SHE KNOCKED at his office door, then said her name and opened it. She bowed her head and walked in. She stood there in her white fur hat, cheeks shiny from her excited march over. He stood up when he saw her, thinking she had a knack for appearing out of the blue when he wanted to see her the most. He could never get bored of her face.
“Wait,” she said, putting her hand out in front of her to stop him in his tracks. “I wanted to ask you something important. Antoine passed away and you know I enjoyed his company a great deal, so it might seem a little inappropriate to bring this up so soon . . . but I was wondering if I could replace him.”
McMahon didn’t answer. He seemed to not quite understand her request.
“Take his place as the entertainment booker, I mean. I’ve been all over the city with him. A lot of the most popular acts were ones I discovered. I have a knack for it, and I know I can do it.”
She looked at him sheepishly. She still didn’t get an answer. He frowned. He looked as though he were about to say something in anger.
“Oh, and here—I have something for the children.”
She reached into her bag and handed him a small light box she’d bought. It cast shadow puppets on the wall. McMahon took it from her, looking pleased that she remembered he was a family man. She had no actual place anywhere in his life. He put it on a shelf above the hook his coat was hanging from.
“I’ll talk it over with everyone else and get back to you,” he said.
She turned to leave the office, not quite sure who this “everyone else” was. Before she left, she felt his hand on her shoulder. He closed the door before she could leave. They made love against the door with their clothes on.
? ? ?
WHEN HE GOT BACK HOME to Westmount, the children loved the strange lantern. They lay happily in their living room, watching the horses run together joyfully all over the walls. They were bright orange and lit up, like warhorses on fire in battle. McMahon and his wife sat on the couch together, watching too. He was pleased with Rose because his children were pleased with him. His wife was happy too because she saw the gift as a reconciliation. He felt satiated. He had a family and a mistress, and everyone was perfectly happy.
If you ever experience such a feeling, you should probably realize that God will take notice. Something will be taken away.
Mrs. McMahon had a dream that she was sitting next to Rose on the couch. They were discussing love affairs. Mrs. McMahon was telling Rose about all the different suitors she had when she was young. Rose was so impressed in the dream. That was one of Rose’s special qualities, her ability to be genuinely impressed by just about anything.
Mrs. McMahon buried her face in Rose’s hair and inhaled deeply. She opened her eyes to find herself lying in her bed. She noticed that she could still smell Rose, if only slightly. Then she sat up abruptly. She climbed out of the bed. She flung open the closet door. She started yanking down jackets and inhaling deeply. She pulled off the jacket he had been wearing that night. And at that point she was absolutely convinced of what she had been smelling. It was Rose. She was on all of his clothes.
He was so surprised when she confronted him. His pupils always dilated for a split second when he was confronted with the truth. Once she saw his eyes turn black, he had already confessed to her.
“You took her away from the children and me. I liked her, that’s why you went after her. She wasn’t even pretty. She listened to what I said. She made me feel inspired again. I want a divorce. I want everything too. And then I’ll burn it. You will never touch me again.”
She called the police and told them about McMahon’s crooked operations. The police were in McMahon’s pockets. What could they do other than have her committed? She needed to have a rest. Most women became excitable.
When the truck came for Mrs. McMahon, there was a pile of her husband’s clothes in the yard up in flames. The flames were fighting with each other. One flame grabbed another by the hair and shook it. The children were sitting around it like it was some sort of bonfire.
Her madness was a fact soon widely accepted as true. Although Rose never believed it.
? ? ?
“HOW ARE THE CHILDREN?” Rose asked a couple of weeks later. It was always a taboo subject between them.
“They are fine. They’re both in boarding school, so they didn’t have to witness the whole regrettable fiasco with their mother. I think you should move into a bigger apartment. We can’t bloody well go back there together, can we? And I can use some fucking comfort. I’ve had it up to here with crazy women. All you have to do is be fucking pleasant and spread your legs, and you are taken care of. You don’t know how easy you have it.”
“So you would switch places with a woman, then?”
“Come on.”
“Dogs are happy with that life, not me.”
“There we go. I can’t listen to this shit, really.”
“Can I go see her?”
“Oh, fuck off, Rose. You’re such a piece of shit. I feel bad enough about it. What do you care? You slept with her husband.”
“I liked her. She was such a force. But she had been thwarted. She was meant to be on a horse riding into battle.”