Chapter 24 Beating Cancer “The third chemo’s a charm!” Dr. Courtney Sands almost giggles. Willa Woods laughs and goes to slap high five with her oncologist but Dr. Sands grabs her hand instead. “Let’s not get carried away. The tumors haven’t grown, which is good, but they haven’t shrunk either. The markers are all going in the right direction but it is still early days.” “And the only side effect is loss of appetite, … Read More

Getting Affairs in Order “Thank you, Mr. Singer, for your Lysistrata. It is…interesting and…provocative.” Frank is standing in front a scarred wooden desk, script in hand, smiling down at the drama teacher. “Unfortunately we’ve decided to go in a different direction. We’re meeting our classics requirement by staging ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’.” Frank’s mouth drops open. His brain tries to digest this new information. He stares and finally … Read More

Greek Comedy Frank quietly walks up his front stairs holding a small collage. Magda made the piece by defacing a copy of a bad review he got back in the 90s. He loves it. Willa is asleep and Jackie is long gone. Frank takes his computer to the desk in the living room, looks out the window at the quiet street and cries. He’s gotten used to crying a few times a day, any … Read More

Remembering Magda “Ayl mo-lay ra-chamim, sho-chayn ba-m’romim…” Rabbi Deborah Matz, a short woman with straight black hair and a patchwork tallis, is chanting the prayer for the dead. She stands under a large painting of a skull, an anti-war piece that was one of Magda’s favorites. The walls of Magda’s living room are now completely covered with paintings and a dozen sculptures are displayed on an end table, a stool and the bookshelves. Berit … Read More

Chapter 19 Sitting Shiva The next morning the body is gone, taken away to be cremated. Berit and Frank sit on two black wooden chairs facing each other in Magda’s living room. They are quiet for a few minutes. Frank wants to fill the silence but can’t think of anything to say. His mind wanders and then, every once in a while, he feels tears dripping off his cheeks. Neither of them talk. After … Read More

Washing the Dead Frank Singer parks his Datsun in front of Magda Singer’s house, which is both familiar and strange. It is now a house of death. He sits in the car, watching himself sit in the car as if it were a pivotal scene in a movie. He’s scared to go in and relieved that it’s over and heartbroken and empty. His eyes are dry and he wonders if he’s a bad son. … Read More

Chapter 16 Fading Magda Singer hasn’t eaten for two weeks. The hunger is long gone but so is the joy of making a decision, of taking her life into her own hands. Oh, those first few days felt so good – flying high with nothing to weigh her down! Making her own future instead of waiting for hospitals and needles and nasty doctors. Making her own death. But that was fourteen days ago and … Read More

A Missed Opportunity At the end of the week, Willa is still hospitalized but practically cough free. Her appetite is back so everyone who visits her hospital room smuggles in a treat. On Sunday, Zip Abrams walks through the door wearing a man’s three-piece pin striped suit and carrying a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates. She drops to a knee in front of the bed. “They no sooner met but they looked…” Zip stands … Read More

The ER “I called her ten times, on the house phone and on her cell, and she didn’t answer!” Jackie Armarillo is in old grey sweatpants and a hoodie. Her voice is high and thin. “She didn’t answer!” Jackie tries to peek at Willa Woods through the small window in the hospital room door but half dozen people in scrubs are blocking her view of the bed. “I got over to her place and, … Read More

Chapter 12 Working Clowns An hour later, Frank jogs to the BART station. It takes him three tries to get the machine to print him a ticket and then he finds himself standing on the eastbound platform when his westbound San Francisco train arrives and leaves without him. He switches sides and waits another 20 minutes. He’s lost in the midst of a routine he’s done hundreds of times. The seven-minute ride through the … Read More