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February and Aunt
    Margie suggested I just move my stuff in and live here indefinitely. I
    didn’t want to, really, but after the fiasco at school, things were get-
    ting tight money-wise so I took her up on it. Earlier this month, I
    got a call from her. She said she was going to stay in Cancun with
    Rafael.” She could still remember the giddiness in her aunt’s voice.
    “Permanently?” Rita asked incredulously. “Aunt Margie’s
    become a one-man woman?”
    “Apparently.” Alex nodded with a smile. “She sounded so
    happy about it. Anyway, she said that since I was in need of a place
    and she didn’t really want to go through the hassle of getting a real-
    tor and trying to sell, that I should just have it.”
    “No way!” Rita shrieked.
    “I know! I couldn’t believe it, either. I told her I’d be glad to
    take care of selling it for her, but she said she knew how much I
    loved it when I was growing up and if I wanted it, she wanted me to
    have it.”
    “Oh my God,” Rita said.
    “I tried to argue with her,” she turned to Jackie, “but you know
    what it’s like to take on Aunt Margie when she’s got an idea in her
    head.”
    “Yeah. Impossible. I spent enough time here as a kid to know
    that.”
    “Her lawyer contacted me with all the paperwork the next day,
    the deed was transferred into my name, and that was that.”
    “Free and clear?” Rita asked in disbelief as she unloaded some
    of Hannah’s toys and got her settled on the floor with her crayons.
    “Well, I have taxes and utilities, but nothing I can’t handle.”
    The tone in Alex’s voice made it clear that she too was still in awe.
    Jackie helped herself to a beer from the fridge. “What does
    Leona think of all this?”
    At the mention of her mother’s name, Alex rolled her eyes—her
    usual reaction. “What do you think?”
    Jackie smirked and swigged from her bottle.
    “What?” Rita asked. Not hooking up with Jackie until after
    Thy Neighbor’s Wife 23
    college, she had missed the pleasure of growing up around Alex’s
    mother.
    “She’s pissed off and upset that Margie gave the house to Alex
    and not her,” Jackie predicted.
    Alex tapped her forefinger to the tip of her nose. “Bingo. That
    phone call was fun. Not.”
    “Awek, will you cuwwer wiff me?” Hannah’s sweet little voice
    drifted up from the floor where she was spread out with her color-
    ing books and crayons.
    “I would love to color with you, baby.” Alex stretched out on
    her stomach and picked up a burnt sienna crayon.
    “You cuwwer dis one,” the toddler directed, pointing to the
    opposite page.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Alex looked up and smiled at her friends. The house was set up
    so that the kitchen looked across the small dining area and into the
    living room. Rita had made herself at home near the sink, as she
    always did, taking it upon herself to cut up different cheeses and
    veggies and laying out several varieties of crackers. Jackie fondly
    watched her daughter and best friend, sipped her beer as she leaned
    against the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining area,
    and propped her foot on one of the chairs.
    “So, this writing thing.” She always referred to Alex’s writing
    as such. “How’s that going?”
    “Very well. I came up with what I think might really be a good
    tale. Something new. Not the one I told you about before.” She
    stopped and continued working on her picture.
    “Yeah—?” Jackie prompted, making continuation motions with
    her arm.
    “A little mystery, a little romance…”
    “And—?”
    Alex took a big breath, trying to decide on how much to reveal.
    “It’s about a guy who falls desperately in love with the new girl next
    door. Problem is, she’s married.”
    Jackie blinked at her for several seconds, waiting. Finally,
    when it was clear Alex would say no more, she whined, “That’s it?
    That’s all I get?”
    “For now.” Alex smiled and went back to her picture as Jackie
    grumbled