Circle of Stones Read Online Free PDF

always disliked the bulge of Geoff’s eyes. He has the same eyes as his father. Geoff leans into me and positions his face so close to mine that I can feel the grease of his hair, smell his cheap aftershave. His chewing gum and nicotine mouth.
    â€œMa, you’re not supposed to be drinking.” He shakes my shoulder hard with his root-claw hand. I hold on to the sideboard for balance then swat his arm away.
    â€œShush.”
    I glare at my son. He turns and rubs his nose with the back of his hand.
    â€œI can drive her.” Annette’s voice wavers. It makes me wish she’d mind her own business.
    â€œShe’s my mother,” Geoff says.
    â€œI should put the salad in a container.” I bustle past Annette to the kitchen and rummage through the cupboard for the appropriate-sized Tupperware.
    Annette hovers in the doorway, uncertain. “You have that for your supper,” she says finally. “I’ve got to get back home to my dogs, take them for a walk.”
    â€œBye, dear.” I give up and shove the whole bowl of salad into the fridge. I unfold a fresh tea towel and hang it on the hook, listening to the sound of her heavy footsteps in the hall.
    â€œYour son was here, by the way. We had such a wonderful visit, he and I,” I hear her fib to Geoff. “You should have seen him, all grown up and tall. Not that you care about anyone but yourself.”
    I click my tongue and shake my head. I’ll explain the actual details of Nikky’s visit to Geoff — later when he’s in a better mood to listen. I duck around Geoff’s sprawling limbs. “I’ll be ready in a minute, dear.”
    I close my bedroom door as I freshen up with a little face powder, lipstick, and a spritz of Coco Chanel. I look at the mountain-scenes calendar tacked to the wall and draw a checkmark beside “Doctor’s Appointment” in the square for Wednesday, although I probably deserve a star. I continue the appointment charade, even though I don’t trust the medicines, and I don’t always take them. I’m entitled to this secret. I’ve been a responsible follower of rules all of my life. I open the door.
    â€œLet’s go,” Geoff insists. I rush to put my coat on, straighten my collar, and lock up. In the elevator Geoff’s finger is pressed on the door open button. He glances at me and releases it. I count the floor numbers backwards in French to myself and feel the lining of my coat. Trois, deux, un . I’m relieved to discover my coat has dried. I think about how my son left home too young. Tibor had kicked him out for smoking pot, a hasty, stupid thing, considering Geoff was only a teenager. I stopped talking to Tibor after that. Geoff left for the logging camp and I didn’t see him for several years. I had wanted to teach him more about gentlemanly behaviour. He was just like his father, and the allure of their particular type of brawn, as Annette and I had both discovered, did not last. Geoff could have been a businessman. And kind to his family. Instead, he is a logger turned carpenter. A house builder who lives alone in a small, musty apartment.
    The doctor’s office is in a squat, two-storey medical services building. Geoff drives straight for the front door. He keeps the engine running as he waits for me to manage the heavy passenger door and climb out. I sit and wait for him to open it for me. I hope it’s not so much thoughtlessness anymore as selective forgetting. A lazy remnant from when I was the strong, sure one, taking care of him. He’s going to have to turn and look at me. See me shaking now. I stare ahead. Geoff shifts in his seat, reaches over me and pops the door open with a swift push. I see him looking at me through the rear-view mirror as he drives away. I wave at him then stand on the curb for a moment before patting my hair back into place and striding into the office. The doctor sees me right away. I get