“The ice man? Well, speak to him about it.”
“No, ma’am, the one in the garden. The one Nounou took ’em down to the beach to get away from. She didn’t think he was quite right.”
What on earth was Lizzie talking about?
“A man in the garden? What’s he doing here?”
“I gave him a piece of cake. He saw it in the pantry window and asked for some. Then he was in again for a glass of water.”
Another problem. Life is just one perplexity after another. But there must be some explanation.
“He asked for a piece of cake? Who is he, the gardener?”
Lizzie was flushed with heat and impatience. Her voice rose shrilly.
“He didn’t exactly ask for it, but he was lookin’ in the window at it and he says, ‘They always give me a piece of cake when I want it.’ No, he ain’t the gardener. I don’t know who he is. I thought maybe a friend of yours, one o’ the artists. He was playin’ with the kids.”
She stepped outside, resolutely attempting not to think. Automatically she adjusted the lid of the garbage can. But the mind insists on thinking. Was it better for the can to stand there in the sun, or to go in the cellar entry where it would be cooler? Sunlight is a purifier: the heat would tend to dry the moist refuse ... but the sun attracts flies too. She stooped to lift the can, then paused, abandoned the problem, left it where it was. Just like George to have rented an old-fashioned barracks like this, not even gas for cooking. No wonder the place had stood empty for years and years. The idea of cooking with coal in July. If the oil range didn’t come soon Lizzie would quit, she could see it in her face. The ice box was too small. If they took enough ice to last through the day, there was no room for the ginger-ale bottles. She had known it would be like this.