“So what do we do now?” Kathleen asked.
“We wait for help,” Freddie said.
“Then what do we do?”
“We have the tow truck take us to town. We’ll drop the car off to be worked on then we’ll get lunch or maybe dinner depending how long it takes them to get here. After that we’ll get a room and wait until she’s fixed.”
“The Comet’s really old,” Virginia said.
“That’s right. She is old, but she made it to you guys. That’s the main thing. That’s why she’s the best car ever. She waited until we were together to get sick. Anyway, she’ll be alright. She tried as hard as she could and now she’s tired.”
“If we get cold we could light a fire!” Virginia said.
“That’s a good idea,” Freddie said. “But there’s a blanket in the back if you guys get cold. Let’s start with that.”
“Do you think we’ll have to stay here all night?” Kathleen asked.
“No, but maybe.”
“Rob had a brand-new truck,” Virginia said.
“I bet it was nice,” Freddie said.
“I like Candy the Comet better,” Kathleen said.
“You remembered her name,” Freddie said.
“She’s the best car ever. She only gets sick after she does her job.”
“That’s right.”
“What will we do if no one ever comes?” Virginia asked.
“Someone will come,” Freddie said and turned on the radio. “Don’t worry about that. Let’s just sit back and relax. We’ll listen to the radio and wait. It won’t be long. Are you guys tired?”
“No,” they both said.
“Then you guys get the first watch. I’m going to shut my eyes, alright?”
“Alright,” they said and he leaned back in the seat.
He was woken up when a flatbed tow truck pulled in front of them and stopped. A short, chunky man came from the cab in worn canvas coveralls and walked toward the car. Freddie got out and the two men spoke briefly, and then he and his daughters waited on the shoulder of the two-lane highway while the man loaded the Comet onto the back of the tow truck. When he was done, Freddie helped the girls up into the cab. His daughters in the backseat, him in the passenger seat, and then the driver got in and took them down the highway.
“For as small as that car is,” he said, “she sure is heavy, made of pure steel. They don’t make them like that anymore.” The man was in his sixties and had thin, short gray hair. He had a gut so large that it sat on the bottom of the steering wheel and rubbed against it. His left eyelid hung lazily over his eye and when he spoke he had a slight lisp.
“She’s all metal,” Freddie said.
“Made in America.”
Freddie nodded. “I’ve been driving that Comet since I was sixteen.”
“It was your first car?”
“Yeah.”
“My first car was a Chevy.”
“Both made in Detroit,” Freddie said.
“Now Detroit’s gone to hell,” the man said. There were no cars in front of them or behind them, and his breath filled the cab of the truck: Fritos and cigarettes and coffee. “You know at one time Detroit was called the city of the future, and for a while no one in the US would buy a car made anywhere else. Now it’s the opposite. All the cars people seem to want are Asian cars and no one wants to live in Detroit. I heard they give away buildings there if you can pay the taxes on them.” He shifted the truck into fifth gear. “I guess the only downside is that you have to live in Detroit,” he added and laughed.
“My ex-wife has a Toyota. I bet that thing has two hundred and fifty thousand miles on it now, and it still runs pretty good,” Freddie said.
“My wife has one, too. What are you going to do? To me, Detroit is like rich people. You always hear stories where the dad comes up the rough way, struggles and works harder than everyone else. He builds something, something of value. He spends his whole life doing it. Then his kids come along and take over. They’re so well off that they don’t understand how hard it is to create something good. They just see the money and run with that until it quits. Then everything is lost and even the good idea gives out . . . Are you guys warm enough?”
The girls said they were and Freddie nodded. “How much farther to town?” he asked.
“Ninety miles,” the man said.
“You lived there long?”
“Twenty-five years this spring. But my wife was born there. She works at Molly’s restaurant.”
“The town’s grown a lot, huh? I passed through it on the way down.”
“It’s grown alright, but it’s all Mexicans now,” the man said.
“It’s starting to snow,” Kathleen said from the backseat.
“It is,” Freddie said and looked out the window. “Do you know of a motel near where you’re taking the car?”
The man took a drink from a mug that sat in a cup-holder on the dash. “There’s two just down the block from the shop, but I’m afraid you don’t have much luck. There’s an upcoming deployment and they’re having the ceremony for it tonight. I’d be surprised if there are rooms anywhere.”
“I forgot there’s an army base near there.”
“A big one,” he said. “Of course now, with the wars, it’s as full as a tick.”
“I bet it is,” Freddie said.
“All the construction outfits around here are booming.”
Freddie looked out the passenger side window again. Snow was falling steadily. The man took another drink from his mug, and then put his hand in his coverall pocket, took a jelly bean from it, and put it in his mouth.
“It’s all the stuff in the Middle East,” he began to say. “If it was up to me I’d level the whole area, but you know they won’t . . . Anyway in the end it sure has been good for the town. My wife says the restaurant’s been so busy that one day they ran out of syrup.”
“They ran out of syrup?” Freddie asked.
“Yeah, imagine that. A breakfast restaurant running out of syrup.”
The tow truck arrived in town just after 6:00 PM. The driver backed the Comet in front of a closed auto-repair shop. He set it down and left. Freddie and his daughters walked to the two motels the man had mentioned but both were full. The second front-desk clerk called the remaining motels in town but none had a room. They walked to a Mexican restaurant and ate dinner. Afterward they went back to the last motel and Freddie left a deposit of one hundred dollars and rented two blankets. They began the walk back to the Comet to spend the night in the car.
“See, I told you,” Kathleen said as they went along the sidewalk. “She’s so slow.”
“It’s not Ginnie’s fault,” Freddie said. “Let’s not talk like that anymore.”
“And it’s snowing and it’s freezing, too.”
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Virginia cried.
“I know we’re all tired,” Freddie said. “But the main thing to do when you’re tired is to remember to be nice. Remember to be kind. So let’s make it that we are, understood?”
Solemnly his daughters both said, “Okay.”
“I think I can start the car if I leave it in park. That way we can heat it up so it won’t be so freezing. It won’t be that bad. Candy’s got a great heater and I’ll tuck you guys in and tomorrow they’ll have rooms and we’ll be fine.”
“And then Candy will get fixed.”
“And then Candy will get fixed.”
They came to the mechanic’s shop and Freddie put the car in park and started the engine. Blue smoke engulfed them briefly, but soon the engine idled quietly. He turned the heater on full. He put Kathleen in the backseat and put a blanket over her. Virginia slept in the front, covered in a blanket with her head on his lap. Every hour he’d start the car and warm them.
The night wore on. He tried not to think of his ex-wife or the people who were going to live in his house or of the paint store and how mad Pat would be when he got back to work. He tried not to think of L
eroy Kervin and the soldiers like him who would come home maimed and wrecked. He tried not to think of his daughter’s leg and the bills that still loomed over his head. Would he even be able to continue to afford insurance for her? Would the insurance company drop her? Hardest of all, he tried not think if he’d be a good father on his own. Whether his daughters would suffer without a mother around. Would he, just being who he was, somehow ruin them? But all these problems would be, they would always be in the shadows, and every person has their shadows. He’d keep his job and with his daughters back he had a home again and a purpose. His life wasn’t a nightmare anymore. He was free. His mind finally stopped racing and he grew tired. He could hear Kathleen softly snoring in the backseat and he closed his eyes.
At 8:00 AM a car pulled into the lot and a middle-aged woman and a small dog got out.
Virginia opened her eyes and said, “Is someone here?”
“Yeah, somebody just drove up,” Freddie said and looked down at her head resting on his lap. He gently brushed her hair from her face. “Are you ready to get up?”
“I think so,” she said.
The woman saw the Comet and walked over to it, noticing Freddie in the driver’s seat. He rolled down the window. “Good morning,” he said. “We broke down on the highway and the tow truck dropped us off here last night. There weren’t any motel rooms so we slept here.” Kathleen sat up and then so did Virginia.
“You poor things,” the woman said, looking at the girls. “I’ll get the woodstove going and make coffee, so come on in. My husband will be in at nine. He’ll love your car. He’s a MOPAR man, but he loves all the classics.”
“You think you guys will have time to get to it today?”
“Once I tell him you had to sleep in your car, he’ll get working on it.”
“She has a dog,” Kathleen said from the backseat.
“I can’t see it,” Virginia said excitedly and tried to stand on the seat.
“Her name is Lollipop,” the woman said happily. “She’ll be excited to meet you girls.”
“Thank you,” Freddie said to the woman. He opened the car door and he and his daughters got out.
27
Pauline was seated at her desk in the middle-school nurse’s office. In the back were three green cots, and a twelve-year-old boy lay sleeping in the middle one, recovering from an epileptic seizure. The lunch bell rang, but the boy didn’t stir. Minutes later an eleven-year-old girl walked into the room. She was small and frail and wore a red eye patch over the empty cavity that was supposed to hold her right eye. She set her book bag down on the floor and opened it. She took a paper sack from it and went to Pauline, and sat down in the chair next to the desk.
“Hi, Colleen,” Pauline whispered and pointed to the sleeping boy. “I like that shirt.”
“Thanks,” she whispered back.
“What did she make for you today?”
“Looks like hummus and tomato and red pepper and lettuce.”
“Your mom sure knows how to make a sandwich.”
“I also have carrot sticks and she made chocolate chip cookies. She put four extra in for you.”
“Maybe I’ll have just one. I’m on a diet.”
“For how long are you on a diet?”
“Depends,” Pauline said.
“You were on a diet last month.”
“I know.”
“You’re not fat.”
“You don’t think so?”
“No.”
“Then maybe I’ll have two.”
The girl reached into her bag and took out the cookies and set them on the desk.
The door opened and a young, black-haired boy with cerebral palsy walked in. He wore braces on both legs and walked with a metal cane. He was thirteen but looked much younger. He set his book bag down, opened it, and took out a paper sack. He went to the desk and sat in the other chair facing the nurse.
Pauline pointed to the sleeping boy and put her finger in front of her mouth.
“I brought lettuce for Donna,” he whispered.
“Thanks, Gene,” Pauline whispered.
“Can I feed her?”
“Of course you can. You don’t have to ask. You feed her every day. Let’s just say it’s your job.”
“I’m going to eat first. Is that okay?” the boy said.
Pauline nodded and took a cookie from the plastic baggie.
“My mom made you a sandwich,” Colleen said to Gene and handed it to him.
“Then do you want my peanut butter and jam?” Gene said to Pauline.
“What kind of jam?”
“Apricot.”
“That’s my favorite,” she said. She straightened her paperwork, put it on top of the computer, and took the sandwich. The three of them ate, and when the boy finished he took the rabbit from her cage. He put her on his lap and fed her lettuce and carrot sticks until the lunch bell rang again.
“I’m afraid it’s time for you guys to get back to it.”
“Okay,” the boy said and put the rabbit back in its cage.
“Tomorrow’s Friday. I’m going to get us a pizza tomorrow,” Pauline said.
“Really?” Colleen asked.
“It’s a three-day weekend coming up and I’ll miss you guys,” she said. “So remember to tell your parents you won’t need a lunch tomorrow. Colleen, make sure to tell your mom I’ll get vegetarian on half of it. Now hurry up or you’ll be late.”
“Okay,” they both said and left the room. Pauline ate the last cookie, checked on the sleeping boy, and went back to her paperwork.
On Sunday morning the Safeway parking lot was nearly empty. Pauline pushed her cart through the aisles, picked out what she needed, and headed toward checkout. Only one checker was working and it was Leroy’s mother, Darla. She stood reading a magazine behind the register. She put it down when she saw she had a customer, and when she saw who it was, she smiled and said hello.
“How are you doing?” Pauline said and began putting cans of soup on the belt.
“I’m fine,” Darla said. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
“I work days now. Monday through Friday. I usually shop on my way home from work.”
“I always hated working nights. I bet you’re glad you’re off that.”
“I am,” Pauline said and finished emptying the cart. She stood across from her. “You know something, Darla? You look great. You cut your hair, didn’t you?”
“You think it looks okay?”
“It looks amazing.”
“I even started painting my nails.” She put her hands out showing glossy red fingernails.
“And you’ve gained a little weight, too, haven’t you?”
“You think it’s alright?”
“It really looks good on you,” Pauline said.
“How are things at the hospital?”
“I left. I’m a school nurse now.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“It’s good. I’ve been trying for years to get the job and finally I got it. It’s a lucky break for me. I’m glad to be out of the hospital.”
“I don’t know how you could have done it every day. But now it’s kids every day.”
“Yeah,” she said and beamed. “But that’s good.”
“My big news is I have a boyfriend,” Darla said and began ringing up the items. “Not that you would care, but I can’t believe it. It’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe that’s why you look so happy.”
“Stupid, huh? An old lady like me.”
“It’s great. What’s he like?”
“He’s one of the managers here. He’d been asking me out for years but I never had it in me. I was always too tired and felt too guilty. It’s hard to let yourself have a good time when someone you love is in pain. He waited a couple months after Leroy died, and then he asked me to a baseball game. I hate sports, but instead of saying no like I always did, I said yes. I don’t know why I said it but I did. The next day I went to the mall and b
ought a hundred dollars’ worth of new underwear. I’m fifty-three years old and it’s like I’m in high school, until I look in the mirror.” She laughed and rang up twenty-four cans of chicken noodle soup, a twelve-pack of frozen burritos, and a jumbo-size bottle of chewable multivitamins.
“I have two coupons for these,” Pauline said and handed them to her.
“Back to chicken noodle,” Darla said.
Pauline nodded. “You have a good memory. My dad’s stubborn. He won’t eat vegetable soup. So now I’m all about vitamins, but the only kind he likes are chewable. We’ll see how it goes.”
Darla put the groceries in the cart. “It’s good to see you, Pauline.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” she said and pushed her cart toward the exit. She loaded her groceries into her trunk and then drove to her father’s house.
Acknowledgments
This book couldn’t have been written without the help of my gal, Lee, and Amy Baker, Angus Cargill, Cal Morgan, Jane Palfreyman, Jen Pooley, Sally Riley, Anna Stein, and Lesley Thorne. All have been too good to me, and all deserve a brand-new Cadillac for their effort. I’d also like to send my gratitude to everyone at Harper Collins. What luck to have such a great publisher. I would also like to thank Jessica Robertson for sharing her nursing knowledge. If you ever find yourself down and out in a hospital in Portland, Oregon, and you get her as your nurse, you’re one lucky sick person. Cheers also to Dr. Jason Bell for his medical expertise and to Aaron Draplin for his graphics help. Finally, I’d like to thank Chuck Holt for always helping a guy out when he trips up and hits the wall.
P.S.
Insights, Interviews & More . . .
About the author
The Free Page 22