“No, no,” said Jeff. “Speak up when you think it appropriate, little lady.”
Victoria bowed her head and kicked an invisible rock at her feet. A light, breeze brushed her blushing cheeks.
“Shall we?” beckoned Carlos.
The unlikely trio shuffled their way across the hardpan in single file and took great care in dragging their feet to warn the rattlers that sought shady refuge in the underbrush. Hummingbirds flitted hopelessly about the clumps of black sage that had lost their flowers a month before.
“Watch your step right here,” Jeff warned suddenly.
Carlos bolted rigidly to a stop and Victoria nearly ran into the back of him.
“See this?” said Jeff as he stepped over a small pile of twigs at his feet and then turned around to face the others.
Carlos squatted and studied the wood while Victoria leaned in from behind him with her hands on her knees. The twigs had been buried in the dirt and the ends sharpened so that anyone who stepped on them would get a rather painful puncture.
“That would hurt,” said Victoria.
“That’s the intention,” said Jeff. “But it’s not meant to cripple.”
Before Carlos could say a word, Victoria said, “It’s meant to warn somebody.”
“Exactly,” said Jeff. “It’s meant to make whoever steps on it scream in pain so the person living here knows someone’s coming. Watch your step in here.”
“Ah,” Victoria spoke up again. “It’s meant to warn but it’s not a warning.”
Carlos and Victoria did as Jeff instructed as they entered the small clearing. The campsite was clean and orderly, with the exception of the dusty tent that stood in disarray against the dull green underbrush. The tent was made from a flannel bedspread, and was positioned so that the rear was protected by the base of the arroyo.
The front was supported by two thin aluminum poles that were buried in the dirt, one of which had fallen over, Carlos thought most likely from the wind.
“This place gives me the creeps,” said Victoria.
“There’s something about it, isn’t there?” asked Jeff rhetorically as he took off his hat and stroked the brim with his thumbs.
Carlos knelt in the dirt and poked at the middle of a small circle of rocks with his pocket knife. The circle was about the size of a dinner plate, and a layer of loose dirt covered the inside of it. “Four days… maybe five,” he said.
“This guy’s a pro,” said Jeff. “There are traps all along the perimeter like the one I almost stepped on. And there’s nothing inside the tent.”
Victoria turned her head to one side as if she were a puppy hearing an unfamiliar noise and thought for a moment. “I’m confused,” she said.
“About what?” asked Carlos as he stood up and dusted off his knife.
“If this guy’s a pro, then why did he leave his tent where anyone could see it?”
“He didn’t,” said Jeff. “Look at these clumps of brush. Some of them have been pulled from the dirt.”
Victoria looked around at the vegetation that surrounded the campsite. With the exception of a few bunches of prickly pear, she thought it all looked unremarkably similar and boring.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that some of them were used as camouflage, and I think you wouldn’t have seen the tent from twenty feet away had the wind not cleared it off.”
“Oh,” said Victoria.
“Uh—oh is more like it,” said Jeff. “Notice anything else about this campsite… as a whole?”
Carlos and Victoria turned in their tracks and looked all around them. Carlos removed his hat and wiped his brow.
“One thing I noticed right away is how clean it is,” said Victoria.
“You are on the right track,” said Jeff. “Clean how?”
She circled the campsite and looked for any other clues. As she began to retrace her steps for a second pass around, she stopped suddenly.
“There are no footprints!”
“No, there aren’t… other than our own. That’s what worries me the most.”
“Perhaps he’s part Chumash,” offered Carlos.
“Or military,” said Jeff.
“Or both,” said Victoria.
“I’ve seen enough,” Jeff said as he slapped his hat against his thigh before placing it back on his head. “I would say that if you haven’t seen this guy by now, you ain’t gonna.”
“Because he doesn’t want to be seen?”
“Little lady, you are just as smart as a whip!”
Victoria blushed again. She loved a respectful compliment from anyone of authority, but at the same time didn’t quite know how to say thank you. Carlos led the way back toward the jeep, followed closely by his young student.
“How long would you say he’s been here, Carlos?” Jeff asked as they approached the edge of the brush.
“Hard to say… maybe as much as a month.”
“No more than that?” Victoria asked as she hopped in the back seat.
“I wouldn’t say so. One who has skills like this wouldn’t need to live out there for that long.”
“Unless he wanted to,” Jeff added. “What do you think about all of that, little lady?”
Victoria thought for a few moments and said, “I think… I won’t be riding this trail alone for a while.”
†
“You’ve been a busy girl!” Leah chirped as Colleen hung up the bedside phone.
“You know it,” said Colleen.
“I have some more Morphine, compliments of Doctor Nguyen.”
“That guy cracks me up.”
Leah began replacing the Morphine inside the PCA pump. “That guy cracks everybody up,” she said.
“I am sure he does.”
“So… as I understand it, as soon as your current roommate is discharged, this room becomes private instead of semi-private, did I understand that right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Colleen. “And the extra bed will stay where it is for my new roommate.”
Leah finished programming the pump and turned toward Colleen. “It’s none of my business, of course, but I am dying to know how you managed your little… arrangement.” Leah produced a set of “air quotes” with her fingers.
“Well…” Colleen said, and then paused for a second. “I will say one thing. That bitch of a social worker… is the door closed?”
“Sure is.”
“People piss me off, Leah.”
“Well, somebody sure did.”
“That bitch went too far.”
Colleen’s pump beeped and Leah turned to inspect it. “Did you just push the button?”
“Yes,” replied Colleen.
“Thought so.”
“So news travels fast around here,” said Colleen. “That’s good.”
“It does,” said Leah. “I have never seen so many nurses scatter and rush to look busy all at once.”
“Really?” Colleen asked with a wide smile.
“Really. The CEO and the Director of Nursing showed up at the nurse’s station, and all hell broke loose. I can only assume you had something to do with that,” Leah said with a wink.
“I probably did.”
“Do you know that I have only seen the CEO once since I started working here?”
“You mean before today?”
“Yup,” said Leah. “And that was when they broke ground on the new wing.”
“I’m surprised the sniveling little bastard had the guts to come down here himself.”
“Oh…” Leah replied and trailed off, unsure of what to say next.
“Is what’s-her-name still around, then?”
“Uh… I was told she is gone for the rest of the day.”
“You might not see her for a while,” Colleen snickered. “At least not while I’m still here. Does Augie know yet?”
“I doubt it. She’s been down in X-ray.”
“Okay. I’ll fill her in when she comes back.”
Sudd
enly there was a strong knock on the door.
“Come in,” Colleen said.
“Hello,” a man’s voice called. “Maintenance here to fix the… curtain, is it?”
“Yes, come right in,” said Colleen.
“Wow,” Leah whispered. “Now that’s a first.”
Colleen smiled wide again and said, “I learned a long time ago that the sweetest fruit is at the top of the tree, and if you want it bad enough, you’ll cut the bitch down to get it.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” said Leah.
“Why do people keep saying that to me?”
“I wonder.”
†
Min pounded on the door of room 13, just seconds after Jim shoved her out of it. “You’ve got my shoes, asshole!”
Suddenly the door opened and a pair of shiny red pumps sailed through the air, narrowly missing her head. Before she could say a word, the door slammed shut again.
“Freak!” she yelled as she swung her purse wildly.
The Mexican in the Town Car rolled down his window. Once again, thick white smoke swirled from inside. The hot asphalt stung Min’s feet as she retrieved her shoes, shoved them in her purse, and gave her hair a quick finger-comb. The Mexican launched a half-smoked cigarette out the window and peeled out with a screech. Min stood on her toes and cradled her abdomen as the Town Car skidded to a halt in front of her.
“Never again!” she yelled. “Do you hear me? This place is bad—”
The man stuck his hand out the window and snapped his fingers. Min stopped her rant mid-sentence, opened the back door, and got in without saying another word.
†
Colleen heard Augie’s voice in the hallway as the maintenance man set up his stepladder near the end of the curtain. “Sounds chipper enough,” Colleen said.
“Pardon?” said the man from atop his ladder.
“Oh. Sorry,” said Colleen. “I was talking to myself.”
“Okay.”
“We gotta stop meeting like this, or people are gonna talk,” Augie said as she was wheeled into the room.
“You’re right,” replied the orderly’s voice.
“There we go,” said the man on the ladder. “All fixed.”
“Excellent,” said Colleen, which is usually what she said when she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Wheel popped out of the track. Shouldn’t happen again, but let us know if it does.”
“Will do,” said Colleen.
“Hey, Art,” said the orderly.
“Jeremy,” replied the maintenance man as he folded up his ladder. “Popular room today.”
“Par for the course,” said Jeremy. “Don’t let ’em work ya too hard.”
Art said something back to Jeremy, but Colleen couldn’t make out what it was since he was already in the hallway with his ladder.
“Ready?” said Jeremy to Augie.
“Ready when you are,” she said.
“Just stand straight up… you know the drill.”
“I can get there myself,” said Augie as she held her breath and stood up.
“You sure?” asked Jeremy.
“Ugh,” Augie grunted as she turned and sat on the edge of the bed.
“You all right?” asked Colleen.
“Hey, you are still here.”
“Yeah… I have to wait here at least another forty-five minutes.”
“Slide back a little and we’ll be good to go,” interrupted Jeremy.
Colleen heard the rustle of stiff sheets as Augie moved.
“There we go. You need anything else?”
“Actually, would you mind pulling the curtain back?”
“Not at all,” said Jeremy. “If that’s okay with your roommate.”
“Yes, please,” Colleen chirped in her girly voice.
“Yes, please,” Augie mocked.
“Oh, you just hush!”
Jeremy pulled the curtain and tethered it to the wall.
“What’s in forty-five minutes?” asked Augie.
“What?”
“I said you’re still here, and you said you needed to be here another forty-five minutes.”
“Oh. Yes I do,” said Colleen. At least that long.”
“So what’s in forty-five minutes?”
Colleen leaned forward and looked out the window as if she were looking for something. “That’s how long I have to wait here.”
Augie also leaned forward and tried to see what Colleen was looking for out the window, and then gave up and settled back against her pillows. “You are pissing me off,” she said.
“Well, you wouldn’t be the first, and most certainly won’t be the last.”
Augie pulled the sheets to her chest and closed her eyes. “Hey,” she said, and then paused.
“Hey yourself,” said Colleen.
“You did a good job pissing off Fredricks, that’s for sure.”
“She pissed me off first.”
“I get the impression you were pissed off at her even before you met her.”
“You’re probably right.”
Augie looked over, and Colleen was already looking back at her with a concerned expression on her face. “You know, I’m not used to people sticking up for me like that.”
“It’s one of my… I don’t know what you call it… when someone you care about is getting a raw deal, I become really protective. Like a Rottweiler. I can’t control it. I just lash out and grab onto some flesh.”
“I have a hard time giving a shit about anyone else, so if I see some bitch gettin’ the treatment, I usually think, ‘Oh well, better her than me.’”
“I believe that some people get what they deserve,” said Colleen.
“Oh, amen to that, sister. But you… you get way more grief than you deserve. From what I’ve heard so far, you’ve had more than your fair share. Am I right about that?”
“I don’t know about that,” said Colleen. “I believe that everything happens for a reason. I’ve been through some pretty hard shit, but I tend to look at the big picture. I’ve got it pretty good compared to most, so I’m more thankful for the things I have than I am bitter about the things I’ve lost.”
“Wow,” said Augie. “I wish I had your attitude.”
“Let me put it to you another way. I don’t see the value in seeking out misery. Some people find it at every turn, whether they look for it or not.”
“I am probably one of those people,” said Augie. “Until now I never thought of it like that, though. I get myself into some pretty grim shit, but I never seem to look back at how I got there.”
“Until now,” Colleen added.
“Yeah.” Augie leaned back and closed her eyes again. “It makes me sick.”
“What does?”
“This shit storm I got myself into,” said Augie. “When I look back, I only have myself to blame, and I’m the one who went looking for it.”
“I’ve done that too, Augie, so you’re not alone in that department. I will always find trouble if I go looking for it, but I finally realized that the value is not in the trouble you find; it’s what you learn in the process.”
“You know what I learned?” asked Augie.
“What’s that?”
“I learned that I am too stupid and short-sighted to learn from my mistakes.”
“That can’t be true,” scolded Colleen. “The minute you stop learning is the minute you die.”
“Hmmm.”
“Hmmm is right. Think about it. You learned that you have only yourself to blame, and you still went looking for trouble. Now what are you going to do with what you learned?”
“She—it,” said Augie. “You just touched on my biggest problem of all.”
“And that is?”
“I look forward, and all I see is hopelessness.”
Colleen studied Augie’s battered face. Tears once again flowed to the covers at her chest.
“I think I can help with that.”
“You don’t want to get involved, Colleen,” said Augie. “Trust me on this one.”
“I sort of already am involved.”
“What?” Augie said as she perked up from her pillows a little. “How?”
Colleen fidgeted and adjusted the pillow behind her back. “Actually, I am involved more than sort of. I took it upon myself to jump in with both feet.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Well, I took care of some things while you were getting X-rays,” said Colleen in a tone that was strong, calm, and confident.
“What did—”
“Look,” said Colleen. “I saw you getting the treatment as you call it, and I did a little pushing back.”
Augie sat up and tilted her head, but before she could say anything, Colleen continued.
“You said you look forward and see… hopelessness. I look forward and see things a bit differently.”
“It’s easy for you to do when you’re riding high on piles of cash, isn’t it?” Augie blurted suddenly.
“Whoa, Cochise!” Colleen scolded. “Just shut up and listen for a minute!”
Without saying a word, Augie leaned back, stuck out her bottom lip, and folded her arms at her chest.
“Good!” continued Colleen. “I have your attention. That’s very good.”
“If it was anyone but you telling me to shut up and listen, I would have told them to…”
“I know,” Colleen interrupted. You know me well enough already to know that I’m gonna to do things how I see fit, whether anyone else approves or not. See? You are still learning.”
“So what did you do, exactly?”
“First of all, you won’t have to worry about that nasty bitch anymore. At least not while I’m around.”
Augie gasped and put her hands to her mouth. “What? How did you manage that?”
“Here’s a little secret about me that nobody knows: I am a really good poker player, and I don’t have to bluff, because I am always holding a better hand than everyone else at the table.”
Augie tilted her head again and said nothing as Colleen continued.
“That Fredricks bitch was out of line completely, so I made a well-placed phone call.”
“To who?”
“The CEO of Las Palmas.”
“No shit.” said Augie in disbelief.
“No shit.”
Remembering August (Triple C Ranch Saga) Page 29