“Ladies, have you met my beau? Don’t judge him because he’s a bear.”
She put her arms around her imaginary bear and they waltzed around the dance floor. People stopped to look. At first they thought they were looking because it was so incredibly odd. But then they started looking because they wanted to watch the expression on Rose’s face as she waltzed. It was a look of rapture, as if she were having the most wonderful dream. They wondered whether they would be able to find love like that in their own lives. They all wanted to hurry home and jump in their beds and have the same dreams she was having.
? ? ?
OF ALL THE GIRLS, Mimi was her favorite, because they could carry on such interesting conversations. On a Friday, Rose and Mimi tried to figure out what they would do with their Saturday.
“There’s a movie theater where a really great piano player works,” said Mimi. “Let’s go there.”
“I’m not a fan of movies,” said Rose. “I prefer live performances. But anyway, let’s go somewhere where we can talk.”
? ? ?
ROSE AND MIMI MET UP outside the Valentine Hotel the next day so they could go see the Picasso exhibit together. It was fall. The curled-up brown leaves fell from the trees like sea horses.
“It’s going to be wonderful,” Rose exclaimed. “All these paintings where he sticks a nose on a cheek and an eyeball on a forehead. He captures the modern condition. All our thoughts are fractured. Everything is a dead end. You have to look at something from all angles at once to see it from the inside out. Not just be obsessed with the obvious, stereotypical way of looking at something, you know? To make things appear as they really are.”
? ? ?
THE MUSEUM WAS a distinguished-looking building with columns, in the middle of downtown. They had to climb up a flight of rather large marble stairs. Rose quite liked the feeling because it made her feel as though she were a little child again. The building had a huge echo inside it. All the noises were amplified. It was like you were on a stage, speaking into a microphone.
? ? ?
ON THE WAY TO THE EXHIBIT, they passed through a display of the wildlife that lived around Montreal in the woods, that never dared to venture into the city limits. If you were a creature afraid of fire, you could only imagine the sight of marquee electric lights. A taxidermied wolf stared at them, its giant teeth bared and one of its paws raised, though it really wasn’t frightening in the least. It just seemed odd out of context.
“All fear is dependent on context,” Rose said.
? ? ?
THEY STOOD LOOKING AT the portrait of Gertrude Stein together. The subject was so serious and intelligent-looking. Rose had read her poetry and had admired it. It had made her feel better about herself and her sex. Everything written by any woman was written by all women, because they all benefited from it. If one woman was a genius, it was proof that it was possible for the rest of them. They were not frivolous. They were all Gertrude Stein. Rose looked at the portrait of herself as a poet.
“Isn’t she the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?” Rose asked. “If someone made a portrait of me, I would want to look exactly like her.”
“Oh look, Rose!” Mimi exclaimed. “Let’s go into this room. It’s called the Rose Period. It’s been named after you.”
Rose looked around the room at the paintings. They were all of circus performers. They were colored the pink of a sunset. She stopped in front of a painting of a slender clown in a leotard and a two-cornered hat seated on a red couch. Mimi came and stood next to Rose, looking at the painting.
“This painting! It looks so much like Pierrot. He was my first love. He abandoned me because I wouldn’t put out, I think. Or actually, I don’t even know why he left me or what he thinks of me or why he fell out of love with me.
“It’s so wonderful looking at him now. It makes me remember how I used to feel about him, or that you could feel like that with a man. Just like companions and not like competitors. I stopped worrying about things. It was like I was in a boat and the boat stopped rocking. He made me feel safe so I could have all these dangerous thoughts. I think that might be what love is.”
“I don’t know if I necessarily agree with you. I think you’re just describing one of the eight thousand ways to feel horny. But I do think you should go find him. Just to see what he’s all about, so you can stop mooning over him.”
“I’ve always wanted to. But I never knew what had become of him or where I could find him. But now I see it perfectly. Of course, Pierrot is a clown!”
Then there was a swoosh as water came out from between Rose’s legs and splattered on the floor.
“Oh my God, I’m going to have another baby.”