I pick up the car phone and speed-dial my regular doctor. He’s so nice. He reminds me of Dr. Welby. The receptionist answers. “Yes, hi, Lisa, this is Paris Price calling, and I was wondering if I could speak to Dr. Lerner.”

“He’s with a patient right now. Is it an emergency, or something that can wait a few minutes?”

“Sure, I can wait. Should I call him back?”

“Why don’t you do that. Ten minutes would be good.”

“Okay,” I say and hang up.

I look at the clock. It’s 4:45. His office closes at five. Traffic is picking up, moving a little better at least. I’m almost on the 580, but still have to go over the Dumbarton Bridge and then drive another twenty minutes or more. Shit.

I dial my answering machine to listen to my messages, because I was trying to finish up the final proposal for this meeting and didn’t answer the phone all day. “Hello, Paris, this is Frances Moore, and I do so apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, but I’ve had a death in the family and have had to fly to Boston, so I won’t be able to personally meet you today, but you can feel free to come out and look at the house. Sophia, the housekeeper, will let you in, and you can take your time and look around for as long as you like. I should be back in four or five days and I’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts. Goodbye.”

I’m sorry to hear that she has a death in the family, and I sure feel like turning this car around and going home. But of course I’m almost here now, and it would be stupid, because I’ll just have to come back anyway. Actually, this is great, because now I won’t have to talk to her. I can just cruise through the house to get an idea how we can use the space and I’m out of there.

Message two: “Paris, you there? This is Mom calling. Pick up. She ain’t there. Okay, then. Anyway, I just wanted you to know a few things. First of all, my teeth look good but they hurt like hell and the dentist said it was gon’ take a few weeks to get ’em adjusted just right, but I look like a million dollars when I smile now. And since it’s been so hard for me to chew, I done lost nine whole pounds. If I’da known I could lose weight this way, I’da got me some new teeth a long time ago. Anyway, baby, I get to move in my new place next week. They repainting the whole place even though it don’t really need it, and I picked out a different color carpet I like and I need to know if you can do me a big favor and I promise not to ask you for nothing for a long long time, I promise. Can you let me borrow or either just send me two thousand dollars so I can put this dining-room set in layaway at Thomasville that would look so good in my new place, and to pay for the difference in the upgrade for the carpet? If it’s asking too much, I will understand. You done done enough for me, but I’m just excited. Love you. Call me as soon as you get this message. And tell my grandson to call me!”