Page 19 of A Rose of Steel
“They might have been expired,” she said, but as she talked the niece was shaking her head as if to say her words weren’t true. “I had a couple around the house. I always kept them handy. One in every room.” Mrs. Hackett continued, not noticing her niece. “He hadn’t needed them for so long...”
“You said earlier that being nervous is what triggered it,” I said.
“It was usually triggered by changes in weather,” she said. “High humidity. That’s why I was so happy when he got that scholarship to USC. Weather’s always the same there.”
“Is that when his attacks stopped?” I asked.
“His asthma had practically disappeared,” Gaylon said, reluctant, yet seemingly compelled to explain. “As he got older, you know. It was bad when he was a baby, but by the time he started playing football in the pee-wee league, he was over it. But no one could convince Aunt Delores of that.”
“I had to protect my baby. You know when the humidity was high, sometimes it would still act up,” Mrs. Hackett said.
“Yeah, but his body had adjusted to the humidity here,” Gaylon said. She blew out a breath like she’d had this conversation a few times.
“And when he moved to California,” Mrs. Hackett said, “they stopped all together.” She sniffed back a tear, seemingly not realizing her niece was accusing her of overreacting to her son’s ailments. “He was going to move there. No humidity there.” She let out a weak attempt at a chuckle, but it came out more like a hiccup and brought on a flood of tears.
“Here, Aunt Delores,” Gaylon reached for a box of tissues that sat in the middle of the table and gave her a couple. “It’s going to be okay.”
Mrs. Hackett reached out for the tissue and looked up at her niece, no expression evident on her face. “It’s never going to be okay again,” she said and dabbed at her face. “Not ever again.”
“I wondered why so many people said they had inhalers yesterday,” I said.
“That way, whomever he was with,” Mrs. Hackett said, “if he needed it, he would have it.” She ran a shaky hand over her face.
“And it made her feel better too,” Gaylon said.
“I guess it could have been his nerves...” Mrs. Hackett’s blank eyes looked at Auntie Zanne.
“It’s alright.” Auntie Zanne got up from her seat and went back over to stand near her friend.
I heard the door swing open, not having heard a knock, I figured it might be Mr. Hackett so I stood up to greet him. Murmurings of greetings floated in from the living room, and then around the corner came the last person I expected to see.
Piper Alvarez.
“Hi everybody,” she said smiling, a big pot of something in her oven-mitt clad hands. She acted more like she was coming to a pot luck dinner than to show her respect. She walked over to Mrs. Hackett, bent over and kissed her on the cheek. “Jori couldn’t get out of bed, so she sent me. Where should I put this?”
“I’ll take it,” Gaylon said. “Just let me get a dishtowel.”
“Oh, it’s not hot now,” Piper said, she looked down at her hands. “It was when I left home.”
“Oh, okay,” Gaylon said, and grabbed the pot. “I’ve got it.”
Piper, potless, leaned into Mrs. Hackett and rubbed her back. Mrs. Hackett looked up and produced a perfunctory smile. She reached out for Piper’s hand but missed it and let it plop into her lap. Piper grasped it and gave her a squeeze. She stood up straight and glanced around the room.
“I can’t stay long,” she said, blowing out a breath like she’d been rushing around. She plopped down in a chair that had been vacated for her when she came in and smiled at everyone as her eyes circled the table. Her thin blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, she was wearing blue jeans, and a Texas A&M t-shirt. “Just came to stand in for my sister.”
I was surprised she’d do anything for her sister when it came to Bumper. She hadn’t seemed too happy being at the wedding or, for that matter, in the wedding. And to top it off, when Bumper got sick, she was nowhere to be found.
“It was the least I could do,” she was still talking. “I hated to tell her I told you so, but I’d been telling her that Bumper was not invincible. She was going to have to learn to take care of herself. And now look,” she flapped a hand, “from here on out, sheisgoing have to take care of herself. She’s on her own. Maybe this will teach her a lesson.”
Now that sounded more like the girl I’d met at the wedding.
Chapter Ten
The house had started to fill up with mourners. Friends and family members were walking around mingling, speaking softly, carrying on their various conversations. People were eating, drinking and every now and then you’d hear a laugh or chuckle, probably people reminiscing about Bumper.
But Piper’s comment and connotation came in loud and clear, and everyone that sat close by stopped and looked at her
“What?” Mrs. Hackett for the first time let her eyes focus on someone. She squinted them, trying to focus on Piper so she could understand. She sniffed back her tears.
