Pavement Ends: The Exodus

by Kurt Gepner

  Norah crossed the room and put her free arm around her grandfather. "Thanks, Pipi," she said.

  "Oh ho!" he suddenly barked. "Look at this pretty girl putting her arms around an old man."

  "Dad," Evie spoke up. "You are just naughty," she reproved. Then addressing her whole family she said, "Okay you fools… get yourselves to the table. Lunch is ready. Husband," she commanded Hank, "you help me serve."

  "But I was going into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters," Hank whined in his best Luke Skywalker imitation.

  Without missing a beat, Evie gave the Uncle Owen response from Star Wars. "You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done. Now come on, get to it!"

  Hank pointed at Evie. "You’re a Dork," he accused her.

  Salvador was watching the exchange with wide eyes. Norah shook her head. "You two…" she said with a mixture of amusement and disgust. "We’re hungry." Hank laughed and helped Evie put out lunch for everybody.

  After lunch, the family abandoned the dining room in favor of the living room. It was cozy, not large. Evie had been working on it for years, getting it just right for a small group to relax and enjoy conversation. Big band tunes from the Forties and Fifties softly drifted from an antique stereo by the front door.

  She and Hank sat in the wing-backed chairs that bordered the fireplace. Behind them were craftsman style bookshelves with glass panel doors that Hank had built into the space under the two high windows bordering each side of the mantle. Above the mantle hung a cubist style painting that, after months of contemplation, they concluded was a depiction of Eve offering an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. The bookshelves held an eclectic array of literature, from the complete works of Shakespeare and Mark Twain, to manuscripts on herbal remedies and The Prince by Machiavelli.

  Across from Hank and Evie sat Norah and Salvador on a restored, camel back sofa manufactured in 1930 by the Fogle furniture company. And in front of the large, picture frame window, Camille relaxed on a Regency window seat, circa 1820. Such was the environment that Hank and Evie found comfortable.

  Abby flitted between the abundant laps and the adults made various observations about her energy. The toddler, Emily, was in dreamland, comfortably resting in her carrier.

  "I remember," Hank recollected, "when I got bathed in the kitchen sink on my grandparent’s farm. I was probably two."

  "You can remember back that far?" Asked Salvador, astounded.

  "Well," conceded Hank, "I have particular memories. Little glimpses. Like sitting on my Grandpa Donny’s knee and eating slices of apple with him. He had a pocketknife that he used to pare and core apples with. I’d watch, mesmerized, as the peel got longer and longer. Then he would cut a thin slice for me. While I ate mine, he would cut a slice for himself. Back and forth, like that, until the apple was gone." Hank came back from his recollection and said to Salvador, "I know I was about two when that memory was made, because Grandpa Donny died before I turned three."

  Offering his own recollections, Salvador said, "I remember running around the streets of Jordaneno. We would chase each other with cigarette butts, trying to burn our friends before it went out."

  "How awful," Evie declared, completely appalled.

  Camille chortled. "At least you weren’t bored."

  "Yeah," Hank concurred. "Because if you were, you might have done something stupid… Like chase each other with hot embers," he said, dryly.

  Salvador laughed. "Maybe that’s why my family moved to the United States."

  A lengthy roll of thunder shook the windows, instigating a lull in conversation. Hank stood and went to the window behind his chair. The rain had not let up for three days. The house belonging to Norman Phelps, across the street to the South, was only visible as if through a thick haze.

  Water flowed along the sides of the street in twin streams. A flash brightened the sky. Moments later another peal of thunder rattled the windows. Outside the dogs gave an authoritative challenge to the forces of nature. They barked angrily, running from one side of the yard to the other.

  "Does it always rain like this?" asked Salvador.

  "Nope," Hank answered. "This is downright peculiar." He was silent for a moment, and then he added, "I remember driving in Detroit once when they had a sudden rainstorm. It was the most amazing thing I’d seen. I had the wipers on high and I couldn’t make out a thing though the windshield."

  "That’s what it’s like out there," Salvador interjected, excitedly. "I couldn’t get over thirty-five miles per hour after we stopped to help that lady."

  "Thing is," Hank continued. "When I pulled over, it was maybe five minutes until the really bad rain had passed. Around here, we don’t get rain like that, because the Coastal mountain range stops all of the worst weather."

  Abby didn’t seem interested in the conversation and stated, "I want Borris and Bess."

  "Who are they?" Evie asked.

  Norah answered quickly, "It’s an educational program we let her watch, now and then."

  Evie clamped her mouth shut. She figured that Borris and Bess were more likely the video babysitter than an occasional acquaintance in the Rodriguez household. But Evie wouldn’t condemn her daughter for something like that. God knew it wasn’t easy raising a child, much less two.

  Hank chimed in. "We can set her up in the movie room, down stairs, but I’m concerned about the lightning. I’ll hook up the little TV for her and unplug everything but the player and a light. We should get ready for a power outage. I’ll bring in some wood, in case it gets any cooler tonight."

  "Do you think we’ll lose power?" Evie asked. She was more worried about what might happen if lightning struck, but she did not fuel her fears by giving voice to them. Instead she skirted the subject. The event of a power failure didn’t much concern Evie.

  If the power went out, they were prepared. Candles and lanterns were everywhere throughout the house, particularly the living room. Evie enjoyed the ambience of candle light. Hank was partial to it, too, so they kept a fair supply of lamp oil and candles on hand. And if all else failed, they had a generator-contraption that Hank and her son, Kyle, had built. The thing that scared her was a direct hit by lightning and the effects that such a thing could have. That was the anxiety that she could not voice.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  As Hank headed out of the room, Louis Armstrong belted out: Give me a kiss to build a dream on… from Evie’s phone. She plucked it up and looked at the display just before flipping it open. "Lexi! Where are you?" A modulating buzz could just be heard from the earpiece. Sarcastically, Evie replied, "Great…" Another warble buzzed from the phone. Everyone in the room was uncommonly quiet. "Well, they made it fine. But, I think you’re going to get a reprieve from unloading, if this rain doesn’t let up."

  A person could almost make out the word ‘steak’ as Lexi spoke. "Yes. That would be the downside. Your dad won’t be firing up the barbeque in the rain." Some sort of exclamation launched from the phone and Evie laughed. "Sorry. Okay, we’ll see you in a bit. Bye." She folded her phone closed and looked around the room. Hank fixed his eyes on Evie, waiting for the report, his posture echoed by Norah and Salvador.

  "That was Lexi," she said to her audience.

  "Figured that part out," Hank quipped.

  "There’s a bridge lift. She’s at the head of the line, but she may not get here for a half-hour."

  Evie looked conflicted for a moment and Hank asked her what was on her mind. "Oh," she waved, "I was just thinking I should have Shellie tell the dog owners that they would get a day credit. Nothing, really." Her dog daycare catered to mostly high-end clients. Keeping them happy was a paramount concern for her. Evie picked up her cell phone and began dialing.

  Hank turned to Norah and asked, "Do you have a Borris and Bess video handy?"

  Norah said, "Yeah," and burrowed through her gym bag until she found it.

  Hank took it and excitedly said to Abby, "Look what I’ve got here. Do you want to watch a Borris
and Bess video?"

  Abby brightened up and shouted. "Yeah!"

  Hank took her hand and said, "Okay then, come with Grandpa." The pair left the room holding hands.

  While Evie was making her calls, Camille said, "Well, that was a good lunch. It’s time to feed my birds."

  "You go do that, Pop," Evie said, absently. She hardly thought of it any more. They had a variety of poultry: chickens, ducks and even some turkeys. They kept them mostly for Camille’s entertainment. The old man had lived with them for many years, rather than in a retirement home. And they found out pretty quickly after he moved in, that he needed to stay busy, or he would find something to do. Once, he had painted their entire garage black while she and Hank were at work. His rationale had been that it would be less conspicuous and therefore attract less interest from burglars. Evie shook her head at the memory just as a voice came over her phone.

  Salvador watched Camille walk out and then gave his attention to the room at large. Evie had got a hold of someone and was chatting about the weather. Norah sat quietly, as usual. "Your parents have a nice place," he appraised.

  "It’s pretty nice," she amended.

  "It’s a lot nicer than any place we’ve lived," he observed.

  "It wasn’t when we moved in," Norah informed him.

  "Yeah? What was different?" Salvador was curious.

  "I don’t know. It was just a real dive." Norah’s smooth cheeks began to flush.

  "Like, the windows were boarded up, or what?" Salvador pressed.

  "No. I don’t know," Her voice escalated. She didn’t like being grilled about her family. "Like, the basement was just a dirty space full of low hanging lights."

  "Were the owners before you growing marijuana?" He knew they were, but he wanted to learn more about her family… his family. She seldom spoke of them, except for saying how much she missed them.

  "Yeah," Norah confirmed. "But they were renters. They were growing weed and dealing drugs. This was a drug house for a long time, before Mom and Dad bought it."

  "Oh. How else was it different?" Salvador asked conversationally.

  "Why don’t you ask my parents? They can tell you better than me." Norah huffed.

  Salvador was frustrated that he could never have a talk with his wife. Anytime he tried, she got angry. "Sorry. I was just asking."

  Evie closed her phone and said, "What were you just asking?"

  Norah jumped in with an answer, "He wants to know everything you’ve done to the house."

  Salvador shot his wife a look, but clenched his jaw shut before saying anything to his mother-in-law. He hated that Norah constantly cut him off and spoke for him. It was as if she thought of him like a child. She wouldn’t talk to him, but she had no problem talking for him. With an effort, he pushed his mouth into a smile and nodded at Evie. "I was just saying that your home is a lot nicer than anyplace we’ve ever lived."

  "It ought to be," Evie said with a grin.

  Salvador replied with an empty expression. He wasn’t sure what she meant by her statement.

  Still grinning, but with a maternal quality, Evie expounded. "Hank and I have more than twenty year’s head start on you. When your children are grown and on their own, your home will be nicer than theirs, too." She grew more serious as she continued. "The reality is that we lived in some pretty nasty places while he was in the Army. Then, after he got out, we spent a couple years living with his grandmother. Mainly because my mother decided that she hated my husband."

  "Why?" Salvador asked.

  "Because she thought he had knocked me up. Then, Hank didn’t ask my father for my hand and he’d insisted on paying for the wedding, which was small, and he never gave me an engagement ring. In short, because he didn’t follow tradition."

  Salvador swallowed hard. "We didn’t even have a wedding. We just went to the J.P."

  Evie smiled wickedly. "And that is why I hate you."

  Salvador’s jaw became unhinged and Norah exclaimed, "Mom!"

  Evie laughed. "With us for parents, Norah, I don’t know why you don’t have a better sense of humor."

  Salvador gave a self-conscious chuckle.

  "It was a joke," Evie snickered. "Really, Salvador, if I hated you, I’d just put rat-poison in your coffee."

  "I don’t drink coffee," he replied.

  Evie looked at him for a long moment and then laughed again. "Now that’s funny."

  Looking sidelong at his wife, Salvador sent a wan smile in Evie’s direction.

  Apparently ignorant of his discomfort, she continued her tale. "Once my mother got to know him, she realized that he was a really good guy. It didn’t hurt his cause when she found out that Kyle wasn’t his, but he had married me anyway. Then her tune changed to, ‘You don’t deserve him’," she said in a mocking tone.

  "So then what happened?" Salvador asked. But at that moment, the front door flew open and a sleek, black dog bounded in.

  CHAPTER SIX

  "Susanna Rae!" Evie squealed and jumped into the arms of a slim, blonde woman who was coming through the door. "You made it!"

  The black dog whipped through the room followed by the staccato cracks and thuds of its slender tail pounding into every vertical plane.

  "Hi, everyone!" Susanna Rae greeted Salvador and Norah over Evie’s shoulder.

  "Hi, Auntie Sue," Norah said as she also jumped up for her turn to hug.

  "You look like a drowned rat," Evie commented on her sister.

  Susanna Rae gave Evie a wry expression and said, "You might have noticed: it’s raining! And due to an enormous U-haul taking up my designated parking spot, I had to walk half a block to get out of it."

  Evie took her sister’s coat and Susanna Rae closed the space between her and her niece, affectionately hugging the younger woman. "Hey, Baby Girl, I’ve missed you! I wanted to be here when you got here. And I would have got here sooner, but there were a few things at the office that I couldn’t put off."

  Still grinning in the arms of her aunt, Norah said, "We haven’t been here long, so you haven’t missed much. Oh, it’s so good to see you!"

  Salvador stood to greet this new relative, but the black dog inserted itself between him and its mistress. He didn’t know if the thing would bite, even though its tail was furiously wagging. Every effort to step around it was thwarted, as the sleek, black dog just stepped with him. And its nose was pressed embarrassingly into his crotch. He pushed it with his hand, but its wet nose was right back snorting his business.

  "Tessa!" Susanna Rae growled. "Leave him alone!" She reached down and tugged at Tessa’s collar, pulling her away from Salvador. "Come on. You’re going outside." Tessa seemed ecstatic with the idea and lurched toward the door. "No! This way," said Susanna Rae and redirected her dog toward the back of the house. As she got Tessa going, Susanna Rae was force to straddle step in an awkward gait to keep her energetic canine friend under control.

  Salvador hadn’t realized that Norah’s aunt was so young. She couldn’t be more than thirty, he thought. Then he realized that he was following the sway of her hips as she stumbled Tessa toward the back door. Evie laughed at her sister and Salvador broke his leer to look at his mother-in-law. Then he darted a glance at his wife, fearful that she had caught the direction of his eyes. Norah was grinning at her aunt and after a moment, joined her mother in laughter. Salvador let go of his sudden tension with a quick sigh.

  He looked down to find a dark blotch on his faded blue jeans, right where the dog’s wet nose had been pressed. He modestly tried to brush the spot away. It seemed to darken and Salvador’s face went crimson.

  "Honey!" Evie said as she placed her hand on Salvador’s shoulder. "You’ve got to learn control. I mean, really! I have an excuse for a weak bladder. I’ve had three children." Evie laughed at her own wit.

  Salvador’s shade was nearing purple. "I didn’t have an accident! It was that stupid dog shoving its nose in my stuff!" He was practically shouting. Evie took her hand away as her smile faded from
her eyes.

  "I know, Sweetie. We’ve all been there. If you don’t laugh at it, then it’ll just make you mad." She followed her words with a patient smile.

  "Well it does make me mad," he shot back.

  "That’s your prerogative," she said and patted his shoulder. "Just don’t blame the dog. Tessa is smart. But her mommy doesn’t give her much discipline." Evie threw a blazing glare at Susanna Rae when the woman walked back into the room.

  "What?" Susanna Rae asked, innocently.

  Evie looked at Salvador and threw up her hands with a shrug. "She’s hopeless!" Salvador chuckled, despite his irritation.

  "Whatever," whined Susanna Rae. She thrust out her hand to Salvador and crossed the room. With a clear, confident voice, she said, "Hi. I’m Susanna Rae. Like Ray of Sunshine. Sorry these two don’t have the manners to introduce me."

  Salvador forgot his irritation entirely as he looked into the most sparkling, lively eyes he’d ever seen. He reflexively extended his hand and took hers. Are they green, or brown? He couldn’t tell. He lowered his angle of view, somewhat. They are green… maybe. He cocked his head to the side, a bit. No. They’re brown.

  Mordantly, Susanna Rae asked, "Aren’t you married to my niece?"

  He again felt the heat of embarrassment in his cheeks and ears and Salvador stammered, "I – I didn’t mean anything." He looked to his wife, for support, but she was glowering at him. "It’s just… I couldn’t tell the color of your eyes. I didn’t mean to stare."

  "Well then," Susanna Rae said with high eyebrows and a sardonic smile. "You won’t mind if I have my hand back."

  Salvador jerked his hand to his side as if he’d been stung.

  "Don’t worry, Norah," Susanna Rae said as she looked at her niece. "I may like his complexion, but I’m holding out for Marcus, if you don’t mind."