Inter-Library Loan

Inter-Library Loan Part 7

Chapter 7

The author, C. Paul, also known as Anna Paulska was ready to say no more to Oliver then, or ever. She stood to go as the door behind her opened and her sister and the grad student walked out onto the back porch.

"You must say thank you Anna" Caterina gently prodded her.

"Right. I must say thank you, for visiting me. You showed me your face Oliver. In person. That's quite a change for me. Seeing your face in person. It makes you real. You've seen my face in person now too. I'm real to you. But only you." She turned and went inside.

The graduate student followed her.

Caterina watched her go then held out her hand to Oliver to get him up the steps to the porch. "Hold on." She said as she watched the door. A minute or so went by, then she sighed and said "Follow me."

Through the door, they walked into a small grey kitchen. Caterina motioned him to one of the two chairs at the table and he sat, bewildered. "Do you have questions?" She asked of him.

He looked at her and his face told her everything she needed to know. "Right, well here is the deal. Anna has lived in this house like I told you. She writes here, feeds her birds, only leaves for the dentist, and doctor's visits. Every single morning she works out on a rowing machine for 30 minutes and eats the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every single day. She reads everything, like I told you. But she gets overwhelmed by what she thinks of as clutter."

"I'm sorry about that book Caterina." The grad student walked in, his blonde head bowed in shame. "I didn't know she'd read it and obsess about it like that."

Caterina gave him a sad smile and shook her head no. "It could have been any book, Terrence. You see how she is. It is no one's fault but Anna's." She turned back to Oliver who looked even more confused.

"Ah, yes, let me explain. She won't cook and clean the house, so the students get the free apartment upstairs and in exchange, they take care of those things for her. Their other, very important duty..."

"Is to request the inter-library loans?" Interjects Oliver.

Caterina throws her head back and laughs, and the grad student smirks. "No Oliver, I mean yes, she needed those books from you for her research, but she needs books like the rest of us need food. And like food, too many books make her ill. So they buy her used books and when she's done with one, she leaves it on the stairs, they retrieve it and leave behind another for her."

She pushed back from the table and stood to look out the back window. "I think it might be more because she's in menopause than the book Terrance." He nods his blonde head, sighs, and leaves the room as Oliver ducks his head in embarrassment at the word.

Caterina smiles at his discomfort and explains "Terrence found a book for her to read about building those, uh, what are they called? Earthship adobe houses in New Mexico. That is what she's decided to do. She has stopped writing and is going to move to New Mexico to build an Earthship adobe house." She laughs wryly and shakes her head. "I think the hormonal changes that she's going through mixed up with the idea of doing this thing and it stuck in her head. It's like her writing was stuck there, her obsession, for so long. None of us even thought anything else would take its place. But there it is. Earthship adobe house in New Mexico." She throws her hands up in defeat as she finishes the sentence.

"You can't let her! Who will look after her? How will she live alone down there?" Oliver bursts out angrily. "You can't let her do this!"

"Let her? Oliver, I've never let Anna do anything. Anna does what she wants. Always has, always will. She hires the students to take care of things. She bought the house. She found the agent, editor, and publisher for the books. She tucked the money away so that she can do whatever the fuck she wants to with it! Compost toilets!" She snorted and glared down at him. He shakes his head, trying to understand what she is saying.

She motions to him, "Come", and he follows her down the hall. He notices how empty and grey everything is. He sees into a grey bedroom with a bedside table with one lonely book on it, and a rowing machine next to it. They step into the living room where there is nothing but a desk along one wall where Anna sits, back to them, headphones in, typing away on a computer.

The walls are painted another shade of grey, and vacant, as are the floors. The house is quiet. Quiet and empty. Caterina motions him toward the front door and they go out onto the front porch. Oliver looks up and is surprised to see Dek's SUV parked across the street. Dek, Dex, and Tanya get out of the car and look toward him expectantly.

"You know them?" Caterina asks.

Oliver nods and turns toward her. "You're right, I see. She needs nothing."

"Nothing but books. She's not who you thought she was Oliver. She's Anna. I think..." She stops for a moment to mull through what she is going to say. "I think Anna made a life for herself that works for her. It isn't a life that anyone but she could live."

He absorbs this statement and then asks "Do you think she knows what her books have done? For the people who read them?"

"Sure, she knows. But she didn't write them for you, or anyone else Oliver. She wrote them for her."

He nods again, "Thank you." Caterina leans in and gives Oliver an unexpected hug. "Thank you Oliver. I love her, she's my sister. I almost never understand her, but I do love her. And you reminded me of that, by falling over that fence back there." She laughs and Oliver lets out his dusty chuckle as he makes his way across the street to the car.

"You ok?' Tanya asks with a concerned look on her face. The boys also look at him with worry as Dex reaches out and pats Oliver's shoulder. "Oliver?" He asks.

Oliver, yet again, nods as he climbs into the back seat. There, in his booster seat, sits little Abie. "OOoooooooliver!" He excitedly shouts. Then starts to chant "Pizza and wings! Pizza and Wings!" The adults laugh at his outburst.

"You ok with some pizza and wings Oliver?" Dex turns to ask from the driver's seat.

Oliver nods and smiles. The car slowly pulls away from the curb and Oliver looks at everyone there with him. "Her life...it's too reserved. Too empty, narrow, and grey."

Tanya looks over at her boys, grandson, and then at Oliver with a sly look. "And yours Oliver? How would you describe your life?"'

Oliver leans back and states with a smile and a sigh "Crowded."