{"id":4415,"date":"2021-04-04T09:10:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T16:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/?p=4415"},"modified":"2021-04-04T09:10:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T16:10:35","slug":"nathan-and-del-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/archives\/4415","title":{"rendered":"Nathan and Del Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Celia is still in her bathrobe as she sits at the dining table having a second cup of coffee while Nathan does the breakfast dishes, the morning cold and rainy. Sixty-five and soon to retire as a nurse at the local hospital, Celia is a beautiful woman, short and buxom with shoulder-length black hair just now turning gray, English her second language, though after being married to Nathan for thirty-five years she speaks English better than most people born to the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m not working today,\u201d\nsays Celia, who is down to three day shifts a week as she transitions to\nretirement. \u201cI don\u2019t like driving when it\u2019s so wet and windy. Will you build me\na fire before you go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d says Nathan, thinking\nabout his impending trip to Margot\u2019s house and wondering if he might be wiser\nto go to the hardware store without Margot and\/or Wanda tagging along with Del.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill you be home for lunch?\u201d asks\nCelia, looking out at the rain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my plan,\u201d says Nathan,\nrinsing the last plate. \u201cTwo hours should be plenty of time to go to the\nhardware store and clean their water filter and check their generator and teach\nDel how to chop kindling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe they\u2019ll stay,\u201d says\nCelia, shaking her head. \u201cI wonder why they chose Mercy. So far from anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe when you\u2019re that famous you\nhave to go this far from a city to get some privacy.\u201d Nathan carries his mug of\nnettle tea to the table. \u201cYou shopping today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nods. \u201cI\u2019ll go before lunch\nbecause Paul is bringing Carlos over at one.\u201d She gives Nathan a wide-eyed look.\n\u201cI\u2019m not taking that little monster to the grocery store again without you. If\nI take my eyes off him for ten seconds he\u2019s knocking things off shelves and\nplaying hide and seek. He\u2019s too wild for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFunny,\u201d says Nathan, musing about\nhis rambunctious grandson, \u201cCalypso was never so wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Celia, shaking her head,\n\u201cbecause I didn\u2019t go back to work until she started school and she didn\u2019t watch\ntelevision until she was twelve. Carlos is only three and he\u2019s already playing\nvideo games and watching TV all day. No wonder he gets so wound up.\u201d She\nshrugs. \u201cIt\u2019s a different world now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd Paul and Calypso have very different\nideas about parenting than we do.\u201d He shrugs in sympathy with her shrug. \u201cBut\nwhat can we do but love him and not let him watch TV when he\u2019s here. He doesn\u2019t\nseem to miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe likes your stories better than TV,\u201d\nshe says lovingly. \u201cAnd he plays with Tennyson and digs in the garden and you build\nblock towers with him and take him to the beach. You\u2019re a very good grandpa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phone rings and Nathan goes to\nanswer the phone in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Grayson?\u201d says Del,\nbreathlessly. \u201cHi. It\u2019s Del.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello Del,\u201d he says, pleasantly\nsurprised. \u201cHow are you today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m fine,\u201d she says, her voice\nshaking with emotion. \u201cMy\u2026 my mother said you\u2026 you want to take me to the\nhardware store to buy our axe and hatchet, and I\u2026 I would like to go with you,\njust you and not\u2026 not\u2026 not my mother and Wanda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs that okay with them?\u201d he asks\nquietly. \u201cBecause it\u2019s okay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay with them,\u201d she says\nurgently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTennyson and I will be there in\nabout an hour,\u201d he says, smiling into the phone. \u201cWear your raincoat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hangs up and returns to the\ndining table, shaking his head in wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d asks Celia,\neager to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe wants to go to the hardware\nstore without<\/em> her mother or Wanda, which\nI gather is a big deal since Margot said Del never goes anywhere without her or\nWanda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe they moved here because it\nwasn\u2019t safe for her to do things on her own where they lived before. Beautiful\ngirl who looks like her movie star mother. Always being chased by photographers\nand people looking for gossip. Maybe they were afraid someone would kidnap\nher.\u201d Celia frowns. \u201cIt must be so hard to have such a famous mother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd so hard to be<\/em> a famous mother,\u201d says Nathan, carrying his tea into the living\nroom to start the fire for the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennyson, a cute little floppy-eared\nmutt, sits between Nathan and Del in the cab of Nathan\u2019s old white pickup truck,\nthe rain pounding on the roof as they roll down the hill into the little town\nof Mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Del has her long brown hair in two\nbraids and is wearing a blue raincoat over a black sweatshirt and black jeans.\nThirteen-years-old, she is fast becoming a woman, though Nathan still doesn\u2019t\nknow if she wants people to think of her as she<\/em>\nor he<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re up for it,\u201d says Nathan,\nglancing at Del, \u201cI\u2019d love to get a gander at the waves, which will be huge\nfrom the storm surge and these big winds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m up for it,\u201d says Del,\nexhilarated and terrified to be away from her mother and Wanda and traveling\nwith an old man and his dog in an old truck through a tempest in the wilderness.\n\u201cIs\u2026 is it safe?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh yeah,\u201d he says, turning onto the\nroad leading to an outlook with a view of the river mouth and the mighty breakers\nrolling into Mercy Bay. \u201cWe\u2019ll be gazing upon the tumult from afar and won\u2019t\nget out of the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGazing upon the tumult from afar,\u201d\nsays Del, smiling. \u201cI\u2026 I love the way you talk, Nathan. It\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s\nmagnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy you like my use of the\nlingo,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cWhat are words for if not to use them in artful\nways?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think so, too,\u201d says Del, looking\nout at the storm. \u201cI\u2026 I found your blog last night and printed out a hundred of\nyour poems and made\u2026 made them into a book. I\u2026 I love them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly a hundred?\u201d says Nathan, frowning\nquizzically. \u201cGot bored, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cNever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They look down on an endless parade of\nenormous waves crashing against the cliffs, the ground trembling with each\nfantastic collision of ocean and earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rain is letting up,\u201d says\nNathan, smiling wryly. \u201cWe could get out for a minute or two if you\u2019re game.\nTake in the whole fantabulous panorama without the frame of the windshield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m game,\u201d says Del, nearly\nshouting. \u201cCan Tennyson come?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, we\u2019ll leave his highness in the\ntruck,\u201d says Nathan, scratching Tennyson\u2019s head. \u201cHe might get blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be back soon, your highness,\u201d\nsays Del, petting Tennyson. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll tell you all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They get out into the ferocious wind\nand gaze in awe upon the stormy scene, and Nathan shows Del how to lean way<\/em> into the wind and be kept from\nfalling by the fantastic force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the truck, Nathan and Del\nlook at each other wide-eyed and Del says, \u201cThat was beyond<\/em> magnificent!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s only because you haven\u2019t\nbeen to the hardware store yet,\u201d says Nathan, starting the engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid\u2026 did my mother tell you about\nme?\u201d asks Del, as they head into town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot a thing,\u201d says Nathan, shaking\nhis head. \u201cExcept that you never went anywhere without her or Wanda, which\napparently isn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was<\/em> true,\u201d says Del, resting her hand on Tennyson\u2019s back, \u201cbut it\nisn\u2019t true anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve had a conversion?\u201d says\nNathan, immediately regretting his choice of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly<\/em> what I\u2019ve had,\u201d says Del, delighted by his choice of words.\n\u201cI have shed my old skin and watched it blow away into the fantabulous tumult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mercy Hardware, Juan Gomez,\nNathan\u2019s brother-in-law and former pruning partner, waits on Nathan and Del.\nThey purchase an axe, a hatchet, a shovel, a rake, four bungee cords of various\nlengths, and three pairs of work gloves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow long you been living here?\u201d\nJuan asks Del as he rings up the purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFour days,\u201d says Del, smiling shyly\nat Juan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo wonder you don\u2019t have a\nboyfriend yet,\u201d says Juan, winking at Nathan. \u201cI got a nephew. Pedro. Sixteen.\nHandsome. Looks just like Bruno Mars. He\u2019ll be happy to see you<\/em> walking down the street, I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m not actually looking for a\nboyfriend,\u201d says Del, blushing. \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m only thirteen and we\u2019re just\u2026 just\ngetting acclimated.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere you coming from?\u201d asks Juan,\nlooking at Nathan and getting the message not to probe too deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew York,\u201d says Del, looking around\nthe store. \u201cIt just occurs to me\u2026 do you sell art supplies?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d says Juan, shaking his\nhead. \u201cCar paint and paint for your house. Brushes, you know. They got some at\nthe stationery store, but I think you do better online. Or next time you go to\nthe city. You an artist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Del nods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike Picasso?\u201d says Juan, making an\nI\u2019m-impressed face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore like Toulouse-Latrec,\u201d says\nDel, thoughtfully. \u201cThough I like Picasso, especially his pen and ink drawings.\nHave you seen those?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I only see the ones where he\ngot the nose and eyes in the wrong place,\u201d says Juan, laughing as he puts the\ngloves and bungee cords in a bag. \u201cMaybe sometime you bring in one of your\npictures to show me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will,\u201d says Del, smiling\nbrightly. \u201cI\u2019ll draw a still life of the tools we bought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood,\u201d says Juan, nodding\nenthusiastically. \u201cMaybe we put it on the wall and increase sales.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving homeward, Del says, \u201cThis is\nthe best day of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad,\u201d says Nathan, fighting\nhis tears. \u201cReally glad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they arrive at Del\u2019s house, the\nfront door flies open and Margot rushes out with an umbrella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were gone forever,\u201d she says,\nopening the passenger door and looking in at Del and Tennyson and Nathan.\n\u201cEverything okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything is fine, Mom,\u201d says Del,\nnodding. \u201cI must<\/em> take you to the\noutlook to see the storm surf. And then we must<\/em>\ngo to the hardware store and I\u2019ll introduce you to Juan, Nathan\u2019s\nbrother-in-law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine, but first come into the house\nand get warm,\u201d says Margot, looking at Nathan. \u201cWill you stay for lunch?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lunch date,\u201d says Nathan,\ngiving her a reassuring smile. \u201cThought I\u2019d give you a wood chopping lesson,\ncheck your generator, clean your water filter, and come back for more\ntomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going up the stairs to the front\nporch, Margot says to Del, \u201cYou look flushed, honey. Do you need to lie down?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine, Mom,\u201d says Del, taking\nher mother\u2019s hand. \u201cTruly I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margot and Wanda accompany Del and\nNathan and Tennyson to the woodshed and Nathan presents them each with a new\npair of work gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese will reduce the chances of\nserious injury when you\u2019re wielding the axe or hatchet,\u201d he says, standing at\nthe chopping round to begin the lesson. \u201cI assume you all want to know how to\nmake kindling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust make us some,\u201d says Wanda,\nobviously peeved. \u201cI didn\u2019t come here to be a lumberjack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I want to learn, Wanda,\u201d says\nDel, frowning at her caretaker. \u201cI\u2019ll keep us well-supplied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy should you<\/em> be chopping wood?\u201d says Wanda, dropping her gloves on the floor\nand stalking away to the house. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re paying him<\/em> for. This is ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI apologize,\u201d says Margot to Nathan.\n\u201cThis has been quite upsetting for Wanda, our coming here. She\u2019s never lived\nanywhere but in a city and we\u2019ve always just hired the help we need, so this is\na big change for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor all of you,\u201d says Nathan,\nnodding. \u201cSo\u2026 shall we begin?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d says Margot, putting on her\ngloves. \u201cI\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nathan gets home a little after twelve\nand has avocado quesadillas by the fire with Celia and tells her about his two\nhours with Del and Margot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid they say why they came here?\u201d\nasks Celia, mystified that Margot would move to such a remote place with her\ndaughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d says Nathan, shaking his head,\n\u201cbut I have an inkling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTell me,\u201d says Celia, urgently. \u201cI\ncan\u2019t imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Margot realized that in\nshielding Del from the spotlight of her celebrity, she made her a prisoner, and\nthis is her attempt to set her daughter free before she becomes too strange and\ndamaged by being so isolated and removed from the outside world. And they\nneeded to get far from the madding crowd because everybody in the whole fucking\nworld wants to know everything about them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat about Wanda?\u201d asks Celia,\nfrowning. \u201cShe sounds a little crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDel told me Wanda has been her\nnanny and caretaker for five years now. They lived in a townhouse in Manhattan\nand a mansion in Malibu with servants and bodyguards in both places while\nMargot was mostly gone making movies all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo Del was a princess in a castle,\u201d\nsays Celia, nodding. \u201cAnd now she lives here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow she lives here,\u201d says Nathan, thinking\nof Del leaning into the wind and spreading her arms as if flying. \u201cFor as long\nas she does. Wanda is lobbying for them to move some place more civilized and\nhinting she\u2019ll quit if Margot won\u2019t accommodate her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat brought this on, I wonder?\u201d\nsays Celia, reacting to the sound of a familiar car in the driveway\u2014Paul bringing\nCarlos over for the afternoon. \u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m guessing the identity crisis of\nthe over-protected child,\u201d says Nathan, going to the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid Del tell you if she wants to be\nhe<\/em> or she<\/em>?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn so many words,\u201d says Nathan,\nsmiling as he remembers. \u201cI was showing her how to clean the water filter, when\napropos of nothing she said, \u2018Hey Nate, you did know Del is short for Delilah,\ndidn\u2019t you?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Delilah\u2019s a beautiful name. Which do you prefer?\u2019 And\nshe said, \u201cWhichever you like.\u2019 And that\u2019s where we left it for now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Entrada<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celia is still in her bathrobe as she sits at the dining table having a second cup of coffee while Nathan does the breakfast dishes, the morning cold and rainy. Sixty-five and soon to retire as a nurse at the local hospital, Celia is a beautiful woman, short and buxom with shoulder-length black hair just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6603,6604,6601,6600,6588,6599,6598,6597,6602,9,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4417,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415\/revisions\/4417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underthetablebooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}