“I miss you when I'm at his place.” She had the constant awareness that this was only for a year. But Tammy wasn't as sure that that was clear to Chris. Tammy thought he looked annoyed about it at times, but Sabrina didn't think he did.
“You know him better than I do,” Tammy told her, “but I wouldn't push it if I were you. One of these days he may go up in smoke.”
The next morning Tammy did as she had promised, and called an agency for a maid. She explained the nature of what they wanted, and the head of the agency said she had two candidates that might work for her. One was a woman who had worked in a hotel for ten years, and didn't mind working for several people. She was only available twice a week however, which wasn't enough. Tammy thought they needed someone every day. With four of them living there, and Chris some of the time, there was just too much to do. The other candidate was a little more “unusual,” she said. She was Japanese, spoke no English, but was immaculate, and worked like a Trojan. She had worked for a Japanese family that had moved away. The agency said they had an excellent reference on file for her, and they highly recommended her.
“How can I talk to her, if she only speaks Japanese?”
“She knows what to do. The family she worked for had five kids, all boys. That's a lot harder than cleaning house for four adult women, and three dogs.”
“I'm not so sure,” Tammy commented, having done it herself. But a maid who spoke no English was better than nothing, and a lot better than doing it herself.
“Her name is Hiroko Shibata. Would you like me to send her over to meet you this afternoon?”
“Sure,” Tammy said. She had nothing else to do.
Mrs. Shibata arrived promptly for the interview and was wearing a kimono. As it turned out, she didn't totally “not speak English,” she said about ten words that she repeated frequently, whether appropriate or not. She did in fact look immaculately clean, and she left her shoes politely at the door when she got there. The only detail the agency had failed to mention, and probably wasn't allowed to, was that she looked about seventy-five years old and had no teeth. She bowed to Tammy every time she spoke to her, which made Tammy bow too. And she didn't seem to mind the dogs, which was something at least. And several times she said “Dog verry cute.” Better yet. Somehow through using sign language, speaking loudly, which served no purpose, and pointing at her watch, Tammy managed to convey to her to come back the following morning to try out. She had no idea if she'd show up or not, but was delighted when she did.
Mrs. Shibata walked in the front door, took off her shoes, bowed politely to everyone, including Candy in a thong and see-through T-shirt, Annie as she flew out the door to school, Sabrina as she left for work, the dogs several times whenever she saw them, and turned into a whirling dervish. Much to Tammy's delight, she stayed till six and everything was impeccable when she left. The beds were changed and made with military precision, the refrigerator had been scrubbed out, their personal laundry was done, the towels were clean and folded. She had even fed the dogs. The only problem was that she had fed them seaweed, left over from the lunch she'd brought, of pungent pickles, seaweed, and raw fish, all of which smelled awful, and the seaweed made the dogs violently sick. Tammy spent more time cleaning up the mess they made than she would have cleaning the house. So when Mrs. Shibata came to work the next day, as Tammy had pantomimed her to, she pointed to the dog bowls, the dogs, the seaweed, and made faces worthy of kabuki, asking her not to do it again. Mrs. Shibata bowed at least sixteen more times in all directions and let Tammy know she understood.
Candy had managed to trash most of the house the night before when friends dropped by, so she had plenty of work to do. The arrangement was working well. Tammy told the agency she was hired, and Mrs. Shibata set to work keeping them clean and in good order, and Tammy felt like a free woman. She was never going to have to wash towels or take out the trash again. Which was comforting, since no one else did.
Problem number one was solved, but now Tammy had to solve a more important problem before she could look for a job. She and Sabrina had agreed that something had to be done about Candy's eating disorder before it destroyed her, so they confronted her that night. It was the perfect night to do it, since Chris was at a basketball game with friends, which was a good thing, because you could have heard Candy's screams of outrage and denial from there to Brooklyn. Her older sisters said they no longer cared what excuse she had for the weight she was losing. She had two choices, a hospital or a shrink. Candy looked stunned.
“Are you serious? How can you be so mean? It's so rude of you to make an issue of my weight like this. Mom would never have done that. She was a lot nicer than either of you.”
“That's true,” Tammy said, without denying it. “But we're here and she's not, and you're not going to be here much longer either if you don't do something about this. Candy, we love you and you're going to get really sick. We lost Mom. We don't want to lose you.” They were loving but firm. She slammed the door of her room, threw herself on her bed, and cried for hours, but her sisters would not be moved. They were both aware that she made enough money to move out and get her own apartment, but she didn't. She didn't speak to them for two days, while she mulled it over, and finally, much to everyone's amazement, she gave in and opted for the shrink. She said there was nothing wrong with her eating, and they just didn't see her eat, and what she ate was healthy. For a canary maybe, or a hamster, but not a woman who stood six feet one in bare feet. They assured her that she didn't need to get fat to please them, and no, they weren't jealous of her. She even pointed out that Tammy was gaining weight, which was true, although she wasn't heavy either, but she was a lot shorter so whatever she gained showed, and she had gained about five pounds since arriving in New York. But the only issue of any consequence, as far as they were concerned, was that Candy's eating problem was out of control.
Tammy made the shrink appointment, and took her to the first meeting. She didn't go in with her, but called and spoke to the doctor first. Candy was furious when she came out, but she gave them a shopping list, which Tammy bought immediately, and at least they saw her eat now, and they weren't just ignoring the problem. This was what they were there for. Allegedly for Annie, but Candy obviously needed their support too. It was so much easier dealing with it while they were all living under one roof.
“Do you ever get the feeling that we gave birth to two grown kids this summer?” Sabrina asked Tammy, as she lay on the couch after a long, hard day at work. She had had three appearances in court.
“Yes, I do.” Tammy grinned. “I have more respect than ever for Mom now. I don't know how she stood us when we were kids.”
They were still worried about their father and hadn't had time to see him for several weekends. They were all too busy at home. Except for Tammy, who now spent her time directing Mrs. Shibata with kabuki faces, and dropping Candy and Annie off at their respective shrinks. She felt more than ever like the suburban mother of two teenage girls, which led her to project number three, finding work. She knew she wasn't going to find a job anything like the one she had in California, she had no delusions about that. But she needed more to do than what she was doing, otherwise Candy would be right, and all she'd do would be sit around and eat. She needed more than that in her life. Candy and Sabrina were working, and Annie was going to school. She was the only one of the sisters who had nothing important to do, except be there at night when they all came home. She felt like a housewife, and as though she was losing her identity.
Project number three took a lot more time than projects one and two. It was well into the middle of October before she had lined up some interviews. She talked to several soaps, and hated the way they were structured. They were so second rate compared to what she had done before. And she finally talked to a show that she had heard of but never seen. It was pure, outrageous, utterly cheesy reality TV. The show focused on couples who were having trouble in their relationships, and basically allowed them to fight with each other on TV. Fisticuffs were not allowed, but other than that, anything went. A psychologist followed them on the show, who turned out to be an outrageous woman who looked like a drag queen. The show was called Can This Relationship Be Saved? It's Up to You! It sounded so awful that in spite of herself, Tammy was intrigued. Professionally, it would be embarrassing to be associated with the show, but the ratings were good, and they were desperate for a producer. The one they'd started with had just quit for a prime-time show on network TV. They couldn't believe that someone with Tammy's credentials was actually willing to talk to them. And she couldn't believe it either.