#37 Guido

didn’t. They asked her about the aquarium, and she said Al and Liz gave it to her, because she was thinking of buying some goldfish when she got back home. They took her sticks, moss, and rocks away from her. They said there might be insects living in them. That’s probably what he was eating, because he wouldn’t eat any of the steak she was giving him. China told them everything she did, and ate, in every detail, and whether or not, she liked it. She even told them about the desert, but left out the gecko part. They assigned some woman to her, but cancelled the strip search. She told them all about the cat, how she got him, her neighbors, her building, her landlord, how long she lived there, leaving out the husband part, the colours of paint she used, and why. They asked her if she had anybody to talk to. She nodded her head, and started talking about her community members in detail. The woman groaned to the men, who must be her superiors, because they left, and she stayed, even though it seemed like she didn’t want to. China told her the same stories. It was the vacation of a lifetime. The woman avoided eye-contact, China felt the gecko tickling her, pushed it down if it got too high when the woman wasn’t looking, and held her shirt the entire time. The woman could tell China was truthful because she kept her hand over her heart the whole time, and besides that, she was boring.

China was happy to be home. The first thing she did, was have a talk with her cat. She showed him the gecko, told him she liked him so not to bite him, and told him what his name was. She named him Guido, and the second thing she did, was get him set up. She went to the pet store, bought him a heater, and some food, then went out back to get sticks and rocks. China knew from the book that Guido was nocturnal, so she let him run around the apartment at night, Ginger never bothered him, not once, in fact, he even hunted for him. China watched until she fell asleep, as her little family took care of each other. The last thing, she thought about that first day back, was that she would ignore the brothers’ improperness. It was only proper.

Hilda looked after the cat while China was gone on her trip. She started coming around again as soon as China got back. She would sit for hours at night, drinking tea, smoking cigarettes, and telling China about her problems. She trusted China. She was a good friend. One time Hilda came over drunk, but this time when she complained about her adult kids ignoring her, she threatened to buy a plane ticket for far away. China encouraged her. Hilda did it. She called her from somewhere hot, said she was going to lounge around, and wasn’t going to tell her kids. China watched them and go, use their key, ask around, fret, and she never said a word. They thought she went off half-cocked, and died, or something. Finally, Hilda called, but she didn’t tell them where she was, only why. They were concerned that Hilda was putting everything on a credit card as that would really eat into her savings. She bought the best clothes, ate the best food, lounged around pool of the best hotel, and drank every night. Hildi, that’s what she called her, called China every night, but not her kids. She let them worry. They tried to make her feel ashamed, but China would have none of it. She supported Hildi. Those kids didn’t appreciate her.

Hildi was gone just over a month, but she spent around 27,000 bucks. She didn’t bring the back even one present. China thought it was funny. The kids thought it was wasteful. Hildi thought she was worth it. She had the time of her life, and China didn’t begrudge her that.

She was still lonely, so after about ten years, there was this new thing called the web, so she put herself out there. She was on it every night. On it, she could be anybody she wanted, so she called herself Julliette, said she was French, and talking from Quebec. It was as glamorous as she could imagine. After Guido and Ginger were fed, and the dishes were done, there would still be a couple hours before Hildi came over, so she would go online. It was a glamorous, full life, but she