Wings and Faith

by Joy Redmond

  Abbie was thrilled when her daddy came by late that evening and took her to see her other grandparents for a few hours. Mandy could smell booze on Billy’s breath and it unnerved her, but she didn’t have the heart to tell Abbie she couldn’t go with her daddy. When she watched Billy drive off with her precious daughter, she closed her eyes and summoned the angels. Surround my daughter and protect her and bring her back to me unharmed.

  The next day, Mandy and Abbie were as excited as two children as they drove over to Tony’s. Mandy knocked on the door, then opened it and hurried inside, looking for Braxton. Tony had moved to a bigger apartment and Braxton was running everywhere and getting into everything. “Just like your daddy,” Mandy said, as she chased him down.

  She turned toward Belinda. “Well, when is this one due?” she asked. The last thing they need is another baby, she thought. And again, I feel no joy in knowing I’ve got a grandchild on the way.

  “I’m due the last part of February,” Belinda said.

  Mandy quickly did the math. “They’ll only be sixteen months apart. You’ll have your hands full. Maybe you’ll get a little girl this time.”

  “Yep, it’s a girl. Tony wouldn’t let me call and tell you. He said you’d find out when you got here.”

  “And find out, I did!” Mandy said. She shook her head, determined she wasn’t going to let the worry of another baby coming so soon ruin her time with Braxton. He was the most beautiful little boy she’d ever laid her eyes on—the spitting image of Tony.

  Mandy and Abbie had a wonderful visit with everybody, but Mandy was anxious to get back home and prepare the big Christmas dinner.

  Mandy and Gill brought in the new year alone as they had always done, but Gill was acting strange. He was ready to go to bed before midnight. “Gill, what’s eating you? You can’t hide your worries from me. I’m your wife. Husbands and wives share things. You’ve always shut me out about a lot of things and I highly resent it. Are we a team? Or do we just live together and lead separate lives?”

  Gill hung his head, wrung his hands and sweat beads broke out across his top lip and lined his brow. “I’m in a jam. The shop is going belly-up and I—” he broke down in tears.

  “What happened? You’ve been doing a lucrative business for ten years. How could you have mismanaged money to the point of bankruptcy? That doesn’t make any sense,” Mandy said.

  “I’ve only been operating the shop just a little over three years. And it’s not really mine. Dad put up the money for me to open it and stock it. He gets twenty percent of the profit until I pay him back, but I haven’t shown a profit yet.”

  Mandy sneered. “And twenty percent of nothing is still nothing.”

  “My biggest problem is the finance company. They’re going to take the bikes and I’ll be left with an empty shop and still owe them.”

  “What else are you hiding? What other lies do you need to confess to?” She stood with her hands on her hips, wanting to bop Gill upside his head.

  Gill wouldn’t raise his head and look her in the eyes. He continued to shake as if he were about to have a seizure.

  “Can’t look at me, huh? You’re in hock up to your eyeballs, but you bought four acres of land on each side of the shop, then you hired a contractor to build a warehouse on two acres, then you ordered more motorcycles, knowing you were already overstocked, then you stocked up with three-wheelers and four-wheelers. Great business man you are. And you didn’t consult with me about anything. You just did it!”

  “Mandy, I thought I was expanding my business so I’d be in a position to make more money, and—”

  Mandy stopped him, “Your business? Your money? Since we’re married, I thought it was our business and our money. Let me tell you—”

  Gill jumped up and ran for the bathroom. Mandy heard him heaving. Then she heard him loudly sobbing. As angry as she was, her heart went out to him, and she went into the bathroom where she found him lying on the floor in the fetal position and wailing as if he were dying.

  “Good God, Gill. Pull yourself together. Then let’s sit down and talk about this. Maybe together we can work something out. Don’t shut me out!”

  Mandy pulled Gill off the floor and led him into the family room. She sat for thirty minutes, but Gill didn’t say a word. “This is progressing well. If I may be so bold to ask a few questions, I’d appreciate the truth. What did you do before you went into the motorcycle business?”

  Gill kept his head tucked, and he was mumbling so low it was hard for Mandy to understand him. She reached over and placed her hand under his chin and pried his head up until they were eye to eye. “Start talking! And I don’t want any bullshit!”

  Gill said, “I had the shop one month before I came to Tennessee to see you. Before that I was a deputy sheriff.”

  “A deputy sheriff,” Mandy repeated. “So it only took you three years to run the shop into the ground? I don’t know what a deputy makes, but my common sense tells me it didn’t pay enough for you to buy this diamond that’s hanging around my neck and I don’t think being in the bike shop for one month would have paid for it either. So, you dipped your hand in the till so you could empress me with a big rock. And how did you manage to buy this beautiful house?”

  “My granddaddy passed away a little over six years ago. I inherited enough to pay half off what the house sold for. That kept my payment low enough and I was able to make the payments. And Susan worked. So together, we kept up with the bills.” He tucked his head again, then mumbled. “I’d sold a few motorcycles by the time you came down, so I took the money and bought you the necklace. I thought I’d have the money put back in a few more months.”

  “It never works when you dip your hand in the till. While I’ve got you talking, I’d like to know a few more things. In the three and a half years I’ve been your wife, I’ve never met your parents. I know they live in Valdosta, but that’s only a three hour drive. You’ve never taken me to meet them and they’ve never come to see us. That’s very strange. I’ve talked to your mother on the phone several times and she seems like a precious lady, but something just ain’t right.”

  Gill kept his head tucked and began to mumble, and Mandy couldn’t understand a word. “Gill, dammit it. Look at me and give me the truth!”

  “The truth is, Mom has been battling ovarian cancer. She takes chemotherapy and she’s too sick to get out of bed. Dad works six days a week at his insurance company. He goes to church on Sunday, then sleeps the rest of the day.”

  Mandy thought for a minute, then said, “I know a little about cancer and chemotherapy. The chemo treatments only last six months, and in rare occasions, a year. That’s doesn’t add up.”

  “I didn’t say she had taken chemo treatments for three years. The first year she was recouping from surgery. They went in, took out all her reproductive organs and they thought they got it all. A year later they found it had come back, so she started with the chemo. For the past year, she’s been trying to get her strength back.”

  “So, why haven’t you been to see her? Why haven’t you taken me to Valdosta on the weekends to meet them?”

  “I work six days a week too. I try to make Sunday a fun day. You know you love to straddle my Kawasaki, ride over to Savanah and spend the day walking up and down River Street. I was only trying to make you happy. I talk to Mom and Dad on the phone two or three times a week. It’s not like I’m ignoring them.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Mandy said. “Well, guess where we’ll be going this Sunday?”

  “I can’t do anything or go anywhere until I figure out what I’m supposed to do about getting things on track before I lose the shop.” Again, Gill broke down and cried like a baby.

  Mandy was angry with his poor management, and she wasn’t sure she was buying everything else he had just told her. She looked at him, his head bent, his eyes red and swollen, face flushed, and her heart hurt to see him in such an emotional state. And what were they going to do if he did have to close the shop? She broke ou
t in a cold sweat.

  “Gill, I have some money in savings. If you pay off the finance company will that get you back on your feet? And how much do you owe them?”

  Gill gave Mandy a figure and she thought she would keel over. “That’s half of what I have. I can give it to you, but if you continue buying, overstocking and dipping your hand in the till, then you’ll be in the same position this time next year, if not before. But, I guess I’ll take a chance on you. I don’t know what else to do. I’ll give you the money.”

  Gill’s eyes lit up brighter than the stars. “You’d do that for me?” he exclaimed.

  Mandy stood, placed her hands on her hips, gave Gill a look that would have scared the devil as she said, “I’m not doing it for you! I’m doing it for us! Or will there ever be an us? You seem to want things as you and me. That’s not how a marriage works!”

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it that way. I was just so relieved my words came out the wrong way. Come here, baby!” he said, as he reached up and pulled her down on his lap.

  As always, the minute Gill took her in his arms, she melted and became putty in his hands.

  A month later, Mandy got off from work and stopped by the bike shop. Gill wasn’t at the front counter, nor was he in his office. Abbie was sitting at his desk, playing with the stapler. “Hi, honey. Where’s Gill?” she asked, as she gave Abbie a big hug.

  “He’s in that little back room where he keeps the coffee pot and his junk food. And where he makes all his phones calls that he doesn’t want anybody else hearing. He told everybody to leave him alone. He’s really upset about something.”

  “Thanks, sweetie. I’ll go see what’s bugging him. Then we’ll be on our way home. You get to come home an hour early now that Mama is working. You like that, huh?”

  “I sure do. You know I hate to stay here until closing time.”

  Mandy looked down on the desk and saw a pile of mail that had been opened. Her curiosity got the better of her and she started pulling out papers from the envelopes. Everything was unpaid bills. At the end of each bill was a note: Final notice. You will be turned over to a collection agency if the balance is not paid in full in thirty days.

  Mandy’s hands trembled and her mind spun as she went through all the bills, trying to add them up in her head. The amounts were too large to get an exact figure, but she knew she was close enough to make her feel sick to her stomach. He owes at least a hundred thousand. And due in thirty days. She dropped the mail on the desk. Then she opened the top drawer of the desk. She pulled out the checkbook, searching for a balance. There was no balance.

  She thumbed through the entire book. He had no balance on any page. She started going through the stubs. All that had been paid was payroll, new engines for three go-carts, and the last stub was dated the previous week for a go-cart trailer for the amount of one-thousand. She figured that amount was only a down payment. She put the checkbook back into the top drawer. She started to open other drawers, trying to find canceled checks and deposit slips.

  She opened one drawer, then slammed it closed. What’s the point? I already know all I need to. She patted Abbie on the shoulder and said, “Hold tight. Just keep doodling and stapling. I’m going to go have a talk with Gill. Please don’t interrupt us.”

  “Okay,” Abbie said with a deep sigh and continued drawing on notebook paper.

  Mandy headed for the back room, anger radiating through her whole body and she wondered if she would go up in spontaneous combustion. She walked into the room just as Gill was putting the receiver back on the hook.

  With fire in her eyes she yelled, “You lying, conniving, stupid sonofabitch!”

  “Wh—what?” Gill managed to say, his eyes bugging out of their sockets.

  “I just went through the mail. I went through the checkbook. All you’ve done is spend, and you owe everybody and his brother. I can’t believe that I was such a fool to believe you when you said you’d be back on your feet after I paid off the finance company.”

  Gill jumped out of the chair and grabbed Mandy’s arm. “I didn’t want you to find out about the rest until I figured out what to do. I—”

  Mandy jerked her arm from his grasp. “There’s no way to figure it out. You’re asshole deep in debt and there’s no redemption for an idiot like you!”

  Gill tucked his head and tears rolled down his face.

  “Tears won’t get you out of this mess. I have no sympathy for you. I’d just like to slap the shit out of you. I just threw away half of my life’s saving for nothing! And don’t you dare ask me for another dime. I wouldn’t give you the sweat off my tit. You’re worthless! This time it’s all on you, big boy. I’m done and I’m taking Abbie and going back to Tennessee!”

  Gill grabbed her arm again. When she tried to pull away, he dug his fingers into her flesh. “Just calm down and let me explain. I think I’ve got an ace in the hole.”

  “Take your hands off me before I kick your balls off! You’ll need an ace up your asshole along with a rabbit. Pull them out and see what you can do with them!”

  “Will you please listen to me? Please?”

  Mandy crossed her arms over her chest, tapped her foot and rolled her eyes, “Start talking. This should be interesting.”

  “I’ve been talking to this guy in Puerto Rico. He’s interesting in buying me out. He’s coming up next week. He wants to look at the shop, the warehouse, and everything I’ve got in stock. If we come to terms, he’ll buy it—lock, stock and barrel.”

  “Then you better take his terms. If not, then I’m going back to Tennessee and you can do whatever the hell you want to. I’m done! One week is all you have before you can kiss my happy ass goodbye as I walk out the door.”

  Gill looked as if all the blood had drained from his body and he actually teetered. “Mandy, you can’t leave me. I love you more than I love my own life. I can’t live without you. I won’t. I’ll kill myself!”

  Mandy gave a sardonic laugh as she stared at him. “You’ll be married again before the ink is dry on the divorce papers. Just like all your other divorces and marriages. Yeah, I know all about them, too. I love you with all my heart, but it takes more than love to make a marriage. It takes trust and truth. I can’t trust you and I damn sure don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth!”

  Mandy walked out of the room, leaving Gill white as a ghost and gasping. She stepped lively as she headed back to the main office.

  “Come on, Abbie.”

  Abbie gathered her books and followed her mother.

  When they reached the car, Mandy slid under the steering wheel. Before she touched the keys, the car started on its own, then the horn blew. “I think that’s our cue,” she said, as she put the car in gear and drove away.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Mandy slept with Abbie that night, daring Gill to come near her. She tossed and turned, her mind and heart in turmoil. There was no way they could survive on her salary. What am I going to do? Should I take Abbie and go back to Tennessee? I’ve got a little money in savings, but I’d have to take Kati and her girls, and—she stopped in mid-thought as peace flowed through her body and a warm glow surrounded her. She smiled. The spirits are telling me that I have nothing to fear. Better things are on the horizon.

  She fell into a deep sleep, her heart light, knowing the spirits had her back.

  The next morning, Abbie shook Mandy. “Mama, I hear Fluffy meowing. He found his way back after all these years.”

  Mandy cocked her head. She heard a faint meow. It seemed to be coming from her and Gill’s bedroom across the hall. “What the heck?” Mandy hurried into her bedroom and Abbie was on her heels. Mandy noticed that Gill wasn’t in bed and she hoped he was up and out of the house.

  She and Abbie stood a few minutes. The meowing seemed to be coming from an old footlocker at the foot of the bed. Mandy pushed off the clothes that were strewn on top and tried to open it. It was locked.

  Abbie tapped on the top and called,
“Fluffy, are you in there?”

  “Honey, Fluffy isn’t in there. He’s been gone for over three years. But his spirit is trying to tell us something.”

  “Pry the lock open!” Abbie said. “I know he’s in there.”

  “We can’t pry it open. I’ll find the key. It’s probably in one of Gill’s chest drawers. Just give me a minute—”

  Before Mandy could continue, the phone rang. Abbie sat on the floor by the footlocker and kept her ear pressed against it as her mother went over to the nightstand and answered the phone.

  “Mandy, the man from Puerto Rico is in town. I’d just walked into the shop when he called. He’s coming by in an hour. He’s all hyped about buying the shop.”

  “That’s good. I sure hope he buys it and you get enough to get yourself out of debt. I’ve got to go. I’ve got something important to do.” Mandy hung up the phone. Maybe that’s what the spirits were telling me last night. The shop is going to sell and everything is going to be fine, she thought.

  Mandy opened the top drawer of the chest. She saw a small ring of keys, picked them up, then hurried to the footlocker. The first key she inserted opened the lock. She stood back as Abbie dug through all of Gill’s old stuff, throwing everything on the floor. No Fluffy.

  “I thought for sure he was in here,” Abbie said and her tears flowed.

  Mandy hugged her. “It’s his spirit, honey. It’s his way of telling you he loves you and he’s still watching over you.” Then Mandy saw the small metal box that had been in the closet. Why did Gill put it in the footlocker and lock it up?

  Abbie broke her mother’s reverie as she said, “Well, since I didn’t find Fluffy, will you drive me to Hinesville so I can spend the day with Liz?”

  “I sure will. I need to stop by the shop and see what’s going on,” Mandy said, and wiped Abbie’s tears. “Just be happy knowing Fluffy’s spirit is still here. He protected you in life. He’ll protect you from Cat Heaven.” Mandy closed the footlocker, locked it and replaced the key where she had found it.