He couldn’t leave by an entrance near his patch, because Baby would see him. Instead, he would have to go in deeper and join up with a trail that led to a different entrance.
Bean stopped beside a fork in the rocks and tried to figure out which way to go. His flashlight was getting weak. It wasn’t more than a mile or two underground to the waterfall, if he remembered right. He had plenty of batteries in his pack, and extra bulbs. He could change a bulb in pitch-dark with one hand in less than five seconds if he needed to.
There was an underground stream that came out in a little waterfall on the far side of Nehi Mountain. He would just climb down the mountain and go to the highway and hitch a ride with a trucker. Truckers didn’t mind giving rides to kids. He would rather drive himself, but the Viet Cong might recognize him and come after him if he was in his truck. Or was it the cops? It didn’t matter. The cops were probably working for the Viet Cong, too. You couldn’t trust any of them. If he got lucky, he could be across the border in a couple of days, in a whole new country that didn’t have anything to do with war. He would be safe. Soon, Baby would come and join him. It would be a good life in Mexico. Maybe they would get a little house on the beach somewhere and he would play the guitar and sing in a cantina at night. Baby looked kind of Mexican, and he could grow a mustache and look more like one. Before long, they could have a baby. It would be the same baby that Nguyen had killed, he knew. His baby girl, who had gone back to heaven to wait to be born to him again. It would be perfect.
All he had to do now was find his way out of the cave and get a ride with a trucker. Then he would be in business.
74.Cherry
Tripp got out of the hospital a couple of weeks later. He had to stay in and get some heavy-duty antibiotics because of all the dirt and guano that had gotten into the wound. I had gone to see him every day, and Faye probably had too, although we never ran into each other. I made sure of that by checking in at the nurses’ station before I went over. He hadn’t said anything about Faye in all that time, and neither had I, but when I asked him if he wanted me to pick him up from the hospital and take him home he told me, a little apologetically, that Faye was coming to get him in Ramblin’ Rose. So she had moved into his house and was driving his car. Okay. I guess she had to have someplace to stay. But we had to get this straightened out soon. So far, I had managed to not tell Mama and Daddy about Tripp being married, but sooner or later, somebody was going to spill the beans. Lucille knew about it, of course, and if the girls at the beauty school found out, it would be all over. I hoped to goodness Lucille would keep her mouth shut. I had no control over Faye, though, and she would probably go around saying she was Mrs. Tripp Barlow to anybody who would listen. I couldn’t do anything about it, but I was a wreck. It was hard to concentrate in class.
Baby was as nervous as a cat, too. They still hadn’t found Bean. If he had come out of the cave, he probably was long gone. If he hadn’t, then . . . I didn’t know. Baby said he was capable of living down there forever if he had to. The state sheriff’s department had brought in some forensics guys and a team of cavers. They had found plenty of evidence—a lot of dried blood and an army revolver that had been thrown into the pool. The whole town, of course, was talking about it. It was on the news on TV, and Ricky Don was being treated like a hero, even though there was no suspect in custody. They had brought in cameras while Ricky Don and Melvyn Arbus burned up the marijuana plants, and that made the news, too. Sweet Valley was on the map in a big way. Thank goodness Ricky Don didn’t tell them about Tripp and me being in the cave. I think the main reason was that he wanted all the glory for himself, but also he did us a favor, because I would not have liked to have my picture splashed across the TV in close connection to a murder and a drug bust, and he knew that. I guess he really does care about me, in his way.
Baby and I were really upset, too, about the fire I had seen from the top of the mountain. It turned out to be the Water Witch and the whole marina. Every single boat was burned to a crisp, and there was nothing left of that beautiful restaurant but a black hole in the ground and a naked brick chimney.
Nobody was in the restaurant at the time, thank goodness, but Frank O’Reilly had been killed on his boat. In fact, they think he was the one who started it all with a grease fire in his kitchen, and they thought the fire ran up the wooden walkway from the pier and set the restaurant on fire.
There was an investigation, and Judge Greer ruled it was an accident, so the insurance company will have to pay Jackie Lim. I don’t know whether he is going to try to rebuild or not. Park has gone back to Hong Kong, and I don’t know if he will come back or stay over there. A new Chinese restaurant without Park’s cooking wouldn’t be as good. And frankly, after what Baby had told me about the banquets and all, I would just as soon the place stay closed. I think Baby had mixed emotions, though. In spite of everything, I think she still has a secret soft spot for Jackie. She called him and told him how sorry she was, and she said he seemed glad to hear from her. I just hope to goodness she doesn’t get started with him again. But that is the last thing on her mind right now, since they still haven’t located Bean.
I felt a little bad about Frank, but not too much, considering how he had tried to get Lucille involved in porn and Lord knows what all else he had done. Now we would never know who the pictures were of that Lucille thought looked like Baby. They were probably burned up along with everything else. It was just as well. I never did figure out a way to get a look at them without him knowing.
—
I felt a little funny about it, since I knew Faye was probably there, but I dropped by Tripp’s house to see him the day after he came home from the hospital. Sure enough, there she was in the kitchen, cooking something in a frying pan, wearing her little hip-huggers. It felt like the house had already been taken over by a woman. Her stuff was all over the place, and it was considerably less neat than it used to be. I wondered how Tripp felt about that. I bet she wouldn’t wipe down the wall behind the stove with Lysol every time she cooked, like he did. There was a whole different vibe there now. I noticed the painting of me that Tripp had been working on was leaning with its face against the wall. I was really uncomfortable.
“Hi, Tripp. Hi, Faye. I just stopped by to see how you were doing and if there was anything I could get for you.”
“Thanks, Cherry, but I’m fine. Faye is taking good care of me. She’s a nurse.”
“Yeah. I know. That’s handy.”
Boy, this was awkward. I could tell he would have liked to say more, the way he looked at me, but she was standing right there. Okay. I would just pretend that this was a friendly visit.
“That was lucky, her coming right when she did, wasn’t it?” I continued. “We might still be down there.”
My heart broke at the way she went over and sat down beside him on the bed we had spent so many nights together in, like it was her bed now. They hadn’t asked me to sit, but I put my purse down and perched on the edge of the chair beside the bed. I wasn’t going to just stand there like an idiot and then leave, like she probably thought I would. I had a right to be there, too, in a way.
“So have you been doing any painting, Tripp?” I looked over at the back side of my picture. I knew it would never be finished now. Faye smiled.
“Not really. Too much on my mind, I guess. Colonel Wilson is coming tomorrow, and I’ve decided to give him the pictures and tell the whole story. I’m ready to take my punishment, if it comes to it, and then try to get past it and get on with my life.”
“That’s good, Tripp. I think you will feel a lot better after you talk to him. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Just tell the truth.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I was trying to look on the bright side. My private feeling was that probably the whole platoon was going to get court-martialed and go to jail, although in a situation like that, it would be hard to pin down who did what.
“Then what are you going to do after you talk t
o him and get back on your feet? Have you figured it out?”
I was really asking what he was going to do about Faye. She leaned against him and tucked her legs up into one of her little cat poses.
“I don’t know. Finish out the semester if I can. Maybe go back to California. I don’t know.”
It was plain that Faye was going to stay and finish out the semester, too. While she was sitting right there between us, I couldn’t say anything like I wanted to say to him. I reached down to get my purse. I might as well wrap this up. There was no point in staying any longer now.
“Tripp, we are out of orange juice,” Faye said suddenly, standing up. “I need to go to the store and get some. Do you mind?”
“No, Faye. I’ll be all right. You go on.” She put on her jacket and started for the door.
“Faye?” I called after her. She turned around. “Hey, thanks.”
“I won’t be gone long, Cherry.” She raised one eyebrow.
—
We were alone, him in the bed with his leg propped up, me sitting in a chair beside him. He reached out and touched my knee. I had skinned it up pretty bad, crawling through the cave. Both my knees were still scabbed over.
“You better take care of those scrapes.”
“I wash them in soap and water.”
“You better put some alcohol on them. Here, I have some.”
“No, it’s all right. I never use it. Doc McGuire told me when he pierced my ears not to ever use alcohol on them, or on any cut for that matter. He said, ‘Just wash your ears every morning with plain old soap and water, Cherry, and you’ll never get an infection. That goes for every cut and scrape, too. Soap will kill the germs better than that stinging old alcohol, and it doesn’t hurt half as bad.’ I did it and I have never had an infection yet. See, the knees are scabbed over real nice.”
I was nattering to cover over how nervous I felt. He took my hand, and all of a sudden tears started to run down my cheeks.
“It’s over, isn’t it, Tripp? I can tell. You’re going to stay with Faye, aren’t you?”
“Cherry—I just don’t know. I still love you, but I don’t know what to do about Faye. She seems set on staying here and taking care of me.”
“She’s a nurse. That’s her job. And she is in love with you, whether you know it or not.”
“Are you in love with me?”
“I thought I was.”
“But now you’re not sure?”
I remembered what Mama had said about marrying the first boy that showed you what a thrill was. Tripp had been the first one, and it sure was a thrill, to use an understatement. A little part of me would always love him, but I knew in my heart I wouldn’t marry him, even if he divorced Faye tomorrow. I don’t think I could fight her for him. He should have told me the truth about being married and everything. I think part of me just couldn’t get over the idea that he would lie to me, like marriage was nothing. I don’t think I could ever really trust him again. And I knew I would never be comfortable with somebody who liked drugs as much as he did. But it still hurt.
“Now I’m not sure.” I wiped my eyes. He pulled me down and kissed me then, a sweet sad kiss, like maybe it would be the last one. Even his sad kisses were perfect. I had to get out of there. I was going to lose more respect for him and me both if I didn’t.
“I’ll run on now, Tripp, but we’ll talk in a day or two.” He took my hand and kissed the palm. It gave me that little electric shock.
“I don’t think it’s all over between us, do you?”
“I don’t know, Tripp. Like Mama says, never say never.”
I left before Faye got back from the store. Just out of curiosity, I looked on my way to the door, and there was a full carton of orange juice in the fridge.
75.Cherry
The phone rang. I jumped like I had been shot, and groped on the bedside table for the receiver, knocking it off onto the floor. It took me a few minutes to untangle it and turn on the light. I looked at the clock. It was three-fifteen. It could only be bad news if somebody calls at that hour. The dead hour, Daddy called it. In this little town, as soon as anybody passed on, people ran to their phones and called everybody they knew to tell them, no matter what time it was.
“Hello?”
“It’s me, Cherry.” Baby.
“What’s the matter, Baby? Are you all right?”
“They’ve found Bean.” She started to cry.
“Where? What happened? Baby? Talk to me. You’re scaring me.”
“He was down in Austin, trying to get to Mexico. A trucker from Arkansas gave him a ride and got suspicious because he had seen his picture on the news up here. He called the cops from a truck stop and they picked him up tonight. Ricky Don called me. They’re bringing him back to Little Rock for trial. Oh, Cherry, I don’t think I can go through a trial with the papers and TV and all.”
“I’ll be there with you, Baby. You won’t be by yourself. Just be thankful they found him. I haven’t spent one night without worrying he was going to try to do something to you. He would have left Tripp and me to die in the cave—you know that. He needed to be caught. Don’t think he didn’t, Baby.”
“I don’t think he meant to kill you. If he wanted to kill you, he would have. He just wanted time to get away. He’s sick, Cherry. They can’t lock him away forever in jail. He just lost his mind after what all happened in Vietnam. You can’t just go from being a killer one day back to being a normal boy the next.”
“Baby, listen to me. Guys come back from Vietnam every day and they aren’t killers. Look at Ricky Don and Tripp. They were soldiers. There must have been something bad wrong with Bean for a long time—probably before he even went over there. I agree that he needs help, but they aren’t just going to put him back out on the street. He needs to be locked up where he can’t hurt himself or anybody else.”
She was sobbing now.
“Do you want me to come over? Baby? Do you hear me?”
“Would you? The boys are out, and I’m all by myself.”
“I’ll be right over.” I got up and started hunting in the closet for some clothes. Mama was awake, standing outside my door in her marabou slippers and baby-blue negligee.
“Cherry? What’s the matter?”
“They found Bean, Mama. I’m going over to Baby’s.”
She came in and sat on my bed while I dressed.
“Well, it’s come to a head now. Poor Baby. I feel like all of this mess with Bean started when that Tripp Barlow came to town. I wish he had never come here. And I wish to goodness I had never said what I did to you that day out in the yard, about sleeping with him and all. Maybe you wouldn’t have got in so deep with him. I’ve worried and worried about that. I feel like somehow all this is my fault.”
“Mama! That’s crazy! You didn’t do anything. I was going to do what I did with Tripp no matter what you said, and you better believe that. And what Bean did might have happened anyhow, even if he hadn’t got hold of that LSD. You sure didn’t have anything to do with that! What’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know. I know it’s silly, but I guess when you’re a mother, you just feel like you can fix any problem your child has. When you were little, I could sew your torn dress or glue your broken doll or make you laugh when somebody said something mean to you. Then one day I realized you all had bigger problems than I ever dreamed of, and I wasn’t able to fix anything at all.”
“Yes, you can. I don’t know what I would do without you, Mama. I know that you are always there for me, and you would back me up in any fight. Like the first time you took me to the movies, remember? When we saw Elvis? You would have beat Brother Wilkins black and blue if he had tried to make me go to the altar and repent, like he did Bernadine Taylor.”
“You better believe I would! I still would. Somebody should have kicked that old goat in the rear end a long time ago.”
I kneeled down, and she took me in her arms, like she used to do when I was little. We hugged
for a long minute, then I had to go.
“I’ll call you, Mama, when we find out anything. Pray for Bean. Pray for all of us.”
“Don’t worry. I will. Tell Baby to come and stay over here with us. She doesn’t need to be out there by herself.”
—
Manang and Tatang had taken Pilar and the little girls to the Philippines for a long visit with Manang’s mother, Lula. I didn’t know why they did it in the middle of the school year or what exactly was going on, but Baby said they clamped down hard on Pilar, who had gotten more and more cheeky and disobedient, and wanted to get her away for a while. Good luck to them. I’m sure there were things for her to get into in the Philippines, too, although probably not as much as here. The boys were going to have to run the store while they were gone, so we will see how that goes. If it is still standing when Tatang and them get back, I’ll be surprised.
—
Baby and I sat up the rest of the night drinking coffee and talking about Bean and Tripp and everything that had happened and wondering if we would ever find anybody normal to fall in love with. Ricky Don stopped by at six to say that Bean was in custody and on his way to Little Rock. He said it took five of them to hold him down when they found him at the truck stop. He was ranting about the Viet Cong, clearly out of his mind.
“I hate it that it all had to happen, Baby,” he said. “I know you loved Bean.”
She looked hard at the bottom of her empty coffee cup, not meeting his eyes. “I guess I did used to love him. At least I loved the idea of him. It’s hard to tell the difference, isn’t it?” She smiled, and it came out a little lopsided. “But wasn’t he just the sexiest thing in the world when he was up on the stage, singing, strutting back and forth, slinging that hair around? He had the power, didn’t he? He was really good and decent then. I know he was. If it hadn’t been for that old war . . .” Her face crinkled up, and she started to sob. “I don’t know why men always have to go to war!”
Windchill Summer Page 47