Last Night In Twisted River

It is worth noting that, in this period of Da

Naturally, Da

Lupita hadn’t stopped there. It was soon after Hero had come to live with him, Da

And it followed, of course, that those photographs of Charlotte would have to be moved. “It’s no longer appropriate,” Lupita had told Da

Now it made sense. The late cook’s bedroom served as a second guest room; it was rarely used, but it was particularly useful if a couple with a child (or children) were visiting the writer. Dominic’s double bed had been replaced with two twins. The homage to Charlotte in this far-removed guest room-at the opposite end of the hall from Da

It made more sense, too, that Da

Occasionally, there were small glimpses of Charlotte in the snapshots-for the most part, these pictures were of Charlotte with Joe. (They had somehow passed Lupita’s unfathomable radar of approval.) And there were pictures of Ketchum galore, of course-even a few new ones of the woodsman, and of Da

That December morning in 2004, when Lupita caught Da

“You’re writing in the kitchen,” the cleaning woman said. It was a straightforward, declarative sentence, but Da

“I’m not exactly writing, Lupita,” he said defensively. “I’m making a few notes to myself about what I’m going to write.”

“Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it in the kitchen,” Lupita insisted.

“Yes,” Da

“I suppose I could start upstairs-like on the third floor, in your writing room, where you’re not writing,” the cleaning woman said.

“That would be fine,” Da

Lupita sighed, as if the world were an endless source of pain for her-it had been, Da

The Mexican was not easily surprised, but Lupita stood as if she were in shock. Recovering herself, she opened the door to the fridge, which she had cleaned just the other day; there was practically nothing in it. (Except when Da

“No, I mean the door,” Da

At this point, Lupita’s disapproval turned to worry. “¿Enfermo?” she suddenly asked Da

“No, I am not sick, Lupita,” Da

It was a tough time of year for the writer, who was no spring chicken, Lupita knew. Christmas was the hardest time for people who’d lost family; of this, the cleaning woman had little doubt. She immediately did what Da

It’s not likely that it ever occurred to the cleaning woman that she was throwing away what amounted to Da

Ketchum had called America a lost nation, but Da

While Lupita made a fuss over the refrigerator door, Da