Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker Ellen Meister - Farewell Read Free Book Online Page B

room. “Holy crap, Aunt V.”
    “Bad, huh? I, uh…had a few friends over last night.”
    Delaney picked up the empty gin bottle and turned it upside down to illustrate how dry it was. “A
few
?”
    “Heavy drinkers.”
    “It stinks.” She leaned over and picked up the Algonquin guest book. “And what’s this?”
    Violet grabbed it from her. “Nothing,” she said. “A friend left it there. Why don’t you take Woollcott for a nice walk and I’ll get this place cleaned up.”

Chapter 7
    With Delaney gone, Violet paced up and down the hall, holding tightly to the phone, telling herself she could do this without Dorothy Parker’s help. She would just tell Carl she was breaking up with him and that he couldn’t move in tomorrow. If he objected she would stand firm.
We’re done,
she would say.
Fini. The End. No epilogue. No sequel.
    But what if she couldn’t? What if she froze…again? She pictured standing at the front door with Delaney in the morning as Carl pulled up with his moving van. What kind of message would she be sending to her niece about sticking up for yourself?
    In some ways, the breakup with her husband, Andrew, had been easier. But, of course, she had gone through all her emotional trauma in the months leading up to the separation. After the tragic result of her pregnancy, Andrew had made the cruel decision that he didn’t want children after all. It ripped through Violet like a knife. How could he change his mind about wanting a baby? How could he possibly not want to try again? At first, Violet tried to be understanding. She thought it was the grief talking and that he would change his mind when enough time had passed. But he didn’t; all the talking and probing and crying went nowhere.
    She went to her sister and brother-in-law for help, and Ivy had said, “I think it’s a control thing. He likes being the one to call the shots, and this gives him ultimate power over the relationship.”
    Violet couldn’t disagree. Not completely. But it didn’t feel like the whole story.
    “Maybe he decided he wants you to himself,” Neil said. “Maybe he realizes a baby would take your attention away from him.”
    If only, Violet thought. Deep down, she knew that Andrew had started pulling away from her even before she got pregnant. And as the weeks went by, his stubbornness turned to animosity, until she could no longer ignore the reality: Andrew wasn’t rejecting the idea of a baby. He was rejecting her.
    And so, when she finally approached him about splitting up, she knew there would be no tears, no arguments, no ugly scenes. Indeed, he merely nodded and said that yes, it was probably for the best. That night he packed a suitcase and left. When she got home from work the next day, more of his things were gone. Two weeks later he took an apartment and sent Violet an e-mail listing the furniture, electronics, and other household items he thought he deserved. Violet wanted to be fair, but it seemed like he was trying to get his hands on everything that was new and expensive. She forwarded the e-mail to her sister, who replied, “Hire a lawyer
today
. Then change the locks and tell Andrew to fuck off.”
    And that’s what she did, except for the part about telling Andrew to fuck off. On her lawyer’s advice, she ignored the e-mail, and held on to everything in the apartment until they met with a mediator.
    Looking back, it seemed like she had been so strong then. But in truth, she was still depressed from the loss of the baby, and Andrew’s presence had only added to her misery. Besides, she felt like she was doing Andrew a favor. Clearly, he wanted out.
    Thirteen months later—just when Violet was starting to feel like she might actually be able to get on with her life—she heard from a mutual friend that Andrew was engaged to a striking veterinarian named Deanna…and expecting a child. Violet tried to tell herselfthat she didn’t care, that it had nothing to do with her, but the idea that he