Relative Danger

by June Shaw

  If Kat showed up.

  My head lolled back. Roger was taking control. He had attended college for two years. His choice to quit. He’d wanted to keep working on cars. Loved his job, built up his own business. My son had been enthusiastic about his occupation, until Nancy took sick.

  Nancy. Her image and soft voice swirled. She didn’t graduate. And even while we assured her it didn’t matter, to her it always did. She appeared the perfect wife and mother, yet never seemed to feel as important as other people. Only because she’d missed receiving that one damned piece of paper.

  Kat would be safe. I imagined Nancy’s voice telling me that and felt her assurance. The police would protect all the students.

  I hopped to my feet. Yes, Kat would graduate. I didn’t need Gil. I didn’t need anyone’s help any longer.

  I rushed across the den for my cell phone, and it rang. The incoming number showed my Cape Cod office. “Cealie!” Bud Denton cried when I answered.

  My heart jumped to my throat. “Bud, what’s wrong?”

  “Isn’t a semicolon’s main job to replace a comma and ‘and’?”

  “Huh?”

  “I wasn’t totally certain, and Jena’s out for vacation. Sue Ellen isn’t sure either.”

  “Bud…”

  “It is, right?”

  “Don’t you have a nice grammar book or two or five?”

  “My glasses broke. And Sue Ellen needs to get some.”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Yes, you’re correct.”

  “Ah, thanks, Cealie. So how are things going for you?”

  My eyes rolled up. “They’re going.”

  “Great. See you.”

  I clicked off. Soon I was going to have to fly up to Cape Cod and have a little instructional talk with Bud and Sue Ellen. Did I have the right people running that office? Should I move there and run it myself?

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to settle down. And I couldn’t think about it now. Much more critical concerns swirled through my head. Kat. Roger. Gil. Legs. Exploding automobiles.

  The explosion grew in my mind, its flames and racket and blown-up fragments drifting toward the school building and trickling inside. Nearing the auditorium, filled with graduates in caps and gowns.

  An explosion on stage?

  “What?” Kat asked once I reached her on the phone.

  I repeated my statement. “Kat, don’t graduate!”

  Her small snicker came through the line. “Gram, you’ve been pushing me like crazy to attend graduation. And now you’re telling me I shouldn’t go?”

  “Warning you, honey. Wherever they hold graduation, don’t go there. Forget that school.” I paced in and out of my condo’s rooms, clasping the phone to my ear, an ache in my heart from wanting to hold Kat.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” she said. “I had to talk so much to those police and everybody, and now I’m really tired.”

  “I know you are, sweetheart.” My hip bumped the bathroom counter. I twirled and sped toward another room. “What’s your dad doing?”

  She sighed. “Same as you, worrying about me. But I’ll be okay, Gram. I just have to—”

  “Rest, Kat.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “Just one more thing. Who else in your class has a real high average?”

  She grew silent. Probably wanted to ask why. Probably didn’t have the energy. Finally she said, “I guess John has the best grades.”

  “John, your boyfriend?”

  “We broke up, remember?”

  “I remember. He wanted to get serious.”

  “And started to get jealous. I’m really exhausted, Gram.”

  I reminded Kat that I loved her and she said the same. We hung up. My heartbeat had quickened. John Winston. I jabbed in the number of the police station and asked for Detective Sandra Jones.

  She wasn’t currently available. I asked whether the person I was speaking with could give me any information. Had they learned anything new about my granddaughter’s car that blew up at school?

  No, sorry. But Detective Jones would have a note to return my call. I hung up and tried Sidmore High. Heard the busy signal. Tried again. Still busy. “Damn.” I threw my cell phone across the den, and it clattered along the floor.

  I yanked open the door of the console that hid the television and flicked it on. Scrolling through channels, I searched for news. Finally found a local reporter. “So decisions haven’t been made yet about when classes at Sidmore High School will resume.”

  A close-up of the school snapped up on screen. Then a distant shot showed the blocked-off parking lot as I’d last seen it. “This is where a bomb, apparently a small pipe bomb, blew up beneath a student’s car. All we’ve been able to ascertain is that the car was an older model red Chevrolet.” The female reporter returned into view. “We’ll continue to break into regular programming whenever we receive more information.”

  I was grateful that they weren’t naming the student whose car exploded. I still couldn’t believe it happened.

  Later in the evening, Gil came by. His face showed concern when he entered.

  I led him through the den. “Can I get you anything?” I said without emotion. “Water?” I opened the fridge and peeked in. “Cranberry juice?”

  “I don’t want anything except to find out what’s going on with you.” Gil’s eyes were piercing. He stepped close, moving into my space in the kitchen.

  I slid away from him. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just waiting to see what’ll happen at school. I’ll attend graduation, if they have it. And then move on.”

  He shifted, and his hand settled on the counter. It nudged my cactus’s pot, making him notice the plant. “That’s Minnie,” I said. “My new traveling companion.”

  Gil’s eyes appeared darker while they gazed at me. I stayed across the room. “I see,” he said, his expression telling me he understood more than the words I had spoken.

  “Cealie, if I can help you with anything… Or Kat. Or Roger.”

  “No thanks, we’ll be fine.” I gave a small smile to show him.

  His shoulders seemed lower when he walked to the door. Gil stopped and turned. “Even if we aren’t together anymore, you’ll always be important to me.”

  Gushy flutters rushed around in my chest. I was tempted to dash across the room and knock him down, stripping off my clothes and his.

  I lowered my head. Forced deeper breaths and purer thoughts before I answered. “Thank you. And you’ll keep being important to us.” I made certain to include the others, couldn’t tell him all he meant to me. I almost ran to the door to give him a parting hug. But letting Gil go would prove too difficult. There was no more Cealie and Gil. “I saw your new girlfriend,” I said.

  “You did?”

  “At your table. At least twice.”

  He nodded slowly, wearing a small grin. “Now I really understand.”

  “I’m glad you found someone else.” I forced my voice steady while I opened the door for him. “And I appreciate your concern. That’s what friends are for.”

  He gave me a steady gaze. I turned my head away and opened the door wider.

  “Thanks for coming over. Goodbye,” I said, locking the door after he went out.

  I walked straight to the sofa, trying to swallow the knot and keep my shaky arms still. I sat, staring at the television. Faces and motion came and went. At some point late in the evening, I heard the breaking news.

  Sidmore High School would reopen in the morning.

  Chapter 22

  I trembled through most of the next day. Kat was at school, taking her final exams.

  “The police said they thoroughly searched the school and surrounding parking areas,” Roger said when he phoned me sometime during the morning. Many officers would remain at school for security. He had dropped Kat off, and she’d get a ride home with a friend. “Kat’s fine,” he said to me in an uncertain tone.

  “I’m sure she is,” I blatantly lied
. “And how about you?”

  “I’m good. Kat said she’ll give you a call when she gets home.”

  She did. I rushed to their house. My gaze skimmed over her, and she looked okay. At least physically. “So you decided to go,” I said.

  “Yes. The tests weren’t too bad. Being at school was kind of scary. But I guess I did all right.” She had avoided the parking lot. Some teachers had told her that her average was high enough in their classes and she wouldn’t have to take their finals. But now she needed to study for her last exams she would take tomorrow.

  “You don’t have to,” I reminded.

  Kat gave me a look. “Gram, I know how much Mom wanted to see me graduate. And Dad might not say it or show it, but he’d be crushed if I didn’t finish school.” She sighed and sat down. “And I’d be disgusted with myself if I gave up now.”

  Roger came back from work early, and we visited a few moments. I left, knowing they needed their lives to feel as normal as possible.

  Detective Sandra Jones returned my call. I told her what I’d learned from Kat about John Winston. “He makes top grades. He was jealous.” I also made sure she knew what the girl from the warehouse church said. “Last Thursday John wrote a note saying Miss Hernandez was being arrested, and he passed it around class to reach Kat. Of course, Miss Hernandez was at school the next day, so he’d just made up a lie to antagonize Kat.”

  Jones thanked me for the information and said she’d get back to me with any new developments.

  I pondered over what I’d told her. Who knew what else John Winston might be capable of doing? And just because Marisa hadn’t been arrested didn’t mean she was no longer a suspect. My brain felt frazzled, as though it had been given the frizziest perm.

  Early the next afternoon, Kat phoned. “I’m through, Gram.”

  “With that school?”

  “Yes.”

  Enthusiasm filled me. “Woo-woo-woo! That’s terrific!”

  Her tone was less enthusiastic. “I’ll be sending out my announcements late because I hadn’t decided if I’d go to the ceremony.” She exhaled loudly. “But I will.”

  She had no choice but to let me come over and get her. Kat needed a change of scenery.

  When I reached her house, she was holding the panda. She showed me her graduation pictures. Kat in a lagoon blue cap and gown, smiling, her happy green eyes peering straight into the camera. Kat with her head tilted, her look pensive. Her reddish hair blurred with my tears. She autographed a large and a wallet-sized picture and gave them to me.

  We hauled everything over to my condo. There we sat at the table with her pictures, announcements, and a list of people to send them to. What scared me the most was that the announcements said commencement exercises would be held at Sidmore High School. “Why there?” I asked.

  “Since the explosion, some people thought about changing the ceremony to the Community Center. But the seniors voted. They still want to graduate from Sidmore.” Concern showed in Kat’s face.

  “Nobody believes that’s too dangerous?”

  She shrugged. “There weren’t any signs of explosives or other sabotage. It seems that whoever did it was just after me. Or my car. For some reason.” Her gaze shifted toward the floor.

  “Kat, you really don’t have any idea why that would have happened?”

  She stared at me, shook her head. “Miss Hernandez called,” she said, voice still dull. “She wanted to see how I was doing.”

  “What a nice lady. But I still get creepy feelings about you going back to that place.”

  “I know. During the exams I kept looking around, wondering…”

  “I haven’t quit wondering either. Who did it? Why?” Kat’s eyes clouded, and I added, “Some of the other kids are jealous of you, too, aren’t they? You make great grades. You’re beautiful.”

  She gave her head a small shake. “I’m no better than anybody else.”

  I grinned. Took her hand. “Are you scared to return to Sidmore?”

  “Of course.”

  We clasped hands. Stared off but saw only inside ourselves. We drew our hands apart. “Now let’s invite people,” I said. “Let ’em know you’ll be commencing the new and probably the best phase of your life.”

  Our gazes met and reflected. Kat’s new phase, her going off, would mean more worries for her father. And that worried Kat.

  “You haven’t considered going to a college around here?” I said.

  She shook her head. “I suggested that to Dad, but he knows I always wanted to go off and feel independent. He says I can’t stay around here now just for us to baby each other.”

  She addressed envelopes and I stuffed them with announcements, adding pictures to those she indicated. We talked about some of the relatives. Kat wrote little notes to a few of them and suggested I do the same. I jotted a few sentences, telling people I knew how brilliant and gorgeous my granddaughter was.

  I only questioned two of the announcements she was sending. “On your note to my cousin Stevie, absolutely do not tell her I’m here. She lives so far away, and there’s no need to tempt her. So don’t send her a ticket either, just a picture and the announcement, okay?”

  Kat agreed, and I quickly mentioned Gil. “Send his to the restaurant.” I considered, one ticket or two? “And I’m sure he’d like a picture of you with his ticket.” He would only receive one.

  I stuck stamps on the envelopes after Kat finished writing, and she drew up her knees and cocked her legs sideways on the chair like she used to do as a youngster. She created a slight oval, elbows at her knees, hands cupping her face. Her unfocused eyes watched my hands.

  A few days ago I’d wanted nothing more than for her to strut herself in a colorful robe across a platform in a large auditorium. Now I was dreading that scene.

  How was she seeing herself? As one of the graduates who’d walk up to that stage and…hear an explosion?

  “Kat, you really don’t have to do it.”

  She didn’t seem surprised or ask what I was talking about. “I know, Gram.”

  We gathered her things and then left. Kat ran into the post office with her stack of envelopes. She came out swinging her arms. “I just sealed my fate. I’m about to become a graduate.”

  We rode in silence—Kat, like me, probably trying not to think. We picked up the mail truck from the last repair shop. I crossed my hidden fingers and told Kat some kid had scribbled I hate you on its door, so I’d had to get it painted. I shivered, recalling the threat the person had really written. She seemed too weary to question anything.

  She drove the Mustang while I returned the mail truck to the dealer. I no longer felt adventurous.

  “I’d like to go home now,” Kat said, scooting over so I’d have to drive the Mustang. “I’m meeting some friends tonight to get ready for our senior trip to the Bahamas next week.” She gave me a small smile. She’d been saving the money for quite some time.

  Kat, lying carefree on a tropical beach, sounded terrific. If she survived until then.

  A thought came. A frightening thought. “Will Sledge be going? And Roxy?”

  “I’m not sure about Sledge. But Roxy won’t have enough credits to graduate.”

  Kat promised to call me in the morning. Maybe we’d get together. Do something.

  * * *

  I was lonely all evening. Until the doorbell rang. Gil’s gray eye was at my peephole.

  “Hi,” I said, letting him in. I backed away from the door and from him.

  “Cealie, I have to explain something. You are so—”

  Behind him, the doorbell chimed again.

  “Mr. Gil,” Kat said, coming in and sharing a warm hug with him. The three of us sat in the den, making chitchat about the restaurant and graduation. Kat was returning from meeting with friends and had stopped by to show me her brochures. Gil and I raved about them and her upcoming trip. Gil asked about the bomb at school, and Kat and I gave general comments, neither of us mentioning that her car had been th
e target. Kat’s eyes became fearful.

  “Kat,” I said, shifting the conversation, “I want you to open one of your graduation gifts.” I retrieved the box from my bedroom.

  She and Gil made anticipatory remarks while she loosened the fancy wrapping and then Kat shouted, “A Twister!”

  “I’ve never played,” Gil said. “Anybody want to show me how?”

  I spread out the plastic sheet and spun the arrow. Kat hopped up from the sofa. “Oh, a video camera,” she said, spying one on the floor. I’d purchased it to film her graduation and afterwards planned to give it to her. “You two play. I’ve got to film this.” She giggled like a young girl.

  Soon the den was filled with all our laughter. Gil’s big socks covered whole red, green, blue, or yellow circles where I sometimes wanted to put down my foot. “Shove it over, buddy,” I said, nudging his side with my hip.

  He keeled over, purposely tumbling to the floor. “She cheats,” he said, pointing a finger at me for the camera’s benefit.

  Kat laughed, teased me, and kept filming. Gil got back into place, his foot allowing space for mine. Our bodies were twisted, his left hip jamming against my butt. Mmm, comfy, I thought. His next move seemed impossible. Gil revealed his agility. He spun on one foot and somehow maneuvered his body to reach his next circle. The move left his body bent over mine, with little air between us.

  I fought my torso’s rising heat and was hoping Kat wouldn’t notice. The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” she said, scooting away to the door.

  Gil murmured in my ear. “Nice being so close to you again.”

  I scowled. “But soon you’ll be going back to your young lady friend.” I forced on a wide smile. “I’ve been watching Miss Long Legs. And she’s been eyeballing me.”

  Gil’s grin looked smug. Or maybe it appeared that way because I was peering at him upside down.

  “Mother!”

  My knees folded, and my torso fell to the plastic sheet.

  “And Gil,” Roger said, coming in the door with a plant. He stared at Kat, who again aimed the video camera at us. “And you’re filming this?”