Noah

by Allison LaFleur

  I walked for hours, my feet wearing blisters on my little toes. My flimsy work shoes were not meant for hikes through the concrete jungle around me. Each step took me further from answers, but closer to Noah. Trying to work through my fear and worry, I ended up in front of his apartment building. Will my key still work?

  I slowly pushed through the glass doors, nodding at security. Well, he didn’t take me off the approved visitors list.

  The elevator seemed to take forever as it rose before finally coming to a stop with a ding! and opening to Noah’s floor.

  I stepped out. The apartment sounded hollow, empty. I saw no signs of life. Noah’s bed had no creases, still perfectly made from the maid’s earlier visit. Even the vacuum tracks still adorned the rug, unmarred by footprints. Noah hadn’t been home all day.

  I brushed the tears leaking from my eyes, and with my shoulders slumped, I turned and headed back to the elevator. I felt like an intruder in Noah’s domain. No longer my home, I felt uncomfortable invading his space.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lena

  Staring blankly out the bus window, I barely noticed any of the buildings we passed. The bright, clean lines of Noah’s end of town soon gave way to buzzy, broken neon, and then to simple painted wood signs hanging crooked from rusty hooks as the bus neared my stop.

  I thumped down the bus stairs. Exhaustion seeped through every fiber of my being. I barely had the energy to walk the last block home.

  Coming up to the apartment complex, I saw every light blazing in our little apartment. What is everyone doing up at 3 am?

  “Mama? Doris? What’s going on?” I called, walking through the door.

  “Honey!” Mama came from the kitchen, her eyes swollen and wet. Doris followed, looking younger than her 17 years. “It’s your dad. He left.”

  “Left to go where?”

  “I don’t know.” She started crying again. Doris wrapped her arms around Mama and Toby crawled out of his cabinet and wrapped his arms around their legs.

  “Doris?” I shifted my focus to my sister, hoping she could translate Mama’s crying into something I could understand.

  “I don’t know.” She looked at me over Mama’s head. “He ran in here smelling like smoke, babbling about the wrong people dying, dug something out of the back of his closet, and left. He told us he had to hide.”

  “Daddy was involved in the explosion?!”

  She just looked at me, patting Mama on the back, and led her to the couch. Toby toddled along, one hand dragging his blanket, the other tangled into Mama’s skirt.

  Overwhelmed, I started to weave. Unable to stay on me feet any longer, I flopped into a chair. “So he’s gone?” I kicked my shoes off and plopped my swollen feet up on the coffee table.

  “Don’t sound so excited, Lena. Daddy’s gone, and Mama’s really upset.” Doris glared at me, slipping into the kitchen to get Mama some water and the box of tissues from the table.

  I couldn’t help it. I felt relief that I wouldn’t need to tiptoe around him all night. I could sit in the living room, kick my shoes off, and not worry about my safety.

  “Where do you think he went?” I pondered out loud. It’s not like Daddy had all that many places he could go. I ticked them off in my head: the mine, his new job, the bar. That’s it! A tiger doesn’t change its stripes. Without a doubt, he would go to the pub on the corner.

  “Has everyone eaten?” I lowered my feet to the floor, and stood. I needed an excuse to get to the phone in the kitchen.

  “No,” Doris murmured, pulling Toby into her lap. “Mama’s been too upset.”

  “Okay. I’ll put something together.” I padded into the kitchen, glancing over my shoulder to make sure they were staying in the living room. Lifting the receiver from the hook on the wall, I was careful not to make any loud noises as I dialed 9-1-1.

  “Hello,” I whispered, covering the speaker with my hand. “I want to report someone. The man who blew up the car in front of the Tander Science offices is at Earl’s Pub. He sits at the end of the bar.” I dropped the receiver back on the hook before the dispatcher could ask questions, and shuffled to stand in front of the sink before Doris could walk in on me.

  “What are you making? Toby is starting to whine that he is hungry.”

  I leaned forward, taking a big breath and opened a cabinet to my right. “Soup.” I pulled out a can of tomato. “Soup and crackers.” Glad to find at least something, I reached for a can opener. The rest of the cabinets were completely empty.

  It didn’t take too long to open the soup, dump it in a pan and set it to boil on the stove. Something even my little brothers Pete and Andy could handle.

  “Lena?”

  “Oh, Mama,” I said. She snuck up, startling me as the soup started to bubble. “I’ve got this. You go sit down with Doris.”

  “Honey, I think we need to talk.”

  “What about?” I glanced over my shoulder at her as I pulled the pot from the burner and poured the thick red liquid into several bowls.

  “Your baby.”

  I whirled around to stare at my mother. “Mama!” I gasped.

  “Lena, you need to think about what you are going to do.”

  “How?”

  “Lena, you have been thin your whole life. Living with your boyfriend doesn’t make you gain twenty pounds in just a few months. Besides, you aren’t any bigger anywhere but your waist.”

  “Oh Mama,” I leaned back against the counter and took a deep breath.

  “Honey, I didn’t want your father to suspect, but you’ve really got to think about your future. There is no place for another baby in this tiny apartment.”

  “I know, Mama, but I have no idea what I am going to do.”

  “What about your job?”

  “I can’t go back. That’s over.”

  “Can that school you go to help you find something else?”

  “Maybe. I’ll talk to my teachers tonight.”

  “I’ll help you, sweetheart, but without your father, I don’t know how I’m going to take care of your brothers and sisters.”

  “Mama, really? If Daddy doesn’t drink all your money, you’ll be fine.”

  “Don’t talk about your father that way. He’s a good man.”

  “Was, Mama, was a good man. The way he treats you, treats all of us, that’s not love.”

  “Honey, you have to forgive him.”

  “No, Mama, I don’t. I don’t know if I can raise this child, much less do it alone. What if I turn out to be like Daddy? What if I get sick? What will happen to my child?”

  “You can’t think that way, honey. You just have to do the best you can with what you have. Nobody teaches you how to be a parent. We all just figure it out as we go along. You’ll be fine. All you have to do is love that baby.”

  “I just don’t know if I am enough.”

  “What about the father?”

  “He’s not… he’s not available.”

  “He has a responsibility to that baby.”

  “No, I can’t. There are… no. He’s not. He can’t.” I couldn’t even talk about Noah. My heart hurt just thinking about him. I still didn’t even know if he was alive.

  “What about a place of your own?”

  “I don’t have any money. I mean, I have a little bit, but I can’t blow it all on an apartment. I need money to live off of.”

  “Lena, you need to find a place to live. The rest will all work itself out.

  “Mama, I’m scared.” I fell into her arms, and it was my turn to cry. I’m not ready to be a mother!

  Chapter Nineteen

  Noah

  “Haley, thank you for meeting me.” I really was scum of the Earth. I should never have let the situation get so far out of hand, but I’d tried to take the easy way out, not the right way.

  “I am pleased you called, Noah. I haven’t seen you since the Republican dinner.” She leaned toward me, taking my hand in hers. “I am so sorry about your parents. Tell me, what
can I do?”

  “Thank you.” I leaned back, pulling my hand from hers. I picked up a spoon and spun it between my fingers. “I will be fine. You look lovely.”

  “Thank you.” She tilted her chin, placed the white napkin in her lap, and straightened the silverware by her plate until each piece was perfectly parallel with one another. “

  “I wanted to talk to you about us.” I set the spoon down, and took a deep breath.

  “Oh, I know what you mean. We should move up the wedding. I agree. I anticipated this.” Her face lit up and she started to talk faster and faster, waving her hands about. “We can keep it small, just a few close friends and maybe the congressman who wants to endorse you. Just the important people. I know the perfect place.”

  “Haley, stop.” I held up my hands. “This is what I wanted to talk to you about. We can’t get married.”

  She stopped speaking mid-sentence, something about flowers, and just stared at me. “What?”

  “In light of everything that has happened, I think it would be best to call off the wedding. I cannot, in good conscious, marry you. I will not be taking my father’s seat on the senate, and I don’t know when I will be ready to entertain thoughts of marriage again.”

  Haley, opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no sound emerged.

  “Haley?” I reached to take her hand and she pulled it back, avoiding me. “I know this is a shock. Can I call your mother to come get you?”

  “I can’t… I just can’t.” She pushed back from the table. “You’re an ass, Noah.” With a disgusted look, she stood, turned her back on me, and walked out.

  Lena

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  I yawned and climbed down from my upper bunk, my bulk making me more than a little awkward. Padding barefoot across the cold, cracked linoleum in my nightdress, I pulled my robe over it, tying the sash before opening the door a crack.

  “Ma’am.” A policeman flashed his badge and tipped his hat at me. “I hate to disturb you this late, but we need to talk to the wife of this man.” He held up a photo of my dad.

  “Oh, um, hang on. I shut the door a moment to disconnect the chain lock. “Here. Come in for a minute. I’ll go get my mama.”

  I padded back to Mama’s room, slipping in and gently shaking here awake. “Mama, the police are here to talk to you.”

  “Mmmmh, what?”

  “The police are here. Get up.”

  She pushed her stringy gray hair out of her face as she sat up and blinked sleepily at me. “Did they find your father?”

  “I don’t know, Mama. Come on. They are waiting.”

  The policeman and his partner stood awkwardly in the small living room. All my siblings peeked around corners and furniture, so used to hiding they thought nothing of eavesdropping from the shadows.

  “Ma’am.” The first one spotted my mother as she shuffled into the living room, frail in her thin housecoat. She looked almost gaunt compared to the burly officers. “Is this your husband?” he held the photo up for my mother to see.

  “Yes, that’s my husband. Is he okay?”

  “We picked him up down at Earl’s pub for questioning in the murders that occurred at the Tander Science office building.”

  “Murders?”

  “Yes ma’am. Several people were killed in an explosion.”

  “Um… have you released the names?” I asked.

  The officer glanced at me as I interrupted his questioning. “Not everyone has been identified. We know a married couple in a limousine died—a Mr. And Mrs. Hendrix, the second. There are several office workers among the deceased. We are withholding names until the families have been informed.”

  “It was the Hendrixes? Noah Hendrix’s parents? Noah was not injured?”

  “No, Noah Hendrix was in the office at the time of the explosion, but his injuries were minor.”

  “Oh, thank God!” My legs turned to jelly, and my vision turned black. I blindly reached back with one hand to find the couch as I slid toward the floor.

  “Ma’am, are you alright?” the other policemen caught me as I fell back, sitting me down and putting my head between my knees.

  “I’m sorry. I just need a moment.” I slowed my breathing, drawing in a deep lungful before exhaling out my nose.

  The other man turned back to Mama. “Can you tell me where your husband was earlier this evening?”

  “Ah…” Mama just blinked, not saying anything.

  “Ma’am, your husband, was he here?” They exchanged unreadable looks. I’m sure they thought we were all a bit simple. I don’t think we had uttered a complete sentence between us since they’d walked through the door.

  “No… ah, yes… um… He was here.” Mama stumbled through her answer.

  “All evening?”

  “Um, I worked late, but ah… I think he was here.”

  “Ma’am, lying to a police officer is against the law. Now think about it again. What time did you get home, and was your husband here when you got home?”

  “No. No, he wasn’t, but he was here later.”

  “When did he first get home?”

  “Um…” she turned to me, and I sat up slowly, my head still swimming.

  “He was gone when I got home.” I told them.

  “Lena!”

  “What? He was.” I faced the officer asking the questions. “When I left around seven, I hadn’t seen him since the morning. I got home after midnight, and he was already gone.”

  “Lena!” my mother hissed at me, narrowing her eyes.

  “Mama, I’m not going to lie to the police. They can ask the neighbors. They will say the same thing.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” The one sitting next to me patted my hand. “Will you be all right? Do we need to take you to the hospital to be checked out?”

  “I really am okay. I was just a little surprised.”

  The men stood. “Mrs. Bishop, Thank you for speaking with us. Miss Bishop,” they nodded at me. “Please don’t leave town. We may need to speak again. Mrs. Bishop, your husband is being held downtown for questioning. Bail will be set in the morning.”

  “Oh!” Mama started crying again, and her weeping irritated me. She should have been glad Daddy was out of the house for the night. She could sleep without fear, as we all would.

  Noah

  How important is it to love what we do? Mom wanted me go into politics. I would have hated that. Our company, the drug we were developing, it could change the world. I wanted to love what I did, and I loved H&A BioTech.

  I thought about all the people I knew. Most of them were miserable. They didn’t even like what they did. They did it because they had to.

  I hated that my parents were gone. I missed them every moment, but they were dead, and their deaths made me very, very rich.

  If the average person could afford to leave an unfulfilling job, why wouldn’t they?

  Politics left me empty. Powerful people throwing their power around to make decisions about people who had no say in their lives—I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to give people their lives back.

  Our drug had the potential to change the whole way the world approached cancer. It was too early to say if we had done it or not, but I was hopeful amidst my loss. Life is precious.

  New life. Lena and I had created precious new life. Maybe something good could come out of this. I needed to find Lena and talk to her. God, I miss Lena. She was the only one I wanted to talk to about my parents’ death. She was the only one I wanted to mourn with.

  Why did I let her walk away? Why didn’t I stop her? Chase her down?

  I couldn’t run the office without her. She knew everything like where the staple refills were kept, how to process acquisition reports, and how to send interoffice memos. I didn’t realize how much she took off my shoulders until she was gone. She left a big gaping hole in my life that I had no intention of leaving unfilled.

  I want Lena back.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lena
>
  “But why?” I followed my Mama down the sidewalk to the bus stop. “Why are you going to bail him out?”

  “Because he is my husband and the father of my children. He called me for help, so I’m going.”

  “But Mama, we need to buy food. You don’t get paid until Friday.”

  “We will figure something out. We always do.” She continued to scurry down the sidewalk to the bust stop a block from our apartment. I hurried after her, barefoot in my housecoat. I didn’t even stop to comb my hair. I am sure the neighbors thought we were all crazy.

  “Mama, where did you even get enough money to bail him out? You know if he doesn’t show up on his court date, you don’t get that money back.”

  “I sold his car.”

  “The car you gave him money to buy? From the money I gave you from my job?”

  “He needed that car to get to work. I don’t know what he is going to do now.”

  I stood helplessly and watched her climb the steps on the belching, smoking city bus. The brakes sighed, and the big diesel motor revved as it pulled away from the curb. Its ponderous shape lurched over the potholes and cracked asphalt, leaving me standing in a cloud of black exhaust.

  I shrugged into my too-thin coat and packed up my notebooks after class. I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. This is it. That night marked the last day of class before finals and graduation. I’d lived through six years of night school, midnight study sessions, scraping together tuition money and hiding it from my father.

  “Hey, Lena!” Tommy, another student, waved as he fell into step beside me. “Can you believe it’s over?”