by Fry,Patricia
“Oh my goodness. That’s terrifying.”
“Do you want me to send that tape to you?”
“Yes, please send it to [email protected]. We’d appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Jeffers.” Before she hung up, she added, “Oh, can you tell me when this was?”
“Yes. If the dates on my camera are correct, it was around three Monday afternoon.”
Once Savannah had hung up the phone, she went in search of Michael to tell him about what she’d just heard.
He had a story of his own, however. “Hon, come in here,” he urged.
“What?”
“There was a news report on local TV from someone who saw Rags and Dolly. He said he was trapping along the riverbank when something streaked past him. He wasn’t alert enough to see the first one, but then there was a second streak of fur running to beat the band, and he believes now that it was Dolly.” He looked Savannah in the eyes. “She was running from a coyote.”
“What? Oh my gosh!”
“Yes, the coyote was right on Dolly’s tail. He picked up his phone and started recording her, not knowing what would happen next. That’s when he realized there were two cats—fitting Rags’s and Dolly’s description.”
“Yikes,” Savannah screeched.
“Wait ’til you hear the rest of the story,” he said, his eyes wide. He shook his head. “Evidently, Rags and Dolly ran back toward the trapper and past him up the tallest tree they could find. The man started yelling and waving his arms in the air and that got the coyote’s attention. But something else had caught the animal’s attention, as well. The trapper had left a couple of dead rabbits a ways upstream and the coyote spotted them and helped himself to a rabbit dinner. He said the cats were still in the tree when he left. He couldn’t lure them down and he doesn’t know where they went from there.”
“Oh Ragsie,” Savannah crooned when the lanky cat walked up to her and lay down. “What a harrowing experience.” She looked into his eyes. “See why Mommy doesn’t want you out there running loose in the dangerous world? You could have been eaten by a coyote.”
Michael grinned. “He’s an adventurer, that one. A feline Daniel Boone or Christopher Columbus.”
“More like Evel Knievel or Steve Irwin,” Savannah suggested. She laughed when Rags suddenly rolled to his back, his legs sprawled in all directions. “Now you look like a cute, old, pussy cat,” she said, reaching down and ruffling his fur. “Oh! The phone,” she said, standing. She looked at the cat. “Probably another report about you.”
“Yeah, Rags, another tattletale,” Michael quipped.
“Hello,” Savannah said into the phone, a smile still on her face.
“Mrs. Ivey?”
“Yes.”
“I own Clausen’s Nursery on Market Street and I wanted to let you know I saw your cats here earlier in the week.”
“Oh? Do you recall what day that was?”
“Tuesday. We’re closed Monday, but they had apparently found their way in and had made themselves comfortable overnight. They were there when I opened Tuesday morning.” She laughed. “I actually thought I’d somehow inherited two nursery mascots. I recently lost my best mouser and was hoping these two had come to apply for the job. I understand they returned home. They were just out sowing wild oats, were they?”
Savannah chuckled. “Yes, I guess that’s what they were doing, all right. So how long did they stay with you?” she asked.
“Long enough to wrap me around their little fingers and charm several customers. It appeared that they’d actually done some hunting overnight. An employee found mouse remains. I offered them some food, but they weren’t interested. They were quite the spectacle, though.”
“Oh?” Savannah asked suspiciously.
“Yeah, the tabby posed for pictures. She seemed to always be peering out from behind a plant in full bloom or she’d sit and stare out from inside a colorful pot. The big guy sure kept an eye on her. Once, she climbed into a wagon a little boy was pulling around for his grandmother and the bigger cat must have thought she was going to be carted away, because he kept pawing at her like he was trying to get her out of that wagon. Then he used his body to herd her away from the children.” She laughed. “It was fun to watch the interaction between them. In fact, my surveillance camera captured some of their antics, if you’d be interested in seeing it.”
“Yes, please. Did you see the article about the cats in the newspaper?”
“Yes.”
“Can you send the video to the email address in the article? We’d appreciate it.”
“Sure.”
“And thank you very much for being kind to them and for letting us know about their visit.”
She let out a sigh. “Oh yes, I would have kept those two in a heartbeat. But I’m glad to know they found their way back home.”
“Thank you again. Goodbye, now.”
When the phone rang again, Michael appeared at the door. “Savannah, don’t you think that’s enough for tonight? Let it go to voicemail, will you?”
She stood and stretched. “Good idea.” She grinned. “The stories are fascinating, but I’m tired. Let’s get some sleep.” She started to walk away with Michael, when she remembered something. “Oh, I do need to text Gloria and confirm our date tomorrow. I’m visiting her and her mom,” she said, picking up her phone and tapping the screen.
“At her house?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, we decided to meet at the park in town. Her mother likes to go there sometimes and watch the kids play.”
Michael relaxed. “Oh, good. I really don’t want you girls going into that area where she lives. It seems there have been a lot of problems down there, lately.”
She grimaced. “I know. Gloria is beside herself with fear. She had bars put on all the windows at her mother’s house and even sprang for an alarm system. I just wish she could get her mother to move out of there. But, according to Gloria, there’s no reasoning with her.”
“Well, let’s go to bed and hope for a better tomorrow, shall we?” Michael suggested.
Savannah turned and smiled at him. “That was poetic.” She looped her arm in his and they walked toward the bedroom. “Yes, let’s hope for a much better tomorrow for those people we love who are hurting and struggling.”
****
“Gloria, hi,” Savannah said, embracing her childhood friend the next morning. Savannah pulled back and smiled at the baby in Gloria’s arms. “This must be Lilliana. Aren’t you adorable?”
“And shy—well, at first, anyway,” the attractive Hispanic woman said. She stood about three inches shorter than Savannah, at five feet, six. Her thick dark hair flared over one shoulder as she glanced behind Savannah. “Where’s your Lilliana?”
“Right here in the car,” she said, opening the back passenger door to release the toddler from the car seat.
“She’s a big girl,” Gloria said. “…at least up next to my eighteen-month-old. This one takes after my mom—petite.”
“Lily, look,” Savannah said, holding her to face Gloria and her child, “this is another Lilliana, like you, and almost the same age.”
“Hi, Lily,” Gloria said, running her hand over the baby’s arm. “You’re a doll.”
Savannah looked around. “Where’s your other daughter?”
“With my mom over there near the swings. Can I help you carry anything?”
“Well, let’s see, I have some cookies for you.”
“Oh, cookies. Sounds good. We were just starting to get hungry for a snack. Bring them. We’ll share our water bottles and juicies with you.”
“Perfect,” Savannah said, picking up her tote bag and following Gloria to where her mother sat. When they approached, Savannah placed her tote bag on the grass and reached for the woman’s hand. “You may not remember me, Mrs. Alvarado. I’m Savannah Jordan Ivey.”
“Hello,” she said. “I do remember you. You were Gloria’s school friend. You ca
me to our home when you were both just girls.” She took Lily’s hand. “And this is your baby?”
Savannah nodded. “This is Lily—actually, Lilliana like your granddaughter.”
The woman gazed at her daughter, then at Savannah. “Just look at you. You’re no longer girls. You’re grown with families of your own. Come, sit with me and tell me about your life, Savannah.”
“Mama,” Gloria said, “Savannah brought cookies. Would you like one?”
“Homemade?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” Savannah assured her. “Oatmeal-raisin.”
Mrs. Alvarado put one hand to her chest. “My favorite.” She reached into the container and Savannah smiled when she took two. “So life is good for you?” Mrs. Alvarado asked.
“Yes, very good. I’m married to a wonderful man and I love being a mommy. How about you, Mrs. Alvarado, is everything going okay? You must love having your family around you.”
“Yes, yes, I do, only…” She began to weep. “I miss my Bennie. Nothing is the same without my Bennie. Why won’t he come home?” she asked pitifully. “I know he is close, but he doesn’t come home. Has he forgotten us?”
Savannah looked to Gloria for guidance.
In the meantime, Lily sat on her lap munching a cookie and watching the other children on the playground.
“She is sensitive,” Gloria explained. “Mama senses things and she’s usually right. She has sensed that my little brother is close by from the very beginning and she still feels him close. She sometimes says…”
Her mother finished the sentence, “He’s so close I can almost touch him.”
Going out on a limb, Savannah asked, “Is it his spirit you feel?”
At that, the woman recoiled. Her dark eyes pierced Savannah’s. “He is not dead!” she asserted. “He lives!” she shouted. “And he lives close to me. I just wish he would come to me.”
“Savannah, come meet my other daughter,” Gloria invited, leading her and Lily to where a four-year-old curly-top girl played. “This is Guinevere.”
“Gwennie,” the child corrected.
Gloria smiled and repeated “Gwennie. Mija, this is my good friend, Savannah.”
“That’s a funny name,” the child said, squinting up at Savannah.
“Yes, it is.” She laughed. “My little sister used to call me Savannah Banana.”
The child giggled. “That’s funny.”
“What does your little sister call you?”
Gwennie looked at Lilliana and said, “Sissy.”
Gloria smiled. “She hasn’t attempted her name, yet.” She placed Lilliana on a strip of grass with a couple of toys and watched as Lily walked over and joined her. Once the children were engaged in play, Gloria said, “Let’s sit here and talk, shall we?” She glanced at her mother. “I see that Mama is chatting with Julian’s grandmother.”
Savannah gazed in Mrs. Alvarado’s direction. “I don’t remember your mom speaking much English.
“No, she didn’t. But she does now, thank heavens. I thought it was important for her to learn and kept urging her in that direction.” Once the two women were settled on a bench near the toddlers, Gloria said, “It’s so good to see you.” She stared at Savannah. “Do you have any idea how much I admired and loved you when we were young?”
Taken aback, Savannah said, “Well, we were good friends. I considered you one of my best friends. We had so much in common.”
“Yet so little.”
“What?”
“Oh, you know the demographics—you were privileged and I was not. Your home was safe and I was a sitting duck for every type of crime you can imagine. I can tell you, though, what doesn’t kill you sure can make you tough.” She gazed at her mother. “Only, damn, I wish I didn’t have to be tough and be put in the position of protecting my mother and my children. It’s a nightmarish way to live.”
“Why don’t you go back home, Gloria?”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “If only Mama would come with us. I can’t leave her here. I just can’t. She’s already been mugged twice, her house has been broken into, the teen next door was killed in a drive-by shooting—I mean, we hear gunfire almost every week in the neighborhood. Even still, she won’t leave. She just knows my brother will one day come home. She says she will stay until that day.”
“Gosh, that leaves you with few choices, doesn’t it?” Savannah turned to look at her. “Hey, will she go on a vacation trip? Could you get her out of the house, say every few weeks or so, and take her to stay with you in LA or rent an apartment locally where all of you can sleep more safely? Take her home a few days a week just during the day.”
Gloria tilted her head. “Savannah, that’s something I never thought of.” She gazed in her mother’s direction. “I wonder if she would…” She bit her lower lip. “Gosh, that just might be a solution. That way she won’t be giving up the house—but she’d be—we’d all be—safer more of the time.” She clapped her hands together. “Thank you for the idea. I love it, and if I play my cards right, I just might get her to agree.”
Savannah studied her friend for a moment. “I just heard about your brother recently, Gloria. So he just disappeared? He was what, eight?”
Gloria nodded. “Yes. Authorities believe he’s dead—that he became lost and disoriented and drowned during a heavy rain.” She gestured toward her mother. “But as you heard, Mama doesn’t believe that.”
“And you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Of course, I want to believe he’s well. But it’s been nearly twenty years. He wouldn’t have been able to care for himself. As you may recall, he had a mental disability.”
“He was only three or four when I last saw him,” Savannah said.
“And he was eight when he disappeared. I was fifteen. You had already moved away with your family and I had very little support. I had to grow up fast and be there for my mother. If it wasn’t for Mr. Kittleman, I…I just don’t know where I would have ended up.”
“Oh?”
“He helped me to focus on my education. Oh, I was there for Mama, of course. She continued to work, although how she held her job, I’ll never know. She had lost her will, but her employers kept her on, probably out of the kindness of their hearts. Mr. Kittleman arranged for me to use the computer lab after school. I’d get home about the same time she got home from work and I’d fix dinner while she rested and prayed. She set up an altar to my brother and she prays morning and night. Most nights, after dinner, I’d read the Bible to her until she was able to sleep. Then I’d study in my room for another few hours.”
“Oh, my gosh, Gloria, you must have been exhausted,” Savannah said.
“Yes, and sad, and frustrated. Sometimes I felt as if I could not go on, but Mr. Kittleman made sure I did, with his gentle prodding.” She smiled. “I managed to get good enough grades to earn a scholarship to a business college. It was offered through the Hispanic community.”
Savannah choked up when she said, “Oh, Gloria, I had no idea what you were going through. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not. I feel privileged to have had the experience—to learn just how much you can accomplish through hard work.” She smiled. “I have a good life, Savannah, and I appreciate it more than probably most people would. But…”
“But what?”
“But I’m just now learning how important it is to take time off to be with good people—you know—those who can lift your spirits—and to play.” She winced. “I didn’t learn, growing up, how to play.” She smiled. “Oh, I have memories of summer camp and the glorious fun we had as children. So carefree. I’m trying to recapture that feeling now as an adult, and my children certainly help with that.” She laughed. “Gwennie and I belong to a mommy-and-me roller skating group. Can you imagine? Me, who never owned a pair of skates!”
“Sounds like a great start,” Savannah said, laughing. Before she continued, she glanced at the children. “No-no, punkin
,” she said, rushing to Lily. “Lilliana had that little shovel first. Here’s your shovel,” she crooned, handing her a red one.
“Mine!” Lily said, pouting. She threw the red shovel on the ground and reached for the blue one, whining. “Blue,” she said. “Blue…mine!”
“Oh, what difference does it make,” Gloria said. She took the blue shovel from her child and handed it to Lily.
At that, Lilliana began to cry. The baby stood up, ran to Lily, and grabbed the blue shovel out of her hand.
“No!” Lily shouted, reaching for the shovel.
“Oh my,” Savannah said, her eyes wide. “What do we have here—a couple of prima donnas?”
“Yes, playground prima donnas who both seem to like blue.” Gloria laughed. She said, “Wait. I think I have another plastic shovel.” She walked away, promptly returning with a wide smile and another blue shovel. She gleefully handed it to Lily, who took one look at it, tossed it on the grass, and began fussing and reaching for the shovel Lilliana had.
“You know what?” Savannah said, picking up Lily. “I think I’ll take her home and put her down for a nap.”
“Oh, nap time, huh? Lilliana is used to a morning nap, too. That’s probably what she needs, as well.” Gloria reached for Savannah’s hand and squeezed it in hers. “It is wonderful seeing you and meeting Lily. Let’s stay close.”
“I would like that, Gloria. This has been so nice.” She glanced at Mrs. Alvarado. “I hope you can get your mom out of that place and that you’ll all be safe real soon.”
“Me, too. Thank you so much for your great idea. I just pray we can arrange something before…”
“Before what?” Savannah asked with concern.
“Oh nothing. It’s just that things seem to be escalating in our neighborhood and I want us out of the line of fire.”
Savannah hugged her friend. “Good luck. Take care.” She pulled back and looked into her face. “Be safe, and please let me know if there’s anything I can do.”