{"id":813,"date":"2014-06-05T22:46:25","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T06:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/?p=813"},"modified":"2014-06-07T02:09:49","modified_gmt":"2014-06-07T10:09:49","slug":"the-heinz-ketchup-american-an-ophelia-perhaps-mystery-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/2014\/06\/the-heinz-ketchup-american-an-ophelia-perhaps-mystery-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heinz Ketchup American. An Ophelia Perhaps Mystery. Part 3."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC05247\"Mr. Briggs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before I meet Mrs. Briggs and Dennis in the waiting room, I stop for a bracing tea and scone, then find my way to the hospital vending machines. I don’t want to rush into this depressing situation. Nothing looks good in the machines, but I get three coffees and three Kit Kat bars anyway. Who knows how long we’ll be here. Is there a person on this earth who can refuse coffee and candy bars?<\/p>\n

Juggling the cups and bars, I walk into the waiting room, empty except for Dennis and Mrs. Briggs huddled in quiet conversation. They look up as I approach.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is one of those for me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Dennis says rather too loudly.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Of course, my love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

I hand over coffees and Kit Kats.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have this, dear,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Mrs. Briggs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m diabetic, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll save it for Oscar.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

There are industrious sounds of crinkling, tearing, and chewing. Chocolate has a way of putting things in perspective.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the news? There was a turn for the worse?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say as Dennis crumples the Kit Kat wrapper.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, now<\/em> they say Oscar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little better,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Dennis. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But we want to talk to the head cardiologist. They said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be here in an hour.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

A young man with dreadlocks in a Mad for Flowers shirt suddenly appears with a spray of carnations. He wobbles a bit as he shoves aside a bunch of magazines on the waiting room table and sets down the glass vase.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is for . . .\u00c2\u00a0 a Mrs. . . . Perhaps,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says slowly, reading his order slip. “You aren’t the one that’s sick, are you?”<\/p>\n

“That’s me, and, no, I’m here to see about someone else.” I take the flowers\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI love carnations\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand look back at the delivery boy.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is there a card?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, ma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122am,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. He reaches to pull a small card from a plastic holder, handing it to me.<\/p>\n

I read it quietly out loud. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good luck and good health to your friend. An admirer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Dennis lets out a low whistle.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did you take this order?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I ask the delivery boy.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My name\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Nigel, and, yes, I did take the order.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, Nigel, what did this guy look like?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tall, older American bloke, white hair . . . an American hat . . . \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Like the kind some rappers wear?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

“Rappers?” whispers Dennis with a frown.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rappers? Yeah, sure,” says Nigel. “Could be. With the bill in the front. And his hands were speckled. Like with paint.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

I gasp at this unexpected detail. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Like a plasterer or someone like that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, like a painter. Someone like that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr. Briggs Before I meet Mrs. Briggs and Dennis in the waiting room, I stop for a bracing tea and scone, then find my way to the hospital vending machines. I don’t want to rush into this depressing situation. Nothing looks good in the machines, but I get three coffees and three Kit Kat bars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ophelia-perhaps-mystery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}