Chapter 22: Jo Beth

Jo Beth’s pregnant body was all cramped up, making it impossible to sit comfortably on the sagging couch. Meanwhile, her unhinged emotions conspired to inflict the most amount of misery. From boredom to paranoia, Jo Beth felt her lunatic mind shrink as her body expanded. Skylar had tried to help by sending Jo Beth a Kindle loaded with books. Jo Beth knew if Skylar was apartment-bound for months, she’d want to pass the time reading, so it seemed natural that Skylar would wish the same for Jo Beth. Even though Jo Beth would never appreciate literature the way her sister did, she had enjoyed some of the books Skylar chose, like Call of the Wild. Jo Beth identified with Buck the sled dog and his yearning to shun society and become feral. After all, only the strong survive. But that book was super short and now she was on to Valley of the Dolls. Jo Beth puzzled over Skylar’s choice on that one. It was about this group of Hollywood girlfriends who relied on drugs to numb the pain while they backstabbed each other and mourned losing their youth, beauty, husbands, and identities, all while living in an environment that was as vapid as each one of them had become.

And speaking of vapid, backstabbing girlfriends, Magda walked through the apartment door. Jo Beth found she was actually glad to see her, maybe because she brought evidence that the outside world still existed. Mud clung to Magda’s ankles and was smeared along her neck.

“You must have been rafting today,” Jo Beth said. “How’d it go?”

“Okay.” Magda sighed and collapsed next to Jo Beth on the couch. If they’d been in Jo Beth’s Colorado condo, on her beautiful cream-colored chenille couch, she’d have cringed. But they were still in Magda’s grubby Santiago apartment, where it didn’t matter that Magda was muddy because her furniture was already desperate for a good cleaning. “I missed you though. Our adventure business just isn’t as much fun without you.”

Jo Beth patted her protruding belly. “Not much I can do about that,” she said.

“True.” Magda pivoted toward her and leaned in, like they were still confidants. She hadn’t taken such a friendly tone with Jo Beth for a while. “You know what I was thinking about today? Remember months ago, when that Barry Manilow fan wouldn’t stop singing for the entire Cousiño Macul winery bike trip!?”

Jo Beth laughed. “Oh yeah! He kept belting the lyrics to ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ over and over, until the guy from Omaha pushed him off his bike.”

Magda’s eyes danced as a smile sprawled across her face. “That’s right! And the Omaha guy insisted that he’d pushed him over by accident, and the Barry Manilow guy was going to press charges until you talked him out of it. ‘Let’s all get along,’ you said. ‘It’s what Barry would do.’” She squealed with laughter at the memory. “God, you can be so convincing when you want to be, you know?”

“Sure.” But Jo Beth didn’t know, not really. She could barely remember the part of her personality that easily handled tricky situations, the girl who could look conflict in the face and never flinch.

Magda sighed, letting out a slow stream of air. “Promise that you’ll come back to Adventuras Tours, Jo. Once the baby is born we’ll find a good nanny and you and I can work together again.”

When Magda was like this, it felt possible for Jo Beth to stay and work on their business with her friend. She could recall the shared laughter, the risks they’d taken, the grand plans of helicopter tours, paragliding, and biking along the Andes. The sites she’d never thought she’d see became photos in her mind and a life outside this apartment was just out of reach. And a different Jo Beth, a very different one from who she’d become, was just out of reach too.

“I’d like that,” Jo Beth replied, “But I can’t promise, not yet. There’s too much I still don’t know about.”

Magda started to reply but at the same time the door opened and Mitch entered. He squinted at them.

“Wow, it’s so thick today. I can barely see you.”

Jo Beth scrunched her forehead in confusion. “Huh?” Mitch wasn’t near-sighted. Was he commenting on how dirty the apartment was?

“I need a shower.” Magda, who seemed un-phased by Mitch’s odd statement, rose, and headed toward the bathroom, speaking to Mitch over her shoulder. “¿Cómo estuvo tu día?”

“Estaba bien, excepto odio mi trabajo. Necesito un cambio,” he replied.

Jo Beth’s blood pressure instantly spiked. With her limited Spanish, she could barely decipher that Magda had asked him about his day and that he’d said he needs a change.

But she didn’t need to translate the intimate tone. Magda spoke like Jo Beth wasn’t even in the room, like she and Mitch were in bed together. “No te preocupes. El cambio está llegando,” she said in a velvety voice. Then she disappeared into the bathroom, to shower.

Did Mitch wish that he was getting into the shower with her?

“What did she just say to you?” Jo Beth demanded.

He grinned and sat down, taking the spot that Magda had just vacated. “Nothing, just that change is coming.” He placed his palm over Jo Beth’s belly. “Which it definitely is.” He was holding his notebook and he flipped it open. “I made a new list today. Want to see? It’s called Places to Travel with the Baby in her First Five Years.”

But Jo Beth was too angry to sit next to him and listen to his stupid list, so she wordlessly hoisted herself up and made toward the kitchen to get some water.

“My God!” Mitch cried.

Jo Beth spun around to see his wide, shocked eyes staring at the floor. “What?” She demanded.

“The cracks!” he said.

Jo Beth knew her footsteps were heavy, but still, that didn’t warrant Mitch’s reaction. “What cracks?” Mitch said nothing, just kept his eyes glued to the path Jo Beth’s feet had just taken. She looked down. Same old floor, covered with dust but entirely without cracks. “Mitch, what cracks?”

He snapped out of his reverie and glanced up, meeting her eyes. “Huh? Nothing. Sorry. Never mind.”

Jo Beth put her hands on her hips. “Is this your way of saying I’ve gotten too fat, that I’m so heavy the floor is cracking beneath me?”

“No!” He jumped up from the couch and met her in the middle of the living room, where he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. “Sorry, Hon. Don’t listen to me, I just get into these weird moods sometimes and start talking nonsense. You’re beautiful and that’s what’s real.”

She let him kiss her again because she sort-of believed him. She wanted to believe him, anyway. If Mitch could love the new Jo Beth, the meeker, crazier, pudgier version of who she’d used to be, then she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. If only they could make love. But there was no privacy and besides, Jo Beth felt about as sexy as a potato. Speaking of potatoes, she was hungry. “I thought I’d sauté some potatoes and those beef tips for dinner. Okay?”

“Sure.” Mitch smiled, obviously pleased with whatever, because unlike her, food had not become the very reason for his existence. It was all so unfair.

Twenty minutes later, Magda was out of the shower, food was prepared, and they all sat down for dinner. Jo Beth stabbed at her potato, willing herself not to scarf it down. How could she be so hungry?

“Después de que el bebé llegue podremos hacerlo.” Magda said to Mitch.

“Tal vez. El tiempo dirá,” he replied.

“What are you talking about?” Jo Beth demanded. “Something about the baby?”

“Sorry,” Mitch said. “I keep forgetting. We’ll talk in English now.”

“But what were you saying?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Magda took a sip of wine. “Hey, there aren’t any laxatives in here, are there?”

“That joke just never gets old, does it?” replied Jo Beth.

“You’re lucky we can laugh about it.” Mitch reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

Was that squeeze a little too hard, a little too aggressive? And why wouldn’t they tell her what they’d said? Jo Beth knew it was something about being careful after the baby comes, but she wasn’t sure of the context.

But every day, she grew more and more sure that she shouldn’t trust them.