“Would you like to tell him, Becky, or should I?”
“Tell him what? I don’t know anything about Greta and her time here. She left just after I started living here unless you forgot.”
“But why? Dad, did you ever wonder why she was in such an all-fired hurry to fire Greta? She’d been here since before I was born. You liked her, so did mom. There was nothing wrong with her work, so why did Becky get rid of her in such a hurry? Go ahead, tell him. It’s because she knew something about you, isn’t it? About what you did to my mom.”
“Shut your mouth; when are you gonna stop lying? Felix, I told you, she makes up stuff just to make me look bad. She’s never liked me being here; you know that. Don’t you remember the way she acted when we first got married? She…”
“I told you to sit down and shut up.”
“Felix!”
“Go on, Gia, what did Greta say?”
“She said she saw you kill my mother.” Becky flew up from her chair and charged at me, but dad got there before her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m not going to sit here and let her lie on me like that.” My heart was back to racing, and I felt sick to my stomach. The sound of the door opening came just in time to save me from passing out.
I’d remembered to leave the door unlocked as he said, and Gabriel and Greta walked in. Two things happened at once; Becky fell back against the chair as if her legs had given out, and dad whispered Greta’s name as if in shock. “Hello, Mr. Fontane, Miss. Gia, nice to see you again.”
“What’s she doing here? With him? Is this another setup you two cooked up? Look here you….”
“Come in Greta, Gia was just telling us a story about the day my wife died. Why don’t you tell me what you have to say?” I couldn’t tell from dad’s dry tone if he believed me or not.
Greta faltered, which is understandable, but Gabriel’s subtle touch on her back seemed to give her the push she needed. I’d geared myself up to hear this again, told myself I could hold it together, but as she started speaking, I felt the need to put my head between my knees.
Her voice grew stronger as she went on with her story, and each time Becky tried to interrupt, all it took was one look from Gabriel to shut her up. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to this….”
“Sit…down.” Dad was fuming. It was the first sign of life he’d shown since Greta started speaking. Becky floundered about a bit, looking green around the gills, and had the situation not been so dire; I might’ve found joy in her discomfort. “Go on, Greta, I’m listening.”
This time Greta didn’t look at Becky before carrying on but instead to Gabriel, who nodded his encouragement. Until now, he’d stuck close to the older woman, but once she got to the actual day leading up to what she swore she’d witnessed, he left her side and crossed the room to mine.
“That day, things were a little lighter around the house than it had been in a while. Ms. Adrienne was almost back to her old self. Not quite, but she seemed more upbeat than in days past since she became so gravely ill. I don’t know what made me come up here at that time. I’d been in the kitchen where I usually stay when company is visiting.”
Here Greta stopped and swallowed hard, her eyes now fixed on the portrait of mom. “I think it might’ve had something to do with the way Ms. Adrienne had started acting around Becky. In the days leading up to it, they’d seemed like friends, same as always. But that morning, Ms. Adrienne asked me a strange question after Becky left the first time. When I thought of it after, I realized that Becky had been a bit upset when she left, before she came back later looking chipper.”
“What did Adrienne ask you?”
“She asked me if I’d noticed anything strange about Becky before. She seemed a bit confused, or so I’d thought at the time. Now, I’m not so sure. I put it off to the medication messing with her head; some days, as you know, were harder than others. I was so caught up in feeling sad about her situation that I missed what was really going on. The guilt has been eating me up inside ever since.”
“Go on. What exactly happened that day?”
“After Becky left that first time, I went up to see if Ms. Adrienne needed anything. She was just sitting up in bed with a frown on her face; that’s when she asked me that question about Becky. I told her honestly that I hadn’t. Truth is, I never really paid much mind to visitors in that way. Only when I noticed that some of the ladies had stopped coming by as often.”
“Anyhow, Becky was back a few hours later, and I didn’t think anything of it; why would I? She’d been back and forth a lot back then. In and out at all hours until you came home in the evenings. So, I was in the kitchen standing at the sink; I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a few hours yet before I had to go pick up Ms. Gian…I mean Ms. Gia.” She smiled wanly at Gabriel when she corrected herself.
“Anyway, I was standing there washing the dishes when I got the eeriest feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t explain it; I just… Anyway, I headed up the stairs, being quiet as a mouse, carrying a tray with refreshments. If nothing was out of place, I didn’t want to interrupt whatever the two of them were discussing, but if I was caught, I could just pretend, you know, that I was bringing up something. Even though Ms. Adrienne wasn’t really eating much by that time, and she’d fuss at me if I overworked myself seeing to her guests.”
“You remember Mr. Fontane; she didn’t like anyone else to take care of her, especially the nurses who came. Strangers, she called them. She didn’t like them seeing her that weak and undignified. She’d only let them administer her medicine, but that was it. The rest you and I took care of and were glad to do it. She said that was more than enough work on my shoulders, and if our visitors needed pampering, they could get it at home; I wasn’t here to cater to their needs.” She smiled fondly at the memory.
“You know Ms. Adrienne was a spitfire when she chose to be. Anyway, I came up the stairs, and at first, all I heard was the drone of their voices, couldn’t make out what they were saying to each other. Then I was finally able to hear. What are you doing? That’s what Ms. Adrienne said, then she shouted, get away from there.”
“Something in her voice made me panic, and I rushed to the door just in time to see Becky fiddling with the IV. I wasn’t sure what all she’d done; I just remember the smug look on her face, a look that turned to pure evil when she turned to look at Ms. Adrienne on the bed before she saw me standing in the doorway.
“I’ve watched enough soap operas to know I had to act fast. I could barely find words, just held up the tray with what I’m sure was a sickly-sweet look on my face. My whole body had gone ice cold. I’m amazed even now that I didn’t stutter when I spoke, that I was able to get words past my lips. I pretended that I’d just arrived and walked in the room chattering away like I always did.”
She took a deep breath here as tears ran down both our faces. It was then I realized that I was digging my nails into Gabriel’s arm, where he held me. I tried easing back, but he put my hand back without looking at me as if to say it was okay, carry on. “I wasn’t sure then if it had worked; I was too busy trying to keep my eyes on Ms. Adrienne, who looked like she was just falling asleep.”