“It’s only four. I have to go home to my parents for a few days. Raffin’s going to be covering my calls.”
“Why?” Dawn asked, looking at Linda who’d heard the phone, and was standing in the doorway.
“I got a call from my mom. They had a fire, half the house burned to the ground.”
“Oh my God,” Dawn whispered, gasping. “Are your mother and father all right? What about Cindy?”
“Dad’s hands are burned, pretty bad I guess. Mom and Cindy are fine.” His voice cracked. “I have to see if I can be of any help.”
“Can I do anything?”
“No, but thanks for asking.”
“Will you give me your parent’s phone number?”
“The phone’s out. Mom called from the neighbors.”
Dawn motioned for Linda to get her a pen and something to write on, repeating, “Randy, give me the number.”
“It’s 932-8150, area code 555. I love you, Dawn.”
Dawn nodded, swallowing hard. “Give my thoughts to your parents. I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” Click.
Chapter Seventeen
Several days passed, with no word from Randy, and then a few more. In the meantime, Dawn took her car in to be serviced. Cajun won another race, the only horse in the barn to hit the board; three others were also-rans. Tom developed an itchy rash in his groin. And Ben started second-guessing his decision to retire Beau.
Sluggish for days after the race, at first there seemed no doubt. But now, even with having his grain cut and daily ponying, he’d come back to life and refused to settle down. He tore his stall up from dawn to dusk and, from all appearances, through the night as well, squealing, bucking, and charging his webbing. He’d taken to lunging out and trying to bite every horse being led down the shedrow. He even clipped Tom on the calf as he rode past on Red. And now, behind closed doors, he was literally climbing the walls.
“Put him on the walker!” Ben shouted. “Goddamn him!” Beau had every horse in the barn acting up as a result. Tom gave it a try, but couldn’t even get him close, let alone hook him on with all the rearing, head tossing, and bucking and dancing Beau was doing. He all but pulled Tom’s arm out of its socket twice, and had to be muscled back to the stall.
Johnny came down the shedrow right about then, asking if they had a horse they wanted him to get on, and Ben nodded. “Tack him,” he told Tom, referring to Beau.
“What?”
“I said tack him.”
Tom sighed, scratched his groin, and shook his head. “All right, but I’ll gallop him. Johnny won’t be able to hold him.” He motioned for Johnny to go get Red. “You can pony me.”
Johnny nodded. There was no dishonor for a jock to pass on a tough horse in the morning. They made their money in the afternoon and took enough risks then. Besides, that’s what exercise boys and girls were for, stunt doubles so to speak, who usually weighed more and had more strength.
Tom started into the tack room for Beau’s bridle and the saddle, but needn’t have bothered. Ben changed his mind again. “Forget it! Go get Raffin! Get him to come down here and give him something to quiet him down.”
In spite of the tranquilizer, the barn shook for hours from Beau’s kicks and thuds. Enough was enough. Ben checked with the vanning company to see if they could ship him out today. They couldn’t, but scheduled it for late the following morning.
Dawn was so excited about All Together arriving, she could hardly wait. She’d only seen her once at Ben’s farm, and it seemed like ages ago. It also seemed like ages since she’d seen Randy. She walked across the road, stopped to see if the van was coming, and went into the ladies room.
Two young women were standing by the sink. At a glance Dawn thought one of them had been thrown, until she heard the other say, “You can’t let him get away with this.” The girl’s left eye was nearly swollen shut, the flesh a reddish purple. Her friend had been wiping blood from the corners of her mouth, some still dried to her face.
Dawn walked toward them. “What the hell?”
“She’s been hurt!”
Dawn stared. She could see that, obviously.
“It was a horse,” the girl said, dripping blood from her mouth and dabbing at it with the back of her hand. “I uh...got kicked.”
“Ginney, you did not!” her friend cried, in tears. “No goddamned horse did this!”
“Shut up, Julie!” She held a trembling hand to her mouth. “Just shut up! Okay?”
Dawn glanced quickly from one to the other, searching their faces. The swollen eye, the bloody lip, the torn clothing, the pain in their eyes. Even the smell. The scene was all too familiar. Especially the smell. “You’ve been raped, haven’t you?”
Ginney backed up, shaking her head.
“Have you been raped?”
Ginney shook her head again, sucking her breath in. But then the tears in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks, and she nodded.
Dawn turned to her friend. “Go call the police.”
Ginney objected, grabbing the girl’s arm.
“Go!” Dawn insisted. “Tell them no sirens. Tell them to send a plain-clothes policewoman. Go!” She pulled the girl’s arm free from Ginney’s grasp and shoved her toward the door.
“No!” Ginney screamed.
The girl hesitated, looking back at Ginney from the door.
“He said he’d kill me! And he will!” Ginney turned to Dawn. “Please, you don’t understand. He said he’d kill me. Please don’t send for the cops,” she pleaded, spitting blood. “It ain’t the first time I’ve been fucked. The whole goddamned racetrack knows that.”
Dawn shook her head. “Get the police...” she said, glaring at the friend. “Now!” She turned to Ginney only when the girl left and the door slammed behind her. “Fucked is one thing,” Dawn said. “Raped is another.” She hurried into one of the stalls, yanked at the tissue and when it only came off in single sheets, tore the role off the holder. She ran cold water on a wad of it, dabbed gently at the corners of Ginney’s mouth. “Here, hold this.”
Ginney obeyed, numbly.
Dawn ran cold water on another wad, squeezed the excess, and pressed it to her left eye. “Do you know him?”
Ginney hesitated, her chest heaving with each breath. “A little. Oh my God...” She gasped when Dawn dabbed at her battered chin. “They’ll say I asked for this. I was coming on to him. But then he got mean and started smacking me around when I told him to stop.”
Dawn wiped the dried blood from the side of her face and down her neck, and changed the compress on her eye.
“I know they’re going to say I asked for this,” Ginney sobbed. “I just know it!”
Dawn shook her head. “No, you didn’t ask for this.” She gripped her by her shoulders. “And he has to pay. He had no right. No one has the right to do this.”
Within minutes Ginney’s friend returned with Charlie, panting and in tears. “We called the police. Charlie told them like you said. You know, no sirens and stuff.”
Charlie walked over to Ginney, tentatively, and stood back a moment, looking at her face. Then he shook his head and put his arms around her. “You’re going to be okay, Ginney. You’re going to be okay.”
In less than an hour, Ginney, her father, and her friend Julie were on their way. Dawn had stayed with her until the policewoman came, and left only after being assured they were going to take Ginney to the hospital first.
Back at the barn, Dawn sat down outside the tack room, leaned forward, and braced her head in her hands. As hard as she tried to think of only now, what was happening now, the past kept haunting her.
Tom came around the corner of the shedrow, scratching his groin and chewing on a toothpick. “The filly’s here,” he said. “I just saw ‘em pull in.” A few minutes later, the van rocked to a stop outside the barn.
She’d definitely arrived. She whinnied and pawed, wide-eyed, tossed her head, and whinnied again. Again and again. As Tom put her on the walker, Dawn st
ood watching in awe. Next to Beau, she was the most beautiful horse she’d ever seen.
Beau was not to be outdone. He bounced and squealed and jogged all the way to the van, but there, transformed. He walked up the ramp like a pro, backed into the stall without the slightest urging, grabbed a mouthful of hay from the hay net hung to appease him, looked out the window, and that was that.
Ben told the van driver he’d be following him to the farm. The driver closed the ramp and climbed into the cab. Ben stayed until he started the engine, then without a word, turned and walked toward the parking lot.
Dawn noticed him leaving and was about to call to him, but Tom stopped her. He shook his head. “Leave him be. He’ll get over it.” Tom mucked out Beau’s stall, bed it down, and put the filly away. She snorted and sniffed, rolled, snorted some more, pawed the corners over and over, and it would be hours before she settled down.
Dawn met Linda for lunch at the club, told her about the episode with Ginney, careful not to dwell on it, and went on to brag about All Together. Linda barely heard the last part. She knew how hard it must have been for Dawn to involve herself in what took place, regardless of how insignificant she tried to make her part sound.
“Are you listening to me?”
Linda nodded. “Still no word from Randy?”
“No. I can’t believe it. Not even a post card. He probably married his high school sweetheart and has three children by now.”
Linda laughed. “Dawn, it hasn’t even been two weeks.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you have Harland.”
Linda smiled. “That reminds me. I need to talk to you about him. I want to move in with him.”
Dawn made a face, teasing. “Did you invite yourself or did he ask?”
“He asked. Honest.”
They both laughed.
“A permanent thing?”
“I don’t know. To see if we can get along. I’m so set in my ways, and so is he.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“No.” Linda shrugged. “That’s why I’m doing it.” She reached for Dawn’s hand. “What about you? Are you going to be okay?” She hesitated. “Maybe Randy would like to take my place.”
Dawn shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
Linda searched her eyes.
“So what’s your mother going to say?” Dawn asked, diverting the subject.
“Nothing. I’m not going to tell her.”
The two of them laughed again.
“At least not until I’m sure.”
“Good idea.”
Later that afternoon, Dawn ran the stalls and then sat down on the stoop by the tack room to watch All Together. She was the only horse not eating, and stood looking out her stall, first one way then the other. Back and forth.
Dawn smiled, remembering the auction. So many things had happened since then. She wondered how Beau would adjust, and how Ben was doing. He’d looked so sad leaving. Yet so positive, so determined in his decision...which to some was probably a bit drastic. You don’t ever fall in love with them, she could hear him saying. She smiled to herself, thinking, yeah right. And it was then, as she looked up, that she noticed Ginney walking down the shedrow.
There weren’t any tears in her eyes, but the face was as battered and pained as before. Dawn moved over to make room for her on the stoop and Ginney sat down.
“I uh, want to thank you for helping me this morning.”
Dawn nodded, glancing at her.
“They arrested him.” Ginney hesitated. “He’s denying it though.”
Dawn stared straight ahead. “You did what was right.”
Ginney cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t have done it, if you hadn’t come in the john.”
Dawn looked at her. “Are you okay? Did they treat you all right at the station?”
She nodded. “Yeah, they did. They took me to the hospital first. The nurses were really nice. I’m glad you told them to come in an unmarked car. I couldn’t have gone in an ambulance or cop car.”
Dawn smiled, touching her arm. “You’ll be okay.”
Ginney shrugged and then nodded. “I’m not sure what’s next. You know, with him.” Her voice cracked, and she looked away, her chin beginning to quiver.
Dawn hesitated. “You said you knew him. How well?”
“Well enough to be afraid of him. I’m gonna come and go with my dad.” She glanced at Dawn, shaking her head. “I found out he’s out of jail already. He’s an exercise boy from Chicago. I’ve only known him for a few weeks.”
Dawn nodded, and the two of them just sat there for a moment. Ginney stood then, turned, and self-consciously extended her hand. “My name is Ginney Meyers.”
Dawn took her hand and gripped it gently, rising also. “I’m Dawn Fioritto.”
Ginney bit her trembling bottom lip. “I’m glad to meet you.”
“Me too.”
They stood looking at one another a moment.
“Well, I gotta go. My dad’s waiting for me at the barn.” Ginney swiped a tear trickling down her face. “Thanks again for helping me.”
Dawn nodded, watched her walk away, locked up, and went home. A letter was waiting for her in the mailbox. Unable to wait, she opened it and read it in the elevator.
Dear Dawn,
Dad’s hands are bad. I’m helping him and my Uncle
rebuild the house. The neighboring farmers are helping
too. Cindy’s fine. My mom cooks all the time. Nobody’s
allowed to go hungry. I’ve talked to Raffin several times,
he says all is well at the Miller barn. I hate to write. And
for the life of me, I lost your unlisted phone number and
I can’t remember it. See you soon.
Love, Randy
Dawn unlocked the door, walked in, sat down on the couch, and read it again. This time she sighed. It was a nice letter, but he could’ve said more. She dug into her purse for his parent’s phone number, dialed it, and hung up when she got a recording. It was still out of order. Resigned, she walked down the hall, into Linda’s room, and sat on the bed and watched her pack.
“Are you taking any of your stuffed animals?”
Linda smiled sadly and shook her head.
“Not even Wittle?”
Linda laughed, then noticed the letter. “Who’s it from?”
“Randy.”
“Really?”
Dawn handed it to her, and reaching for Wittle, hugged the stuffed animal to her chest. Linda glanced at her and smiled. “I hope this means he’ll be coming home soon.”
Dawn shrugged. “If it doesn’t work out with you and Harland, are you going to come back?”
Linda looked at her, with tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. “Oh Dawn...I’m really going to miss you.”
Dawn nodded, her too.
“Why does it have to be this way?”
Dawn smiled. “Don’t feel bad. We’ll probably see more of each other now.”
“Promise...?”
“Promise.”
The next few days passed quickly. Dawn kept herself busy, and on the third day of Linda’s new living arrangement, they met for lunch. With Linda so happy, it only made Dawn lonelier. Linda coaxed her into trying Randy’s parents’ phone number again. It rang, but no one answered. “At least it’s working again,” Dawn said. “I’ll try him later.”
Randy poured a cup of coffee and sat down next to his mother at the kitchen table. “Who was that?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t get to it in time. They hung up. Probably wrong number.”
Randy sipped his coffee. “I think I’ll head back tomorrow.” The repairs on the house were almost completed. “Uncle Jimmy says he and Joe can finish up the siding and...” He hesitated. “What do you think?”
“I think you should. You’ve stayed too long already,” she said, her smile showing the love and pride she felt for her first and only son. “I hope this hasn’t hurt your practice.”
&n
bsp; Randy’s father came into the kitchen and sat down across from them. His hands were still bandaged, but as of this morning, his fingers were exposed and healing well. “It feels good to be able to move them,” he said, with a barely concealed wince when he tried to wiggle them.
Randy’s mother smiled. “Randy’s going back tomorrow.”
His father nodded. “And it’s high time,” he said, and with his next breath, choked up. He rose and walked over to the sink, with his back to them. “You’ve been a great help, son. I don’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t been here.” He sniffed loudly, then walked back over and put his arms around Randy, careful with his hands. “Yeah, it’s time you got back to your work, and your own life.”
Randy stared at the table, trying to swallow the lump in his throat, and couldn’t. He nodded.
“Yep, it’s time.” His father sat back down across from him and glanced at his wife. “It’s also time you tell us about Dawn.”
Randy looked up. It was the first time he’d heard her name in weeks. It sounded strange, especially coming from his father. Dawn. He’d thought about her often, non-stop actually, but purposely avoided talking about her. He didn’t want to give the impression he would rather be with her, and not here where he belonged. “What about her?” he heard himself saying, and sounding defensive. The mere mention of her name brought back all the old insecurities.
“Cindy tells us you’ve been seeing her pretty regular.” His father watched his eyes. “So does this mean I’m going to get grandchildren out of you yet?”
Randy laughed. His father never quit. The eternal, underprivileged, having never been and still waiting, grandfather to be. “I was seeing her before I came home.”
His mother smiled. “What’s she like?”
Randy looked off, quiet for a moment. “She’s beautiful, Mom...absolutely beautiful.” He paused, smiling. “She’s got hair down to here.” He put his hand behind his back. “And she’s got the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
His parents smiled. “I hear she’s pretty tall,” his father said.
Randy chuckled. “Yeah, and stands that way too.” He tilted his chin, to show them how. “She’s really something.” He paused again and glanced at his watch. And when he looked at his mother and father again, waited for a sign. His dad nodded, and that’s all it took. He ran up the stairs to pack.
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