – then she delusional – but then – she always was. I know what you are going through Roger – really I do”
“She told me about her drinking when we met – but she was sober and she swore that she had it beaten”
“Addictions bite you on the ass when you least expect it. I don’t know why she started drinking again but with Kit – she has to keep going to meetings. “
“Do you go to meetings ?”
“I was never a meeting girl – meetings can help certain people but I am not one of them but Kit was. You have to get her back to AA meetings – preferably before she gets sent there by the courts because she has broken the law “
“Do I take it she did that a lot?”
“The court house coffee shop became one of the main places we met when Tina and I started dating. I tried to hide the fact that I had a drunken out of control sister when I met her but in the end I had to tell her. She was really sweet about it. I thought that she would think less of me if she knew “
“And she didn’t ?”
“No”
“Can I ask you something “
“Of course “
“Why do you think she started back then and why now?”
“I imagine she has told you that we were this highly respected middle class family. Dad was successful at his job and money was never the issue. If you had met Melvin, you would understand – he was very successful in his job and he liked women – he liked women a lot and they liked him and he would splash the cash at them. He was married to Kit’s mom when he met my mom. Kit’s mom worked in a nightclub. Actually – the older Kit gets the more she looks like her mom. And sadly the more she acts like her. When Kit’s mom died of cancer – and it was a very slow and painful death for her and it must have been traumatic for Kit to witness. When Kit’s mom died she came to live with us -Kit was a confused and very unhappy 12-year-old. She hated my mother who did try her best to make her welcome and I suspect that my mother didn’t really want her living with us – a constant reminder of my dad’s first marriage. I don’t really know – I was 6 at the time. By the time I was 9 – Kit was 15 and way out of control. She stole and she drank and lied and she was violent. But even when she had the chance to leave home she stayed because insanely she adored my father – he had the charisma that we both have now. When she did leave home it was because my mother had left home and dad couldn’t cope with having me and Kit at home. Kit was troubled – and it never went away and she drank and she took drugs and did all sorts of shit “
“Do you think its genetic? “
“You mean because I am also an addict ?”
Roger nodded
“I don’t know – dad drank a lot – I don’t know if it was an issue with him because he was such a control freak. In one way I think it was inevitable because we were both brought up to live our lives by standards that were insanely high. 90% in a test was never good enough for my father. Neither Kit or I could ever have met the standards that my father laid down for both of us. Kit got married but it ended after a few years – she wasted chance after chance that both dad and I found for her. But at least she didn’t commit the ultimate sin which in my father’s eyes was to become a lesbian. He never forgave me for that. We used to argue about which one of us was the biggest disappointment to him”
“He sounds a real bastard “
“He was – I wonder what he would have made of you “Bette laughed “I wonder if that would have topped me being a dyke “
Roger smiled and toyed with his bottle of beer
“I am so at a loss Bette”
“You can only do what she lets you – I know that when you take the drink and the drugs away from Kit she is the kindest and funniest woman I know. She is hilarious and she is really perceptive and I do love her you know. I wish I could do something. But as I said – I have my sobriety to think about and I really think that Tina would not really like it if I went to LA so close to my own wedding. I do know my sister Roger – I am the last person on this good earth who she wants to see. I guess it explains why she was so hostile to me when we went back. I couldn’t understand why she turned on me. It’s much clearer now – she doesn’t want to see me because I remind her of her past and I have sobered up. There is nothing a drunk hates more than someone who has beat the demons that they cannot “
NEW YORK MINUTE