Sophie worries constantly about Vivian Middleford. The woman has come by the house two times in the last week and Paul went out with her once and came home smelling of alcohol. The woman is sexy and sly and controlling. She is a woman who doesn’t like women. And Sophie doesn’t like her at all.
Sophie lies on the floor looking at the specks of sunlight shining through the blinds. Every so often she watches Rebecca’s eyes light up and her lips smile as she takes in the TV shows that flash across the screen. Teletubbies. “Again. Again,” the Teletubbies say.
Paul is better. But he is also not better.
He is here now; he is present, not stuck in his nightmare world, not seized up in bed. But he is also not here. He is vacant and distracted.
Sophie has no one to talk to about this.
Is her hu
