"Go pee, even if you don't have to. Coffee will make you go and it's a long ride. We don't have time to stop." She was startled by my frankness. "What's a matter? Don't rich people pee?" She hustled into the bathroom as I called my sister.
Suzie was shocked I wasn't in the Washington area with Paul but thrilled to hear I was up north and we'd get to see each other. She was equally pleased I would visit our mother again. When I told her I was bringing Karen she was ecstatic at the idea of meeting her.
"Don't bring her to the house! It's a mess! We'll meet somewhere. Quick, spill the beans, tell me everything. Why are you in Boston and not holed up in a Washington hotel screwing your brains out all weekend?"
"If I take time to explain, I'll never make it to Connecticut."
"Call from the car on your cell phone! I can't wait to hear."
"No dice. The phone's dead, and I didn't have time to bring my charger."
"God, you've eloped! I knew it!" I laughed and agreed to meet her for a late lunch. We chose to get together in a restaurant I remembered and ended the conversation just as Karen joined me.
On the two hour ride I explained about my sister and cautioned Karen that my mother might not know me. "You don't have to come into her room if you don't want," I said.
Karen was unfazed. I was abruptly put in my place. "I don't mind being around people who are old or losing their mind. I took care of my mother, didn't?"
"Tell me about your mother," I asked.
"No," she answered, killing that line of questions.
I sensed Karen's like me or hate me feelings toward me. At one level she was fascinated, different from anyone she'd ever encountered. I know I made her uncomfortable. While this troubled me, I refused to deny who I was and impersonate a person Karen might want me to be. The trip dragged on.
"How about we sing," I asked. "Know any camp songs? How about, 'Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall . . . ?" No, I guess not. Do you know any songs?"
"Some; hymns mostly." This child would be a flop at a pajama party; all the girls singing god-knows-what and Karen humming Rock of Ages.
"Tell me about Sister Rose. She was a nun, right? She taught school?"
"A long, long time ago."
"Does she dress like a nun?"
"Not now. She wears a veil but she showed me a picture of when she was in all black like a penguin."