by Patrick Lee
It pleased Mikhail to know that at least for the next three years and probably longer, he and his family had solid work lined up. Now he could bring Katya and Anna up to Columbia Falls to join him and Tomas. They would finally be a family together again. He checked his watch and wondered what held up Tomas. The waitress filled his cup with fresh coffee. He looked up to see the front door swing wide open. Nolan and Tomas walked in laughing. Nolan just delivered the final line to his story from his days as a teenager in Butte.
Mikhail pretended not to notice and studied the menu even though he made up his mind about the fried chicken dinner. Nolan broke the quiet of the dining room, “Hey Bohunk, do you remember the name of that girl from East Butte who used to charge us a nickel to look up her dress. Then she’d charge us a dime to—”
Mikhail prevented him from going any further. He pointed to the seat next to him and barked, “Sit down Nolan! You’re in a restaurant. Mind yer manners.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes in Tomas’ direction. The two men sat down, and Tomas fought hard not to burst into a loud laugh.
The waitress returned and greeted them, “Good evening men. Can I get you something to drink?”
Nolan smiled at her and spoke, “Ya, doll. John Nolan’s having a brandy ditch tonight. And my nephew here’ll have the same.”
Mikhail slowly turned and glared at Nolan and answered for Tomas, “My son will be having coffee too.”
Nolan laughed and winked at Tomas. “So Mikhail. What was her name?”
“Who?”
He leaned toward Mikhail and whispered, “The girl from East Butte who used to charge us to look at her snapper. You know. You paid her a quarter on the Fourth of July one time. You probably got to look all the way up to her tonsils for a quarter.”
Tomas lost control. Coffee exploded from his mouth. He coughed and laughed uncontrollably. Nolan had a way of doin’ that to him. He remembered being a little boy and starting to laugh before Nolan even spoke. Just his facial expressions and the way he moved his eyes and cheeks. Tomas tried to sit away from his godfather at serious settings like church. He couldn’t help himself sometimes. Nolan made him laugh that easily.
Mikhail rubbed the space between his eyebrows with his fingers. More thoughts of Nolan from days earlier ran across the screen in his mind. “Nolan. Where does he come up with these things? I wouldn’t play that game with him and that girl. Whatever her name was. I never paid her a cent. Not once.” He backed his chair away from the table and said, “I have to go to the can. When the waitress comes back, get me the chicken dinner.”
The waitress returned with another drink for Nolan. “I guess we’re ready to order up, Doll. My big friend’s back draining his weasel. He told me he wants the chicken dinner. I’m drinkin’ tonight so nothing for me. How about you Tommy?”
The waitress threw a flirtatious smile at Tomas and adjusted her black ponytail with a flip of her head. “I’d like the ten-ounce t-bone with a baked potato, please.”
She smiled at Tomas and said, “Comin’ right up gentlemen.” She wet her lips, twirled around, and shook her hips as she walked away. In her mind, she modeled women in the movies doing all of these feminine things to tease a cute man.
Nolan bent closer to Tomas. “Now I’d bet you pay a quarter to see her little snapper, wouldn’t you Tommy Boy?”
Shaking his head, he coughed again. He set his coffee down in anticipation of something Nolan might say. “She seems like a nice girl. Probably cost more than a quarter.”
Nolan burst out laughing. Tomas caught him by surprise with his quick comeback. “You’re catchin’ on. Stick with me, Kid. You’ll have em’ rollin’ in the aisle.”
After they finished dinner and Nolan drained his fourth brandy ditch, Mikhail retrieved the newspaper. He straightened it out and placed it neatly in front of him. “I got somethin’ here to talk about to the both of ya.”
Nolan interrupted, “Is it a want ad for a dog. My nephew could use a big old dog to keep them nasty waitresses away from him. Why just today—”
“Nolan. I’m serious here for a minute.” He raised his hands in front of him and nodded in Nolan’s direction. “The Company is beginning construction of their Aluminum Plant in October. Right about when we finish up here at the Dam. Bud’s gonna foreman up there and he’s offered all of us good jobs.” He shifted his eyes back in forth between Nolan and Tomas. The painted smile on his face awaited their response.
He slid his chair back a little, stretched, and yawned. “I don’t know about jumpin’ right into more work. Old John Nolan might need a little vacation. All work and no play makes Johnny Nolan a dull boy.”
“How about you, Tomas? We could live together with Anna and your sister. Probably have enough to buy a real nice house. Get our family back goin’ again.”
The look on his father’s face didn’t make what he had to say any easier. His stomach turned and butterflies rolled as he prepared to say what he rehearsed a thousand times. “Dad. I want to talk about somethin’ too. I, I want to join the Navy. But I wouldn’t go until after Kat and Anna got settled up here. I’d work until—”
Mikhail sunk six inches into his chair. He never saw it coming. All he could see was the family living together, and maybe, just maybe down the road bringing in Hannah. Slowly at first. Whatever she wanted to do. He visualized working side by side with Tomas in building the Aluminum Plant. Then later working together in some part of the Plant itself. Now this. The goddamn Navy. “Where did that come from?”
Tomas looked to Nolan to help him. He talked to Nolan about his plans for the Navy two days earlier. Nolan told him it would be a great idea. He blew some air between his teeth before he spoke. “What do you think, Dad? About me goin’ into the Navy, I mean.”
Mikhail straightened up in his chair and swallowed the last cold sip of his black coffee. “Well Tomas, I, I need some time to think on it. I thought you’d like the idea of us workin’ together and that. What gots you thinkin’ about the Navy?”
He gulped as he prepared to answer his father. “Shorty got me thinkin’ about it. He told me of all his times in the service. I want to see all them places he told me about. I want to get trained in somethin’ I can use when I git out.”
“You’d get lots of iron workin’ trainin’ right here at the Plant. You could work and live a fine life right here. This Aluminum Plant is gonna give a good livin’ for a lot of men.”
Nolan saw his opening when the tormenting silence lingered between Mikhail and Tomas. “You gonna ask me what I think about this, Mik? Or do I just bust in anyway?”
Mikhail waved his hand a couple of times, and Nolan followed the cue. “Wouldn’t hurt nothin’ for the Kid to get out on his own for two years. That’s what it sounds like anyway.”
His face flushed red. He stood up, locked his lips, and slowly rolled his head forward and backwards. “Sounds to me that the two of yous already got your minds made up. No sense in me talkin’ anymore. I don’t know nothin’.” Mikhail pushed back, and his chair crashed loudly on the linoleum floor. Other customers tried not to look at the scene developing at Mikhail’s table. He bent over, sat the chair up straight, and prepared to leave.
Tomas stood and softly spoke, “Dad. Let’s go back to the barracks and talk about it some more. I want you to be with me on this. Otherwise, I won’t go.” His words found the back of Mikhail’s head as he made his way to the cash register. He mumbled something to the cashier and laid down a five-dollar bill. The front door swung open, and he was gone.
Tomas rubbed his hand over his mouth and shrugged his shoulders. His stomach heaved and his throat went dry. Now what, he thought. Nolan yawned one more time and flipped down a four-bit piece on the table as a tip. He put his arm around Tomas. “Don’t worry about it Kid. He’ll get the hang of it. Give him some room for a couple of days so’s he can chew on it. It’ll all work out in the end. It’ll all work out.”
Two days later, the ring of her doorbell jolted her as she fini
shed icing the German chocolate cake. Since Shorty’s death, sudden noises frightened Carol Davis as her deep thoughts and feelings of grief dominated her every moment. She jumped back from the kitchen counter, and the butter knife crashed to the linoleum floor. Carol looked out through the kitchen window and saw Tomas standing at her front door. After she picked up the knife, she wiped her hands in the dish towel and went to meet Tomas.
“I’m happy you called, Tom. I’ve been meanin’ to track you down, but there’s been a lot to do with final details. “She hugged him and led him into the kitchen. “You told me German Chocolate was your favorite, so that’s what I made.”
He cautiously entered her kitchen and experienced strange feelings as he quickly scanned the refrigerator photos and knickknacks arranged on the shelves. Shorty lived everywhere in that kitchen. Now Tomas was in his kitchen. The same kitchen where he and Carol had coffee in the morning. The same kitchen where they ate all of her fabulous holiday dinners. “Sure smells good, Mrs. Davis.”
Carol hung her apron on a hook behind the pantry door. “It should smell good. I’m the best baker in Flathead County.”
“Shorty used to tell me that all the time. He even gave me some of your carrot muffins sometimes.” He realized that he mentioned Shorty. “I’m, I’m sure sorry, Mrs. Davis—”
“That’s okay Tom. It’s good for all of us to talk about him.”
Tomas chastised himself as he preached to Clifford on the drive over in Clifford’s car that he would cheer her up and see if she needed anything. “Okay, Mrs. Davis. I’d like to talk if that’s okay with you.”
She sat down at her chair in the kitchen and invited Tomas to take a seat. “We can talk all you want as soon as you quit calling me Mrs. Davis. My friends call me Carol. So please, call me Carol.”
His shoulders hunched as he talked. “Okay, Carol. I’ll sure try, but it’ll be tough to get the hang of it at first. I’ve been using Mrs. and ma’am for so long.”
“What would like to talk about, Tom?”
“I think of Shorty all the time. Goin’ to work just ain’t the same without him. I just can’t believe he’s gone. All of us on his crew feel like that. We keep lookin’ and listenin’ for him.” Tears welled up, but he managed to keep going. “He was just such a good man. I sure respected him. I didn’t even mind him yellin’ at me. Shorty looked out for me right from the beginning. I.” Tears won the battle. He corralled them with his hands.
Her right hand touched his shoulder just like she’d done two days earlier with her son when he broke down in her kitchen. It broke her heart to see this beautiful young man cry so hard for her husband. This demonstration of strong emotion proved to her how much her husband affected people. Tom barely knew her husband. Yet here he was. A big strapping young man emotionally crushed over the death of his partner. She expected it from their son but not a fellow worker who he barely knew. “Let it out, Tom. Let it all out. It’s the only way to begin getting over it.”
Talking through his runny nose and gushing tears, he asked, “How can this be fair? What’s God thinking? Shorty saved our life and lost his own. It’s not fair I tell you!” Tomas wiped his face with his arm and fought to regain himself.
“I’ve wrestled with this same thing over the past weeks. One minute I’m fine. The next minute I’m yelling at God, at the people who brought in the Dam, the shitty weather. Everything. It’s gonna take a long time. That damn man spoiled us. Then he had the nerve to up and die on us.” Her slight laugh injected some relief into the difficult moment. “Keep talking about him, Tom. See me as much as you need to. In the end though, you got to go it alone.”
“Okay, Mrs. Davis. I mean Carol. Thanks, you really helped. And you miss him more than all of us. Thanks.”
She stood up and walked around to the counter near the sink and the waiting cake. A big smile found its way on her face as she picked up the cake knife. “How about some of this cake? It’ll change your mood alright.”
Tomas nodded, “I’d like some of that cake. I ain’t had any since my mom fixed it for me a long time ago before she left.”
After eating the cake and drinking coffee, Carol placed the dirty plates and silverware in the sink. She walked into the living room and returned with a small brown paper bag. One by one she gingerly picked out a photograph from the bag and placed it in front of Tomas. With her long index finger she pointed to a young Shorty Davis in his dress blue Navy uniform. “This here one was taken in Singapore with a couple of his buddies. It was that damn smile that stole my heart away. Look at them pearly whites. What a ham he was, even back then.”
Tomas smiled and touched the edge of the well-worn black and white photograph. “I can see him in there alright. He looked good in that uniform.”
“Oh yes he did. And he knew it too that little scamp. When he came home on leave, he’d show up with them dress blues on. He knew what he was doing all right. We got married six months after this picture was taken.”
Tomas moved his wooden chair in closer to the table. Carol placed the next photograph down. “In this one here, he’s in San Francisco on the deck of their battleship standing behind one of their machine guns. Look at the cigar in his mouth. Showing off again with his white hat cocked off to the side. The man with him was his best friend and stood up for us at our wedding.”
The memory of the last story Shorty told Tomas about the Navy came alive as he stared at the photograph. His blank stare caught Carol’s attention. “Are you alright, Tom?”
“Oh yes, ma’am. Shorty told me a story that last time we worked together.” He stopped there and checked his watch. Cliff planned to meet him back at Carol’s at three. He had a half-hour left.
Carol showed him all five of the photos in the bag. “Pick out one of these if you’d like. I’d like to keep the rest of them to show his grandkids some day.”
Tomas selected the photo of Shorty behind the machine gun in San Francisco. As they prepared to say goodbye, Tomas sheepishly spoke, “I hope the little bit of money we put together from the crew helped some.”
She stopped, lowered her head, and twisted her face to the side, “I’m not sure what money you’re talking about, Tom. The Superintendent dropped off some groceries, but nobody brought any money.”
“Didn’t David Sednick bring you the six-hundred fifty dollars the men gave for you and your family?”
“Tom, I don’t know any David, whatever you said his last name is. Nobody gave us any money.”
Tomas touched his fingers to his lips. “Oh. He probably hasn’t had a chance to yet. But he will. I’ll talk to him tomorrow morning. He’s been pretty busy.”
They heard Clifford’s car pull up outside. “Thanks Carol for everything. The cake was great, and I’ll take good care of this picture of Shorty. Most of all thanks for hearin’ what’s been on my mind hard for sometime now.”
She hugged him and invited him back. From the front seat of the car Tomas waved at Carol as she stood on the doorstep with her arms folded. His mind raced and his temper boiled as he thought of David not bringing Carol the money. “I bet he spent the money drinkin’. He’s gonna have to pay her back and soon. I’ll see to it.”
At the top of the Dam, crews from the graveyard shift gathered at the bus turn around near the cement mixing plant. Their replacements prepared to step down the bus steps to begin the process all over again. Tomas finished telling his dad about his plan to go see David this morning. “Dad, would you do me a favor and take my lunch bucket back to the barracks? I’ll see David, and then I’ll just walk down the haul road.”
Mikhail blew some air through his pursed lips, “What’s so big you have to see him right now? You worked all night. He can wait.”
“Oh, it’s okay Dad. I’ll be back down and in bed in an hour. It’s important. I need to do it right now.”
Mikhail nodded his head, grabbed his son’s lunch bucket, and climbed the steps to the bus.
Once the bus cleared the lot, Tomas fast-walked
across the walkways covering the entire length of the Dam. He stopped and looked upstream. Small tugboats toted rafts of logs from the west side of the reservoir to the waiting logging trucks on the east end. Tomas couldn’t read the words on the side of the tugboat from where he stood. As he made a mental note to find out the name of that boat sometime, he covered the distance to the bosses shack in ten minutes. As drilled into him by his father, Tomas waited until David finished talking to the group of three men before he approached. David caught his eye and nodded he’d be right there by raising his finger.
The three men left. David made a quick note and stuck the pad back into his pocket. He waved Tomas over to him. As Tomas neared, he noticed how haggard and tired David looked. He used to admire how good David always looked. Clean shaved, clean hair, fresh clothes, and he even smelled of aftershave lotion. “What’s up Tomas? Didn’t you just finish graveyard?”
“Ya I did. But I got to talk to ya. It’s real important.”
“Let’s hear it. I got a ton to do.”
“Maybe we could talk over here. It’s private.” David followed him behind the shack and onto a small wooden landing. “I talked to Shorty Davis’ widow the other day and she told me you never gave her that six-hundred fifty dollars from our day’s pay.”
David jerked his hands in front of him before he said anything, “Oh shit! I totally forgot all about that. I’ll get it to her next week or so. She—”
“No David!” She needs the money right away. Their new house costs her a fortune. Carol doesn’t start to work at the Columbia Falls Bank for two weeks. She’s pert’ near broke. You gotta—”
David quickly slid right up to Tomas’ face, “Don’t ever tell me what I gotta do. Never. I’ll get to it when I get the chance. You can go to hell you ungrateful little prick.”
Tomas stepped back. Stunned. “Come on, David. She needs it now. Those other men would hang you if they find out.”