Page 24 of Finding Molly Parsons

“Did she just say…”

“Yup.”

The door finally opened, revealing a woman, Carmen would put close to seventy, leaning on a cane. “If you’re here to sell Jesus, don’t bother. That fucker gave up on me years ago.”

Carmen and Faith were stunned into silence. Whoever this woman was, she was intimidating, which was a little ridiculous. At a maximum of five feet in height, dressed in a neon pink tracksuit, with short, permed hair, the woman looked as if she should be power walking in Florida not living in the suburbs of Seattle.

“Did you want something, or are you just gonna stand there looking like a pair of stunned fish all day?”

Clearing her throat, Carmen willed herself to speak. “Sorry, yes, hello. I’m Carmen Ruiz, I live next door to you.”

“Ah yeah, with that gay fella, right?”

“Um… yeah.”

“That man can strut in a pair of heels. I might invite him over for some lessons,” the woman said to herself. “Although he needs to lay off the manscaping. He’s smoother than a Ken doll.” Faith guffawed, quickly hiding her mouth behind her hand. Carmen found it hard not to titter. “Anyway, you were saying, dear.”

“Right,” Carmen inhaled, trying to calm herself down. “So, I’m Carmen and this is Faith.”

“Hello, dears, I’m Enid Butcher. I know it’s a fucking terrible name, but what can ya do? Well, maybe not marry a man with a surname like Butcher I suppose. Well, that’s by the by. What are your last names?”

The rate at which Enid spoke was making Carmen’s head spin. “I’m Carmen Ruiz and this is Faith Parsons.”

“Parsons, you say?” The flicker of recognition in Enid’s eyes was unmistakable. Faith noticed too, her body instinctively moving forward, her hand reaching out to Enid’s arm.

“Do you know the name?”

“I know a Molly Parsons,” Enid supplied. “Huh. Actually, you look just like her, although your hair is a little more honey-colored, whereas she is on the brown side of blonde, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh my God, you know Molly, that’s excellent,” Faith cried. Her excitement was palpable.

“Of course I know her. She was my neighbor for a couple of years. Such a shame she moved away. That woman was a godsend to me. After Ernie died, I didn’t have anyone to open my cans. Molly always came over for a coffee and a can opening session.”

“Do you know where she moved to?” Carmen asked.

Enid scratched her chin. “Vermont, I think. Hang on, I’m sure I have an address somewhere. Molly left it with me in case I needed her. I’m not sure what she thought she could do from the other side of the country but, the offer was nice.”

Enid pushed off the door and hobbled inside her house. Carmen and Faith shot a quick look of triumph at each other. “Are you coming in or what?” Enid called.

“I can’t wait to rib Mateo,” Carmen whispered to Faith as they went inside. Faith snickered.

“Wow,” Faith breathed as she took in Enid’s house.

“Do you feel she would rather be somewhere tropical?” Carmen asked. Enid’s house was adorned with bright colors, plastic flamingos and pineapple pictures. It was an interesting choice of decor, that’s for sure.

“Ernie made me move to Seattle, when I wanted to move to Hawaii,” Enid shouted from another room. Jesus, did the woman have bionic hearing? “The old bastard made me live in a rainy state, so I made him live in a tropical nightmare,” Enid chuckled.

Carmen laughed, thinking how she would have done the same to Mateo. “Did you not think of moving after Ernie passed?” Carmen asked. Not sure if that was an inappropriate thing to ask a stranger.

“I thought about it. I still do to be honest, but I’m used to this place now.”

“I like it,” Faith beamed.

“Here we go,” Enid said, handing over a piece of paper to Faith. “That’s the address she gave me.”

Faith clutched the paper to her chest as tears welled up in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“She didn’t mention a daughter.” Clearly Enid was out to get some gossip.

---