Letter to Belinda

by Tim Tingle

  “It’s kind of neat, but we still have to land, huh?”

  “Landing is about as routine as taking off. Here comes the drink cart.”

  “I don’t know if I can keep anything down.”

  * * *

  Almost two hours later they landed in New York, to change planes, this time to a British Airways flight. But the plane wasn’t in yet from its previous flight, so they were told that they would be delayed. Professor Foust was alarmed at this.

  “But that will throw us late arriving in London! The tour director is supposed to be there to meet us! I need to call London, to let him know that we will be late!”

  Professor Cunningham did not seem concerned at all. “Relax, Steve. Tour directors know all about flight delays.”

  “But I need to call him!”

  “No, when he gets to the airport, he’ll see that our flight has been delayed, and he’ll get a cup of tea and wait. No big deal.”

  “I need to talk to someone in authority here! Excuse me, Miss! How long will this delay be? We are on a very tight schedule!”

  In a British accent, she replied, “The flight is still approximately 45 minutes from New York. It will have to be serviced and refueled before it can be sent back up. We are looking at a 90 minute delay.”

  “90 minutes! That’s an hour and a half!”

  “Yes sir, an hour and a half, if you prefer to call it that.”

  “Six of one, a half dozen of another.” Fred said out of boredom. But Steve was in no mood to accept a delay.

  “I want to talk to your superior, young lady! There must be another flight we can take that will get us there on time! Call someone higher up!”

  “I don’t have to call anyone, sir. I am adequately qualified to tell you that we have no plane! It is simply not here!”

  “But we simply must get to London on time!”

  Fred Cunningham stepped up to the counter. “Steve, I think you can use a beer! Tell you what, let’s go back up the concourse to that little bar we saw coming in. I’m buying!”

  “But our flight . . .”

  “When the plane gets here, I am sure they will announce it over the P.A. system, so let’s go have us a pint! Okay?”

  “Someone needs to stay here to keep the students together.”

  “I’m sure Nikki can do that.”

  Nikki replied, “Sure, I’ll watch things here, Steve. Go ahead. Some of the students might want to go to the bar with you.” Four students immediately volunteered, always ready to try a new bar.

  “I guess it can’t hurt. But someone come get us, if anything changes!”

  As they left, Travis just shook his head. “So this guy is the head of the English Department?”

  “Correct.” Nikki replied.

  “And he is in charge of this trip?”

  “We let him think he is, but as you can see, we have to override his decisions sometimes. We let him handle things, until he starts to get out of hand, then we gently take over for him. We are like advisors to a mad emperor. When his insanity surfaces, we have to run things in his name.”

  “Speaking of insanity, has he ever been checked out?”

  “Oh yeah, and yes he is. It’s not required for the job, but it certainly helps to be ‘reality challenged’. I know, because I have worked there for twelve years now. I think that some college professors exist in a vacuum. They see the world in a way that no one else does.”

  “Is that good, or bad?”

  “It depends on the professor.”

  “And in Professor Foust’s case?”

  “He has been with us less than a year, so the jury is still out. But I think this trip is going to be very revealing. It will test his breaking point.”

  One of the female students interrupted her.

  “Nikki, is it true that Dr. Fred and Dr. Steve are gone to a bar?”

  “Yes Donna, they just left. If you hurry, you can catch them.”

  Donna ran to catch up.

  “That is one girl right there that will try your patience! She is a professed ‘party animal’! Her parents send her money, and she blows it on booze and parties. I am so glad she is over 18, so we don’t have to take responsibility for her! A lot of the kids on this trip are just like her, but she is absolutely the worst! This trip is just another one-week party to her! And it’s a shame, because she is a very intelligent girl. She was closely watched and restrained as a child, and now that she is 18, she thinks she can do anything!”

  “That seems to be a common ailment among 18 year olds. The sudden surge of, ‘I know more than those old foggies’ syndrome. I think I had it for a brief time, before I was sent off to ‘Nam.”

  “Yeah, I think I had it briefly too.”

  “And my daughter, Jenny is eat up with it too! At eighteen, she joined the Air Force, was booted out for insubordination, married a bum, and is now pregnant, living in a seedy trailer park on the cheap side of Arlington County. And all that happened within six months of her 18th birthday!”

  “Gosh! It sounds like she just went crazy!”

  “That’s my only conclusion. Apparently turning 18 does that to you. If so, I need to watch Drew closely for the next year. Where is he, anyway?”

  “I saw him over next to the window.”

  “Oh yeah, there he is. He’s talking to, what’s her name?”

  “Audrey. I’m glad she seems to want to hang out with you guys, because she can only get in trouble with girls like Donna. I deliberately matched her up with myself as a roommate, so I can watch over her, being that she is the only underage girl on the trip. And you, your mother, and Drew will be sharing a room?”

  “Yes, that’s what I asked for.”

  “They are usually good about matching those who request matching. However, some places might only have double accommodations.”

  “What about Mrs. Parker? Who is her room mate?”

  “She paid extra for private accommodations.”

  “I was thinking my mother might want to room with her, since they seem to be getting along so well. I think I remember her from somewhere, but I can’t place where.”

  “She is a retired Elementary School teacher. Could she have taught you?”

  “No, I remember all my teachers, but I can’t remember one named Parker, except in High School, but she bears no resemblance to her.”

  “We have time to kill. Go talk to her.”

  “Yeah, I think I will.”

  He got up and walked over to where his mother was talking to Mrs. Parker, and sat down across from them. His mother immediately asked him a question. “Travis, do you know who this lady is?”

  “I seem to recognize her, but the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

  “What if I told you my name was Mrs. Sims?”

  Travis broke into a grin. “Yes, now I know you! You were my teacher in the second grade!”

  “That’s right! My husband died in ‘66, and I remarried in ‘71, and became Mrs. Parker! But I remember you very well! You were always such a quiet boy! At recess, you always stayed off to yourself, crawling around on your knees looking for arrowheads. I thought there was something wrong with you, because you never wanted to play red rover, or kickball!”

  “Because I was too busy finding arrowheads! To me, arrowheads were a direct link to history! When I picked up an arrowhead, I knew that I was the first person to pick it up since the Indian lost it!”

  “Well, I wish I had known that then, because I thought you had some mental disorder! If we had had psychologists in the school back then, I would have recommended you for an evaluation! But look at you now! A published writer, with a book on the Best Sellers List! Who would have thought it back then? Do any of your stories involve Indians, or arrowheads?”

  “
As a matter of fact, my first book, ‘The Relic’ is about that very subject.”

  “So do you think the roots of that story could go back to your arrowhead hunting days in the second grade?”

  “I’m almost sure of it! The first couple chapters anyway.”

  “That is so exciting! I plan to go to one of your book signings in London, and buy an autographed copy from you.”

  “Thanks a lot. I think you will enjoy the story, if you enjoy horror.”

  “Horror is not my favorite kind of story, but then, I never knew a horror writer before! I’m sure I will enjoy it, just because you were one of my students!”

  “It’s kind of you to say that. I hope it doesn’t disappoint you.”

  “Oh, no! Your mother has been telling me about it, and it sounds great!”

  “She can be biased.”

  Lois changed the subject. “Why is the plane late, Travis?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t say. It could be delayed for a lot of reasons.”

  “Will that cause them to change the itinerary of our tour?”

  “No, I don’t think so.” Travis replied.

  Mrs. Parker added, “No, the first day of any tour is always just a welcome to their country, with some of some kind of introductory thing. It is flexible, to allow for the fact that sometimes flights are delayed. We will not miss seeing anything because of this delay.”

  “Then why was that professor so upset?”

  “According to Nikki, who is a secretary in the English Department, he has ‘mental issues’. He gets upset easily if everything doesn’t go just so.”

  “Apparently he has never raised kids!” Lois said, and both women laughed.

  Mrs. Parker got up from her seat. “If someone will watch my bags, I will go to the ladies room while we are waiting. I hate to use the facilities on the plane, because they are so cramped. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll watch them.” Lois said. After Mrs. Parker had gone, Lois motioned for Travis to come sit beside her, which he did. Apparently she had something to say, that she didn’t want anyone to hear.

  “Travis, I see you talking to that secretary a lot. What is her name?”

  “Nikki?”

  “Yes, Nikki. You are not getting too friendly with her, are you?”

  “Too friendly? What are you asking me, Mom?”

  “I was not supposed to tell you this, but I have to be honest. Janice asked me to watch out for you while we are on this trip, as though I, your mother, can keep you out of trouble! She said, in a joking way, to not let some other woman steal you away from her! I know she was joking, but many a truth was spoken in jest! She still does not completely trust you, after what happened in Peru and Colombia, and I have to say that I can’t blame her!”

  “I explained to her, and to you as well, what happened there. It might have looked bad, but there was nothing going on. It was mostly her meddling sister, trying to break us up! And besides, Miranda, that woman who went down there, is not on this trip! She is rich now, and has found bigger fish to fry.”

  “Well, all I know is that I have seen you talking to this Nikki a lot since we left Arlington. Explain that to me.”

  “Nikki is secretary at the school. She knows all the other people on this trip, and she has been giving me the facts about what to expect, especially from the two professors who are leading this trip. She went on the trip to Greece with Janice and me last spring. You never learn anything unless you ask questions. You should talk to her yourself.”

  “Is she married?”

  “No, but I don’t even think she’s looking for a man.”

  “Single women are always looking for a man!”

  Travis rolled his eyes. He supposed all mothers were that way. “So Janice asked you to give her a report, huh?”

  “Well, not in so many words. Actually, I volunteered to keep an eye on you, because I like Janice, and I would hate for anything to happen to your marriage. Think of the kids!”

  “Mom, nothing is happening, or is going to happen! I think I am a responsible adult, and I can take care of myself!”

  “That is exactly word for word what you told me when you were 18, and about to leave for that war in Vietnam!”

  A chill ran down Travis’ spine.

  She was right. Here he was, a 48 year old man, and was using the same logic he did when he was 18. Leave it to a mother to point that out.

  “But I told you the truth, didn’t I? I did take care of myself. And I have been doing it ever since.”

  “I suppose so, but sometimes you are too naïve. You trust people you should not trust, and misjudge their motives. I have been around a lot longer than you, and I have seen the good and bad in people’s motives!”

  Travis started to reply: Yeah, you have certainly kept up with all the major soap operas over the years. What better way to learn about people’s motives that to vicariously immerse yourself in other people’s problems? But he knew better than to say it. The last time he told her something like that, it was about 1966, and he still had numb spot on his tongue, where she slapped the taste out of his mouth. Some things, though they might be the truth, were best left unsaid. But he had long suspected that she was bored with her family life. True, they had had a good life since WWII, and raised six normal kids, who had all turned out to live fairly normal lives. He had long suspected that she wished her family had a touch of alcoholism, drug abuse, infidelity, insanity, incest, murderous jealousy, or even homosexuality, just so there would be a little suspense, intrigue, and excitement in their lives. Since there wasn’t any of that, she, like millions of bored housewives and mothers across the world, experienced it vicariously through soap operas. Sometimes, the characters became as real as her own children. More than once, she had called him ‘Trevor’ instead of Travis. He didn’t know who this ‘Trevor’ was, but most likely he was a dashingly handsome soap star, for his mother to so easily confuse them.

  “Watch my bags, Mom.”

  “Are you going to the men’s room?”

  “No, I am going to walk up and down the concourse, to check out the hot babes! And be sure you put that in your report to Janice too!”

  11

  Miranda’s pool was coming along well. She watched them dig all day Friday, and most of the day Saturday, from her favorite spot, through the kitchen window. Travis had been right in his assessment of the local geology. Once they got below three feet, they hit solid sandstone, which would have been impossible to dig through by hand. It was even difficult for the back hoe to dig, but they meticulously chewed their way through it, until they had reached the specified depth, and then widened it to specified width and length. Miranda made them a gallon of lemonade, and took it to them. While she had them stopped, she asked if they still expected to be finished on schedule, being that the rock was harder than they anticipated. But the contractor insisted that they still had plenty of time to meet the deadline. She was going to suggest that they make a smaller pool, but since they were confident, she let them go ahead as planned. Saturday morning a hydraulic jackhammer arrived, and though it was extremely noisy, it worked much better at breaking up the rock.

  By late Saturday afternoon, the digging process was complete, and a different crew came in to begin forming up for the concrete for the floor of the pool. Miranda watched as the professional crew installed the drainage pipes, and reinforcement rods. Then they filled areas between the forms and pipes with loose gravel, then used the big hydraulic jackhammer (fitted with a different attachment), to pack down the loose gravel. They then used black plastic sheets to cover the gravel.

  Now Miranda understood what Travis meant when he said that she should bury the body underneath the plastic and gravel. But they were hauling more reinforcement rods into the hole, to assemble and wire together, to form the strength for the f
loor of the pool. If they did that, she would not be able to bury anything in the gravel underneath. Since it was already after dark, and they were working by portable floodlights and a generator, she was about to ask them to stop for the night, when she saw that they were stopping for the night anyway.

  “Giving up so soon?” she asked the contractor.”

  “Well, we are at a good stopping point. We still have to assemble the reinforcement rods, and finish forming the sides. But I just learned that we can’t get cement delivered here until 1:30 tomorrow afternoon, being that tomorrow is Sunday. So we’ll be back early in the morning to finish the forming up, and to wait on the cement. And that should give you a peaceful Saturday evening! This looks like a really nice place to live. You must like it here.”

  “Oh yes, I love it here. Very peaceful!”

  “Okay, my crews will be back by about 7 in the morning. Good evening, Ma’am.”

  “Yes, good evening to you!”

  She stood on the deck and watched as they shut down the generator, and the lights died. They stowed their tools, then headed for their trucks, and left. She waited fifteen, twenty minutes, in case someone forgot something and came back after it. Then she walked up the driveway in the dark to lock her gate. She didn’t want anyone coming in on her unexpectedly. She noted the almost full moon that was coming up in the east, already shedding light across her back yard. Would that be enough light? Probably not, because she wanted to be sure of what she was doing. She got back to her house, and went to the bedroom to change into her work clothes, which she already had laid out. She picked up her work gloves from the utility room, and went out on the deck.

  She had already assessed that she was going to need her digging fork, and several of the contractor’s empty five-gallon buckets. But first she needed light.

  She went to the contractor’s generator with a flashlight, and saw how to start it up. It started just like a riding mower. She opened the choke, and pressed the start button, and it shattered the silence when it came to life. She adjusted the choke and stabilized the engine, and the flood lights illuminated the entire pool area. Noisy and bright, it caused quite a disturbance. It was a good thing her only neighbor was dead.