Sunland: A Novel

16

• • 121 • • Epstein’s door was wide open. From inside I overheard a woman’s voice carrying on, ordering the old man around, which was a new, unexpected occurrence in Epstein’s apartment . I knocked on the doorjamb. No one answered. “You have to eat more than waffles and peanut butter,” the woman’s voice said. “Yes, dear,” Epstein responded. I detected a low, depressed modulation in his usually spunky cadence. “Did you hear me?” “Fine, dear. Okay, dear. I heard you, dear. Whatever you say, dear.” Standing in the kitchenette, surrounded by flung-open cabinets, the woman set her hands on her hips when I walked in. “And who are you?” she asked me. “I suppose you just march into any old apartment?” “That’s my friend Sidney,” Epstein said, shuffling toward the couch. “I forgot to tell him you were coming.” “Well, if he’s your friend, maybe he should help clean up around here. It’s a regular pigsty.” I recognized her eyes from the photos on Epstein’s mantel. “You’re from New York,” I said. “Ding ding. We have a winner.” “You have a twin.” “A genius, too,” she said. Sarah whirled through the kitchenette like a tornado, flinging boxes of crackers and old spaghetti and dried apricots onto the floor. “Two years, Daddy, past the expiration date,” Sarah said, reading the label on a jar. “Two years.” I watched her kink her neck, like an athlete, like this was her sport. I kept out of her way. She’d brought along from New York her stressfilled eyes and glamorous shoes and worked-out calves and fast-talking bossiness. I noticed the same forehead as the old man, yet she’d outgrown the doughy teenage cheeks from the photos. Her hair was professionally streaked and she was wearing a tailored blue suit with open-toe heels that showed off a pedicure. She was beautiful. Epstein had told me he’d had children in his forties, which put Sarah within striking range, but the idea was out of the question. Epstein hit me with that don’t-think-about-it glare. The old man had been stuffed into a new tie and a freshly laundered sport coat. The tips of his black shoes shone. And his glasses, usually smudged, had been wiped clean. “So,” Sarah said and handed me a broom. “You’re the friend Daddy tells me about.” 16 • • 122 • • “We have baseball in common.” “More than just baseball,” Epstein said from the couch. “I thought you’d be older,” Sarah said. “Sweep that spot, over there. As in fifty years older.” Sarah told me to make sure to get beneath the cabinets too. “Have you been to the dentist recently?” she asked her father. “Still need to make that appointment,” he said. “What about your yearly physical?” “Nope.” “Daddy!” she yelled. Sarah caught me by the elbow, locked her eyes, and I was surprised by her partial smile. She whispered, “Miriam gives him the hugs. I put everything in order. Don’t get in my way and we’ll get along fine. Okay?” She winked at me and, in one swoop, she brushed everything on the counter into the trash. I watched her delectable hips sway as she retreated to the bedroom, where I heard drawers opening and closing. “I should have warned you,” Epstein said to me. “I almost forgot myself.” I opened the old man’s closet, expecting to find his insane DVD fitness collection , but the shelves were empty. A dust ball was on the lowest shelf. “Sarah called from the airport,” Epstein said. “I panicked. Called Bunny. She rushed over with her laundry basket.” “Ms. Vallance is stashing your collection?” “Bunny has a very understanding soul,” he said. “Where’s your other twin?” I asked. “I had the idea that they came as a package.” “Miriam is in Geneva. Business.” “Sarah’s cute.” “Sure, cute. So cute that she thinks she, and only she, can take care of me.” “I guess this means the café is off.” Epstein shrugged. “Family trumps café.” “But it’s game night,” I said. I watched the old man think about it. “Sarah made dinner reservations. She’s here for a few days, but please, for the love of Jehovah, please pick me up at the restaurant. I’ve been looking forward to this game. And I can only endure so much of her love.” Sarah flew into the room and bumped my shoulder. A brown...