Paula remained seated in the kitchen. Calmly, she switched on the kettle. The water began to hum, filling the room with a familiar, domestic sound.
From the hallway outside came the very educational sounds of a loud family argument. Eleanor’s booming voice shook the walls of the building, giving Mike no room to wriggle out of anything. Vanessa added her own sharp commentary to every one of her brother’s offenses.
The two women were clearly warming to the task. — Mom, come on, don’t yell through the whole building! — Mike whined, trying to calm them down. — Marketing scam, my foot, you shameless cheapskate! — Eleanor’s voice rolled down the stairwell.
The echo carried her words floor to floor. — You embarrassed yourself in front of your wife, and you made fools of us too! — Oh, Vanessa, don’t start lecturing me too! — Mike snapped back.
His sister didn’t let that pass. — This is for the gas we wasted driving over here! — she shot back. — You invited us. You promised dinner!
Paula spooned fragrant green tea into a mug. Poured in the hot water. Watched the leaves slowly unfurl in the heat.
The lesson in the hallway continued. Mike had stopped arguing. Now he was just making pitiful excuses, drifting, judging by the scuffling footsteps, farther down toward the lower landing. Eleanor was delivering a full lecture on who in a household is supposed to act like a man and who is acting like a disgrace.
Vanessa kept adding fresh and pointed observations. Five minutes later, the apartment door flew open. Eleanor and Vanessa stood there breathing hard, both wearing the unmistakable expression of deep moral satisfaction.
— We’re leaving, — Eleanor said, adjusting her fur coat, now crooked at one shoulder. — Nothing for us to do here. And that financial genius can sit in the hallway and think about his behavior…
