The Other Americans

A dove has made a nest on the swamp cooler in the cabin. The sounds of the bird wake Nora on the ninth day after her father’s death. She thinks about religious periods of mourning and the time Driss came to watch her perform a piano recital. The cabin phone rings and startles her. The man on the other end of the line is named Maurice and he has an order for Driss. Nora discovers that Driss has an outstanding payment on an engagement ring he ordered months before. Nora notes down the details and drives to the jewelry shop in Palm Springs.

Maurice buzzes Nora into the shop. She examines the ring and cannot bring herself to understand why her father would want or need an engagement ring. The ring costs $3,250 and cannot be resold because it is inscribed with three words. Nora does not want to pay so leaves the shop in spite of Maurice’s protestations. She drives back to Yucca Valley and thinks about the Cold War between her parents. She wonders whether her father could have had an affair and all of her certainties about him vanish. Nora knows that she cannot tell anyone.