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Ritual, 1969 [two stories]
89
the florist groaned and
uttered a curse, and called
briskly,
‘Madame!’
She turned and he tossed
threecoins inher direction.
They fell at her feet and
she quickly picked up two,
but the third was nearer
to Amanda.
The child stepped forward,
bending to retrieve the
coin, and as she did so
she met the woman’s gaze
for the first time. They
stared at one another for
a moment, then stood
up. Amanda, holding her
bouquet
upside-down,
dangling the four satin
flower heads like the
hanged man on a tarot
card, lifted her other hand
towards the woman, the
small copper coin held
between her thumb and
forefinger. The woman
stared at her in confusion
for a moment and then,
bobbing her head briefly,
quickly took the coin and
left the shop.
Amanda followed. The
woman, once she was a
few paces from the shop,
hesitated as if uncertain
which way to go. She
seemed distressed, her
head turning this way
and that, while her feet
remained fixed to that one
slab of pavement.
Amanda went to her side.
‘Madame?’ she said and
reached for the woman’s
hand, whichwas cold to the
touch and made Amanda
think about the ivory soap
dish on the washstand in
her mama’s bedroom.
The
woman
looked
at
Amanda.
Her
expression
was
one