Approaching Menace

by June Shaw

  “You’d never catch me eating that gross stuff,” Colin said with finality.

  Josie heard a door shut.

  Scrambling to the recliner, Colin stood on it, reaching for the dialysis machine. “Help, Fred! She’s grossing me out.”

  “Who’s grossing you out?” Sylvie came from the kitchen. She eyed Colin standing on the furniture and kissed him.

  He pointed to Josie. “Her.”

  “Not me.” She shrugged innocence.

  Sylvie kissed Josie’s cheek. “Good, and see that you don’t.” She sat beside Colin, slipped a shoe off, and rubbed her foot. In the same moment, her gaze strayed to the sofa. Sylvie rose, hobbled there, and straightened a pillow. She plucked up a dark thread and placed it in her jacket pocket.

  “You look worn out,” Josie said.

  Their mother sat again. “We never stopped. Two people called in sick, and the store was swamped with the sale so they called me. These new shoes pinched my toes, and we never slowed down. You know how it is, Josie.”

  Sure, everyone needs a new diamond now and then.

  Sylvie picked a piece of grass off her shoe. Colin’s attention returned to his small athletes, and Josie said she was going to bed. “We won’t be long either,” Sylvie told her.

  Josie paused to glance in the kitchen. The uneasiness that came over her made her scalp tingle. The noise she’d heard had not been ice dumping. What had made those sounds only seconds before Sylvie pulled in?

  * * *

  In the morning Josie still felt ill at ease. She checked outside the wooden kitchen door. Near the latch, she found scratches.

  Somebody had been out there trying to break in.

  She trembled. Reasoning came as she studied the small scratches. Her father had broken into their house back in Nashville. Whenever he returned, if nobody was home, he scraped the door like this while he jimmied the lock.

  He could have made these marks while he was still living here. Or maybe he’d come back yesterday and tried to get in.

  Josie had too many jumbled feelings to try to sort them all out. She hurried to the store and rushed to finish sewing the hem.

  During the afternoon Bitsy came in looking especially young with no makeup on and her hair in a ponytail.

  “Perfect,” Bitsy said once Josie carefully zipped the gown on her.

  Bitsy stood tall on the stand while Josie stooped, inching around the circle, touching and straightening the hemline. Swaying to make her skirt swing, Bitsy kept the hem moving across the top of her shoes. “Now I won’t trip on this,” she said, giving Josie her hand and stepping down. “You’ve got it perfect.”

  Randall Allen came near. “Is everything all right?” he asked Bitsy. “You look lovely.”

  “Yes, your seamstress is wonderful.”

  Josie felt herself blush when they stared at her with admiration. “I’m glad you like her work,” Allen told Josie’s first customer, and he and Bitsy praised her for getting the tedious task done so quickly.

  Josie remained at Ye Bridal Shoppe late to complete a hem the previous seamstress had left half finished, and when she drove off, retained the feeling she thought an accomplished maestro must experience after an exceptional performance.

  In the morning she would get right to work on the suit for the grandmother of another bride. She knew how to improve on the aqua taffeta outfit. If Josie tapered the waist, adjusted darts to raise the bust line, and moved shoulder seams in half an inch, Grandmother’s dress would have a perfect fit.

  Josie mentioned her suggestions, and the elder lady said no, she would take it just as it was.

  Josie determined a Byron Songe gown would look even better if she added a lace bouffant at its rear waistline. The sleeves of a dress by Blakely would look exquisite with matching sequins sewn in. Josie wanted to remold the bodice of a midnight blue velvet gown.

  Stopping at a drugstore, she sauntered down an aisle deciding one day she’d have a shop of her own. In it she would display only works she designed.

  The idea sprang up and excited her so much she found herself paying for only aspirin. She’d almost forgotten to ask for Colin’s prescriptions.

  Her enthusiasm ebbed once she had his medicines in the bulging bag on the car seat beside her. The late afternoon sky had darkened. Rain clouds hovered, bringing the sky so low it seemed the entire mass might rest on the moving cars. Headlights shone from cars and trucks coming toward her. She turned on her lights. Adjusting her mirror to see through the thickening traffic, she gave a signal and shifted into the left lane.

  A dark car behind her moved there, too.

  The center of its headlights made a slight twinkle, making Josie recall she had recently noticed that coming from another car.

  Paying closer attention, she saw this car looked like a dark sedan. She watched for another space in the right lane, spied a small opening, and slid there.

  So did the sedan.

  She couldn’t see its driver.

  Waiting for an opening in the left lane, Josie pulled there and watched the sedan draw over to the rear of the truck right behind her.

  Her pulse raced and stomach tightened. In the mirror she saw the sparkling headlights remaining two cars behind.

  A buzzing formed in her head. She remembered the noise outside the kitchen door.

  Chapter 11

  Just ahead of Josie, a squad car parked on the highway’s right shoulder.

  She squeezed between two trucks and pulled up beside the police car. Leaning over, she rolled down her passenger window.

  The older cop looked weary. His window came down.

  “Officer,” Josie said urgently, “do you see a dark sedan following me?”

  The patrolman glanced behind her. He looked at Josie with bored eyes. “Yep, at least a hundred.”

  She turned to see vehicles speeding by bumper to bumper. Within the mass of glass and metal darted many sedans.

  “Right. Thanks.” She offered a meek smile. Giving a signal, she pulled out, and then she drove slowly on.

  The parking lot was filled almost to capacity when Josie arrived. She swung off the highway to a service road and swerved into the parking lot. Andrew’s Honda was parked in front of Big Ted’s Lounge, to the right of the entrance.

  Locating a parking spot in the rear, she still felt slight apprehension and glanced around before leaving her car.

  Parked two spaces over was a dark sedan. A man inside it was moving.

  Josie shoved the key again into her ignition. She pressed the clutch while her heart raced. With her hand ready to turn the key, she noticed something familiar about the back of the man’s head.

  His hair looked dark, as did everything else except the neon green sign displaying the bar’s name. From a rear corner of the shell parking lot came the glow of one bare light on a pole.

  Josie stared at the man’s head. Its shape was elongated. His ears stuck out. He was laughing, she saw, and then she witnessed red hair on a woman rising from the seat beside him.

  The men held up something that looked like a bra.

  Josie grinned and turned away. She got out of her car and tried to lock it. The lock wouldn’t hold.

  “It was Johan,” she said with a laugh minutes later, seated next to Andrew in Big Ted’s.

  He chuckled. “Johan rode here with me. He started talking to a redhead and after a while, they disappeared.”

  Voices of the Monday evening crowd swelled around them along with a thickening cloud of smoke, adding to the customary smell of stale tobacco. Mounted to the wall behind the bar, a wide-screen television showed players who would be starters for the game. Some people hushed to listen. Laughter from others said they were already on their third or fourth drinks.

  Josie grinned. “No wonder Johan doesn’t talk about who he’s dating.”

  “I think he dates any girl he can latch on to for one evening. But then he gets scared. He never mentions the same girl twice.”

  When the bartender han
ded Josie a glass of Chablis, Andrew watched the Dolphins win the coin toss. He paid for her drink and covered her hand with his. “I wouldn’t want to have to go back to having first dates.” His blue eyes flashed mischievously and he added, “Especially not in the front seat of a car.”

  Big Ted’s was exceptionally cold, but Andrew’s hand over Josie’s gave her warmth. “Neither would I. You’ve spoiled me. I’d never want to go back to searching for the right man.”

  His gaze held on hers. “No. You’ve found him.”

  Contentment settled inside her. The day had been good, except for her experience on the highway. Sylvie had picked up Colin from practice, and he was now the team’s water boy. Carrying drinks to the players made him feel important. He got to rub shoulders with Mom. And now, Josie was totally relaxed seated so near to the man who’d become most important, even after their long haul with his problems. Or maybe because of them.

  He released her hand. From the opposite side of his drink, Andrew slid out a small sheet of paper.

  She noticed the slight move. “What’s that?”

  He tucked the sheet into his shirt pocket. “Notes from the bank.” He peered at the TV, glanced at Josie with a smile, and then squeezed her hand. Andrew pulled on his drink and stared at the game.

  A whistle drew Josie’s attention to the TV. Men in uniform lined up and scrambled, slamming into each other.

  She saw numbers on their jerseys, a prickle of anxiety coming as she considered the ones she’d just glimpsed on Andrew’s paper. He’d had so many hidden numbers right before they started attending the meetings. By the time he was ready to acknowledge his inability to quit betting, Josie was smitten. She agreed to help him.

  She felt Andrew’s gaze on her face. Turning, she offered a weak smile, and his eyebrow rose as though asking her a question. Her smile broadened. He gave her a tight-lipped grin and stared at the game.

  Feeling her forced grin leave her face, Josie heard people talking and recalled what Andrew’s boss at the auto dealership said when he discovered Andrew took some money. Andrew had “borrowed” two hundred dollars to pay off a gambling debt and expected to return it by the end of the week, but his boss, Preston Peters, noticed the discrepancy before then. Luckily Mr. Peters admired him as a person and a worker. “If you’re willing to get help,” Josie recalled Peters saying, “I won’t press charges. And I’ll be happy to give you a good referral.” Peters told them his obese mother had been unable to control her eating. Her inability to take charge of her life added to her ill health and eventual death. “I wish somebody could have helped her,” he explained, letting them understand why he was acting so charitably. And he liked Andrew and his work at the dealership.

  For quite some time afterward Andrew said he felt unworthy. He apologized profusely to Josie and Peters. He applied for other jobs and, finding none, thought everyone knew what he’d done.

  At the second meeting of Gamblers Anonymous, he stood, told his name and what led to his being there. Josie was proud when he did that. She urged him on, and after submitting more resumes, he landed the job at the bank. Of course, if anyone there even suspected he’d pilfered cash, he never would have been considered. Mr. Peters was happy for him; Josie was thrilled.

  They learned in group sessions that almost any addiction can make good people do awful things they can’t seem to control. Except with help, which Andrew wanted and received.

  And she had her phobia of bad weather. She understood uncontrollable actions.

  On television a player wearing a Dolphins uniform remained on the ground. People rushed to him. Announcers’ words droned.

  Josie had sat through those sessions with Andrew while men and women, many of them professionals and most with trembling voices, admitted their unmanageable need to gamble. The months after she discovered Andrew’s dilemma had been the most difficult. She glanced at him now, admiring his profile. He was indeed a special person. He felt perfect in her life and gave her days meaning.

  “Oh, my car door doesn’t lock,” she thought to tell him.

  He smiled and placed an arm around her waist. “I’ll fix it.” He studied her face. “Any other problems?”

  “Not really.” She snuggled closer.

  Many of the patrons staring at the screen awaiting word of the player’s condition also had problems. Some drank too much. A few probably used illegal drugs. Some wore paunches that revealed an overindulgence of food. And I’m not perfect either, Josie reminded herself, exchanging a grin with Andrew.

  “Now,” he said, “when you came dancing in here, you said you had news. You’ve told me about Johan. What else made you so cheerful?”

  “I was excited,” she said, “and apprehensive.”

  “What could do all of that to you?”

  “I made a decision. Now that I’m settled with a job again, I’m going to start a campaign for organ donors.”

  His face brightened. “What a great idea.”

  “And you,” she said, clutching his fingers, “will have an important function. You will be tender of the campaign funds.”

  “I’ll be glad to.” His grin left, replaced by a somber expression. “I hope it does some good.”

  “So do I.”

  A sportscaster’s voice roared. “And he scores!”

  Applause and cheers erupted in the bar. “So the Dolphins have taken the lead by three,” an announcer said. The audience’s approval was accompanied by foot stomping. Carried away, Josie let out a cheer.

  “Drinks all around!” yelled a man with stiff white hair and a stuffed dolphin on top of his cap. The bartender shoved Josie another glass of wine.

  “Drink up, girlie,” the elder Florida fan told her. “You’ve got the only sober face in this crowd.”

  She didn’t mind being different but she peered at the screen, glad the home team was doing well. Colin would be excited. Everyone thought the Dolphins would lose by two touchdowns. Josie’s quickening heartbeat felt great since the reaction had come from a game. She liked seeing their team ahead. She especially liked putting concerns behind and getting swallowed by the crowd’s exultant mood.

  Josie felt giddy by the time everyone celebrated the Dolphins’ victory. She was still smiling when she swung into her driveway and glanced at Andrew’s bike, hushing its roar behind her. Her cheerful attitude altered when she saw a dark car, the only other vehicle moving on their street, slowing at the rear of her driveway.

  When it sped on, she chided herself for being such a sissy.

  She parked and met Andrew on the patio. “Boy, do we have a team!” she said, her exuberance from the game returning.

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Yep, we’re number one again.”

  Josie seldom watched football but now felt like a first-class fan. “Our team can’t be beat.”

  Andrew gave her a gentle smile. “And you know another team that can’t be beat?”

  “Who? We’ll take them on.” Filled with team spirit, she was about to say more, but Andrew pressed nearer.

  “You and me.”

  She grinned, letting go of her fighting ardor.

  His eyes narrowed. “Josie, I’d like to whisk you away on a white horse.”

  A lovely image captured her imagination. She could see herself carried off, leaning against Andrew on a large horse’s saddle. Andrew wore a cape that flowed. So did her gown, one she’d specially designed. Her silken straight hair blew behind.

  What they escaped from eluded her. Until her vision clouded over. She envisioned her parents. “Andrew, I….”

  Kneeling, he took her hand. “Josie Aspen, would you be mine? Forever?”

  Josie’s breath stopped. Her lips twitched into a smile.

  Andrew rose and kissed her. They drew away from each other and kissed again, breathing in unison, moving closer until it seemed neither could be aware that the other was a separate person.

  A light above their heads sprang on.

  Josie watched Andrew’s eyes expa
nd. She giggled and moved back from him.

  He laughed, too, and the door opened.

  Colin came out wearing a robe and pajamas. “Josie, where’ve you been?” His forehead creased and his cheeks quivered.

  Andrew gave a playful nudge to his shoulder, but this time Colin didn’t smile.

  Josie glanced in the door. “Where’s Sylvie?”

  Her brother’s eyes filled with accusations. “She told me you’d be back in a little while.”

  “She’s not here!” Josie didn’t ask it, for the idea seemed inconceivable.

  When Colin looked up, the light reached the moisture pooling on the ledge of his eyes. “They called her at work again. I didn’t know where you were. I’ve been waiting.”

  Josie grabbed him. “Oh, Colin.” Finding no other words, she gripped the terrified child to her chest.

  He whimpered into her shirt. “I’ve been just with Fred.” Rubbing his face, he tried to dry his tears. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said, voice cracking in a whisper. “Don’t leave me alone, Josie.”

  Her gaze rose to meet Andrew’s. “I won’t,” she promised. “I won’t ever leave you alone.”

  Moments later, Andrew left. He patted Colin’s shoulder, peered at Josie’s eyes, kissed her cheek, and was gone.

  She kept her arm around Colin to guide him inside and avoided staring at his red-veined eyes. Speaking quietly, she sent him to the bathroom. Then she tucked him into bed. Sitting on the edge of his bed, she watched while he settled his head on his pillow, wrapped an arm around it, and then opened one eye to be certain she was still there.

  She stayed with him until he was in a deep sleep. After she went to bed, it took a long time for her to fall asleep. Worries about him continued. She needed to speak to Sylvie.

  Visions of Andrew came. His body pressed against hers and then he took her hand, drawing her away from every problem.

  Headlights bounced around in her troubled dream. The lights closed in behind, winked like large eyes, and retreated.

  Sylvie drifted into the picture. Dressed as a maiden, she smiled into a camera. Her dainty foot touched something and she leaned forward as though tripping. Righting herself, her face glowed at something. She grabbed dollar bills from a sleeping Colin’s pocket and crept off into the night.