by Pamela Morsi
Word quickly spread among the attendees. And as the first graders were eating their cupcakes, Mrs. Reardon made an announcement.
“I just want everyone to know that because all of my students did so well today, Tradd’s mother, Mrs. Cook, is going to send a film of our program all the way to Afghanistan so that Daniel’s mother, who couldn’t be here with us, will get to see it.”
There was a shriek of delight from the kids. Red locked eyes with Daniel. He was thrilled, too. Too thrilled. The expression of happiness that was on his face also had fear. Red knew immediately, as if she were feeling it herself, that he was scared he might cry in front of his friends.
Like a shot, Red was across the room and dragging him out the door.
“We’ve got to go tell his sister, Olivia,” she announced loudly. “And show her Daniel’s costume.”
As they made it out the door, Red heard Mrs. Reardon suggesting to the children, “Let’s see if we can find Afghanistan on our map.”
Daniel was flat against the hallway wall. He was biting down on his lip, hard. Red dropped onto her knees in front of him.
“It’s okay, punk,” she told him. “It happens to me, too. We know we’re not supposed to cry in front of people. And when we’re angry or sad, we can keep from doing it. But sometimes, when we’re really happy, it sneaks up on us.”
Tears were rolling down his cheeks now.
“I tried not to even think about it,” he said. “I didn’t even want to think about her not being here. About her not seeing me. I did real good, didn’t I?”
“You did great,” Red said. “And you are just going to make your mama’s day. I know it.”
Daniel threw his arms around Red’s neck. He was still trying to choke back his emotion. “I miss her so much,” he said.
“I miss her, too,” Red told him and she realized it was true. “Every day there are things that happen with you and Olivia, and I want to tell her about them or ask her about them or just talk about when she was a little girl.”
Daniel stepped back slightly and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I want to tell her stuff every day,” he admitted. “How many more sleeps before she’s home again?”
Red shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she said truthfully.
“But fewer every day. She’s supposed to be here by Christmas.
“She’ll be like my Christmas present.”
“She sure will,” Red agreed. “Now, are you ready to go find your sister’s classroom and show her what a turkey you are?” Daniel giggled.
“Don’t call me a turkey,” he said.
“Oh, I know,” Red said. “You’re not a turkey, you just play one for Thanksgiving.”
To: [email protected]
November 27 8:05 p.m.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Sad news
Mom something terrible has happened. Kellys husband has been hurt. We don't know much about it yet. He is in a field hospital like yours and they will move him as soon as he is ready. He is burnt so he will probably come here to San Antonio but we don't know.
I dont even know what to write. Could you call us Mom? I know it's the middle of the week but Thursday is Thanksgiving. I think you can call on a holiday can't you.
Livy
24
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Red was on her own at the bar. Karl had gone to the coast for a long fishing weekend and her one waitress called in sick.
Red wasn’t that worried. The crowd would be small, she thought, and guys who were too lazy to step up to the bar could just learn to do without beer. That wasn’t going to happen.
She hadn’t expected much of a crowd. No band was scheduled to play that night. However, since moving the music stage inside, she’d allowed jamming when there was nobody on the playbill. Perhaps because it was the eve of a holiday or just a coincidence, a half-dozen guys with guitars, basses, Dobros and harmonicas, even a conjunto accordian player, showed up.
The mishmash of players were, collectively, not that good, but they were certainly that loud. And they were having a fine time, just the thing to draw a crowd. By nine o’clock it was standing room only.
Red had her hands full. But business was always welcome.
What was not welcome was the news that came on the phone from Kelly. With the din of noise behind her, Red could hardly hear what the young woman was saying, but her near-terrified desperation came through loud and clear.
“Sit tight, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Red promised as she hung up the phone.
She glanced around the room. The din was nearly deafening. If she walked over and pulled the plug on the microphone, it would probably still take an hour to clear the room.
“Watch the bar,” she told Hector, who looked genuinely surprised at the request. “I’ve got to make a phone call, I’ll be right back.”
Red eased her way out the front door and onto the sidewalk. It was cold and she didn’t have her jacket, but the chill running through her had nothing to do with the weather. She flipped open her cell phone and called the most familiar number on her speed dial.
“Hey, babe, what’s up?” he answered.
“Where are you?”
“I-35 coming into Austin,” he answered. “I just passed the Niederwald exit. Why?”
“Shootfire! I was hoping you were closer,” Red told him. “I need to get home to the kids right now and I’ve got a bar full of yodeling cowboys and a crowd of sweaters packed in shoulder to shoulder.”
“What’s happened?” Cam’s concern was evident in his voice.
“It’s Kelly,” she answered. “Kelly’s husband has been wounded.”
“Oh shit,” Cam said. “I’m getting off at the next exit.”
“From what I could hear and I missed a lot of it, it was an IED and he took some shrapnel, but his injuries are mostly burns. Right now he’s in a field hospital, but he’ll be transported to Europe for surgery.”
“Is that good or bad?” Cam asked. “Is he less injured, so they don’t need to do surgery immediately? Or more injured, so they need to get him to a hospital with better facilities?”
“I don’t know,” Red said. “And Kelly doesn’t, either. But the poor girl is frantic. She’s desperate to get to the base, to get closer to the action and find out the details.”
“Of course she is.”
“I was hoping you’d be able to go over and relieve her until I get there, but you’re not going to get there any quicker than me.
“Maybe Olivia and Daniel could be on their own for an hour,” Cam said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Red said. “If it was something else, then for sure. But this is too close. This is their biggest fear, that something could happen to their mother. And for them, Kelly’s husband and their mom are in almost the same place. Remember Daniel after his abuela had her stroke? Somebody needs to be there.”
“I’ll find somebody,” Cam assured her. “Go back, close up as quickly as you can and I’ll find somebody.”
“Who are you going to find?”
“I’ll call Sarah and Brad or... Hell, Red, I know nearly everybody in Alamo Heights. If I can’t get somebody to go sit with a couple of scared kids for an hour, then I’m not much good to you, am I?”
With that agreement, Red went back inside. Hector had given away several beers on the honor system. Red wasn’t sure how much honor there would be, but she couldn’t worry about that now.
She plunged into the crowd, squeezing her way toward the stage. An errant, unwelcome hand pinched her backside as she passed and she couldn’t even be bothered to call the guy on it.
When she finally made it to the stage, one of the musicians pulled her up beside him and gave her a big hug. With a weary smile and don’t-mess-with-me body language, she took over the microphone.
“Excuse me! Excuse me!” the crowd quieted but the guitars still played.
“Hold it, guys. Hold it!”
One by one the musicians quit pl
aying.
“I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight,” Red said. “But we’re going to need to close this up.”
There were sounds of shocked disbelief followed by booing.
“I know, I know everyone is having a great time,” she said. “But I’ve got a family emergency and I have to close the place down.”
“I just got my beer,” a bearded guy Red didn’t recognize called out. She guessed that he’d be one of the honor purchases she’d have to collect.
“I know, I’m sorry, but this happens,” she said. “Everybody needs to drink up and settle up. You guys on stage, I want to have you back here playing music real soon, but right now you’ve got to pack up.”
There were innumerable questions and more than enough bellyaching. Red didn’t want to get into the specifics and did not. Let them think whatever they’re going to think, was her philosophy.
By the time she made it back to the till, a grouchy line of customers had formed. Red cast a quick glance at her watch. This was going to take some time. She sure hoped that Cam could come through for her.
She began summing up the tabs and taking the money as quickly as possible.
The worst grumbling came from the newer customers, but even the regulars weren’t happy about suddenly having the entire rest of the evening without a plan in sight.
To every prying question asked, Red smiled as warmly as she could manage and replied, “It’s a family emergency. I’m so sorry to put you out this way.”
But collecting the money owed her wasn’t the only thing that slowed her down. One of the musicians, a fellow in his forties, was completely out of it. The other guys packed up his gear, but he could hardly walk to the door.
“Man, I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over.
He was clearly in no shape to drive.
“Who’s with this guy?” she asked the few patrons left. “Any of you know him? Who can give him a ride?”
“I got a car,” the cowboy told Red, managing with some difficulty to pull the keys out of his pocket.
“We’re going to get you a ride,” Red assured him. But no one stepped up to help.
She got on the phone and began calling for cabs.
“I’m so sorry,” he said again. “I had a few beers and smoked some dope, but I was going to be here all night. I’ll be sober by closing time.”
“I’m going to send you home in a cab,” she assured him. But that was easier said than done. Thanksgiving was not one of the holidays when tourists flocked to town. The cabbies that ran the route from airport to downtown hotels were always willing to swing by Red’s place. But tonight they were all at home with their families. Red ended up begging a dispatcher at Fiesta Cab.
“Look, I’m going to have to leave here. If it were ten degrees warmer outside, I’d leave this guy on the sidewalk.”
The woman finally agreed to send someone. And after another forty minutes and twenty thousand “I’m so sorrys,” Red was finally able to pack the cowboy and his guitar into the backseat of a taxi.
As the car drove away, she offered a mental “hallelujah!", as well as a “good riddance to bad rubbish.”
She locked up and got in her car. Still, when she turned onto the street near the house, she checked her watch again and saw that it had been two hours since she’d talked to Kelly. She hoped it wasn’t the longest two hours in the woman’s life.
When she pulled up to the house, she didn’t see any cars at all. Kelly was gone. Maybe she’d decided that Olivia and Daniel could stay by themselves. Red parked the car in the driveway and hurried to the porch.
The sight that greeted her in the bungalow’s living room was jaw-dropping. Seated in Cam’s big comfortable chair was Aunt Phyl.
The woman didn’t seem nearly as startled to see Red as Red was to see her. Instead, she immediately put a finger to her lips for silence and then pointed to the nearby travel crib. Sleeping inside was baby Kendra, with a blanket in her hand and a thumb in her mouth.
Aunt Phyl stealthily rose out of her chair and tiptoed toward the back of the house, motioning Red to follow.
Dumbfounded, she did.
“What are you doing here?” Red whispered as soon as they were safely in the kitchen. She could hear how accusatory her words sounded, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“Cam called me,” the woman answered defensively. “He couldn’t get anyone else. He said the traffic is awful, but he’ll be here as soon as he can.”
Red nodded slowly, trying to take it in.
“Do the children know that you’re here?”
“Yes,” she answered. “They may still be awake, but they went to bed about an hour and a half ago. I think they’re both in Olivia’s bedroom.”
Red didn’t even know what to say about that. She imagined their faces, terrified to be left to the mercies of this mean witch.
“Are they all right? I’m sure they were scared to death of you.”
Aunt Phyl at least had the good grace to blush. Her words, however, were pointed and huffy. “The children and I worked out a compromise,” she told Red. “I have apologized to them for losing my temper and we’re all going to get along because Kelly and Kendra need us to.”
Red wondered if she was included in this compromise. “What’s Kendra doing here?” she asked.
Aunt Phyl shrugged. “The child was sleeping. That poor young woman doesn’t have any idea what the next few hours are going to bring. I thought that whatever it is, sitting up or pacing the floor or just staring into space and waiting, it would be harder with a cranky baby.”
“Good thinking,” Red said, wishing the idea had come from anyone but this woman in her kitchen.
“Kelly said there are several bags of frozen breast milk in the freezer. But Kendra normally sleeps through the night without a feeding,” Aunt Phyl continued. “She did get a little fussy a few minutes ago. I changed her diaper and walked the floor a bit and she fell back to sleep. I don’t know a lot about babies. The last one I held was Cam.”
As if on cue, Red heard the front door open and close. A minute later, Cam was with them in the kitchen. He wrapped an arm around Red’s waist and pulled her close enough for a kiss on her temple.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded.
He released her to go to his aunt. She tilted her head, offering a cheek, and he dutifully kissed it.
“Thank you for coming to help, Aunt Phyl,” he said. “I know you two didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, but we really appreciate your help.”
Red noted the word we.
“That poor young woman,” Aunt Phyl said. “My heart just went out to her. I was glad to be able to help.”
“How were the kids?” Cam asked. “I know this must have frightened them on so many levels.”
Aunt Phyl was thoughtful for a moment. “I believe having me in their living room proved to be a welcome distraction. The children were able, perhaps, to focus on me right here instead of all those out-of-control things far away.”
Cam nodded. “There might be something to that. Either way, thanks. Do you want me to walk you home?”
She picked up her bag from the kitchen table and pulled out a flashlight. “I think I still remember the way,” she said.
She walked to the back door, but as she touched the door handle, she hesitated.
“I’ll be serving Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow afternoon, Campbell,” she said. “Why don’t you invite your lady friend and her family to join us?”
Cam smiled as if delighted by her words.
“May I call you in the morning to let you know for sure?” he asked.
“That would be fine.” Aunt Phyl let herself out the back door.
Red and Cam watched the flashlight beam as it moved across the backyard and through the alley gate.
Cam pulled Red’s back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.
“I know she isn’t somebody you would have invited into your hou
se,” he said. “But I couldn’t reach anyone else. She was always good to me and she was good to my mother. I knew she would be sympathetic and that, despite what happened in the backyard, under these circumstances she wouldn’t be mean to Olivia and Daniel.”
Red nodded. “She kept Kendra here. That was a really good idea. Kelly has really helped me by taking care of Olivia and Daniel. I should help her by taking care of Kendra.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s good.”
“I’d better go peek in on the kids,” Red said.
“Wait,” Cam said. He nuzzled his cheek against her temple and planted a tender kiss on her shoulder. “I was worried that this would make you more afraid for Bridge.”
Red nodded. “I’m sure it’s that way for the kids,” she said. “But me... I’ve been afraid for Bridge all her life. I couldn’t believe they let me leave the hospital with her. I had no money, no place to go, no place to live and no one to ask for help. They gave me a car seat and a bag of diapers and put me on the curb. I had to leave the car seat ’cause I couldn’t carry the baby and the car seat, too. I guess I’ve gotten used to thinking that somehow she’ll make it. And she’s always so smart, so determined. She really can take care of herself.”
“I guess she gets that from you,” Cam said.
“Me?” Red was incredulous. “No, I’m a mess. Bridge is really together.”
Cam made a kind of humorless chuckle. “You were seventeen, broke and friendless with a baby. And now, thirty years later you’ve made a life for yourself, raised a bright, responsible daughter and own your own business. Most people wouldn’t describe that as a mess, they’d describe it as a triumph.”
“Most people don’t know what all I had to do to get here.”
He turned her in his arms so he could look her in the eye. “Red, do you really think that matters? Do you think there is anyone living on earth who can’t look back at the past and feel ashamed? Nobody’s lived a perfect life.”
“I’m not ashamed of anything I had to do!” Red insisted with more vehemence than necessary. “Well, not ashamed exactly. I’m...I’m embarrassed. And I’m sorry that...that the life I provided for Bridge was what it was. It was the best I could do, but it was a lot less than she deserved.”
