Hush (10 page)

I stopped on the darkened front walkway.  Red sidestepped past me and walked down the street.  The Mercedes was parked a few houses down in front of a large SUV.  I should have seen it.  I shook my head at the carelessness of it.  “I’ll have Red go to the hotel and collect your things after he drops us off at home.  Do you have the room key?”

“I can get my own bags, thank you,” I said shortly.

“It’s not a request.  Until things get as close to normal as they can be, you won’t have very much say-so in how things are going to work.”

“I’m your prisoner?” I asked, though it seemed more like a statement.

“No, Liv, you’re my wife.”

“Sounds to me like those terms are interchangeable in your vocabulary.”

“Let’s not get it twisted.  I’m doing this to protect you.  Do you know how many of my clients know us on a personal level?  Do you know what they’d do if they found out we separated?  They’d all assume you knew about my business from the get go.  They all assume you know each and every one of them.  They’d assume you’d nark on them if we separated.  It honestly terrifies me to think of what could happen to you.”

He should have thought about that a long time ago.  This little pity party he was trying to throw from himself would be celebrated in solitude.  “Don’t try to convince me for one minute that this intimidation game you just played wasn’t completely selfish.  The king-pin just wants his queen back by his side to restore order to the empire.  Stop me when I’ve said too much.”

He and I looked at each other, his face masked in the dark of night, but still very much alive with the sweet sting of victory, or was that candid relief I saw?  “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Sad thing is, I’ll never know.  You’ve hidden the truth from me since we first met.  I don’t expect you to be truthful now and I don’t think I’d be able to discern the truth from a lie if I tried.  It’ll be hard for me not to consider every syllable out of mouth to be a complete and utter lie.”  I moved to the Mercedes, now waiting for us at the curb, before he could respond.

“Let’s not make a big deal out of this,” I said to Erin as she helped me set the table.

“I think it’s a very big deal,” Erin said. “You realize this is the first guy you’ve ever brought home?  I mean you told me about those guys while you were at Berkeley, but I never met any of them.  My baby’s all grown up,” she added, imitating a whiney Southern Bell.

I chuckled, shaking it off.  “Really, it’s nothing, but at the same time I don’t want to jinx it or get myself worked up only to be knocked down, you know?”

“Do Mom and Dad know?” Erin asked, referring to her parents.

“Mom knows I’m seeing someone.  She was inquisitive when I told her, of course, but I kind of played it off like it was nothing.  I don’t think we’re at the point in our, well, whatever it is to be talking about meeting the parents.  There’s no point in me even bringing it up if this thing fizzles or something.”

Erin nodded, setting a wine glass at each of the four table settings.  “Yeah, but you’ve known each other for what, nine months now.  You’ve gone out together like a dozen times.  You’re not strangers anymore.  All that time and he’s still coming back for more.  You can’t be upset about that.  But what about this Red guy?  What’s his story?  Is he cute?” Erin grinned wickedly.

“Red is really nice.  He’s a lot like Callem was when I first met him, all business, really professional.  But each time I see him, he, you know, buttons down more and more.  He’s more casual with me now.  He and Callem grew up together.  Their families were really close.  Red’s father passed just a couple of years ago, but his mother still takes both of them in for holidays and such.”

“What about Callem’s parents?”

“His mother died of cancer when he was really young, much like my mother.  His father died when he was twenty-eight, which is when he picked up the company and asked Red to be his right-hand man.”

“Why do they call him Red?  Is that his real name?”

“You know, I asked that too and both Callem and Red laughed.  They told me I didn’t want to know, whatever that means,” I shrugged.  “I didn’t press them about it.”

Erin leaned on one of my dinette chairs.  “That’s kind of creepy, right?  Why won’t they tell you?  That’s weird.  You think it’s something bad, something gross?”

“I don’t know.  It doesn’t bother me.  Maybe his name is Reginald or something he really doesn’t like and would rather keep it to himself.  It’s probably just an inside joke or something that I just wouldn’t get.  It doesn’t matter really.”

“Hmm,” Erin hummed quizzically.  “And you invited him because?”

“He’s Callem’s Erin.  How could I not invite him?” I answered.

“Well, you still didn’t answer me.  Is he cute?”

I looked at her sideways.  “He’s, sure, yeah.  He’s cute.  He’s older than us.  He’s the same age as Callem.”

“What are you saying?  His age shows more than Callem’s?”

I huffed and rolled my eyes.  “You’re reading into everything I’m saying right now.  Why don’t you just wait until they get here and you can see for yourself,” I said, ducking out of this line of questioning.  It was conversations like this that made me feel ten years older than Erin.  That’s all she cared for, knowing about the availability and physicality of the only other single person at the party.

I ran my hands down the skirt of my dress nervously, checking the grey cotton fabric for imperfections or stains.  “Do you think I overdid it a little,” I asked Erin.

Erin shook her head.  “No.  You look great.  Very sophisticated.”  Comments like that from someone I was so close with made me feel patronized.  I didn’t know if she was trying to be condescending or dismissive.  “Oh, I think they’re here.”

She moved from the kitchen to the picture window in the living room, spying on the men as they approached in Callem’s Mercedes.  I hurried to the door when I heard the knocking.  Pulling the door open, my knees nearly buckled.  Just the sight of him made me swoon.  Seeing Callem in jeans was a rare sight and you didn’t hear any complaint from me.  They went well with the v-neck t-shirt under his leather jacket, heavy wrist watch, and black military boots.

“Hi,” he beamed at me.  “Wow, you look great,” he added before stepping in and kissing me quickly.

“Thank you.  I was about to say the same,” I said as he and Red stepped past me into the house.  Red was also in a pair of jeans with a sleek button-up shirt.  “Callem, this is my sister, Erin,” I said, stepping aside so Callem and Erin could shake hands.

“Erin, it’s great to finally meet you,” Callem said.  “Olivia mentions you quite a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sure she does,” Erin said, smiling widely up at him.  “I can’t say the same about you, unfortunately.  She doesn’t just talk about you a bit.  She talks about you all the time.”

I sighed, shaking my head.  Leave it to Erin to embarrass me so soon into the night.  “And this is Red.  Red, this is Erin.”  The two of them exchanged quick greetings.  “Should we move into the kitchen for supper?  It should be ready.” I said, ushering the small group out of the crowded entryway.

Dinner was great.  Erin was getting along wonderfully with Callem, Callem was getting along wonderfully with Erin.  The food was delicious.  The wine was complimented by the conversation.  I couldn’t have asked for a better turn out.

“So you’ve never really explained to me how this genius thing works for you,” Red said.

I chuckled.  “I’m not a genius.  That’s a common misconception I’d like to clear up.”

“You’ve got to be some kind of genius to be the newest Doogie Howser, right?”

I smiled, “I’m just classified as gifted, not genius.  There’s a difference.  People with giftedness display a number of ‘symptoms’, I guess you could say.  With me, it’s always been my memory.  I’ve got an accelerated capacity to intake and store information, but I’ve got an advanced retrieval mechanism too.  It’s said everything we’ve ever experienced is in our minds somewhere.  We just don’t have the ability to retrieve it.  For the most part, I’ve got that ability.  As long as I’m aware and paying attention to what’s coming at me, it’s in there and I have access to it when I need it.”

“It’s actually a lot freakier than she’s making it out to be,” Erin added.  “She can see an infomercial for some stupid product and two weeks later, she can tell you the phone number to call, the price of the item, and she could even tell you the shirt color of each person in the infomercial.  She does stuff like that all the time and it’s so trippy.”

Red looked from Erin to me, wide eyed.  “No shit?” he gasped.

“Yeah, she can tell you the room number of the hotel we stayed at five years ago in Seattle.  She could read Google Maps directions once and have each turn memorized, including exit numbers.”

I shrugged.  “That’s what was able to get me so far so quickly.  When I was younger, my problem was I’d take in all this information, but I wouldn’t know what to do with it.  Thank God the system caught my giftedness early or I would probably be bi-polar or manic, having not had the training to wield my strengths.”

“With great power comes great responsibility, right, Spiderman?” Red joked, pointing at me with his fork, getting a chuckle from his audience.  “So you can remember every word we’ve ever said to each other?”

I nodded.  “More or less.  You’d have to be very specific in order for me to retrieve the right information for regurgitation.”

“Watch out, Cal.   You’re going to lose in every ‘he-said-she-said’ argument the two of you ever have,” Red mocked.

I got up and cleared away plates while Erin started telling Red and Callem about the other times I freaked her out with my memory capabilities.  We were all still sitting around the table, finishing up our beverages when there was a knock at the door.  Everyone stopped talking and laughing.  I looked at the clock.  It was pushing 10pm.  “Who the hell is that?” Erin asked out loud.

“I’m not sure,” I said pushing myself out from the table.  At the door, I flicked on the porch light before opening the door.  An older man stood slightly hunched on my porch.  I spied his face, feeling as if I knew him from somewhere.  “Hello?”

He looked at me for a minute, staring hard into my eyes, making me uneasy.  “Are you Olivia?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” I replied questionably.  “Is there something I can help you with?”  The man nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as if unsure what to say next.  “I’m sorry, you are?”

“Uh, I’m, my name is Michael Drake.” He stopped quickly, still just staring at me.  He was starting to creep me out and I edged the door closed slightly.

“Okay, Mr. Drake, what can I do for you?”

He fidgeted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and wiping away some invisible debris from the tip of his nose.  “Well, I, uh, I’m sorry for bothering you this late at night.  I just, I had to come.  I drove here, all the way from Vegas.  That’s where I live,” he nodded.  I wasn’t really following.  “You see, I’ve been looking for you for a while, and when I did find you, I couldn’t help myself.  I just had to come introduce myself.”

I swallowed hard.  This conversation just went from creepy to scary.  “Okay,” I said quietly.  “Why were you looking for me?  I don’t know you.  Are you sure I’m the person you’re looking for?”

Mr. Drake nodded fervently.  I started to suspect he was under the influence of something, a narcotic most likely.  I took half a step back, closing the door even more.  “Yes, I’m sure it’s you.  I can tell it’s you.  I see it.”

“What is it you’re here for, Mr. Drake?”  I tried to stay calm even though I wanted to slam the door on this creepy old man.

“Well, the thing is,” he chuckled lightly.  “It’s hard to say.  The reason I’ve been looking for you is because I’m your father.”

A bomb could have gone off in my kitchen and I wouldn’t have heard it.  The one that had just been dropped on my head was louder and paralyzed me.  I stood staring at this unrecognizable man with my mouth agape.  Word escaped me entirely.  Is that why I recognized him when I first opened the door?  How does he know he’s my father?  The questions I wanted to ask just weren’t coming out of my mouth.

I shook my head after a minute.  “No, no I don’t have a father.  I think you have the wrong person.   I’m sorry,” I stammered.

“No, I know it’s you.  You know it’s me too, don’t you?  Listen, I was with your momma for a few years.  Jennifer Reinbeck from Jonestown, Mississippi?  Yeah, I saw you a few times when you was a baby.  You’ve got her lips and her nose, but there’s no mistaking those eyes.  I see them every time I look in the mirror.  Mine have a few more miles on them than yours do.”

I felt my hands getting clammy and my legs getting weak.  He knew my mother.  He knew her name and where she lived, and it was undeniable the resemblances he too had spotted.  “I, uh,” I didn’t know what to say.

“I know this is hard to take in all at one time and I’m sorry for that.  There’s no one to blame for that except me.  I was blown away when I found out you were so close.  I just couldn’t help myself.”

“I think you need to go,” I mumbled, stopping the next words from slipping out of his mouth.  “Please, you need to leave.”

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding.  I wanted to meet you.  I wanted to see you,” he went on.

“And you did.  You can go now,” I said shortly.  I heard my tone rising as the words came out.  “Please just leave.”

“Liv, what’s going on?” Callem asked, coming up behind me.  He put his hand on the door and pulled it open a little. 

Mr. Drake looked up at him wide eyed.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Are you married?” he asked me.

“No, I’m her boyfriend.  Is everything okay here?” Callem asked, looking from me to Michael and back. He could probably see the distress all over my face.  I heard Red’s footsteps approaching right behind us.

“Everything’s fine.  Mr. Drake was just leaving,” I mumbled.

Mr. Drake sighed.  “I can see I’ve upset you.  I apologize.  Have a good night,” he said before retreating.  I pulled the door shut, prompting Callem to release his hold on it.

“Who was that?” Callem asked as I went to the window and watched Michael stride slowly down the drive and slip into an older car parked across the street.  “Liv, what just happened,” he urged, putting his hand on my back.  “Who was that guy?”

“What did he say?” I heard Erin’s voice ask from behind me.

“He said he was my father,” I mumbled.

The atmosphere in the room shifted drastically.  “What?” Erin asked as she and Callem stepped up to the window to sneak a peek before he drove off.  “Like your biological father?  I thought you didn’t know who your father was.”

I shook my head.  “I don’t, but he claims to be him.”

“What was his name?” Callem asked.

“He said it was Michael Drake and he drove here from Vegas to see me.  I think he was on something too, don’t you think?” I asked, turning to Callem.

“He was either on something or coming down hard.   Did he say how he knew you were his daughter?  What made him think it was you?” Callem asked.

“He knew my mother and where she lived.  He didn’t say how he found me, but said he’d been looking for me.  Honestly, I’m not hard to find.  All doctors are part of internet directories, you know, search engines.  You don’t even have to know I’m a doctor to find me.  You only have to know my name.”

“Maybe that’s why he was so desperate to find you,” Red joined in.  I looked over my shoulder at him.  “Well think about it, he was acting like an addict, he’s from Vegas so there’s a good chance he’s a gambler, could have a problem with that, he drives a shitty car which reinforces the other two facts, and he miraculously found his long lost daughter who just so happens to be an oncologist.  I’m just putting the pieces together here, but my money is on yours,” he said, pointing at me.  “He probably wants a piece of it.”

“What proof did he have that he was your father?  Paperwork or birth certificate?” Callem asked.

“I have his eyes,” I gasped, feeling tears well up.  “Did you see that too?  Did you see his eyes?”  I turned to Callem.

Callem didn’t answer.  He just stared at me, which gave me all the answer I needed.