Page 51 of The Good Sister

‘I’m so sorry.’ Wally looks like he might cry. ‘I thought I’d thought of everything.’

The waitress comes out of the restaurant with paper napkins and a glass of water.

‘Is she all right?’ she says to Wally. ‘Should I call a doctor?’

Wally brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. ‘Do you need a doctor?’

‘No,’ I say.

The waitress nods, and after a minute goes back inside. Wally remains by my side. ‘What can I get you?’ he says. ‘How can I help?’

I take a deep breath and look at him.

‘Can you please call Rose?’

Rose screeches to the curb so fast that Wally and I have to lift our feet from the gutter to avoid getting run over. She gets out and slams the car door, shooting a dark glare at Wally.

‘What the hell happened?’

Wally and I stagger to our feet. I had finally stopped shaking, but I suddenly start again. Rose looks so angry.

‘We went out for dinner,’ I say.

‘In arestaurant? You know you can’t handle that environment.’ She looks at Wally. ‘You know she has sensory processing issues, don’t you? She’s hypersensitive to sound and light and touch.’

‘And smell,’ I add.

She looks back at me, as if seeing me for the first time. ‘What on earth are you wearing?’

‘Goggles. There was no-one else at the restaurant–’

‘Well, evidently there was! Jesus. Fern, let’s just get out of here.’ Rose looks into the restaurant, at the waitress who is having a good gawk at us through the window. ‘Have you paid the bill?’

I look at Wally.

‘Not yet,’ he says. ‘I was . . . distracted. I’ll do it now.’

‘For god’s sake, I’ll do it.’ Rose stalks into the restaurant, unzipping her purse. ‘The last thing we need is for you to be arrested.’

Wally stands up, but by the time he is on his feet she is already gone. He looks at me. ‘I’m so sorry, Fern.’

‘No, I’m sorry.’

He shakes his head. ‘I . . . I had no idea it would be so . . .’

‘Difficult.’

‘Yeah. Difficult.’

There is a brief silence when no cars drive past.

‘Why can’t I just be normal?’ I whisper.

‘You are. It’s everyone else who are weirdos.’

We smile at each other sadly. After a moment, Rose comes out of the restaurant. ‘Say your goodbyes,’ she says, taking me by the arm and putting me into the passenger seat of her car. It feels so different from Wally opening the door to me earlier. Then, I felt like a woman. Now I feel like a child.

As we pull away, Wally gives me a weak smile. I can’t help but smile back. He is still wearing his goggles.