Dolly stood just inside the door to Mrs. DeWitt\u2019s suite of rooms on the first floor, hands on her coverall-covered hips. The prospect before her was a daunting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sitting room was stuffed with armchairs and sofas, nested walnut side tables, and overgrown ferns in brass pots balanced on top of rickety stands. There were walnut whatnots in every corner, their shelves loaded with figurines, crystal decanters, old packs of playing cards, vases of swizzle sticks, or piles of poker chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But worse than the chaotic collection of curios to be sorted and disposed was the intangible heaviness that weighed Dolly down, the sadness that squeezed her heart. A melancholy seemed to rise from the room and wrap itself about her like a heavy, damp turkish towel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dolly squared her shoulders. She mustn\u2019t let herself be immobilized by her grief. Action\u2014action was what she needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And light! She\u2019d go blind if she tried to work in this dimness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMusta been terrible for Harriet’s eyes,\u201d she muttered as she squeezed between a loveseat and a low teak tea table, then skirted a brass-bound trunk and circumnavigated a small statue of Shakespeare. Finally reaching the front windows, she stretched over a rolltop desk to yank apart the dusty velvet drapes. Sunlight fell in a swath over the room, illuminating piles of magazines and books. Dust motes danced in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord knows Dolly had loved Mrs. DeWitt like a mother, but there were no two ways about it\u2014the Magdalena Arms\u2019 Landlady Emerita had been a pack-rat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A buzzer sounded and Dolly maneuvered her way back to the door, and pushed the button to unlatch the front entrance for her visitors. She stepped into the hall and watched as Lois and Pam came in and let the heavy double doors with their elaborate brass grille swing closed behind them. The pair paused inside the entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPam! Your hair!\u201d Dolly exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The redhead self-consciously smoothed her head. She was shorn as close as a spring lamb. \u201cLois did it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pam seemed subdued to Dolly, or maybe it was just that she was muffled by her mask. The usually modish merchandiser was dressed like a dockworker, in old jeans and a worn men\u2019s shirt of blue chambray. A white t-shirt peeked out at her throat, and the rolled-up sleeves revealed her swelling biceps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d forgotten how well you butch up,\u201d Dolly said approvingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean for it to be quite so short,\u201d Lois explained. \u201cBut I kept trying to even it out, and suddenly there just wasn\u2019t much left!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pam glanced wistfully at Angelo\u2019s hair salon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI like it,\u201d Dolly reassured her old friend. \u201cIf Gruneman\u2019s could see you now!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the wrong thing to say. Pam\u2019s whole frame seemed to droop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDolly, where\u2019s your mask?\u201d Lois demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDown in the kitchen, I think,\u201d Dolly replied. \u201cCan\u2019t we just stay six feet apart?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo get it,\u201d Lois ordered. \u201cWe want to help, but we simply must follow the health department\u2019s guidelines!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Lois who\u2019d decreed a two-week decontamination period before anyone even entered Mrs. DeWitt\u2019s former apartment. Now she handed Pam a pair of latex gloves before donning her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no point arguing with the adamant office manager. \u201cWell\u2026I guess you two can go ahead in and get started, if you want, while I mask up. There are empty boxes inside the door, for sorting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Dolly took her time descending to the basement kitchen. She had to admit, she didn’t mind delaying the mournful task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Mrs. DeWitt’s old apartment was cleaned out and rented to someone new, Dolly’s beloved friend would be really gone. Gone for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dolly interrupts a lunchtime t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eate between civil servant tenants Laura and Phyllis and recalls the multiple misunderstandings that have muddied the course of true love for the otherwise consummately compatible couple. Will she go through with her impetuous scheme to trap the misguided twosome together in a malfunctioning elevator? Or is there a better way to wake up the pining pair?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dolly in Mourning Dolly stood just inside the door to Mrs. DeWitt\u2019s suite of rooms on the first floor, hands on her coverall-covered hips. The prospect before her was a daunting one. The sitting room was stuffed with armchairs and … Continue reading Tune in every Friday for a new episode! (or maybe even oftener! Always depending on the author’s unpredictable schedule!)<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"