Lost (8 page)

All of a sudden, Sam was a vet’s assistant,
and I couldn’t have been more surprised.

Brian bought me
a dog right after Carey was born. At first I was annoyed. Sam was almost 4. We
had just brought Carey home. I didn’t really need a puppy. But Homer was such a
sweet dog—a sad-faced, droopy-eared Basset Hound—that before I realized it, I
adored him. He followed me around the house—probably because I fed him crackers
all the time—and was so sweet with Carey. Carey took his first steps holding on
to Homer’s ears. The poor dog was probably just trying to get away from my
loud, little boy.

When Jimmy was
born, Homer would sleep on the floor next to Jimmy’s crib. I’m not sure why
Homer became so attached to Jimmy, but the two of them were inseparable. When
Jimmy started school, I don’t know who missed whom more. Homer waited for Jimmy
every day. When the bus came, he perked up and barked happily. The girls loved
him, but in the end he was Jimmy’s dog—or mine if Jimmy wasn’t around. Jimmy
was heartbroken for weeks when Homer died.

“MOM!” Jimmy
screamed. I had never heard him yell like that. “MOM! Come quick!”

I ran outside
to see my son kneeling in the road. A terrified woman was standing near her car
door. Jimmy had taken Homer out, and something must have scared him. He jerked
away from Jimmy, got out of his collar, and ran into the street. The woman that
hit him said she tried to stop, and that he just came out of nowhere. I ran
into the street to see Homer take his last breath in Jimmy’s arms.

“NO! NO! Homer,
don’t die. Mom, get the car. We can take him to the vet.” Jimmy was distraught,
tears streaming down his face.

Brian pulled up
at that moment and didn’t even pull his car into the driveway. He just parked
on the road and ran over to us. “Oh, God. Jim, what happened?”

He knelt next
to our son, who refused to let go of his dog. He was still yelling at me to get
the car, but Homer was gone. Blood was soaking into Jimmy’s shirt.

“Buddy, let Mom
take you inside, okay?” Brian looked up at me and nodded.

I moved to take
my son from his beloved dog, and my heart ached to see Homer’s broken body.

“MOM! Stop it!
Let go of me!” Jimmy tried to reach for Homer again, and I pulled him away,
almost picking him up. Finally, when he saw that his dad was taking good care
of Homer, he let me bring him into the house.

Brian took
Homer to the vet, and we had him cremated. The vet gave us a lovely urn, and
Homer still sits on Jimmy’s bookshelf underneath a picture Carey had taken of
the two of them in the backyard.

After Homer
died, no one seemed to be in a hurry to get another dog. Thinking about it,
maybe it was a good time to consider one—something big, something that could
warn me if someone or something wandered into the backyard. But Sam, in
particular, showed little interest in animals. Sure, he had loved Homer, but he
just never expressed a great interest, and certainly not a desire to work with
animals before. Not too long after he decided to stay home from college, he
came home one day excited about getting a job at the local animal hospital. I
suppose he was just excited to have a job. He had worked at Burger King in high
school and had been a lifeguard at the local water park, and he enjoyed
neither
job. But he liked having spending money, so I just figured he was happy to
have a job and could call off the job search.

I could hear Sam rustling around
upstairs, getting ready for work, and I decided to go up to see what Carey was
doing. I found him in his room reading, so I left him to it. Maybe later I
could convince him to call up his friends and go hang out with them.

I went
downstairs, and then found myself standing, almost lost in the family room.
What was I going to do with myself for the day? We had gone through all of
Brian’s clothes, and I just wasn’t up to tackling his workshop. I’d figure that
out later.

I wandered into
the kitchen to see about lunch and was
not
surprised to find that we
were out of milk... oh wait, eggs too. And really? I just bought cold cuts! I
guess I knew what I was doing.

“Carey?” I
called up to him.

I heard him get
up and come running down the stairs. “What’s up, Mom?”

“We seem to be
out of like... everything. So I’m going to run to the store. Want to come?”

“Where are you
going?” I suppose he needed to see if it was worth it for him to come.

“The grocery
store. Why? Do you need something?”

“Well, if you
go to Harris Teeter, can I go to the bookstore?”

Barnes &
Noble was right next to the grocery store, so why not? I told him that was
fine, and he ran upstairs to get his wallet and shoes.

“SAM!” I
yelled.

“YEAH?” He
yelled back at me.

“We are going
to run to the grocery store, okay? You gonna be home for dinner?”

“Umm... I don’t
know. Got to walk the dogs and stuff, so I’ll probably be home around 8.” He
came to the top of the stairs so at least I didn’t have to yell as loudly.

“Well, just let
me know. I’ll save you a plate, just in case.” I blew him a kiss and told him
to tell Carey I would be in the car waiting for him.

I grabbed my
purse off the kitchen counter and made sure the back door was locked.

Crap
! I forgot that Anthony and Bee took the
van to the water park with all the kids. Sam had to get to work, so that left
me with one choice.

I went into the garage and turned the
light on. There it was—Brian’s dream car. A 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. He spent
over two years finding parts, fixing it up, and then finally getting it
painted. It was a beautiful, glossy finish.

One day out of
the blue, Brian had asked, “Jul, where’s that red lipstick you always wear?”

“What? What are
you doing?” I stuck my head out of the shower as Brian rummaged through my
makeup.

“Today’s the
day, sweetie. It’s ready.” He looked like a little boy on Christmas morning,
and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I laughed, “And
you need my lipstick why?”

“That’s the
exact color I want her to be, babe. That sexy, wet red. I want to bring it in
and show the guy at the auto body shop.”

“I think it’s
on my dresser. I wore it last night when we went out to dinner, and I think I
put it there. It’s in a gold tube, and it’s called Spanish Red.”

A few seconds
later, Brian stuck his hand in the shower. “Is this it?”

“That’s it.
Now, why don’t you put that on the counter and come in here with me.”

I smiled at the
memory, and my eyes filled with tears as I looked at the gorgeous, cherry red
car. He had it chopped into a convertible for me. I don’t know how many times
he told me that there was nothing sexier than seeing me sitting next to him
with the wind blowing my hair all over the place. I loved the car, and I hadn’t
even taken it out since he died. Sam started it once in a while. He kept
telling me that Brian would be pissed at me for just leaving it in the garage.
It was supposed to be our
fun
car, and I know he would want me to drive
it. Brian used an old truck for work, but I got rid of that months ago.

I slid into the
front seat and ran my hands over the smooth, black leather. It was cool in the
dark of the garage, and I closed my eyes remembering.

“Mom?” Carey
called to me quietly a few moments later, not wanting to interrupt the memories
that were flooding back.

“Oh. Hey,
sweetie. I’m good. Can you open the garage door and grab my grocery bags? I
forgot them.”

He gave me a
thumbs up and ran back into the house. A second later, he came running out with
the bags, and he jumped into the front seat, throwing them over his shoulder so
that they landed on the back seat.

“Okay. Ready.”
He seemed to be in better spirits, and that warmed my heart.

“You want to
grab some lunch first?” I asked him.

“Oh, yeah. My
stomach is growling! Can we put the top down?” He asked.

“Sure.” I
backed out of the garage, flipped the latches, and pushed a button. The top
lifted and tucked itself away in the back.

The shopping
center was only about 10 minutes from our house, but we would pass just about
every restaurant known to man on the way there.

“What’s
appealing today?” I asked. I wasn’t picky.

“Umm... I’m
kind of feeling like pizza.”

“Okay. Tony’s
it is.”

Tony’s was a local pizza place. It was
actually the first business that Brian remodeled. He had always been grateful
to the founder’s son and current owner, Thomas Carideo, for giving him a
chance. And they had a great pizza buffet during lunch hours. We pulled into
Tony’s a few minutes later and hopped out of the car. Carey walked ahead of me
and opened the door.

“Wow! What a
gentleman.” I smiled.
He must want something.

“Julie!” Thomas
was behind the counter, and he called out to me.

“Tommy! How are
you?” I asked him. It had been a while since we had been in, but Tommy and
Brian had been friends, as well, and he had come to Brian’s funeral.

He came around
the counter and gave me a hug. He shook Carey’s hand and remarked on how big he
was getting.

“I’m good. Hey,
Leo is pregnant again!” Tommy informed us. Leo, short for Leonora, was his
wife.

“
No
?
Congratulations!” I gave him a hug and meant it.

“Thank you.
She’s due in October, so she’s starting to get big. She ain’t happy about being
so big in the summer, but she’s healthy.”

I nodded and
smiled. “How is Lessa?” Tommy’s oldest daughter was a year younger than Carey.

“She’s good.
Going to be a sophomore this year.”

“Does she have
her schedule yet?” Carey piped up.

“I don’t think
so, though I’ve been so busy lately. Marco up and quit on me.” Tommy threw his
hands up.

“Marco? Was he
new?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. He
had only been here a few months, but he walked out last week—no explanation, no
notice. Just up and quit. And I just haven’t been able to find a replacement.”

“What did he
do?” Carey actually seemed interested.

“Oh, a little
bit of everything. Took orders. Cleaned up. Made the pizza dough. I’m here by
myself now.”

It was late,
well after 1, so I know we missed the lunch rush.

“You did the
buffet rush alone?” I asked. I didn’t envy him. The place was a madhouse at
lunch time.

“Leo comes in
to run the register, but she’s getting tired. This pregnancy isn’t like the
last one. Harder.”

“I could help
you, Mr. Carideo.” Carey looked excited. “I’m a fast learner and a hard
worker.”

Tommy seemed to
consider the offer. “You want to work here? Are you sure? I’ll pay you good,
but you have to work hard. Got to be on time—no playing around. If your friends
come in, you are still at work. No goofing off. No giving out free food.”

Carey was
nodding. “I know. I’ll work hard for you. I can work anytime, right Mom? Even
later in the evening.”

“Well,” I
interjected, “you can work late now, since it’s summer, but once school starts,
school has to come first.”

Tommy nodded
his head, agreeing with me. “Your mother’s right. During the summer is one
thing, but I know you’re going to be a junior. That’s a lot of hard work right
there, so we can see how things go. But hopefully by then I can get some extra
help. But, if you’re willing to work, I’m willing to give you a job.”

Carey nodded
happily. “I am. I can start Sunday… if you need me to.”

Tommy told him
that would be great and to be there at 9 so he could fill out all his paperwork
and get familiar with the shop.

“You and your
mom get something to eat. I have a T-shirt in the back.”

We helped
ourselves to some pizza, and I got a small salad as well. Tommy came back with
a T-shirt with a huge pizza on it.

“I know it
isn’t the coolest looking shirt, but this is what we wear. You can wear jeans
if you want, but no shorts, okay? And your shoes have to be sturdy—no-slip
soles.”

Carey said he
understood, and we finished up our lunch. I paid, and we went outside to get in
the car.

“My first job!”
Carey reminded me. “I can’t believe it!”

“I know! I’m
proud of you!”

“This was one
of Dad’s first jobs, and now it’s mine. How cool is that?”

I assured him
that it was very cool, and then told him we were going to go to the mall first.

“Ugh!” He
grunted. “Why?”

“I don’t know
if you have no-slip shoes. I’m sure your sneakers are, but they’re still in
good shape. You can still wear them to school. So we’re going to get you some
jeans and some new shoes for work.” I answered him.

He accepted
that answer. On the other hand, he didn’t really have a choice. I was proud of
him for taking a chance. And I was grateful to Tommy for taking a chance on
him. Carey didn’t have much work experience, though he had been to work with
Brian during the summer. It would be something new for him, and I was hoping it
worked out.