by Deanna Roy
“Can we go back and catch her?” he asked.
Her lashes flitted down. “Sure. You know where it is?”
“Not a clue.”
The woman smiled. “I’d show you myself, but I can’t leave my post.” She pointed down one of the corridors. “Go down the A hall, turn right first chance you get. It’s a door marked ‘Employees Only’ on the left.”
“Got it. Thanks.” He turned to me. “Ready?”
I nodded.
We walked down the hall, passing numerous open doors of elderly people in beds or wheelchairs. Most of them were watching television. Everything smelled of antiseptic and medicine. I hadn’t been in many places like this. My father’s parents had died when I was very young, and my mother’s parents were jet-setting all over the world in their retirement.
We found the break room. Redmond opened the door. Inside, a couple women in scrubs were chatting. One of them, a slender dark-haired woman in her early thirties, narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
The other woman scooted through the door. “Catch you later, Charlie,” she said.
“Sure,” Charlie answered, then returned her glare to Redmond. Finally she cast her angry gaze at me. “Who’s this?”
“Chance’s girlfriend.”
I could see that caught her by surprise. “He hasn’t said anything about any girlfriend.”
“So you have been talking to him.” Redmond flashed her a wide smile. “Well, she met him playing a gig in LA. And she’s trying to find him again.”
Charlie looked back and forth between me and Redmond, unsmiling.
“If he wanted her, she’d know how to reach him,” she said. “Sounds like you’re getting involved in his business.” She paused for effect. “Again.”
Redmond held up his hands. “She tracked him down at the house. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Charlie?” I said tentatively. “I think he might have lost his phone not long after I met him. Have you heard from him in the past two weeks?”
“Of course I have. He checks on his sister almost every day.”
Redmond pulled out his phone. “Is it a new number?”
“I’m not giving it to you,” she snapped. “Why do you think he changed it? You all ganged up on him over that pink-haired tart from the beach.”
My face flamed red.
She looked at my hat, and then must have spotted the bits over my ears. She stepped up close and lifted the rim to look closer. “Unbelievable. It was you?”
I stepped back, but she was already pushing us toward the door. “This is a staff-only area. You are not authorized to be back here.”
“Charlie, pry open that cold black heart of yours. The girl has got some reason to find him. You might want to ask her what it is.”
“I don’t care what it is. I saw the stories. She’s got some big-shot boyfriend, and she doesn’t need to be toying with Chance. He’s got enough to worry about.” She got us moved out into the hall. “Now, get out.”
Redmond turned to face her again, but she slammed the door. I could hear a bolt falling on the other side.
“That went well,” I said.
“Yeah, Charlie can be a little much.” Redmond scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I’m not sure what else to tell you. She’s about the only person who knows how to get to Chance at the moment.”
I leaned against the wall. “Now what do I do?”
“I guess you let it go,” Redmond said. “Pick up the shards of your broken heart.” He sighed. “That idiot Chance. Can I take you somewhere? Are you hungry? Do you have a hotel?”
The urge to start bawling was fierce. I had come so far. I couldn’t just give up.
“You think there’s a chance that Charlie will tell him I came, and he’ll want to see me?” I asked.
Redmond’s face contorted. “Not sure, really. Maybe.”
I pushed away from the wall. “I guess that’s all I can do, then, hope Charlie will contact you, and you can contact me.”
“I’ll get your info from you. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear, if I do.” He looked concerned now. “Did something, you know, happen?”
He looked like he might be catching on.
The words stuck in my throat. I couldn’t tell this total stranger the things that Chance should hear first.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.”
“Are you in trouble? Did that director threaten you?” Now he looked angry.
“No, I just…I just regret how I left things,” I said. That was true.
“Let me take you somewhere,” Redmond insisted. “I can tell you all about growing up with Chance McKenzie.”
Actually, that sounded kind of nice. If I wasn’t able to track Chance down anytime soon, I could at least build a bunch of stories to tell the baby. Let him have something to go on.
Chance couldn’t stay gone forever, right?
A rotund woman in a gray floral dress hurried toward us. “Redmond, is that you?”
He turned, and his expression changed again. “Oh, boy,” he said.
“What are you doing here? Visiting Hannah?”
Redmond cleared his throat. “No, I came to see Charlie.”
“Oh,” she said. She noticed me then, and nodded politely. “How do you do?”
“Oh, Mrs. McKenzie, this is —” Redmond stopped when he realized I hadn’t ever said my name.
I swallowed the shock that this was someone related to Chance, and said quickly, “Jenny. I’m from Los Angeles.” I held out my hand.
She took it gingerly and shook it very slowly. “Chance was just in Los Angeles. I saw it in Star magazine.”
No point beating around the bush. Chance’s big exposé obviously had made the rounds. “He was with me, Mrs. McKenzie. We had a misunderstanding when he read the accounts of my relationship history. I’m here to find him, to set things straight.”
“Oh!” she said. Then after a second, another “Oh!”
“Have you heard from him?” I asked. “I think he changed his number.”
“He never writes me back,” she said. “He’s gone on quite the adventure, cutting himself off from everyone.”
“’Cept Charlie,” Redmond said. “She knew all about everything.”
“Oh!” Mrs. McKenzie said again. “Maybe I should speak to her.”
Redmond pointed at the door behind him. “She’s holed up in there,” he said. “But we can stand siege. Cut off all escape routes.”
“Redmond, you were always such a card,” Mrs. McKenzie said. She turned to the door and rapped loudly. “Charlie? It’s Chance’s mother. Let me in.”
Nothing happened.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she said. She knocked again. “Charlotta Jones, open this door this instant!”
Redmond stifled a laugh. Mrs. McKenzie turned to him sharply. “Hold your laughter, Redmond. I can speak to your mother as well.”
“Won’t be telling her anything she doesn’t already know,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
The door opened. Charlie stood there, her face red, her long dark hair twisted in her hand. “I’m not going to give up his number to anybody,” she said. “He’s gone for a reason.”
Mrs. McKenzie sniffed. “It’s not right for a boy to turn his back on his family. Think of poor Hannah.”
I thought Charlie’s head was going to blow to bits, she got so red. “He thinks of her every day. You could stand to think of her a little too.”
Now Mrs. McKenzie was the one with red cheeks. “She’s my perfect little girl,” she said. “She never should have gone out there after her brother. She was innocent in every way.”
“Well, none of the rest of us are,” Charlie said. “Including you.”
Mrs. McKenzie closed her eyes like she was trying to maintain her patience.
Charlie sighed. “I have to get back to work. Go visit her. But don’t skip the hand-washing and the
masks today. We have two patients with pneumonia right now.”
“Thank you for your advice, Charlotta,” Mrs. McKenzie said.
Charlie took off down the hall, her black shoes squeaking on the shiny waxed floor.
“Well,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “That girl needs a husband.” She turned to me. “Would you like to meet Chance’s sister?”
I felt lightheaded at the suggestion. Really? She was okay with me?
“Of course,” I said. “I’d love to see her.”
Mrs. McKenzie threaded her arm through mine. “I was once a wayward girl in love,” she said. “I understand these things.”
We continued down the corridor, the same direction as Charlie. Redmond followed behind.
“Chance was a wild young boy,” she said. “In trouble all the time. When his father left, he just went crazy. I had my hands full with baby Hannah. I didn’t look after him like I should have. The very devil got in his soul.”
We paused outside a door decorated with a grapevine wreath in the shape of a heart. Hanging inside it was a hand-painted sign that read “Hannah.” Mrs. McKenzie reached out and straightened it. Then she opened the door.
The room was dark and hushed. Monitors lit up both sides of the bed with a soft glow, emitting a quiet beep beep.
Mrs. McKenzie let go of my arm and headed to the sink. “There’s antibacterial soap here,” she said. She washed her hands and opened a drawer, removing two blue masks. “One for you.”
I followed her lead, washing my hands and tucking the strings on the mask behind my ears.
Redmond stayed back in the doorway.
Mrs. McKenzie moved toward the window. “She needs some sunshine,” she said.
As the curtains shifted, I could make out the girl on the bed. She had a tube taped to her mouth. Her chest rose and fell with the movements of a machine pushing air into her lungs.
Jesus.
Mrs. McKenzie took the girl’s hand between both of her own. “Hello, sweet Hannah. I brought you someone special to meet. This is Jenny, Chance’s girlfriend. She’s from California!”
I glanced back at Redmond. His lips were pursed tight.
“Come on over, Jenny. Don’t be shy,” Mrs. McKenzie said.
I took a couple tentative steps forward.
Hannah looked to be in her teens, thin and frail with wispy mocha-colored hair. Her skin was pale and waxy. She was a pretty girl.
“I can see her resemblance to Chance,” I said.
Mrs. McKenzie beamed. “They always did favor each other. Always sweet too. Chance was a protective big brother. There’s an eight-year gap between them. I struggled to have another after my boy.” Her eyes closed for a moment, her lips moving silently. I realized she was praying.
“Is she going to get better?” I asked, having a feeling I knew the answer based on the timeline and Charlie’s accusations.
“Of course she is,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “The Lord has his own timetable. We just have to be patient.”
Redmond spoke up from the doorframe. “You ready for me to take you back to your hotel, Jenny?” he asked.
“Nonsense,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “Jenny will come to the house. She can stay in Chance’s room. She’ll get a hoot out of his action-figure collection.”
“I wouldn’t want to put you out,” I said.
“I’m so delighted to get to know you,” she said. “You’re such a sweet and pretty girl. I’m glad Chance finally found one worth holding on to.” She reached out to tweak the edge of my sun hat. “Such a lovely dress and hat. A real old-fashioned girl.”
I couldn’t wait for her to spot my pink dreadlocks.
Chapter 37: Chance
I wanted a new path to California this time, so I headed deep south, toward Georgia. What I really needed was a damn airplane. The urgency to get back to LA was intense.
But that was a lot more money than I could get in tips on a typical night. Based on the gig in Portland at that vegan restaurant where I did so well, I knew I had to find the places catering to people with bucks.
Trouble was, the joints I kept landing weren’t anything like that. The ritzy places weren’t going to take me. The poor places netted me barely enough to keep going.
I sat on a bench in Atlanta near a mall I’d been to a thousand times with my mother. I was less than two hours from Chattanooga right now, and was seriously thinking of stopping by to sell my truck. Or drive it.
I could probably sell off some things, raise some cash to start over in Cali. I had stuff. Furniture still at Redmond’s. A computer. My old guitar.
The more I thought about it, the better this plan seemed. I’d done my stint hitchhiking. I’d played all over the country. Now I could just go straight to the place I liked best. I could look up the Sonic Kings. They’d bring me on a gig, I knew it. And if I had some cash, I could probably crash with one of them on the cheap, helping out with bills as I figured stuff out.
I stood up. This was a good plan. I just had to make this last stretch back to Chattanooga. An easy hitch. Or hell, I could even call somebody to fetch me. Any one of the old boys would do it, just to hear my tale.
Except…I didn’t want them. I didn’t want any of them.
My past came crashing down on my head, killing all my enthusiasm. If I went back there, I’d have to deal with my mother. And my so-called friends.
And Hannah.
I’d have to look at her again, wasting away. The worst thing she could have ever feared. Her biggest nightmare. She was living it.
Except she wasn’t alive. She was being kept alive. She wouldn’t want that. But I hadn’t been able to change things. I hadn’t done anything at all.
Except be part of what put her there.
I sank back down on the bench. I’d chosen this hard road on purpose. It was my punishment, my penance, what I deserved.
The night of the accident wanted to encroach on my thoughts, but I wouldn’t let it. I’d done enough thinking these past five months to last a lifetime. I knew what I wanted now. Cali. The band. That girl.
Jenny.
Thinking about her pink dreadlocks made me smile. Remembering her spontaneous run down the beach soothed my tortured soul. She was just the ticket. Exactly what I needed.
I had to get there.
I got up, racking my brain for places I knew in Atlanta that might help with the cash situation. I needed a place that wasn’t fancy, but catered to rich people.
I started walking toward downtown, but my phone buzzed. Charlie. I hadn’t talked to her since New York. I should have called. If something had happened to Hannah…
I mashed the button. “Hello?”
“Chance McKenzie, I just met your pink-haired trollop and you probably better get back to Chattanooga.”
For a minute, I just stood there, not sure what I’d just heard.
“Chance, are you listening to me?”
“Are you saying Jenny is in Chattanooga?” I asked.
“Redmond just brought her to the home. They thought they could weasel your phone number out of me.”
I felt giddy and light. Jenny! She had found me!
“Charlie, this is great! Tell her my number! Hell, I’m in Atlanta! I can be there in two hours!” I wanted to laugh at the world, shout into the sky. Jenny was freaking here!
“You’re in Atlanta? What the hell are you doing so close?” She sounded annoyed that I wasn’t in Timbuktu or something.
“It’s just where I wound up, making my way down from New York.” I still couldn’t get over it. Jenny! In Chattanooga.
“You want someone to come get you?” Her voice was full of uncertainty.
“I might have enough money for a bus ticket.” I started walking in the general direction of the station, even though it was miles away. “I don’t want to sit here waiting for two hours.”
“I can’t believe you’re racing here to meet up with that girl,” Charlie said. “Have you already forgotten those articles? The video? She’s trou
ble, Chance. Big trouble. Trouble you don’t need.”
I stopped walking. “Did you find something else out?” Maybe there was a problem over the news stories. Maybe something had happened with that director.
“Chance! It’s obvious! She played you. I don’t know how or why, but you can’t trust this girl.”
I let seconds tick by as I let this sink in. I had just gotten burned in Virginia. She might be right.
“Chance?” Charlie’s voice was impatient. “What are you going to do?”
The sidewalk was a blur beneath my long rapid steps. It didn’t seem to matter what my brain was thinking, any doubts Charlie was planting. My legs had their own agenda.
“I’m coming home,” I said. “Don’t let her get away.”
Chapter 38: Jenny
As we left the nursing home, Redmond tried once more to convince me to go with him instead of Mrs. McKenzie.
He ducked his head in close. “You sure ’bout this, Jenny?”
Part of me would rather go with Redmond, the part who liked things easy. But if this woman was going to be my baby’s grandmother, I was laying the groundwork for everything ahead.
“I’ll be all right,” I said. “She’s a lovely woman.”
“I hear every word you two are saying!” Mrs. McKenzie called out.
I gave Redmond a final nod and followed the stout woman to an old-model Honda, shiny and well kept despite its age.
“Have you had a chance to see much of Chattanooga yet?” Mrs. McKenzie asked as she manually unlocked the doors from the outside.
“I just got here a few hours ago,” I said.
The car was stuffy and warm from sitting in the sun. I leaned forward to keep from smashing the back of my hat in a way that might reveal the pink hair. I needed to make a good impression on this woman before she figured out that little detail.
“Well, there’s a lovely little bakery just up the road that I adore. Would you like to stop by for a refreshment?”
That sounded easy. “I’d be delighted, Mrs. McKenzie,” I said.
“Call me Carol Ann,” she said.
“All right, then, Carol Ann.” I watched out the window as we headed along a quiet road with houses set well back from the street. “I’ve never been to Tennessee before.”
