Hello Loved Ones

by Tammy Letherer

  The waitress gave her a sympathetic smile before she turned away. Sally jumped up out of the booth.

  “I wish I’d never laid eyes on you, Cash whatever-your-name-is. I hope you choke on your damn biscuits!” She rushed to the back of the restaurant and pushed her shoulder into the door marked fillies. There was no one else around. She banged her fists on the bathroom stall. She hated Cash. She hated the entire male population. Most of all she hated her father. If it weren’t for him she’d never be in this position. If he had stayed around she’d be having her first date in a nice restaurant with a boy who wore brown penny loafers and a red garnet class ring. Instead she was stuck miles from home with a boy she hardly knew, on her way to meet a man she knew even less. She could just imagine Cash sitting in the booth with that stupid grin on his face, laughing at her, the same way her father would laugh when she showed up at his door. Well, she wasn’t turning back. She wouldn’t speak one more word to Cash. He was like a taxi driver. A hired hand. That’s how she’d treat him. She looked at her hands. They were shaking. Taking a deep breath, she made herself lean back against the bathroom wall. Cool it! She opened her purse and took out a skating rink flier. Rollin’ Thru the Night! Hey Teens! Turn Your Wheels for the Tots! Have fun and earn money for the Shriners’ Children’s Hospital. August 31, 9 PM to 5 AM. Prizes! Refreshments! Music and Games! Pick up your pledge forms now! She read it again, then once more. She looked up at the ceiling and saw three globs of dried toilet paper balls stuck to the tile. After what seemed ages, she dumped the flier in the garbage can, ran a hand through her hair and marched out of the bathroom, back to the booth.

  Cash was gone.

  Stranded! How could he? Now she’d have to call her mother and tell her that she’d been left on the interstate. She’d have to sit in the restaurant for a good hour, with no money, hoping the waitresses would be kind. Relying on the kindness of strangers. It was something she’d never had to do. Her heart began to race. Think! Think!

  She spotted a phone booth at the edge of the parking lot and started toward it. Maybe she could reach Aunt Flookie at the beauty parlor and ask her to come pick her up. She might even convince Flookie to finish the trip to Kalamazoo. Flookie knew her dad. She was chatty and friendly and even if she hated Richard she’d flash that tight, bright smile and call him Hon’. Hobnobbing, she called it. It was her special talent. And if Sally caught her in a generous mood, if she’d just met a new fella or had her hair frosted, Sally might persuade her not to tell her mother.

  Then she remembered. She didn’t have a dime. She’d have to reverse the charges. Some ditz at Swanky would answer. Sally? There’s no Sally here. And Sally would have to shout over the operator and it would be chaos. Absolute chaos. Like what was happening inside her. Her ribcage felt squeezed, and it was getting harder to breathe. What was she going to do?

  Boom. Ba-ba Boom. She heard music. Like a car radio. She turned and saw Cash’s car, parked behind the building. And there he was, sitting with the door open, his legs up on the open window, singing along with some discordant, bass-heavy tune. When he saw her he raised one hand in a lazy wave.

  “Thanks a lot!” she said, marching over. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “Serves you right.”

  There was not a bit of remorse in his tone. He acted like he could take or leave her. Was she so easy to disregard? Was she just someone to be tossed away without a second thought?

  Of course she was. She felt her chin wavering.

  “Hey there!” Cash jumped up and grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t make a scene,” he said, looking around the parking lot. She let him pull her into the car.

  “You have to admit,” he said. “It was a pretty good prank.”

  She slouched in the seat and turned her face away. It was hot in the car. Her knees were shaking and her head hurt. She closed her eyes. He could sit there forever, or drive if he wanted. She didn’t know what she wanted.

  Then he said, “Hey, I’m sorry about that. I would never act like that on a real date. Honest.”

  “Like you said, it wasn’t a date. My mistake.”

  “But I can see how you thought that.”

  “That’s not what you said earlier.”

  “I was hungry. But I’m sorry, OK?” He was turned toward her, his stringy hair tucked behind his ears. He seemed sincere.

  “You’ve probably never even been on a real date,” she said grudgingly.

  “Maybe we can have one.”

  “I’m not allowed to date.”

  “We’ve already established that you do things you’re not allowed to do.”

  She already had something of a reputation with him. She sat up straighter.

  “I’d never date you anyway.”

  “Okay, sure. But slide over here a little, why don’t you?”

  She glanced at him. He had one hand slung over the steering wheel and the other lay casually on the seat between them. His forearms were long and ropey, like branches of a tree.

  “I wish you’d be serious.”

  He leaned closer. “I am serious. Give me a kiss.”

  “That’s not what I’m here for.”

  “Sure you are, you just don’t know it.”

  “Stop it. I have to find my dad. That’s all.”

  “So you said. Then what?”

  Maybe he was right. Maybe there was a reason she hadn’t gone to Aunt Flookie in the first place. Or ended up at the Greyhound station. Maybe Cash wasn’t just part of God’s plan for her. Maybe he was the plan.

  “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “He’ll say nice to meet you, have a nice life. We’ll drive back home. You’ll never see or hear from him again. But I’ll still be here. See what I mean?”

  She didn’t answer. Have a nice life. How could she do that, without a dad to love her?

  “Gimme your hand,” he said.

  How dangerous could it be? She reached over and he fit his fingers between hers in way that made her stomach drop. It was the novelty of it, that was all. You could even call it an experiment, because she really couldn’t stand him.

  Except didn’t his hand feel nice? Warm and heavy and just the right size.

  “You got a raw deal, that’s for sure,” he said quietly, and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. Oh, how she’d misjudged him! He understood, in a way no one else did. She was so used to feeling alone when it came to her dad, she hadn’t seen this blessing unfolding. But they were in this together. That’s what his hand said to her. And he was all she had.

  They drove, a sudden shyness between them like a passenger. For one moment she allowed herself a strange, incredible thought. Soon she’d have a dad and a boyfriend! She knew it was unlikely, but it gave her boost, so that when they stopped at a filling station in Kalamazoo for directions and she heard the attendant tell Cash just turn at that light, go maybe five, six blocks, and there you are, she didn’t panic. And when they pulled up in front of a house—his house!—she was able to stop herself from blurting just keep driving!

  There it was. Pale blue, small but nicely kept, with a neat row of hedges in front and grass you could bounce on. The home of a respectable family.

  “Hey, don’t be nervous,” Cash said. “I’ll do the talking if you want.”

  “No.” She was ready. Seeing the house helped. Here’s what he’s moved on to. This is where he pretends he doesn’t have a daughter named Sally.

  They knocked on the front door and after a moment an attractive young woman answered. She wore a large wedding ring on her finger. Sally took a deep breath. Hadn’t she expected as much?

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said. “We don’t entertain door-to-door solicitations.” She had a soft voice with a southern drawl.

  “Do we look like we’ve got something to sell?” asked Cash hotly. Let him do the talking? Sally made a gurgling sound in her throat as she tried to think of something to say.

  The woman studied them with wide blue eyes. She had to notice Cash’s purpl
e nose, but she was polite enough not to stare. “You look like those high school kids with the magazine subscriptions and what not.”

  Why did she have to be so pretty? The girly type. That’s what her dad liked. And Sally hadn’t even brought lipstick! She managed to thrust her hand out.

  “I’m Sally. I’m here to see my dad.”

  She steeled herself for a reaction. A cool bitchiness maybe, or the door slamming in her face.

  “Your…dad,” the woman repeated.

  “My….dad.” Sally stared at her, waiting. Anger flared in her and took her by surprise.

  “Oh! You’re Richard’s daughter!”

  “Is he here?” Just try to keep him from me. Just try!

  “I’m sorry. Please come in,” the woman said, with a welcoming gesture.

  “Nice digs,” Cash muttered as they stepped into the foyer. He was right. It was like stepping into a television set. The room was painted a canary yellow that you only see on advertisements. The very air glowed from some inner, uncontainable happiness. There were soft pastel rugs on the floor, gauzy curtains at the window, and in the middle of it all was a baby in a playpen.

  “Oh,” Sally said, staring at the cutest baby boy she’d ever seen. He was dressed like a miniature man, in overalls and a red plaid shirt. She put her hand on the back of a chair to steady herself. “What’s his name?”

  This was going wrong. She was shaken when what she wanted was to be bright and bubbly for her dad. But poor Lenny! He’d been replaced. They all had.

  “This is Willard.” The baby let out a squeal and started banging something against the playpen. The woman hurried over and lifted him out. “And I’m Aurelia.”

  Sally glanced at Cash. What kind of name was that? But he only raised his eyebrows at her like he was impressed. It wasn’t fair! What right did she have to be so classy and poised? To have everything yellow and soft and clean? This…this… Aurelia got a lovely house and a cute little baby and her father for a husband when back in Holland Sally’s mother struggled to raise three kids on her own. They had nothing, and this woman had everything.

  “How long have you known my dad?” Sally said stiffly.

  “Only a few years.” Aurelia jiggled the baby on her hip. “But I haven’t seen Richard in some time.”

  Sally’s jaw dropped. “He left you too? And the baby?”

  The woman’s face opened in a slow oh! She started to smile, but a deep voice barked from the hallway.

  “Who’s there?”

  A man stood in the adjoining room, hugging the wall as if he didn’t want to be seen. Her dad? Sally stepped forward.

  “It’s Richard’s daughter,” Aurelia said quickly and Sally froze, confused.

  “Who’s the quiet one?” the man asked.

  “That’s Cash,” Sally said slowly. “He’s my…” Friend? My driver? Just some guy I met. “He plays ball for Holland Christian.” Stupid, but it seemed like a guy thing to say.

  The man jerked his head. “Are you staring at me?”

  “Marvin! It’s all right.” Aurelia went to him and took his arm. She led him into the living room in such a way that Sally realized. The man was blind.

  “This is my husband, Marvin.” She placed him in a chair and set the baby in his lap. He made a face as the baby squawked and tried to grab his nose.

  Sally nearly squawked too. “Aren’t you married to my dad?”

  Aurelia laughed. “Richard is our tenant,” she said. “He rents the cottage out back.”

  “Whoa,” said Cash softly.

  “I see,” said Sally, before catching herself. Was that rude to say in front of a blind man? Besides, she didn’t see anything.

  “He’s been gone, what would you say, honey? About three weeks.”

  But that would mean— “What about my letter? I wrote to him here at this address, and he wrote back.”

  Aurelia went to the foyer. “We keep his mail for him,” she said, holding up a cardboard box. “He gets it whenever he’s back in town.”

  Sally looked in the box and saw it immediately. Her letter, on top, unopened.

  She reached in her pocket and took out the letter from him. From him! She opened it. With love, your dad.

  She felt slow and stupid. “So who wrote this?”

  Cash took it from her and read it. “You’ve been had,” he said quietly.

  She felt a wave of nausea and wished she could sit down. Her mother. It had to be. Who else would go to such lengths to keep her from her dad?

  “Can I give him a message?” Aurelia asked. “When I see him?

  Sally shook her head. A slow burn began behind her eyes, but she would not cry. Not in front of Miss Southern Hospitality and her creepy, blank-eyed husband. Did she have a message? Only one thought popped into her head. Where have you been all my life? Like a line from a movie. She tried to think of something else, but Marvin cleared his throat.

  “Don’t touch anything over there!”

  Cash had turned his attention to the wall, where four guitars were leaning in stands.

  “Those are valuable,” said Marvin.

  “Where’d you get this Fender?”

  “Cash, please.” She wouldn’t leave it to these two to tell her dad anything. They’d reduce this trip to a by the way… moment instead of the brave and bold statement it was meant to be.

  “Do you know where he is?” she asked. “Where can I find him?”

  “I believe he’s in Holland.”

  “Holland? But I live in Holland! Was he going to see me?” Her heart leaped before she could remind herself. He. Never. Read. Her. Letter. There it was, in the basket. Proof positive. Yet a part of her believed that he just knew she was looking for him.

  “Um…” Aurelia pressed her lips together and gave her a soft look. “ I don’t know dear. He goes there quite often.”

  Sally stuck a hand in her hair and pulled, like she could straighten out her confusion of thoughts. There was a bright side. There was no pretty wife, no replacement baby, no bouncy green lawn that he preened over.

  “Maybe my mom called him and told him about my letter,” she said, beginning to pace a small patch of the carpet. “And he told her what to say to me. He told her to let me down easy.” She stopped and pulled her letter from her purse. “That’s why she wrote this.”

  “I thought they didn’t talk,” said Cash.

  “Maybe they do!” Sally turned to Aurelia. “Does he ever say anything about my mom?”

  “He talks about a place called the Torchlight,” Marvin interjected. “I get the impression it’s a favorite hang-out.”

  “That’s a bar,” said Cash.

  Sally swallowed hard and said, “Is he, you know, a drunk?”

  “What’s it to you?” Marvin growled from the couch.

  Aurelia snapped her head around. “Stop it!”

  Cash touched Sally’s elbow. “Let’s go.”

  Sally nodded and they backed toward the door.

  “Thank you,” Sally said. Aurelia turned, looking flustered. She opened her mouth to speak but Sally had the door open. “Thank you. Goodbye.”

  They hurried out to the car.

  “Jeez!” said Cash as he started the engine. Sally couldn’t wait to get out of there, but there was Aurelia, hurrying down the walk toward them. She bent over, putting her elbows on Sally’s open window.

  “I just wanted to say, I believe Richard has mentioned you once or twice. My husband didn’t realize....” She patted Sally’s arm. “Good luck.”

  Sally gave her a thin smile. Maybe she wasn’t so pretty, up close. Maybe Sally had only imagined that the air in there was super-charged with happiness. Maybe at this very moment her dad was standing in her living room, finding out that she was gone, simply vanished and no one knew where, and his heart was racing and he was thinking that ten years was such a long time. Much too long to be gone.

  Prudy

  Prudy was pacing her front porch, convinced that if she kept looking down
the block she’d see Sally round the corner, when the phone rang. It was Phillip.

  “You heard?” he said.

  Her heart lurched. “Heard what?”

  “My car was stolen.”

  She was confused. “That’s terrible, but—”

  “Prudy, it’s Richard. Richard was in my car.”

  “Richard? Stole your car?”

  “It looks that way.”

  “Was Sally with him?”

  “I don’t know. The police told me he had some kids with him. I think Lenny was driving.”

  “How could that be? Isn’t Lenny at the church?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She made a frustrated sound. “He works for you now. Shouldn’t you know where he is?”

  He sighed. “I’m not at the church, am I? I’m here in my kitchen talking to you. And then I’m going to the police station.”

  “Why are you yelling at me?” Maybe he wasn’t yelling exactly, but he sounded like he wanted to.

  “I have an appointment at the funeral home in Burnips this morning,” he said. “How am I going to get over there?”

  “This is not my fault!” There was a long pause. “Phillip?”

  “I’ll see you at the station.”

  Prudy ran the seven blocks to the police station. Her side ached, but each time she slowed the questions came faster. How on earth could Richard and Sally end up together in Phillip’s car? What had he done to her? And Lenny? What did he have to do with any of this?

  The desk sergeant looked up as she burst in. “I’m Mrs. Van Sloeten,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “You found my daughter?”

  He checked a piece of paper in his hand. “A state trooper pulled over a Richard Van Sloeten. Your husband?”

  She nodded. “Estranged.”

  “He was with his kids in a stolen car on US131.”

  “What kids? My kids?”

  “Are you missing more than one?”

  “I have three kids. Maybe he’s taken all of them.”

  He removed his glasses. “Has he threatened to take them?”

  “No! I haven’t heard from him in years. But why would he steal a car? That’s bad, right? It’s got to be bad.”

  “They should be here any minute. Why don’t you have a seat?”