Lady Blues

by Aaron Paul Lazar

“No. But she can wait until the whole thing explodes nationwide and they’ve arrested the worst of the scumbags. Besides, she has something she has to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  She shook her head and put both hands in the air as if to push me away. “Don’t even try to get that out of me, I don’t know. All I know is she said it’s ‘the most important thing she’s ever done in her whole life’.”

  I stared at her, hoping to lure more out of her with my silence. It worked.

  “And it’s risky. Maybe even against the law.”

  A nervous sensation tickled my spine. “Against the law? Debbie?”

  She got up as if putting distance between us would keep her from blurting out the truth. “Yeah. Hey, I don’t want to be rude, but I’ve gotta get back to work now.”

  Susie jumped off my lap and followed her.

  “Lucy. Listen.”

  She stopped halfway to her shop.

  “You tell Debbie if she needs help, help of any kind, I’m here for her. I don’t care what it takes; just call me. And I have good friends in the police force who would help her, in spite of her husband’s history. Real good men who are on our side. The good guys, you know?”

  She looked skeptical.

  “I mean it,” I said, standing.

  With a shrug of acceptance, she came back and took my hand. Her handshake was firm and dry. “Okay. I believe you. I’ll tell her.”

  I smiled at Lucy, patted Susie one more time, and left.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  I made it home with just ten minutes to spare. Camille was wiping the kitchen counters and I caught the swish of Mrs. Pierce’s dress as she carried the cake into the dining room. The children romped upstairs with Shelby, evidenced by the bumps, thumps, and squeals that came from the ceiling overhead.

  “Oh, good. You’re back. I defrosted the hamburger for you.” Camille looked a little harried, but the flush on her face betrayed her excitement.

  “Thanks, hon.” I headed for the sink and washed Susie’s doggy smell from my hands with soap and hot water.

  Mrs. Pierce trotted back into the kitchen, stopped to check her hair in the hall mirror, and inhaled loudly. “Oh my stars.” She patted at the gray bun that had come half undone. “I need to get ready.”

  Camille looked down at her flour-dusted shirt and pants and smiled. “Me, too. Gus? Will you be okay if we desert you?”

  It was my turn to shoo them out of the kitchen. “Go, ladies. I’ve got it from here.”

  They vanished before I could dry my hands. I glanced at the clock. Almost one. Plenty of time to prepare the simple meal.

  I took out the ingredients: hamburger, taco mix, taco sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, cheddar cheese, dill pickles, red onions, a fresh bunch of cilantro, and three packs of white taco shells. Plopping four pounds of hamburger in my grandmother’s cast iron skillet, I turned the heat on low, then rinsed the vegetables. When they had drip dried, I set them within reach and started chopping, parsing each vegetable out into its own serving bowl. I decided to use our brown ceramic bowls with raised white patterns evocative of Native American designs. Too heavy and expensive to use as cereal bowls, we stored them up high to keep out of reach of the little ones. Since today was a special occasion, it felt right to use them.

  I chopped and stirred with exaggerated precision, using the simple pleasure of preparing a meal as a balm for my frayed nerves. I diced the dill pickles into tiny, perfect chunks and kept on going until I’d diminished the entire jar into a healthy green pile.

  I thought of Kip, and tomorrow’s pending visit from Bella Dubois. Bella—the woman whose love for Kip transcended decades, who called her son Kipper, and who expected to be reunited with the man she spoke with only last week.

  My heart fell, knowing her heart would be broken all over again.

  And Kip—the man whose ardor was so deeply entrenched in his brain that even the worst case of brain damage, or Alzheimer’s, or whatever he had—could not eradicate her from his memory.

  I chopped the Spanish onions into small purple pieces, ignoring the stinging in my eyes.

  How long would it take another drug company to manufacture more of the original Memorphyl? Would Kip be able to start on it in time to have some quality months or years with Bella? What if he became ill before the medicine was available? They were both almost ninety. Anything could happen.

  I shuddered to think of it. To be so close to a reunion with her, to have his life returned and snatched away in days, only for the sake of a company’s profit. It killed me.

  I chopped the fragrant green leaves of cilantro, layering them on top of each other and rocking the knife back and forth to make a finely shredded aromatic topping for the tacos.

  Lily’s face came into my mind’s eye. The haunted look of desperation in her dark fringed eyes when we’d discovered her on the side of the cliff had been disturbing. I thought of her scarred back, crisscrossed with angry red welts delivered by her own brother. I still couldn’t believe that the man who had both protected and abused her for years had taken part in the murder of her mother. And then there was her father…so unforgiving and ruthless.

  I tried to picture losing my own parents so young in life. Then learning, years later, that my father had killed my mother, and my brother had killed him. I could barely imagine the anguish Lily must be feeling. The betrayal. The sense of loss and abandonment and worthlessness. Did she feel culpable for her mother’s death? If she hadn’t been born, her mother’s affair would not have been discovered. And now—though she’d finally found the love of a good, gentle man—I thought she felt unworthy of his affection. How sad to live more than forty years without love, find it in the most unexpected place, and have it torn from you because of a past you couldn’t control.

  The parallels between Lily and Siegfried and Bella and Kip gelled in my brain. It was so unfair—deep, intense love—found, then lost in a flash of unfair circumstances.

  I got up to stir the beef, drain off the fat, and add the water and taco powder.

  A surge of hope and fortitude swelled within me. I wasn’t willing to give up on the vision of ultimate happiness for any of them.

  Siegfried wouldn’t take no for an answer from Lily. He’d stick by her side until she realized he was there for life. He’d make her realize how nothing in her past mattered to him, and they would marry and live in the log cabin he envisioned. I knew him too well to worry about him letting her go. It wasn’t in his nature.

  And Kip might not reunite with Bella tomorrow in the true sense, but the comfort of her presence would calm him until he could begin treatment again on the original Memorphyl. She would tend to him lovingly, of that I had no doubt. And even if it took months, even if the pills were unavailable, the knowledge that she had found her man after years of believing him dead would provide some measure of comfort.

  The room filled with the pungent aroma of the cilantro, onions, and meat mixture. I preheated the oven and arranged the shells on two cookie sheets, taking my time to carefully set them upside down so they wouldn’t collapse on their sides.

  I grated the cheese into a mountainous pile, and felt a twinge of regret because Siegfried wouldn’t be here to help us demolish it.

  Camille rejoined me an hour later. I glanced up to find her leaning against the archway with an alluring smile.

  My breath caught in my throat. “You’re a vision.”

  Her chestnut hair, glossy and thick, hung over her shoulders and across one eye. She wore no makeup, and needed none. Her heart-shaped face, defined by high cheekbones, radiated happiness. Parties were one of her favorite things in the world, second only to shopping.

  “You didn’t say a vision of what,” she said, her eyes teasing.

  I wiped my hands on a dishtowel and approached her, smoothing her hair from her face. I kissed her lips, lingering in the softness of the moment and realizing, once again, how incredibly lucky I was to have found love twice in my life.
This time, I prayed God would let me keep it.

  “A vision of loveliness, of course,” I said.

  She gently pushed me back, surveyed my clothes, and wrinkled her nose. “You need to change, sweetie. Freddie and Adam will be here any minute.”

  I looked at my jeans and tee shirt and shrugged. “What’s wrong with these? It’s just Freddie.”

  She knew I was joking and didn’t rise to the bait. “Go. Put on some nice slacks and a decent shirt. And hurry. You don’t want to miss Freddie’s face when we yell surprise.”

  I gave in. “Okay, but remind me to tell you later about Debbie. She’s okay, but I’m not sure for how long.”

  A look of concern flashed in her eyes, to be quickly replaced with excitement when the sound of tires crunched on the driveway. “Hurry. And tell the kids to come down.” She ran to Mrs. Pierce’s door and knocked. “Adelaide, I think they’re back.”

  I obeyed and scrambled up the stairs.

  After changing into slacks and a button-down shirt, I hurried downstairs to join the party. The car in the drive hadn’t been Freddie and Adam, but Maddy and Joe. Nahum Hardina and Oscar and Millie Stone arrived immediately afterwards.

  Shelby had tacked a shimmering cloth over the archway between the kitchen and great room. Due to the age of most of our guests, we decided this would be a better method of surprise, rather than having them crouch down behind furniture and spring up in the air.

  We sat together in anticipation as Shelby peeked out the window, watching for Adam’s car in the driveway. Oscar perched on a small cane chair beside Millie’s wheelchair. Celeste sat on Millie’s lap, her copper curls neatened by pink barrettes, wearing a pink flowered dress, white tights, and white patent leather shoes.

  “Are they almost here?” Johnny asked. He bounced in place beside Shelby, dressed in his Sunday best.

  Shelby shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’ve asked me that ten times in the last few minutes, Johnny.”

  I laughed and exchanged amused glances with Oscar, who winked at me and smoothed his silky white hair. He leaned over to whisper something in Millie’s ear. She chuckled.

  Marion sprawled on Maddy’s lap, decked out in a pale orange and yellow flowered dress that matched Celeste’s style. She wore white tights, like her sister, and her feet pumped back and forth in black patent leather shoes. Maddy, dressed to the nines as always, sported a bright green polyester pantsuit with a silky white blouse and chunky jewelry that flashed in the sunlight streaming through the windows. She chatted amiably with Mrs. Pierce about Avon products.

  I put my arm around Camille, who nestled beside me on the couch. Nahum sat to my right, and kept up polite church talk, waiting for the newlyweds to arrive.

  “So, you see,” he continued, “we’re considering combining both the building and grounds committee with the Parish council group. We’ve been getting complaints about too many meetings, and I certainly don’t want to—”

  “They’re here!” Shelby shrieked.

  The room went wild. The twins hopped down from their respective laps and danced circles around Shelby and Johnny, who scooted behind the couch.

  “Come on, girls! Hide with us,” Shelby said. The twins joined her, giggling loudly and popping up and down a dozen times before they understood the instructions to stay put.

  Camille, Mrs. Pierce, and Maddy jumped to their feet with excitement, and hovered near the archway.

  The kitchen door opened and closed.

  “Where is everyone?” Freddie said. “And what’s this thing doing over the—”

  When she poked her head inside, the room erupted.

  “Surprise!”

  Adam’s head pushed through the curtain, his face wreathed in smiles.

  Freddie, caught completely off-guard, teared up and turned to her husband, smacking him on the arm. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

  He grinned wider. “Sure I did. Why do you think I dragged you all over kingdom come this morning?”

  The hugs ensued and everyone crowded around the newlyweds.

  “Congratulations, honey,” I said when it was my turn. I shook Adam’s hand and pulled him into a big bear hug. “Welcome to the family, son.”

  He hugged me back, and we migrated to the decorated dining room. After a chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs” from the new couple, I took the taco shells out of the oven and served dinner.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  On Monday morning, long after the festivities ended and the crepe paper fell from the dining room ceiling, I arranged for a student teacher to cover my classes and drove up to Rochester Memorial Hospital.

  Camille wanted to go, too, but she had scheduled a half-dozen counseling appointments at the high school. “Her kids,” as she called them, needed her.

  Siegfried called Sunday night, alerting me to Lily’s anticipated discharge time of ten o’clock Monday. He’d sounded a bit tired, and mentioned not being able to sleep. I remembered when I’d slept near Elsbeth’s hospital bed when they let me stay with her—and the thousands of times they’d walked into the room at night to check her vitals or wake her up to give her a sleeping pill. I’d tossed and turned each night, and had been so relieved to get back to my own bed.

  Poor Sig needed his own bed, too, and some home cooking. Although he’d been good-natured about it all, I could hear how much he missed us in his unspoken words. I missed him, too.

  On the way to the hospital, I thought about Debbie and the Novacom rep who’d threatened her. I’d meant to tell Joe about it, but hadn’t had time to talk with him. Visions of her camping in the woods kept flashing across my mind’s eye. I had no idea if she had experience with camping, but my imagination ran wild.

  Where had Lucy stashed her?

  At a friend’s place?

  Out of state?

  I arrived at nine-thirty, prepared to wait and also hopeful I might sneak up to see Kip before they discharged Lily. Release times were never solid, and I imagined this would be no different than usual.

  Siegfried sat on his bed, the circles under his eyes as dark as the heavy rain clouds rolling along the horizon. Lily sat up in her bed, her leg still propped on the foam cushion. She looked healthier today, with color in her cheeks. She raised a hand in greeting, and flashed a timid smile in my direction. “Hi, Gus.”

  Siegfried echoed the greeting, with his own German version. “Guten Morgen, Professor.”

  “Good morning. How are you two doing?”

  Sig turned down the volume on the television, muting Aunt Bee in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. “We are good, Professor. The doctor says Lily can go home soon. When the paper work is done.” He said “paperwork” as if it were an unfamiliar term, slowly and with care.

  “Good,” I said, skirting around the foot of his bed. I walked to Lily’s side and took her hand, now without the IV bandages on it. She’d been disconnected—a good sign. “And how’s the leg?” I asked, pointing to her cast.

  Lily cocked her head to the side and shrugged a little. “Okay. No hurt.”

  I smiled and leaned against the windowsill. “Excellent. Then we should get you home soon.”

  Siegfried motioned to me.

  I went to his side and perched on his cot. “What’s up, buddy?”

  He looked at Lily with pride. “Dr. Kwon has come to visit Lily, with another doctor. They have talked about her feelings. I do not know what they talked about exactly, but Dr. Kwon says she is ‘no longer at risk.’ That is good, nicht wahr?”

  I smiled at Lily, whose gaze had reverted to the silent Aunt Bee. “It’s very good, my friend. I’m glad to hear that. But I assume she’ll continue with counseling?”

  He turned the volume back up a little, and received a smile from Lily in return. “Ja. She will see the new doctor on Thursday.”

  “Good. That’s great. Freddie and Adam came home—”

  Before I could fill him in on all that had happened at home, Curtis Dubois poked his head into the room
with a concerned expression.

  “Gus? Is my father here?” He looked around the room as if expecting to see Kip.

  I shook my head, baffled. “What? No. Why do you ask?”

  A sense of foreboding hit me.

  “He’s not in his room. His clothes are gone, so I thought maybe you’d had him dressed and taken him for a walk in his wheelchair.” He scratched his head. “I don’t get it. I asked the nurses upstairs and they said he’d been discharged last night. But that’s impossible.”

  “What? That’s crazy. Maybe they have him mixed up with someone else and he’s getting tests or something.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe.”

  “When’s Bella arriving? It’s today, right?”

  He looked dazed. “Er, yeah. Her flight comes in at two. But if I can’t find my father…”

  “Do you need me to pick her up for you?”

  He turned to leave, waving one elegant hand in my direction. “Uh, no. I’ll get her. I just have to find my father.”

  He left, apparently to return to the floor to turn beds over and look behind curtains.

  Before I could speculate further, Lily’s nurse, Billie, arrived and reviewed the care procedures with us. “So, no sticking knitting needles down the cast to itch your leg, okay?” she joked.

  Lily looked confused.

  Siegfried reassured her and smiled. “Ja. I will watch her. And she will see her bone doctor next week, right?”

  “That’s right. A week from Friday. Right here at the hospital.”

  “Okay,” Siegfried said. “Now can we go?”

  Billie and I laughed. “Just a few more forms for her to sign, Siegfried. And then you’re free.”

  After another hour and forty-five minutes of administrivia, including fitting and training on crutches, we followed as Billie pushed Lily in a wheelchair to the pickup area. I left them at the door to fetch the SUV.

  Police cars flashed red and blue lights across the parking lot, and worried security guards trotted past me in both directions. I stopped one of them briefly, asking for an explanation.

  He frowned, sizing me up. When I apparently passed inspection, he gave me a brief statement. “A patient’s missing. Elderly gentleman, may be an Alzheimer’s patient. Not able to care for himself. If you see anyone who looks like they don’t belong out here, will you alert us? We’re checking the parking garage now and sealing the outside doors.”