by Cole Savage
T. D’s cell phone rang. “Boys sit tight. I got an emergency in my shorts.” The boys watched T.D answer his phone and retreat back into the diner, patrons dwindling now. T.D took a spot on a booth inside, by a window covered in a film of dirt that partially hid the red painted Bev’s Diner text on the glass, his face buttery, painted with a fierce look of satisfaction, the afternoon sun reflecting its brightness on the single pane of glass that allowed patrons to look out into the parking lot, but impossible to see inside from the outside because of the reflection of the sun on the glass.
CHAPTER 31
Nicki drove slowly, looking at the diner to her left. She took a deep breath when she saw what appeared to be her boys sitting on a picnic table eating ice cream. She turned left, into the gravel parking lot, her eyes on the boys, her car rolling slowly, the boys oblivious of her presence. She stopped beneath an Oak tree that shaded her car. It had been a while since she’d been up this way, and to her, Bev’s diner hadn’t changed at all. Broken sunlight passed through the hundred-foot-tall Water Oak, illuminating the colors of fall. Nicki stepped out of Karen’s van looking in the direction of the boys, her legs weak. She paused and took a deep breath. Standing with her arms crossed, fifty feet from her boys, she made eye contact with Tyler and pulled her left hand up to cover her mouth; her eyes bleeding tears. Cole and Tyler were eating the point of the cone when Tyler saw Nicki beaming at them from the parking lot. Nicki wearing cowboy boots, denim hipsters, a white lace embroidered yoke, her smooth face bare except for red lipstick, her dark hair in a waterfall braid covered with a straw cowboy hat, embellished with a turquoise pendant, and a brown leather choker around her neck. She pressed her hands against her chest just to breathe, to keep her balance, to stop her head from draining of blood.
“Mom,” Tyler screamed, a piercing shrill that caused Cole to drop the last of his cone. Tyler was off and running, and Cole followed, screaming, “Mom, Mom.”
Nicki walked in their direction, her arms spread, the membrane between her and the world beginning to breathe. Tyler made a flying leap into her arms; Cole a few feet behind. Nicki embraced Tyler and squatted to receive Cole, still holding Tyler around the waist, tears running the gauntlet down her cheeks. Tyler was bawling, holding his mom like a vice. Nicki Squatted with her butt on her ankles— embraced her crying boys and held their heads tight to her neck, not a word spoken between them. In moments like this, after a long time apart, words fell to the ground like enigmatic things that had no relevance. The silence hung above them and covered them in a residue of longing. Holding their heads, Nicki took her hat off, wiped her face with the back of her hand, then closed her eyes, thinking that after absence what embrace could possibly equal this one— immediately rewarded with a sensation she never knew existed. Patrons and servers glued to the window, watched, allowing the reverence of the moment to seep into their heads.
T.D was sitting in a booth, elbows on the table, eyes fixed outside, and a single tear rolled down his cheek, watching Tyler run to Nicki. Shirley saw T.D looking outside and walked over. She put her hand on T. D’s shoulder and caressed it gently. T.D never looked up, his eyes unable to drift from the world outside. Shirley’s other hand was resting on the table, and still looking outside, T.D put his hand on top of hers. T. D’s eyes were glassed, tears eddying on the corners as other servers sidled up to stand next to him. Tyler and Cole were now with mom, and every waitress had gathered around T.D. The proprietor of the diner, Sam, came over wiping his hands on a towel and a grin stitched across his cheeks. Patrons were calling for service, and like a frozen moment in time, no one flinched—the patrons would have to wait. The line cooks came over and found an empty spot by the window, captivated by the scene outside. No one had ever seen T.D cry, and as much as he tried to fend the tears, another one followed. T.D put his head on the table, and Shirley ran her hand across his head.
“I’m sorry, T.D”, said Shirley. He picked his head up and pointed.
“For what. Look.” His words were broken. He put his head back down, and Shirley said, “I’m sorry, Darling, I didn’t realize it would be this hard for you.”
He picked his head up and three separate waitresses had their hands on his shoulder.
“I can’t do it, girls. The pain is killing me.”
“Do what you have to, honey,” said a red-haired waitress in pig-tails with a tray in her hand, wiping her eyes— her right hand firmly on T. D’s shoulder.
This was certainly going to be an earmark moment on this particular day, for a man who thought crying was clearly a woman’s domain. It seemed that T.D had discovered his kryptonite. A few moments passed and Nicki was still in the throngs of a heart-warming still shot, holding her boys, the crying fading to whimpers; everyone inside watched her pull her head back and kiss her boys.
A blue Ford truck pulling in the parking lot stole Nicki’s attention. Nicki looked anxiously in that direction as the truck pulled into a slot. She heard the engine stop and listened for the door to open. She looked back at the boys and said, “Tyler, Cole. I have a surprise for you.”
“Mom, you know this bad man took us, right? you’ve been looking for us, right, Mom?” Tyler said in a twisted suppression of fury. “You’ve been looking for us, right, Mom?” Cole mimicked, but they could see confusion growing in Nicki’s face.
Nicki stood and looked toward the parking lot, her head cocked to the side, her palm on her mouth. The boys at her side, she heard footsteps on the gravel coming around the truck, and she said, “I have a big surprise for you boys.” She was still looking at the parking lot when a big fellow sporting a long-beard, plaid shirt, denim pants and suspenders, a Rebel flag on his cap, turned the corner of the Blue Ford and walked right by Nicki sporting a smile. Surprised, she hunched over and looked at Tyler. “Where’s your father?” Tyler stopped sobbing. His eyes quivered. Looking up at her studiously, he said, “I don’t know, Mom. How would we know?” T.D walked out of the diner, headed in their direction, his face red, a mask that revealed nothing. Tyler looked at T.D.
“That’s him, Mom. That’s him. That’s the man that took us.”
“That’s the bad man,” Cole screamed pointing at T.D. Tyler looked up at Nicki, a puzzled look on his face, and the stark realization flipped a switch in his head. Nicki turned her head to the diner, their eyes made contact, and immediately they felt each other’s presence.
“Shut up, Cole… That’s not T.D, that’s our dad.” Tyler said with a tinge of outrage. Nicki looked at TD, just five feet away, and said softly, “Hey, Kyle.”
“You’re our dad?” said Cole in peevish confusion. Tyler crossed his arms and looked at Kyle with a clenched jaw and blistering scowl. Kyle reached his hand out to Cole and said politely, “Nice to meet you, Cole. And yes, I am your father.” Cole, with a finger in his mouth, reached his hand out and shook Kyle’s hand. Nicki stepped back, both hands over her mouth, while Kyle reached out to Tyler but Tyler wanted no part of him. Tyler turned his head to Nicki, who looked confused, avoiding eye contact with Kyle, and Nicki said, “What’s going on here, Kyle?”
“Nothing, I didn’t feel the need to tell them who I was yet.”
“So for three weeks you made them believe they were living with a total stranger?” she said, giving Kyle a look that was just short of a slap.
“In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”
“You knew, Mom? You knew we were with him?” Nicki couldn’t muster the words, so she bent down and grabbed him by the shoulders. She looked in his eyes, wiped her tears and said, “Tyler, I’m sorry it happened this way. When you boys ran away, Coop found you and called your dad. Your dad convinced me that this would be a good lesson for the two of you, but he didn’t tell me he wasn’t going to tell you who he was.” She finished and gave Kyle a blistering look.
Tyler stepped back and pointed at Kyle. “He held a knife to my throat, Mom. He told us he would kill us if we didn’t do what he said.”
“He did what
, Tyler?” She looked at Kyle with contempt, hardly able to control the animus that lived on her face. Kyle threw his palms up.
“He held a knife to my throat and I couldn’t breathe, Mom.”
“Kyle, can I talk to you for a minute? Over here” Nicki said walking toward the parking lot.
“You boys run over to the picnic tables, I need to talk to your father.”
Hesitantly, Kyle followed, and Nicki watched the boys retreat the thirty feet to the tables.
“Are you out of your mind?” Kyle dry swallowed. “You put a knife to his throat?”
“I’m sorry, Nicki, I wanted their full attention.”
“Do you have any idea how many lines you’ve crossed, not to mention how many felonies you committed?”
“Nicki, I would never hurt those boys. You have to know my intentions were good… I’ve never been a father; I don’t know what’s acceptable. You didn’t exactly write me a script. I wanted them to be prepared for whatever life threw at them. They couldn’t fight their way out of a paper sack three weeks ago, and now Tyler can hit a Deer with a rifle at a hundred yards.”
“Why didn’t you tell them who you were?”
“I don’t know. I thought they’d respect me more if they thought I was a stranger.”
“By committing forcible kidnapping and child abuse?” she said, “wait a minute. When you called me and told me you had the boys you already knew you weren’t going to tell the boys you were their father?”
“No, no, it was a work in progress, and I would never abuse them, Nicki.”
“Busy working on another masterpiece of deceit, Kyle?”
“Maybe I had a lapse in judgement, but child abuse, really? Talk to the boys, they’ll tell you. It was only on the first day. Talk to them… Yeah, I scared them a little but you’ll see that as much as they missed you they had a good time. They learned how to do all kinds of new things; eat things that would make them puke in the past, things they never would have had an opportunity to do living with you and Karen… Trust me, they’re better for it.”
“They might be better for it but Tyler will probably never talk to you again.” Nicki said, her arms crossed, looking up at Kyle.
“He’ll come around, Nicki. I promise. And listen, I’m sorry. My daddy wasn’t around to teach me either. I’m winging this father thing—doing the best I can.”
“You need to apologize. Let’s go talk to them.”
“Whatever you need, Nicki.” Side by side they walked over to the boys. Sitting on the bench next to Cole, Tyler turned his back on Kyle as they approached. Nicki sat next to Tyler and took his hands into hers.
“Tyler. I’m not excusing his behavior, but he didn’t know how else to make you understand that you were going to have to live with him for a while. He’s just a dumb ox who doesn’t know any better. He thought it would be a good way for the three of you to get to know each other. He didn’t mean to hurt you,” Nicki said, looking at Kyle dolefully, his hands in his pocket, head down, eyes in a blubbery display. For several moments no one said anything. The quiet had the feel of a deliberate thing. Kyle looked at his wrist, where a watch might be, and said, “I really gotta go, the office is calling. We can talk about this some other time.”
“Shut up, Kyle. You’ll do no such thing. You owe these boys an explanation, and an apology.” Nicki grabbed Tyler by the shoulder.
“Me and your father are going to have a long talk about this, I promise.”
“T’D, you gonna let my mom talk to you like that.”
Kyle went to his haunches, arm across his knees, and said looking Cole in the eyes. “Cole don’t ever forget this, son. Never get cornered by an animal that’s meaner than you.” Kyle had finally said it. He finally said the word he wanted to say for three weeks. He called Cole his son.
He looked at Tyler’s back and said, “And, Tyler, I’m sorry if I hurt you. It wasn’t my intent. At the time I thought I was doing what was best for you, so if you’ll forgive me, we can figure this father and son stuff out together, if you’ll allow me. I didn’t take a class on parenting, though maybe I should have.”
Tyler was so angry he walked away. Nicki followed Tyler, twenty feet from the picnic tables, and Nicki convinced Tyler to return to the table where they spent several hours catching up, relishing stories, adventures and misadventures, Except for Tyler who wasn’t ready to forgive Kyle.
“T.D, why are you talking so funny?” Cole asked with cold-eyed calm, Nicki laughing.
“I’m sorry, boys. I didn’t’ think you’d fear me if I sounded like an uptight Yankee.”
“But you did it so good.”
“Cole, when I was growing up I spoke like everybody else around this area. But I knew if I wanted to make an impact in the real world I couldn’t sound like a dumb cracker, so I went to school, I studied English and learned how to talk like an educated man.” Nicki had her arms crossed, she covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled.
“You can just turn it off whenever you want?”
“It’s not hard to sound dumb, Cole.” Tyler remained stolid and impetuous, but he dropped his guard after an hour, anxious to retell Nicki about their time at Raven’s Peak. He was tired of listening to Cole relate stories, gumming them up, and it was driving him crazy.
Kyle apologized prophetically to Tyler, and the young man finally gave Kyle quarter, still with an icy trickle in his eyes. You could spot the moment that Tyler put that memory behind him, when his remarks went from brusque, snide comments, to cordial excited banter.
“Why does everyone call you T.D?” asked Tyler, and Kyle responded with a low running chuckle.
“Tyler, that’s a nickname I got back in High School when I broke the all-time Touchdown record at Franklin High.”
“T.D how come nobody said anything?”
“What do you mean, Tyler?”
“I don’t know— it just seems like everyone acted like we were your kids all along. No one asked who we were, like they already knew.”
Kyle chuckled. “Do you remember yesterday when I told you I was running over to Dry Gulch to get my favorite shirt, because I left it there the day before when we were hiking?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, I didn’t go to Dry Gulch. I came here and told everyone what I was doing. I told them that if anyone said anything to you I was going to bounce them off the walls and hang them from the rafters with fishhooks, by their toes.”
“Kyle, you didn’t?”
“No, I did, Nicki. It was really important that no one said anything today.”
“You did all that for us?”
“Cole, I’d do it all over again. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed being around you boys—watching the change in you, knowing all along you were my blood. When you boys go home your mom won’t know who you are anymore.
Nicki wiped a single tear. “You know what I don’t understand, T.D?
“What, Tyler?”
“That man came in the diner today and asked you about West Virginia football, and you told him he was asking the wrong guy. You told him you didn’t know anything about West Virginia football. You told him you didn’t know anything about football at all.
“What’s your point, honey?” Nicki said, Kyle laughing.
“Mom, the whole time we was up there, football is all T.D talked about.”
“No, Tyler. All T.D talked about was his first wife,” said Cole.” Nicki looked at Kyle, who was blushing.
“Did he tell you the name of his first wife, Cole?”
“No, Mom.” Cole looked at Kyle, then back to Nicki, he opened his mouth and said, “Ohh” He covered his mouth with his hand and pointed at Nicki. “You were his first wife, Mom. He was talking about you.” Tyler looked perplexed.
“T.D, were you talking about mom?”
“I might have said a few words, Tyler.”
“A few words… T.D, sometimes we was so tired of you talking about her we fell asleep.”
“Wha
t was your father saying, boys?”
“Nicki, it’s not important right now, this should be about you and the boys.”
“Shut up, Kyle. What did your father say about me, boys?”
“Gooey stuff we didn’t want to hear, Mom. But we was afraid T.D would hurt us if we tole him to stop talking.”
“Oh, Kyle. That is so sweet,” Nicki said, running her palm over his cheeks.
Kyle turned away, scratching his head, and looked at an approaching couple. The couple from Kentucky, evidenced by their license plate, walked by, the man’s eyes firmly on Nicki, who looked elegant, her posture a regal bearing that made onlookers stare unintended. The iron-board flat, popsicle stick, thin brunette, slapped her husband on the shoulder. “You keep lookin’, Marty, I’ll take a piture of her and put it by your bedside where I used to sleep.” Standing next to Nicki, one foot on the bench, Kyle laughed and pinched his nose.
Two hours in, Nicki became an eye magnet for every person that walked by, and not just the men. Tyler looked up at Nicki, annoyed by the unwanted distractions of the men walking by, and he said, “Mom, a while ago you said you had a surprise for me and Cole.”
“What, honey?”
“You told me and Cole you had a big surprise for us.”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you that I talked to Maylene and she’s willing to take you and your brother in for the summer while I take care of some medical stuff. That way you boys can stay with your friends.”
Then a State Trooper rolling slowly, eastbound on 33, caught their attention. The cruiser slowed, left blinker on, and turned into the parking lot.
The Interceptor came to a stop twenty feet before Kyle, raising gravel into the air that clinked off the cruiser like a hailstorm, leaving behind a halo of dust. They watched as a mammoth officer stepped out of a black and gold highway patrol interceptor dressed in standard green BDU's and a green felt campaign hat. The six-foot three-inch Patrolman, with thick burly muscle, skin black as the moonless sky, brown grey eyes, intimidating to say the least, put his campaign hat over his round bald head and walked towards Kyle. Tyler looked at Officer Washington and said, “is he coming to arrest you for kidnapping, or is this one of your cousins, too, T.D?”