They Called Her Indigo

by Sam Lee Jackson

  She was sitting at the counter, holding her cup with two hands. I could see Ashley on the bow feeding pieces of a bagel to Diesel. I doctored my coffee and joined her. She leaned back and looked at my foot.

  “I remember now. You broke a bone in your foot. How do you swim with that thing on?”

  I held my leg out and looked at the prosthetic. “It was a small lie. I don’t have a foot.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You don’t have a foot?”

  “That’s what I said,” I smiled.

  “How did you lose your foot?”

  I shrugged lightly. “When I was a kid I worked at a factory in Illinois. I got it caught in an open auger. Took it right off.”

  “Oh my God.” she set her coffee down. It splashed over the rim. “That’s awful.”

  “Didn’t even hurt. Till later, that is. Hurt like the dickens later.”

  She got up and got a paper towel and swabbed the counter. “You sure handle it well. I couldn’t even tell you had a problem.”

  “Lots of practice,” I said.

  I swiveled to watch Ashley and Diesel. Ashley was tossing pieces of bagel out on the dock. Diesel would jump off, grab the bagel and jump back on. The bagel piece lasted one gulp.

  “That’s as active as I’ve seen Diesel in a long time.”

  “She loves animals. Especially dogs. With her in daycare, and me working all day, a dog at the house didn’t make any sense.”

  “Usually Diesel gets his exercise chasing gulls off the dock.”

  She sat back down. “Yeah, I saw those. How are there seagulls in the middle of Arizona?”

  I smiled, “Easier than you think. From the ocean they follow the Colorado up to the Williams then follow the Williams to Alamo Lake. It’s just a short hop from there to here. I’ve even seen pelicans at Alamo.”

  She smiled. “I don’t know where Alamo is, but that’s just weird.”

  She finished her coffee and went to the sink to rinse the cup. She placed the cup in the drain rack, and turned to look at me. She rested her back against the sink, each hand on the edge of the counter. She looked at me for a long moment. I could see she was making up her mind on something. So I let her.

  Finally, she said, “I’m afraid I have to take you up on your offer.”

  “Oh?”

  “For a few bucks, I mean. You said you could loan me a few bucks. I don’t have any money, someday I will, and I’ll pay you back. I promise. What we have is in the duffel, and it’s not much. I need small stuff, like toiletries and feminine things.”

  “Sure,” I said. I slid off the stool and went to my stateroom.

  When I returned I handed her five bills. She took them and looked at me, her eyes larger.

  “Five hundred dollars? I don’t think I’ll need that much.”

  “Buy what you need,” I said. “You’ll pay me back, I’m not worried. There is a Walmart at Noterra. It’s right down the road on I-17. You can get everything you need there. Get some food too. I wasn’t expecting company.”

  “You are going to let us stay?”

  “Until we have a plan.”

  She put the bills in her pocket. “How am I going to get there?”

  “I’ll call a ride for you. The shuttle will take you up the hill. They’ll meet you there. It is my personal app, so have them wait, I’ll be charged.”

  She came to me and put her arms around me. She kissed me. A sisterly kiss.

  I called for a ride and ten minutes later she had hugged Ashley and told her to be good for me. At the gate she turned and waved at us. She went through it. I watched the top of the hill until I saw her get into her ride.

  She didn’t come back.

  25

  I am not prepared to entertain a seven-year-old girl, so I was ecstatic when Eddie bumped his old skiff up against my stern. Eddie was the grizzled old marina handyman. Maureen let him earn the slip rent for his old river runner scow he lived on by doing the odd jobs around the marina. He’d been thirty years on the Chicago police force and was a fierce slayer of striped bass, crappie and just about any pan fish. If he wanted a special meal he caught the sleek, white bellied, channel cats. He also was very handy and could fix about anything. I’d used him for help more than once. Awhile back I’d helped him with a problem his nephew was having. We’d become close friends. He was a man, like me, that liked his alone time.

  I had taken Ashley out on the docks and walked them, showing her the different boats, and the different birds. She had laughed gleefully when Diesel had rousted a flock of gulls, sending them screeching and crying into the sky. We went into the marina where I introduced her to Maureen, who smiled at the girl and looked at me suspiciously. She gave Ashley a candy bar.

  By the time we were back on Tiger Lily, she had eaten the candy bar, with a healthy trace of it around her mouth. I had no little kid things for her to do. I had gone through all my books, trying to find one for a seven-year-old. Finally, in desperation I found my book of poems by Emily Dickinson. To my amazement she could read it. She was a good reader, well beyond her years. She told me her teacher always chose her to read to the class. I felt an odd sense of pride.

  When Eddie bumped up against us, she was on the yellow couch with the book on her lap. I was sitting at the counter watching her. Her lips didn’t even move. Sometimes she would read aloud to me.

  I went to the back and opened the sliding stern doors. Eddie climbed up, dressed in his Eddie uniform. Khaki trousers, work boots and an old worn chambray shirt. On his head was a billed cap that had been sweated through so heavily that whatever it had been advertising was now indistinguishable.

  “Figuring on heading up to Cottonwood Creek, they say the crappy are schoolin’ up there. Thought you might like to come along?”

  “I’ve got company right now.”

  He stepped back. “Oh, sorry. Don’t mean to interrupt.”

  “Nothing like that,” I said. “Come on, I want you to meet her.” I turned, and he followed me into the main salon. Ashley was concentrating so hard she didn’t notice us coming in.

  “Ashley,” I said. “I want you to meet a friend of mine.”

  She looked up.

  “This is Mr….”

  “Just Eddie,” he said.

  “This is Mr. Eddie,” I finished.

  “How do you do,” Eddie said.

  Ashley got shy and didn’t know what to do.

  I looked at Eddie. “Her mom’s a friend. She’s here for the day.” Eddie just looked at me.

  “Have you ever been fishing, Ashley?” I said.

  Eddie smiled, turning back to the girl.

  She looked at me.

  “I’m afraid she’s been raised a city girl,” I said. I looked at Eddie. “Not too soon to start her education. You mind if she came along?”

  “Never turn down a pretty girl.”

  She was watching me. “How would you like to take a boat ride with Mr. Eddie and me,” I said to her. “Maybe we can try our hand at catching a fish. Do you know about fishing?”

  “I’m not dumb,” she said.

  Eddie laughed out loud.

  “Well, there you are.” I looked at Eddie. “I don’t think I have a pole to fit her pistol, do you?”

  He nodded. “I think I have an old Zebco 202. I’ll go get it and rig it up. Be back in half an hour.”

  He was right on his word. He pulled up a half hour later. Besides the pole, he had a brand-new life jacket. Kid sized.

  He held it up to me. “Figured we’d need this. I went in to buy it, but Maureen donated it. Said she’d put it on my account. On account she’ll work my ass off to pay for it.”

  Ashley stuck her head out the door.

  “Oops, sorry,” Eddie said.

  “I heard bad words before,” Ashley said.

  I shook my head. No doubt, little girl. No doubt.

  A few minutes later we were trundling across the water. We didn’t zip, we trundled. Eddie’s old fishing dingy didn’t zip anyw
here. Ashley trailed her hand in the water. It was about as nice a day as you could ask for.

  It took the better part of an hour to make our way to the area he wanted to fish. I sat beside her and explained the workings of a rod and reel. She was fascinated with the minnows he had in his bait bucket.

  I told her that sometimes Eddie would throw a large seine net and catch lake shad to use for bait. I told her sometimes he used night crawlers or anchovies. She said “Eewh, I hate anchovies.”

  “Yeah, I don’t care for them on my pizza either,” I said above the noise of the motor. “But the fish love’m.”

  She looked at me. “If fish eat anchovies will they taste like anchovies?”

  “Good question. Nope, they just taste like fish. Some better than others.”

  Eddie putted us into a small bay and began angling the boat back and forth. He leaned into his old Hummingbird depth finder. I didn’t know anyone better at finding fish than this guy.

  Finally, he said, “There they are.”

  He slid to rest forty feet straight off a point. When he got the skiff where he wanted it he cut the motor.

  “Drop the anchor,” he said to me.

  I lifted the scarred blue anchor off the coil of rope and carefully dropped it in the water. I let the rope ease through my palms until it stopped.

  “Give it a couple feet of loose,” Eddie said. “That way it will drag instead of bounce.”

  I did as he said. “What if it gets snagged?”

  He smiled at me, “That’s why I bring you along. You can just swim down there and un-snag it.”

  Ashley looked at him wide eyed, then turned and looked at me and laughed. Eddie winked at her.

  Ashley was a good study and listened intently as Eddie rigged her pole. She was almost on top of him, watching. I sat at the back watching this grizzled old man, seventy plus years of life etched across his face, and the pure smooth face of the child who had barely experienced any life yet. He went through the skilled motions of getting a minnow on the hook. She didn’t flinch when Eddie showed her the exact place, behind the dorsal, to puncture the bait fish.

  “If’n you go too far forward you kill the minnow, and crappie don’t usually hit dead bait. Too far back and the minnow will get off. You got to do it just right.”

  He dropped the bait in the water.

  “Another thing,” he said. “Lookit this line here.” He pulled the line toward him. “I’ve marked it every ten feet.” He held it out for her to see. “See the dark spot on the line here? That’s where I took a magic marker to it.”

  She was looking intently. She nodded her head.

  “So,” he continued, letting the line back into the water. “When that mark hits the water, you know the bait is ten feet down.” He turned to the depth finder. “Now this here contraption tells us that them fish is forty to forty-five feet down. So, how many marks do we want to let down in the water, so the bait is at the right place?”

  She just looked at him, not getting it.

  I tried to help. “So, how many tens go into forty?” She looked blankly at me.

  “Have you studied division and multiplication yet?”

  She looked back at Eddie. She didn’t shake her head in disgust, but it seemed like she did.

  “I’m only in the second grade,” she said, almost disdainfully, “but, you want three more of them marks to go down if you want to catch those fish.”

  26

  Ashley squealed with delight when she caught her first fish. All told, we caught about thirty. When we putted back to the Tiger Lily it had been a good day. Halfway back Ashley put her head on a lifejacket and went to sleep.

  Eddie insisted on doing the fish cleaning, so I roused Ashley, got her up the ladder and put her in her bed. I put on some low music and opened Elmore again. Two hours later she stumbled out of the stateroom, eyes heavy with sleep. The first thing she said was, “Where’s Mommy?”

  “She’s been detained.” I lied and felt guilty about it.

  “Am I going to do another sleep-over?”

  “Sure. We can play cards or play another game of checkers.”

  She looked at me with solemn eyes. “You’re not very good at it.”

  “Maybe I just need more practice.”

  I had no idea what to do with this girl child. Finally, as the sun was dipping, we walked to the marina store, just before it closed. There was a teenager manning it. I bought Ashley an ice cream bar. We found a box of crayons and a coloring book of exotic birds. Later I made some of my world-famous spaghetti and we went to bed early.

  I was awake at first light. I was thinking about Lindy. It was obvious she was a loving and attentive mother so that meant her absence was probably not self-motivated. I couldn’t see her just running off. So, where was she?

  I decided to forego the swim this morning. I put the coffee on. When it was completed, I took the big mug out on the bow. Diesel was down at the end of B dock, lying in a patch of sun. Movement down by the store caught my eye. The marina provides showers for those that have been skiing or swimming and want to come into the bar. Eddie was coming out with a brightly colored towel around his neck. It was one of the few times I had seen him wearing shorts. His legs were skinny and white. He saw me and raised a hand. I lifted my cup.

  He decided to join me. He came through the gate and made his way to me. As he did, I went in and poured another cup of coffee. I peeked in at Ashley. She was still down and out. I brought the coffee out. Carrying both cups, I stepped off the boat onto the dock.

  “She’s still sleeping, let’s sit on Pete’s,” I said softly. I took the cup and we walked down to the Thirteen Episodes. We stepped aboard, pulled the chair covers off and sat.

  “Lindy’s not back yet,” I said.

  He looked at me, taking a sip of the coffee. “Lindy’s the mom?”

  I nodded. He didn’t say anything more. Eddie was a private man and gave others the same respect. He wouldn’t pry. He figured if you wanted him to know something, you’d tell him. So, I told him. Told him how I’d met Lindy, how the two of them had come to me, and why. Told him what Lindy had told me about Ashley’s father.

  He listened silently. I finished and leaned back. I was looking across at the Tiger Lily, looking for movement, any sign the girl was up.

  After a long silence, he said, “What are you going to do if the woman doesn’t come back/”

  The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. I shook my head. I had no answer.

  We were silent again.

  “Most folks would call CPS,” he said, finally.

  “Child Protective Services? You think that’s a good idea?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. Experience I had in Chicago was some good, some bad. Screwed kids up being away from their parents. But, on the other hand, some people ain’t fit to be parents.”

  “I think this one is a good mother.”

  “Girl should be with her mama,” he said.

  I nodded.

  A small white face appeared at Tiger Lily’s bow door. I stood up.

  “Guess I’ll go try to figure out what to do with a seven-year-old.”

  “I’m working the bar today,” Eddie said.

  I shook my head and smiled. “You did enough yesterday.”

  He stood. “I’ve got a dozen fillets I froze up for you. I’ll bring’m down later.”

  “Appreciate it,” I said. “No rush.”

  I replaced the chair cover and stepped off Pete’s boat. I went down to the Tiger Lily, stepped aboard and through the sliding door. She was sitting on the yellow couch. Tears were running down both cheeks. I guess I should’ve been there when she woke up.

  I sat beside her and put my arm around her. She leaned into me and began to sob.

  “I want my mommy,” she cried, her voice muffled against my side.

  So do I, I thought.

  I started talking. Anything to get her mind on something else. I talked about the fishing we had done wi
th Eddie. I talked about how we needed to go shopping. I told her we needed to buy her some new clothes, and maybe get some books just for her. It took a while, but I finally jollied her into a smile. I got her busy with me in the galley making what I called Jackson’s world-famous flap-jacks.

  I laughed a little too hard when she asked, if they were world famous, how come she’d never heard of them.

  After we ate, we cleaned up, caught a ride on the shuttle up the hill and drove to the Walmart. We spent an hour finding clothes and books, and another hour grocery shopping.

  Back at the boat, I was putting everything away and she was reading on the couch when they came for her.

  27

  There were three of them. All dressed in business suits. I caught a glimpse of them coming down the dock. They walked single file. The lead man was big and blonde, with a florid face. The other two were darker, of medium height. It was warm, but they wore jackets.

  I reached down and took the book from Ashley’s hands. She looked up in surprise. I took her hand and pulled her up.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” I said, leading her through the galley. I took her to the bathroom with the oversized shower. “I need you to stay in here for a bit. Go ahead and read. You can sit on the toilet.”

  “I don’t have to go,” she said.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “Just stay in here until I come to get you.”

  Her eyes were wide, but she stayed. I shut the door behind me.

  I went down the hallway and out on the bow. I stepped out on the dock as they reached me.

  “Boy, you Seventh Day Adventists are relentless,” I said cheerily to the big guy. “But I already gave at the office.”

  He was puzzled.

  “If you want to leave your pamphlets, I promise I’ll read them.”

  He came to a stop, and the other two fanned out behind him. He was a lot bigger than I was. He didn’t expect any trouble from me.