Free 3 Can You Picture This? by Jerilyn Dufresne Page B

on the glaring at Adam.
    Adam wasn’t scared. He knew my glare was worse than my bite.
    “So here’s what’s going to happen,” George went on. “Officer Jimmy Mansfield is going to work with you, Sarah. He’s not going to wear his uniform so he won’t embarrass you too much.”
    Sarah nodded and didn’t say a word.
    “And as for you, Adam, your uncle Rob is going out with you and your buddies.” He stopped Adam before he could say anything. “Rob is pretty close to your age, so it won’t look weird that he’s with you.”
    “I wasn’t going to complain,” Adam said, sounding defensive, “Uncle Rob is closer in age to me than he is to my mom. And he’s kind of cool…‌for a cop.” Then he actually smiled.
    I sighed with relief. I felt that both of my kids would be safe tonight. I was confident Rob would take good care of Adam, and his friends. Plus, he wouldn’t drink, and would be alert. And Jimmy Mansfield had already saved me once. He’d take good care of my baby girl.
    Sarah said she was going to take a nap until it was time for work, and George let her know Jimmy would pick her up about 20 minutes before she had to be at the hospital.
    Rob called Adam’s phone and I could hear Adam agreeing to whatever Rob said, ending the conversation with, “Okay. See you then.”
    After my kids and I exchanged “I love yous,” I knew I could relax and enjoy my card game.
    George and I took Clancy and a six-pack of beer with us and walked through the courtyard to Gus and Georgianne’s house. The back door was open and I heard laughter coming from the dining room.
    George and I walked in to see Georgianne, her sister Julianne, Gus, and two other older women I didn’t know. I introduced George, and we were introduced to Lily and Mae, old friends of Georgianne’s.
    “We like to have four or five for our card games, and unfortunately one of our members is in the hospital and another wasn’t feeling well,” Georgianne said. “I thought you might enjoy a game with us.”
    Yeah, right. You’re all at least 40 years older than I am. I’m sure this will be a laugh riot .
    But when Georgianne said, “We recently started calling ourselves the Game of Crones,” I figured it would be fun after all.
    Gus told George, “I got a great cop movie from the forties. It’s got George Raft and Edward G. Robinson. Thought maybe you hadn’t seen it yet.” He led George into the living room. As he walked by me, George kissed the top of my head, and I noticed wistful looks on the other women’s faces.
    Georgianne surprised the hell out of me. She was actually fun. Still a little snooty, but more relaxed than I’d ever seen her. This group had been playing cards every Tuesday night for more than 40 years, meaning they started about my age.
    The game was a rummy variation, and over time, they’d developed their own rules. It was fun but with some bittersweet moments. Mae asked several times each hand what the wild card was. It changed each hand and it was hard for her to retain the memory.
    As a therapist, I noticed signs of early dementia; whether it was Alzheimer’s or not was up to a doctor to diagnose. But dementia definitely. I thought that it wouldn’t be long and they’d be losing another member.
    The other three were sharp as tacks, and I had to work hard to keep up with them, their cards, and their banter. Georgianne had a side table full of edible goodies and of course I spent some quality time there.
    Julianne was certainly funny, loud, and theatric, making me wish I’d known her when she was younger. Suddenly she stood up, threw out her arms and yelled, “I LOVE MEN!” I didn’t know where that came from, but it was endearing rather than uncomfortable.
    “That reminds me of my third, or was it my fourth, husband,” she said at one point, and went on to tell a bizarre story involving outdoor sex and fire ants. Normally I’d be grossed out thinking of an eighty-something-year-old woman having sex,