Chapter 12

Frank arrived home by himself, pleased that Alicia’s daughter, Jackie, and his son, Frank Junior, had decided to stay at the Boston Ramada-Hilton, the same hotel that harbored the Troubadour Room where they’d all had dinner. The Troubadour Room boasted a fantastic breakfast buffet, and uncle and niece decided they wanted to try it.

Frank knew, of course, that they hadn’t imposed on him because of Tanya’s accident, even though he had refused to even discuss the accident with them.

“What are you doing up?” he asked, trying to sound angry with Tanya for not staying in bed until she was completely healed.

“I was hungry,” Tanya replied. She sounded normal. When she moved, however, she still moved slowly, as she forced a tube of stiff scar tissue running up through her body to bend in the proper directions as she moved.

“Well, sit down and I’ll fix you something,” Frank said, noticing how painfully she was moving around the kitchen.

“I’d rather stand, if you don’t mind,” Tanya said, her voice a little weaker now that she had someone around who would sympathize with her. She stood, leaning against a counter, and watched him.

“What do you want?” he asked, interested in finding out what she was hungry for.

“I was going to fix some eggs,” she told him. “They’re starting to get old and I wanted to use them up.”

“Eggs, it is!” Frank replied, thankful that she asked for something that he knew how to cook. He broke the first yoke when he cracked it too deeply. He broke the second one, too, trying to move it around in the pan so that the white on top would get done without cooking the bottom too hard. “Scrambled?” he asked, opting for the only possible choice remaining.

He heard Tanya chuckle. It was pleasant hearing a happy sound coming from her after two days of whimpering semi-consciousness.

“So, how’d the forum go?” she asked as he dumped the runny mess of half-cooked eggs onto a plate for her. She could tell he was terribly preoccupied with something. Whatever it was, it was bothering him a lot. Although she actually liked half-raw eggs – they had a delicious aliveness in their flavor – Frank usually cooked them to a stiffer, more firm, dead texture before serving them to anyone. This mess was a delightful offering she could simply tip her plate up and suck right into her face. ‘With a little salt, if you please... ‘

“Well, Alicia dropped a little bomb on us,” Frank said, not sure that he wanted to dump on Tanya while she was still in this weakened state. “It’s not important. I can tell you later.”

“Oh, okay,” Tanya said, sounding a little disappointed. “I thought some of Alicia’s clan might stay with us ... Evidently they found somewhere else, huh?”

She ducked her head down and sucked a bite of egg off her fork before it managed to drool down between the tines and escape back onto the plate. She swallowed without paying much attention to it. After managing all the semisolid bits into her face, she tried talking to Frank again. “They’re staying somewhere else because of me?” she asked. It wasn’t really a question.

“They’re staying somewhere else because I asked them to,” Frank replied.

“What’s bothering you?” Tanya asked. “I don’t want to quarrel with you, but you’re acting really weird. Tell me what happened at the forum. Please?”

Frank took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “You remember Jackie, I’m sure,” he said.

“Yes. Of course I do,” she responded, sounding a little curt. “A grandmother doesn’t forget her first grandchild. I know she was supposed to be there, too. Did something happen to her?”

“No,” Frank said, hesitating. “It’s what she said...” He told her about the unpleasant discoveries that her researchers had uncovered at Camden. He also told her that Alicia wanted to bring her husband into the family. She wanted Béla to initiate him like she had her son’s wife, Tabatha.