Читать книгу Celia's Shadow - Sandy Levy Kirschenbaum - Страница 33

“You ARE kidding me. Who DOES that? That is absolutely disgusting. She’s hostile, aggressive, hateful, gross, disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Did I mention disgusting?”

“I know.”

“I am so excited to hear you took the drink from her. You didn’t have to say a thing. I’m sure she got the message. She’s disgusting!”

“I wanted to vomit when she brought the dirty glass to the table. I was in shock and couldn’t believe someone could be that big of a bitch. I’d rather eat dog poop off the street than something that witch offered me. Later, when I told Jillian, I’ll never forget, she shook her head and she was livid. She was lying in her bed, IVs in her skinny, frail arms. She said, ‘Emmella, you should have thrown the fucking fizzy thing in her face. You should have said, “Keep the fizzy, fuck face!” That’s what you do if something like that happens again.’ She held a crumpled tissue in her hand. As she said those words, she took the tissue, flicked her wrist, and tossed it over the blanket onto her thighs.”

Emma took a long sip of water and then continued. “Jillian died the next day and that entire next day I kept saying over and over in my head, ‘Keep the fizzy, fuck face.’ I must have recited it in my brain a thousand times. Every time I said the phrase, I could picture Jillian’s little hand flip the tissue into the air and onto the blanket. She asked me to promise her I would take a deep breath and then calmly ask a question. If all else fails, toss it back and say, ‘Keep the fizzy, fuck face.’ Now I ask a question to throw back the focus. She is undeniably a bitch, and so is karma. I can sit back and watch her be an idiot, because the bitch that is karma will get her.”

“I’m glad you’re taking Jillian’s advice. That’s her legacy to you.”

“You know, Celia, I have never done anything unkind to her. I’m cold to her and stay away from her, but that’s to avoid her vicious conduct toward me.”

“You’re an innocent victim who happened to fall for a guy with baggage.”

“I know, right?” Emma flipped her hands in the air.

“Does this ex-wife have a name?” Celia took another slice of pizza.

“I despise her to the point that I can’t bring myself to say her name, and I hate when she says mine. She’s too vulgar and detestable for me to say her name.” Emma took a bite of her now cold pizza; the cheese was no longer stringy.

“Oh. I see. You have no problem saying fuck face a million times, yet you can’t say her name.” Celia’s voice was lowered to a whisper. “You do realize how funny that is, don’t you?”

“I call her Edie. Let’s leave it at that.”