Hello Loved Ones (22 page)

Only a mean, no-good, heartless drunk.

“You hungry?” Cash asked.

“Not really.”

“How about we get some breakfast?”

“I’d rather get to my dad’s house right away.” The way she figured it, her dad might take day trips to other towns. In which case he’d be home mornings and evenings. Or else he might work at home for stretches of time. She had to hope today was one of those lucky days.

“What’s your hurry? You’ve waited this long. Besides, it’ll be an hour before we get there. I’m starved.”

“Eat on your own time, why don’t you?” she said irritably. “I’m paying you to do this for me.”

“Jeez, I ain’t your slave. And you ain’t paying that much.”

“It may not seem like a lot to you, but it’s all I’ve got and I don’t have a job like you do.”

There was a pause. Cash cleared his throat. “Speaking of payment…”

Sally dug the money from her purse and flung it on the seat.

“Take it. It’s all yours.”

“A deal’s a deal,” he said defensively.

She glared at him. His mood seemed to lighten.

“You’re sure crabby today,” he said. “Here I go and invite you to have breakfast with me. You might try to be polite.”

“You’re the crabby one.”

He smiled. “Let me get some food in me and I’ll perk right up.”

“Forget it.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

“Did you hear that? That’s my stomach growling,” Cash said, grinning now.

Sally said nothing.

“I feel a little weak, too. And with this heat —”

“Oh all right!” She was feeling a little weak herself. “What did you have in mind?”

Cash motioned with his head. “There was a billboard back there for Stuckey’s. I could go for some biscuits and gravy.”

She made a face.

“They’ve got other stuff too.”

They pulled off at the next exit and rolled to a stop in a parking lot that was nearly empty. Sally was dubious. But she was also hungry after listening to him carry on. She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast. And as much as she hated to waste time, she supposed she needed some fortification.

The waitress brought two laminated menus covered with greasy finger smudges. Cash whistled cheerfully.

“See? This is great. The two of us, just relaxing, enjoying a quick bite together.”

“You don’t get out much, do you?” Sally asked.

Cash’s laugh was low and he drew the end of it out in a long
ahhhh
. He looked at her as if she was very clever and she had to admit this was a tiny bit nice. She allowed a smile.

“Truth is,” she said, “I don’t get out much either.”

“Sure, we might as well have some fun today. It doesn’t have to be all business.”

He was right. Here she was, sitting in a restaurant about to have a meal with a boy. And he’d invited her. When she thought of it like that, it was pretty much a date. Her first date. She felt a blush crawling up her cheeks and looked at the menu.

“Maybe I’ll have a waffle. And some orange juice.”

He whistled. “You’re a big spender. I’ll have to stick to the side order of biscuits and gravy.”

“
I’m
a big spender? I thought—” Wasn’t he buying her breakfast? She had never dated before but she wasn’t so dumb that she didn’t know an invitation when she heard one. Besides, girls shouldn’t have to pay. Decent boys didn’t allow it.

“You thought what?”

“I don’t have any money,” she said. “I just gave it all to you.”

“Why are you talking about ordering then? Do you expect me to pay?”

Your face burned. “You asked me. Like a date.”

“I never said it was a date. For chrissake, it’s breakfast!”

“When a boy asks a girl to eat out, it’s a date. That means you pay.”

“That’ll blow every last cent and I’ll go home with nothing.”

Sally set the menu aside. What a jerk! He was rude and obnoxious and didn’t deserve to be enjoying the company of a respectable girl like her. She had no reason to feel embarrassed. But she did. This might just qualify as the most embarrassing moment of her life.

Then the waitress was there, her pen poised to take their order. Sally stared at the tabletop. If she sat statue-still, it would be like she wasn’t there.

“So you’re not having nothing then?” Cash said.

She didn’t answer.

“You want me to give you kids a few more minutes?” the waitress asked.

She barely shrugged.

“So I’ve got to eat while you sit there staring at me?”

This wasn’t working.

“You said you’re not hungry anyway, right?”

“I’ll just go sit in the car, how’s that?” she hissed, her voice low, as if the waitress wouldn’t hear. “In fact, as soon as you’re done feeding your face, you can take me home.”

“Aw, you don’t mean that. Come on, I’ll share some with you.”

“I don’t like biscuits and gravy.”

The waitress was tapping her pencil on her pad.

“But I came here especially for that,” he said.

“So get it. I don’t care.”

“Fine,” Cash said. “I’ll take a side of biscuits and gravy.”

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.”