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Helen hummed agreement, then entered the access lane to get on the freeway.
“I didn’t think about the baby. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay,” Helen said. “I love babies.”
And she’s just lost hers.
They drove in silence for a few minutes. Then Annie leaned down, rummaged through her bag and pulled out an old book of unfinished crossword puzzles. It was something she’d picked up back when she spent a lot of time on long flights across oceans. When she found it while packing up for this little trip, she brought it along in case they needed something to pass the time.
“Are you a puzzle person?” Annie asked.
“I think my skills are more in the jigsaw area,” Helen said. “But I’m game.”
“I like ’em. Keeps me sharp.”
“Okay, but how does one driving do a crossword puzzle with another person?”
“We take turns with clues. At least, that’s how my dad and I play it. I get the evens; you get the odds. And the first one is easy. One down, the clue is long ago and it’s four letters.”
When Helen didn’t answer, Annie looked at her. “It’sonce.”
“Of course. Why don’t you fill in what you know, and if you get stuck, maybe I can help.” She turned on the radio and tuned past stations, finally settling on a woman belting out a love song.
Annie looked up from the puzzle and listened to see if she recognized the song. When she didn’t, she tuned the music out and focused on filling in as many of the short words of the puzzle as she could.
“Okay, okay, gimme a clue.” Helen turned off the radio when the song ended.
“Six letters, pick up the phone,” Annie said.
Helen squinted at the road ahead. “I don’t think I can do this without seeing it.”
“It’s got a ‘W’ in it,” Annie hinted.
“Answer.”
“Yeah.”
Helen glanced at her. “You aren’t writing anything. I didn’t mean give me a clue you’d already filled in!”
Annie closed the crossword book, leaving her pen to mark the page, and shoved the book back into her bag. “We can do something else.”
“Do you think I’m dumb?” Helen asked and laughed. “Oh God, I’m the dumb one.”
“I do not at all think you’re dumb.”
“You’re like a CIA protégé, and I’m a cop who can barely hang on to her teaching job. This is tough. I’m used to being the smart one.”
“Why did you become a cop?” It was something Annie had been wondering about for a while, but they rarely had a quiet moment alone long enough to have a normal conversation. Usually one of them was crying or it was the middle of the night or the kids needed something or Annie’s pager went off.
“It certainly wasn’t the plan,” Helen said. “The plan was to teach so I could get a discounted rate for the law school. But once the kids were born, with Bruce still in graduate school, it wasn’t enough to make ends meet. So I joined the reserves.”
“Oh,” Annie said. “You’re a reserve corps officer?”
“Yeah. Or I was. After the riots, so many officers either quit or were put on probation that a lot of the reserves got called up and were offered permanent full-time or part-time positions. Once I was made permanent, the pay and benefits were better than teaching, so after Bruce left, I figured I might as well stick with it.”
“But you’re still teaching. I signed up for your class.”
“Yeah. I keep thinking if I keep at least one class, if I keep my foot in the door, I can still go to law school. But come on, I’m in my late thirties, and I have little kids. I should probably just be realistic.”
