Heart and Soul by Sally Mandel Read Free Book Online Page B

said. “How could I ever forget that? It was weird as hell.”
    â€œIt just happened again.”
    I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, not that I had any real use for any of that Shirley MacLaine crap, but still, Jake’s mother really did get cancer. “Somebody’s sick?”
    â€œNo. You remember my cousin Andrea from Fort Lee?”
    â€œYeah.” I pictured a shorter version of Pauline, similar face stuck onto a stubby frame.
    â€œShe’s pregnant. She was pregnant. There was a shower last week in Jersey and the whole time I was sitting there dying because I knew there was something wrong with the baby.”
    â€œWhat do you mean ‘knew’? How ‘knew’?”
    â€œThe same way it was with Jake’s mom. It’s like I know you’re sitting here with me and if I turn away, I still picture you in my brain. Well, there it was in my head. That baby with its right leg twisted up against its shoulder and its foot all screwed up.” She looked around as if there might be a spy and lowered her voice. “He was born this morning, exactly the way I saw him. My aunt called. Everybody’s hysterical.” Her fingers tightened around my arm and the tears started again. “Bess, I don’t want to know this stuff!”
    I put my arms around her, which wasn’t exactly easy on a Peter Pan bus, and just held her. I mean, what kind of therapist do you recommend for something like that, an exorcist? After a while, she calmed down and by the time we got to Providence, she was beginning to get into the drama of it all. “It’s just the strangest feeling, like not just a suspicion or something but it’s in my core, this total conviction. Do you think I’m some kind of freak ?”
    â€œI think you’re sensitive in a way that other people aren’t,” I said. That was safe enough. I sure as hell didn’t feel qualified to explain something this bizarre.
    â€œBess, I love you down to the innermost sanctuary of my heart,” Pauline whispered. “You’re always there for me when my soul cries out for help.”
    Also when you’re knocked up, I could have added. Twice I’d taken her to the clinic back in high school. But God knows she’d have done the same for me. “I’m just glad you caught me,” I said. “Two more minutes and I would’ve been out the door.”
    â€œSo what do you think I should do?” she asked.
    â€œWell, first of all, I don’t really see how you can get rid of it. It seems to be a part of you, like being a jock. And lookit, Pauls, in both cases it’s not as if you could have changed anything.”
    â€œBut what if it turns out I can predict the future?”
    â€œSo far it seems like it has to do with stuff that’s already happening,” I said. “You just get an early news flash.”
    She thought this over. “Okay. Maybe that’s not so terrible but it would sure be nice if it wasn’t always something tragic. I mean, this shit truly bruises my heart.”
    Pauline had always talked with a mixture of road construction (which, in fact, she’d done for a couple of summers) and romance novel. She read those things the way Jake ate Cheez Doodles. She looked at her watch. “I can’t believe I didn’t even bring my class notes. I’ve got a big exam on Monday.”
    It seemed like the crisis was over. I told her she could hop the next bus back.
    â€œOh, no. I’m going to see you through your ordeal.” She insisted on coming with me to Addams Hall to see if she could talk her way into the audience. There’s always a pretty good turnout for the more prestigious competitions and this time there wasn’t a seat left in the house.
    â€œOkay, Pauls, you better boogie back to New York. You’ve got that exam, don’t forget.”
    â€œOh my God, that exam. But what if you need