And then lately, she had become Bitsy's moral support almost her elder as various difficulties arose with little Xiu-Mei. It seemed Xiu-Mei was having trouble taking root. She was a very sweet child, very warm and loving, but every germ that came along managed to lay her low, and twice since her arrival she had had to be hospitalized. Bitsy had the sagging, sleep-deprived appearance of the mother of a newborn. Sometimes she was still in her bathrobe at ten o'clock in the morning. She snapped at Jin-Ho over trifles and she seemed defeated by her own house. So Ziba ran her errands, and collected Jin-Ho for playdates, and offered what reassurance she could. Xiu-Mei's so much bigger now than when you brought her home, she said. And look at how she hangs on to you!
In the beginning, Xiu-Mei hadn't known how to hang on. It could be that she had never been held. She would arch her back in a stiff, rejecting posture when people tried to pick her up. But now she nestled in Bitsy's lap and clung to a twist of her sleeve, observing the scene narrowly over her pink plastic pacifier. They couldn't get that pacifier out of her mouth. Bitsy said she regretted ever introducing it, although what choice had they really had, with the flight home such a problem? Now we have a pacifier in every single room, she said, in case of an emergency, and three or four in her crib and half a dozen in her stroller. When I'm feeding her I have to unplug her mouth, pop in a spoonful of food, and then plug the pacifier back in again; and she objects the whole time. I think that's why she's so thin.
She was thin thin and wispy and small for her age, and at fourteen months she had not yet begun to crawl. But no one could doubt her intelligence. She watched one face and then another so closely she might have been lip-reading, and when Jin-Ho and Susan were playing nearby she grew especially attentive, following every movement with her tip-turned, bright-black eyes.
If only she would nap, Bitsy said, I believe I could get on top of things here. But she refuses. I lay her down in her crib and she starts shrieking. Not just crying shrieking, in this high sharp wailing voice. Sometimes late in the evening I think, There was something I meant to do today. What? What was it I meant to do? And then I remember: comb my hair.
Which reminds me, Ziba said. You know the Arrival Party: I think we should have it at our house this year.
Why? You had it last year.
Yes, but with Xiu-Mei and all That party is three months away, Bitsy said. If life isn't any better by then, I'll be on the psych ward.
All the more reason to have it at our house, Ziba said, risking a joke. But Bitsy failed to smile.
So Ziba switched the subject, and asked if Bitsy thought the girls might be old enough for day camp this summer. Oh, I don't know, Bitsy said in a listless voice. Who can say about such things?
There was a time when she would have had plenty to say. Ziba missed those days.
One June afternoon Ziba opened her door to find Maryam standing on her porch in a tailored blouse and linen skirt, beige linen pumps, and a bicycle helmet. What on earth! Ziba said.
I'm sorry to arrive unannounced, Maryam said. May I come in? And then she walked on in without waiting for an answer. The helmet was black and orange the orange a flame shape over each ear and the chin strap emphasized a pad of flesh beneath her jaw that Ziba had never noticed before. I was out shopping, as you see, she said, gesturing toward her skirt as if to prove it, and when I came home I thought I'd try on this helmet I had bought. I wanted to make sure that I knew how to work it.
You bought a bicycle helmet?
But clearly I did not know how to work it, because once I had it on I couldn't get it off again.
Ziba had an urge to laugh. She kept a straight face, but still Maryam said, Yes, I know: don't I make a spectacle! But I thought I would rather ask you than go to one of my neighbors.
Well, of course, Ziba said soothingly. Here, let's see, now… She stepped forward to take hold of a plastic buckle at one side. She squeezed it, but nothing happened. She felt for some sort of latch but she didn't find one.
Susan, who had been playing out back, came in just then with a watering can and said, Ooh, Mari — june! What have you got on?
Just a bicycling helmet, dearest, Maryam told her. Any luck? she asked Ziba.
No, but give me a minute. I'm sure there must be. . Ziba ran her fingers along the edge of the strap. She could smell the faintly bitter cologne Maryam was wearing, and she could feel the heat of her skin. What was it that you fastened when you put it on? she asked.
I believe it was that buckle, but now I don't remember. In the shop the boy who sold it to me undid it in a flash, but now I don't ouch.
Sorry, Ziba said. She had attempted to pull the strap up over Maryam's chin, but obviously it was meant to stay put. What did she know about such things? The only sport she'd played as a girl was volleyball and in a maghnae at that, a heavy black fitted headscarf that muffled her ears and covered her chest. I must be missing something, she said. Here's the buckle, here's the strap…
Where's your bike? Susan asked Maryam.
I don't have a bike, june-am.
Then what do you need a helmet for?
I had intended to ride a bicycle belonging to a friend.
Susan wrinkled her forehead. Ziba stepped back and said, Sami will know.
Sami? Is he home?
No, but I expect him any minute. Come in and sit down and we'll wait for him.
Oh, dear, Maryam said. She went over to the gilt-edged mirror that hung opposite the front door. Wouldn't you think this plastic piece she said, peering at her reflection.
I tried the plastic piece, Ziba told her. Come and sit down, Maryam. Let me make you a cup of tea. Or… can you drink tea with a helmet on?
I don't know, Maryam said. Oh, I don't want tea! Maybe we should just cut the strap with scissors.
There's no point in ruining a brand-new helmet. Come in and wait for Sami.
Maryam followed Ziba into the living room, but she didn't look happy about it.
Does the bike belong to Danielle? Susan asked, trailing after Maryam.
This made Ziba laugh out loud, finally the image of Danielle LeFaivre, the most hoity-toity of Maryam's women friends, doggedly pedaling a bicycle in her Carolina Herrera suit and fourhundred-dollar shoes. Maryam sighed and sat down on the sofa. No, she said, it was another friend. Then she changed the subject. What were you watering? she asked Susan. Do you already have something growing?
No, I was just messing around.
Yesterday I went to the nursery and bought some catnip plants for Moosh, Maryam told her. I thought you and I could put them into that patch beneath the kitchen window the next time you come over.
Is the bicycle Dave's? Ziba asked abruptly.
Then she was sorry, because Maryam took a long moment before she said, It was Connie's.
Oh.
Dave was planning to take me for a ride in the country this weekend. He still has Connie's bike in his garage, but he thought it would be safer not to rely on her old helmet.
Oh, he's right! Ziba said. It's like children's car seats, I think. You're not supposed to resell them. They have a limited life expectancy.
When Sami opened the front door you would think they had both been rescued; they turned so quickly toward the sound.
Sami wasn't as taken aback as he should have been, in Ziba's opinion. All he said when he walked in was, Hi, Mom. What's with the helmet?
I was wondering if you could help me get it off, she told him.