In the Neighborhood of Normal

by Cindy Maddox

  Mish had been uncharacteristically quiet since the conversation with her son. Juliann had made a couple of feeble attempts at conversation, but for once Mish hadn’t picked up on the cues. She turned on some mellow music and drifted off to sleep. She awoke with a start to the sensation of the car tires on the highway rumble strip.

  “Sorry about that,” Mish said. “You go on back to sleep. I’m sure you need it.”

  Juliann looked at Mish and realized how tired she was. She seemed to be blinking a lot and her face looked kind of pale. “No, I’m fine. I’ll stay awake and keep you company.” She straightened up in her seat as a thought occurred to her. “Are we in West Virginia yet?”

  “Almost. Why?”

  “Well, I have a learner’s permit, so I can drive once we get into West Virginia if you want me to.”

  “Oh, bless your heart, that would be wonderful. We’ll be crossing the state line real soon. As soon as we do, I’ll let you take the wheel. I’m pretty tuckered out.”

  A few minutes later they crossed the state line into West Virginia and decided to stop for gas and a bite to eat. When they returned to the car, Mish tossed her the keys, and Juliann headed to the driver’s side. “Hey Mish, did you know you’re missing a hubcap over here?”

  “Yep, I’ve got some extras at home. I’ll put one on tomorrow.”

  Juliann got in the car and began adjusting the seat and mirrors, like her driving instructor had taught her. “You keep extra hubcaps around?” she asked.

  “I started doing that a year or two ago,” Mish admitted. “I kept losing them, probably from hitting curbs. My son said it was a sign that I shouldn’t be driving anymore. Well, there’s no way I was going to let him take away my driving privileges, so I went to the store and bought a case of cheap hubcaps. Now whenever I lose one, I put a replacement right back on. That way nobody notices.”

  “That’s actually pretty genius,” Juliann said with a laugh. “A wee bit scary, but genius!”

  Mish ducked her head. “Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you about the spray paint.”

  She slowed the car and looked over her shoulder to merge onto the interstate. This part always made her nervous. After she was safe in her lane she asked, “What was that about the spray paint?”

  “Well, my garage is a little bit tight. I’ve got too much stuff in there and sometimes my car doesn’t fit right. A couple of times I’ve hit the edge of the garage door on my way in. Now I keep a can of white spray paint hidden in the garage so I can touch up the frame and he won’t never see it.”

  Juliann glanced over at her with a grin. “Funny how you never mentioned any of this when you offered to drive me to DC!”

  “Well, even if I had, I don’t recall you having lots of options. I think you would have taken the ride anyway. You know, a bird in the hand is worth two.”

  Juliann laughed. “Yeah, something like that. And you’re right, I would have accepted anyway.”

  “So keep your eyes on the road and quit giving me grief!” she teased.

  Juliann gave a little salute. “Yes, ma’am!” Just then a beep interrupted their laughter. “Can you check my phone—I mean your phone?”

  Mish looked closely at the screen. “It’s your friend. She said your mom just texted to ask when you’re coming home.”

  “Tell her to text my mom that I’m going back to Hailey’s house, because she just broke up with her boyfriend and needs to talk.”

  Mish typed so slow that Juliann was tempted to pull over and do it herself. But Mish seemed so proud of herself for doing it, she didn’t have the heart. At last she was done, and within a few seconds there was another ding.

  “She said, ‘My nonexistent boyfriend broke up with me? Gee thanks.’” Mish put the phone down on her lap but ten seconds later it rang. Mish answered it, and Hailey’s voice came through the car speakers. “Juliann, I think we’ve got trouble. Your mom said she needs you to come home. I told her the boyfriend thing, but she still says you have to come home. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Shit. I really need to call her, but I can’t call her from Mish’s phone. What should I do?”

  Surprisingly, Mish was the one who answered. “It’s too bad they don’t have party lines anymore, like when I was a kid.”

  “Party lines?” Juliann repeated. “Wait, that’s it! Three-way calling. Hailey, you’re calling me from my phone, right?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Hailey answered.

  “Okay, then just tap on ‘add a call’ and add my mom. I think it will show on her phone as coming from me. You’ll have to stay on the line and be quiet.”

  “No kidding,” she said sarcastically. “You’re just lucky I don’t have plans with my imaginary boyfriend.”

  “Hailey, just hurry,” Juliann pleaded.

  “Here goes.”

  A few seconds later a different voice came on the line. “I was just trying to text you back. Can you come home right away?”

  Juliann heard the tense tone in her mother’s voice, but she tried to ignore it. “I don’t know, Mom. Hailey really needs me. She’s very depressed about this break-up, and I don’t think I should leave her alone.”

  “I understand, but, um, your dad is a bit upset. He says you can’t skip out on family dinner two nights in a row.”

  Juliann let out a long, exasperated sigh. “How drunk is he?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. The usual I guess,” she answered evasively.

  “He’s in the room, isn’t he? He can hear you?”

  “Yes, I would think so,” her mom replied.

  “Shit,” she said again. “Well, Mom, I’m really sorry, but it’s not possible for me to come home right now. It’ll be a couple of hours.”

  “But…”

  They heard some shuffling sounds and then a different voice spoke. “Juliann, get your ass home right now. I’ve had a bad day and I want dinner with my family. You’ve got fifteen minutes or you’re grounded.”

  Juliann took a deep breath. The lies were unraveling, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop it. “Well, then, I guess you’ll have to ground me. I can’t get there in fifteen minutes.” She grimaced, preparing for the explosion. “It’ll be more like two and a half hours.”

  “Two and a half hours?” he yelled. “Where the hell are you?”

  She glanced over at Mish before answering. “Morgantown,” she said at last.

  “Morgantown? What the hell—oh, wait, you’re at the university, aren’t you? What are you doing, partying at some frat house or something? I should have known. I should have known you’d turn out just like your mother. My only question is: are you a whore or are you a slut?”

  Juliann didn’t know how to answer. She was so humiliated that Mish and Hailey were hearing all this. And having ended a pregnancy just hours ago, the simple fact that her father was making such accusations brought tears to her eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision.

  “I asked you a question,” her father yelled. “Are you a whore or are you a slut?”

  “What’s the difference?” she finally choked out.

  “A whore gets paid. A slut does it for free.”

  Juliann had barely been holding it together, but the absurdity of his accusation virtually forced a response out of her. “Oh, then I’m definitely a whore. That’s how I get all my money for drugs. Did you want me to bring you some? Or have you crawled far enough into that bottle of scotch that it would be a waste of good cocaine?” Before he could respond, she said, “I will be home in two and a half hours. Do us all a favor and go sleep it off.”

  Then she grabbed the phone out of Mish’s hands, pressed End, and let out a gasping sob as she handed it back.

  “Pull over,” Mish said softly.

  “No, I can—”

  “Pull over,” Mish repeated firmly. “Now.”r />
  Juliann wrenched the wheel to the right, skidding slightly as she hit the gravel shoulder. She hit the brake hard and came to an abrupt stop. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the road or her hands off the steering wheel. She was vaguely aware of Mish reaching over and putting the car in park. When Mish touched her hand, she looked down to see her knuckles, clinging to the steering wheel as if it were her lifeline to sanity. Mish slowly pried her fingers off the wheel and then pulled Juliann into her arms.

  The breakdown came immediately. It washed over her in floods of grief, anger, and despair, each emotion like a wave threatening to drag her under. It reminded her of the riptide she’d experienced on vacation one time in Florida. The lifeguard had rescued her. Her father hadn’t even noticed she was in danger. And now her mother was the one in danger, and Juliann was powerless to stop it, powerless to stop him.

  Safe in Mish’s arms, she cried for what felt like forever.

  After the weeping she started gasping for air, and she sat up, her chest heaving with the effort. Mish kept holding her hand, patting it as Juliann stared out the front windshield, trying to catch her breath. Finally, she took the tissue Mish offered, dried her face and blew her nose. She ran a finger through her hair and realized with surprise that the top of her head was wet. Mish looked as if she’d been crying almost as much as she had. Juliann’s head was covered with Mish’s tears. Just the thought brought a renewed wave of sadness. She took a few more ragged breaths and finally found some words—just three, the only ones she had.

  “I’m so sorry,” she choked.

  Mish shook her head. “There’s not a thing for you to be sorry about.”

  “I’m sorry you had to hear all that,” Juliann explained.

  “And I’m sorry you were on the receiving end of that hatefulness. You didn’t deserve that, hon. Not even if he’d known why we went away.”

  Juliann nodded. She believed what Mish said. She wasn’t a slut or a whore. But to be called one—and by her own father—still made her feel dirty.

  ***

  It took Juliann a few minutes to calm down and pull herself together. Mish offered to drive but Juliann said she was fine. Mish thought about insisting but then decided that maybe the girl needed to be behind the wheel. It would take her mind off things, and besides, maybe she needed to feel in control of something in her life.

  Mish didn’t think of herself as an angry person. And she certainly wasn’t violent. But right now she was entertaining vivid fantasies of appropriate punishments for Juliann’s father. She thought maybe a branding iron would be the right touch.

  She and Juliann never had trouble talking, but the next two and half hours passed with neither one of them saying much. There was too much that needed to be said and nothing that could be said. So they rode mile after mile in silence. They were nearing Charleston when Mish finally spoke again.

  “Juliann? Have you thought about—I mean, sure you’ve thought about it, but—well, I mean—what are you gonna tell your dad?”

  “I haven’t decided. And I know I’m running out of time. We’ll be home soon.”

  “Do you want to say you went to Morgantown for a college tour? I know the kids do those these days, tour a college to see if they want to go there. Or I could tell him that you were doing me a favor, taking me to visit my sister or something.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but how would we explain how we met?”

  “I dunno. Maybe a club at school connects you with lonely old women as a service project.”

  “That’s actually not a bad idea,” Juliann muttered. Then she shook her head. “No, he’d never believe it from me, and I’m not letting you come in the house. You’ve done more than enough.”

  Mish patted her leg again. “That’s cute, hon, that you think you can stop me from doing something I want to do. This is my call. And I’m not letting you go in there to face him alone. If he’s anything like Floyd, and I’m guessing he is, he will take it easier on you if there’s a witness. So no more talk about whether I’m going in with you or not. Let’s just agree on what we’re gonna say.”

  By the time they reached Juliann’s house, they had their story straight. When they pulled into the driveway, Mish couldn’t help the “wow” that escaped her lips. The house was big and beautiful and looked like it belonged on the cover of the Charleston Home and Garden. Whatever kind of law her dad practiced, it must pay well.

  Mish gave Juliann one last hug when they got out of the car, and Juliann threw her backpack over her shoulder and led Mish through the garage and into the kitchen. When the door opened, a small woman with dark brown hair jumped up from the stool at the counter and ran to hug Juliann, her bloodshot eyes filled with tears. “Oh, thank God,” she began, but then she saw Mish. “What? Who…” she stammered.

  Juliann dropped her backpack on the table. “Mom, I want you to meet my dear friend Mish. Mish, this is my mother, Nicole.”

  Mish moved forward to shake hands as quickly as her body, still stiff from the drive, would allow. “Nicole, it is so nice to meet you. I have to tell you—you have one amazing daughter. She dropped everything to help me out today.”

  Nicole looked confused. “She did?”

  Mish heard heavy steps coming down the stairs and knew the real test was about to begin. Nicole heard them, too, and turned to stand beside Juliann and Mish as she called out to him. “Daniel, come meet Juliann’s friend Mish.”

  “Mish? What the hell kind of name is Mish?” He entered the kitchen carrying a glass of amber liquid but stopped in the doorway when he saw the three women lined up on the other side.

  “The name of an old woman,” Mish said with a polite smile. “I was just telling your wife what a wonderful daughter you have here. She came to my rescue today, drove with me all the way to Morgantown to see my dying sister.”

  “We got connected through a program at school,” Juliann rushed to explain. “It’s a way of helping us meet our service hour requirements for graduation. ”

  Daniel squinted at Mish. She couldn’t tell if he was being skeptical or if he was so drunk he was trying to see only one of her. He turned his gaze to his daughter. “Service hours? I thought you were going to do your service hours in my office.”

  “I was going to,” Juliann answered, “but the guidance counselor said that service done in your dad’s law firm doesn’t look that good to university admission boards. So I got matched up with Mish, and then when she called today I wanted to help her.”

  “Oh, isn’t that nice, Daniel?” Juliann’s mother gushed as her eyes darted between her daughter and her husband. “See, there was nothing to get upset about.”

  “Really?” he asked as he took a step toward them. “Nothing at all?”

  He took another step. Mish grew more nervous with every step he took. Even though he swayed a little on his feet, he was still sober enough to be a serious threat.

  “Then why did you lie to us?” He spoke so softly you might think he was calm, but there was nothing calm in the way he stared at his daughter. Mish suddenly remembered he was a lawyer; he must be a formidable opponent in the courtroom.

  “Why did you say you were at dance class and then going to your friend’s house, if you were not even in town?”

  Juliann swallowed hard. “I didn’t want you to worry,” she explained. “I know how anxious Mom gets, and Dad, you’ve had so much on your mind recently. I just didn’t want to add another burden.”

  Mish thought Juliann was laying it on a bit thick, but maybe you have to go overboard with a drunk father.

  “I see,” he nodded, nonchalantly taking another step. “And what about your phone?”

  Mish couldn’t take her eyes of Juliann’s father, but she heard the panic in the girl’s voice. “My phone?” Juliann asked.

  “Yes, your phone,” he repeated. “I checked the family app, and it said yo
u were at Hailey’s house this evening. Clearly you were not at Hailey’s house. So why would your phone be there?”

  “That was an accident,” she said in a rush. “I just forgot it there this morning, and—”

  “Then how were you texting your mother from it all day?” He stepped closer.

  “Well, no, I didn’t leave it there in the morning. I had it with me at school until I left. And then, um, I forgot it. But Hailey saw it and took it home with her. And…”

  “Liar,” he whispered. And then Mish realized what he’d been walking toward. Without taking his eyes off Juliann, he reached for her backpack, which was right beside him on the counter.

  The “No!” that erupted from Juliann obviously confirmed her dad’s suspicions. But she didn’t move. Maybe couldn’t move. She just stared at him as he unzipped it and opened it wide. He finally took his eyes off his daughter as he began pulling things out of the backpack. Notebooks. Yesterday’s clothes. Hairbrush and toothbrush. Each was tossed onto the table without another look. And then he stopped. His eyes again sought his daughter’s face as he pulled from her backpack a handful of condoms.

  “Did they give you these at school? Or did Mish’s dying sister give them to you?” He clearly thought his sarcasm was funny. He reached into the backpack, pulled out some loose papers, and began looking through them. “Lovely diagram on how to put on a condom.” He tossed the page onto the table, then read the heading on the next. “Birth Control Options.” It joined the other paper on the table. But Juliann’s dad stared at the next page without moving. He stared so long that Mish risked taking her eyes off him in order to check on Juliann. She was shaking and was so pale, Mish thought she might pass out.

  He cleared his throat. “Post-Abortion Instructions,” he read aloud.

  Juliann seemed too terrified to speak. “It’s not what it looks like,” Mish rushed to explain.