Eloise put away her handkerchief and hoisted herself to a sitting position. “Gimme your foot,” she said. “Sit down, first, please… . Not there—here. God!”
On her knees, looking under the table for her cigarettes, Mary Jane said, “Hey. Guess what happened to Jimmy.”
“No idea. Other foot. Other foot.”
“He got runned over,” said Mary Jane. “Isn’t that tragic?”
“I saw Skipper with a bone,” Ramona told Eloise.
“What happened to Jimmy?” Eloise said to her.
“He got runned over and killed. I saw Skipper with a bone, and he wouldn’t—”
“Gimme your forehead a second,” Eloise said. She reached out and felt Ramona’s forehead. “You feel a little feverish. Go tell Grace you’re to have your dinner upstairs. Then you’re to go straight to bed. I’ll be up later. Go on, now, please. Take these with you.”
Ramona slowly giant-stepped her way out of the room.
“Throw me one,” Eloise said to Mary Jane. “Let’s have another drink.”