Arctic

Carrie taught them to do it. You’ll be a better person for it.

They all did: Megan, Rose, and Abby. They set the thermostat at 55. Like mother, like daughter. They hadn't believed they would allow themselves to be uncomfortable as adults, but it was a save-the-earth thing. They were ironic about it, but they all believed in environmentalism. They had had practice living in a cold house as children.

Brr, it’s cold, Rose said. She often laid her icy hands on Ben’s cheeks to show how chilly she was. See how arctic it is in here.

You are very cold, said Ben with his warm hands holding hers. Let’s turn up the heat.

I can stand it. I’m as good as my sisters.

Who cares about your sisters? Mad Megan and anxious Abby.

And am I wild Rose?

You’re not. You’re responsible Rose.

It was chilly in New York state, but it didn't seem to snow that winter. When they talked to Megan on the phone, she said she was wearing a fur coat she had bought at a secondhand store.

I wouldn't dare wear this outside. Somebody would throw red paint on me.

Megan, who didn’t really mind the cold, thought the secret was to dress for the outdoors. She sat on the couch next to the steam radiator, dressed as though for a chilly March day in a turtleneck, cardigan sweater, old fur coat, stretch pants, knee socks, wool slippers, and gloves. When the wool slippers didn’t keep her warm, she switched to her L. L. Bean boots. She hankered for some slippers she had heard about on Martha Stewart, booties you warmed in the microwave. She clunked around the house in sherpa wool-lined boots, feeling vaguely irritated and wishing she were rich.

One afternoon, when Megan was watching CNN, Dreary, an awful woman who ran a rock club , stopped by her house. Megan huddled under a comforter, wishing she didn’t have to entertain her. That was the woman's actual name: Dreary. She owned some kind of rock club where people paid a cover charge to hear local bands and buy drinks and drugs. She was one of those stupid people who wouldn’t grow old: she dyed her hair snow-queen blonde and had frequent face lifts and a boob job.

Megan wouldn’t have let her in if Dreary weren’t a particular friend of her son. She didn’t understand the dreadful woman’s relationship to Jason Dreary’s object in running the club seemed to be to flirt with men and get laid. She went home with someone different every night. Dreary looked like a plastic woman. Dreary the Barbie doll, Megan thought. .

Your house is freezing, Dreary said.

Yes, it’s cold in here. Have a blanket, she said.

I’ve come to talk to you about Edith.

Oh, yes, Edith. Megan liked Edith, who owned a chic secondhand clothing store and sold dope.

Well, I’ll be your dealer from now on.

What?

Yes, she’s out of the business.

Megan didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t going to buy any dope from Dreary .

Well, you know, I’m giving it up. Didn’t Edith tell you?

I have a list of customers I got off her computer and you’re on it.

I’m quitting, Megan said blithely. So you can go now.

What? This is outrageous. I understand you were paying X amount a month. And you’ll need protection.

No, I’m giving it up.

Megan rose to see Dreary out of the house. She would talk to Edith in the morning. If necessary she would quit cold turkey. She would buy nothing from Dreary. She could imagine Dreary hacking into Edith’s computer and getting her list, then threatening her. Dreary was tiny but she was a bully. No one crossed her. She was rich, mean, and stupid.

After Dreary left, Megan couldn’t get warm. Finally she went to bed. She was depressed. Maybe it was really time to give up drugs.

She did something unprecedented. She called Abby on the phone.

Abby. I’m having a drug problem. I was wondering if I could visit you in Illinois.

No, I’m sorry, we’re not that close. The person you should talk to is Mom. What you need is called rehab.

When Megan got off the phone, she felt like crying. No tears fell. Abby was so icy. She pulled the blankets over her head. She lay there a very long time before she fell asleep. And when she got up at 1 a.m., she knew she could never call her mother about her problem. She and Carrie had never been close.

The only person she could call was Rose.