Harvey Holds His Own

by Colleen Nelson

  Maggie snorts. “I can’t even imagine suggesting that to Lexi.”

  What kind of friends do you have? I wonder, and when I look at her face, I know she’s thinking the same thing.

  “I’ll be in Mrs. Fradette’s room,” she says. “Let me know if you need help with anything. I’ll bring Harvey with me so he isn’t in the way.”

  Harvey follows Maggie down the hall. Mary Rose shows up carrying a tray of cups. She nods to the dining room. “I just checked in with Mr. Santos. He’s showing Phillip his stamp collection. Your poor grandpa.” She shakes her head, laughing.

  “At least now the sing-along won’t seem so bad,” I point out.

  Mrs. O’Brien appears with a tray of cookies, including the double-chocolate ones Grandpa likes the best. Miss Lin has made paper flowers for all the tables that match the tablecloths and napkins. On the back wall, Louise hung up a banner that says: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. Lots of residents mill around chatting with one another. There’s never been a surprise party at Brayside that I know of and they’re buzzing about it.

  “I didn’t want to be late. It takes me a good five minutes to get down that hallway with my walker,” I hear Mrs. Luzzi say when she comes in.

  “Not me. Fifteen seconds, door to door,” boasts Mr. Singh. The party doesn’t start for another forty-five minutes, but they’re all here, waiting for Grandpa. Waiting to tell him how much they want him to stay.

  Chapter 44

  Maggie

  Maggie wouldn’t tell her mom what was wrong when her mom picked her up from school. She’s not sure why she told Austin, but she’s glad she did. Would her mom have understood the way he had? She doesn’t think so. She has no regrets about choosing Brayside over Tubby’s, but she is worried about what the future will hold for her friendship with Lexi and Brianne.

  These thoughts weigh heavily on her as she and Harvey arrive at Mrs. Fradette’s door. When Mrs. Fradette answers, Harvey stands tall, as if he’s ready for inspection. “You look nice,” Maggie gushes. Mrs. Fradette is wearing her signature red lipstick and a red dress to match.

  “I got all tiddled up for the party!” Mrs. Fradette says. “You’ve brought your dog.” She holds out her fingers for Harvey to sniff. He tucks his tail between his legs and inches closer.

  “You’re feeling better?” Maggie says, although she can tell that she is.

  “Just needed a little rest. The move to Brayside has been more tiring than I expected.”

  She gestures for Maggie to sit down, so she takes a seat on the couch. Harvey lies right at her feet, his head on his paws. “He’s very loyal to you, isn’t he?” Mrs. Fradette asks, nodding at Harvey.

  “I’m his person,” Maggie says with a shrug. Harvey gives a contented sigh.

  “Peggy was like that. Acted more like a dog than a deer. Whenever she saw me, she’d run over and nuzzle me, like a colt would. If I sat down, she’d curl up right beside me and sometimes put her head in my lap. It was the sweetest thing.” Mrs. Fradette’s face softens at the memory.

  “‘She’s wild, you know,’ Pépère reminded me one morning. He was drinking his coffee on the verandah. The rockers of his chair creaked against the wooden floor. ‘Not a pet.’

  “‘So’s Henri.’ I shot back. ‘And you keep him.’ I was like that, with an answer for everything.

  “Pépère smirked. ‘He stays with me because he wants to, not because he has to. This fawn—’

  “‘Peggy,’ I interrupted.

  “‘This fawn,’ he said again, ‘needs to survive on her own. You can’t keep her. What’s going to happen when you go back to Winnipeg?’

  “I didn’t have an answer. Pépère’s reminder that I’d have to go back to Winnipeg one day was like a bucket of ice water. It put me in a foul mood and I wouldn’t answer him. I was still surly when we walked to the garage later on, which didn’t help the situation with Norm Lacroix.

  “Ever since I threw that rock at him, he and a gang of boys would walk past the garage on the way home from school. They stood on the other side of the road so someone walking by wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but I knew they were trying to intimidate me. They’d lean against the fence and watch me work.”

  Even as she tells the story now, years after it happened, Mrs. Fradette’s body tenses with fiery energy. “I decided it was time to fight fire with fire. There were all kinds of tools in the garage. Chemicals too. And the hoist for lifting cars. It was a dangerous place. They wanted to intimidate me?” Mrs. Fradette snorts with laughter. “I’d show them intimidation! I pulled out Pépère’s welding torch. It was connected to the tanks with a long hose. I’d seen him use it a few times and watched while he’d trained Alphonse on it. It didn’t look any different than the kerosene lamps we used for camping. I turned the knob that opened the acetylene and oxygen tanks.

  You should have seen the boys scatter when I came at them with a lit welding torch! I couldn’t go very far since I was attached to the tanks, but they didn’t know that! They took off down the road like a bunch of scared rabbits!” Maggie giggles along with Mrs. Fradette at the memory.

  “Well, guess who comes sneaking back a little while later? Norm Lacroix! He came behind the garage, through the field. There were car parts and a few rusted-out cars out there in the tall grass. Peggy loved it; perfect for grazing. Henri liked it in the field because he could stalk field mice.

  “Norm might have been trying to scare me, but when Henri raced into the garage, I knew something detestable was out there. My first thought was a dog, but then I remembered a lone fawn was an invitation for a coyote. I dropped what I was doing and ran out back. Norm was staring at Peggy. When she saw me, she walked over on her spindly legs and stood at my side.

  “‘You got a deer?’ he said. Curiosity was plain on his face.

  “‘What’s it to you?’ I asked. ‘And why are you here, anyway?’

  “‘I came to tell you to stay away from my friends.’

  “I hooted with laughter. With his red face and balled-up fists, he was the last person I was going to take orders from. ‘It’s you and your friends who need to stay away from me.’

  “He stuck out his chin and glared at me with his tiny, piggish eyes. I got a chill when he turned to Peggy and fixed her with the same look.

  “‘What’re doing with that deer anyway?’

  “‘None of your business,’ I said. But Norm wouldn’t let it go. “‘She just wandered into your yard, or what?’

  “‘I found her,’ I said. Peggy hadn’t left my side while we were talking. She positioned half her body behind me and peeked out at Norm. ‘Anything else you want to know?’ I put my hands on my hips and scowled at him.” Mrs. Fradette demonstrates, giving Maggie the same nasty look. “He stomped back through the grass to the main road. Henri gave a yowl of good riddance, but Peggy stared after him as if she knew he couldn’t be trusted.

  “I thought that was the end of it until Norm’s father pulled into the garage just as Pépère was closing up for the day. He stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. ‘That girl’s a danger,’ he said, pointing at me. Norm had gotten his small close-set eyes from his father. They were sunk deep into his face and had the same nasty glint in them.

  “‘How do you mean?’ Pépère asked. Of course he knew about the rock, but he hadn’t seen me with the welding torch.

  “‘She tried to set my son on fire today.’

  “Pépère knew what kind of a boy Norm was and he was probably thinking the boy deserved it. But he also knew what kind of a girl I was.” Mrs. Fradette winks at Maggie. “‘What was your boy doing hanging around the garage anyway?’ Pépère asked. ‘He’s got no business here.’

  “Lacroix laughed. Honest to goodness, he sounded like a villain from the radio programs we used to listen to. ‘The rest of the town would sure hate to hear that your garage was employing a girl w
ho’s been unkind to my son.’

  “Being the only garage in town was a blessing and a curse. Pépère got all Laurier’s business, but crossing the wrong person could spell disaster. Mr. Lacroix was a businessman and had influence. If he started bad-mouthing Pépère, people might take their business to Ste. Rose.

  “‘You keep your boy away from my garage and we won’t have any trouble,’ Pépère said. Then his tone changed. He pulled a rag out of his coveralls pocket and wiped his hands with it. ‘Why don’t you bring your car by tomorrow. I’ll do an oil change for free.’

  “Lacroix looked at Pépère like it might be a trick. Pépère raised his eyebrows, waiting for Lacroix to answer.

  “Lacroix glanced at me. ‘Don’t let her near the car,’ he said.

  “Pépère nodded and turned and went back into the garage. I waited until Lacroix had driven off before I spoke. ‘Why’d you offer to do the oil change? His son is the problem, not me. I was just defending myself.’

  “‘A man like him needs to leave feeling like he’s won. An oil change isn’t going to take more than half an hour. A bad relation ship with him will last a lifetime.’”

  Mrs. Fradette pauses, but only for a moment. “It was good advice. I think Pépère taught me as much about dealing with people as about fixing cars. But it was the cars I was crazy for. Engines made sense to me in a way reading and writing and arithmetic never did. I liked getting my hands dirty. Pépère let me tinker with the broken-down cars in the shed attached to the garage. I’d go to bed thinking about them, planning how I’d get them running again.

  “This was all fine and dandy while we were in Laurier, but I was worried about what would happen when the flood was over and we went back to Winnipeg. How could I return to being a St. Ambrose student when I knew in my heart that I was meant to be covered in grit and grease in a garage? It kept me up at night, that’s how much I dreaded going home. All my worries came to a head one night.”

  Chapter 45

  Maggie

  When Mrs. Fradette pauses, Maggie is at the edge of her seat. Don’t stop, she silently pleads. Harvey stirs at her feet, but only to reposition himself. Mrs. Fradette smiles at him, takes a breath and continues.

  “Like I told you before, Dad called every evening at six o’clock. Mom busied herself in the kitchen waiting for the phone to ring. The radio had said things were improving in Winnipeg, but we’d heard that before. No one believed the reports anyway. They weren’t fortune-tellers. That river had a mind of its own and all we could do was stand back, watching and waiting.

  “Only this one night, the call never came.

  “The first thing Mom did was call Uncle Wilfred’s house. If anyone knew where Dad and Ronny were, it would be he and Aunt Winnie. She called their place, but there was no answer there either. Mom flew into a tizzy. She wouldn’t let herself cry, not in front of us, but she kept wringing her hands and praying under her breath. There’d only been one death in Winnipeg due to the flood, but if the Lyndale dike had blown, well, who knew what might have happened.

  “Part of me wanted to escape outside. There was nothing I could do to help Mom anyway. I was about to sneak out to see Peggy when there was a knock on the door.

  “I’d seen the wartime movies when a soldier comes to a house to report a fallen comrade. And honestly, that was my first thought. The flood was the enemy and my dad was its victim. He’d sacrificed himself to save our home.

  “Mémère looked at Mom across the kitchen where she stood frozen. I wished Pépère were there, but he was still at the garage, or so I thought. If the worst had happened, well, we’d need him with us.

  “The knock came again. I couldn’t stand the suspense, so I went to the door and swung it open. ‘I thought no one was home!’ Dad’s voice boomed with laughter.

  “Mom flew across the room and clobbered him with a hug. Everyone started laughing and asking questions. Then Ronny showed his face too and behind them both was Pépère.”

  Mrs. Fradette pauses and smiles at the memory. Maggie finds that she is also grinning. She bends down and pats Harvey on the head. “They surprised you.”

  “They sure did. Dad and Pépère had worked it all out. As of the night before, the river level had gone down. The dike had held and our house was safe. My poor dad though. ‘Haggard’ doesn’t begin to describe his appearance. The fact that the first thing he wanted to do was be reunited with his family taught me something about him that day that I’d never have guessed at before. Mom couldn’t get close enough to him and for one of the first times in my life, I saw them share a kiss. Not just a peck on the cheek, either. A movie star kiss that left Mom gasping and weak in the knees. It made me blush to see my parents do that.” Mrs. Fradette gives one of her trademark cackles at the memory.

  “Even though Dad and Ronny were exhausted, Aunt Cecile and Uncle Joe came over with their brood to celebrate. We were loud, all of us. Uncle Joe brought his fiddle, which hadn’t come out since I’d been there, and it turned into a proper kitchen party with dancing and drinking. It was good to see Ronny too. He’d become a different person since I’d been in Laurier, but I think he would have said the same about me.

  “Later on, the two of us were sitting on the floor with our backs against the wall since all the grown-ups had the chairs. ‘Looking forward to coming home?’ Ronny asked.

  “‘Not really,’ I confessed.

  “‘You want to stay here with Mémère?’ Ronny used to joke that her sour face could curdle cream.

  “‘She’s not that bad,’ I told him. Since we’d been living with them, I’d seen a different side of her. She looked after Peggy, making sure her water bowl was full, and never complained about the extra work we’d made for her. ‘I just don’t see the point in going back.’ I knew by then that I didn’t want to be a nurse or a teacher, or any of the things other little girls thought about. There was no other job I wanted to do as much as work with cars. ‘I want to stay here and work with Pépère. I want to be a mechanic.’”

  Maggie had known this epiphany was coming. But to hear Mrs. Fradette say it out loud makes Maggie want to cheer for her. This part of the story is exactly what she’s been waiting for. She can feel an essay blooming in her mind: “The Hidden History of a 1950s Female Mechanic.”

  “I see your smile, Margaret. Just because I wanted something didn’t mean it was going to happen. It was still 1950 and I was girl. There were no female mechanics. It wasn’t even a possibility for me.”

  “What did you do?” Maggie knows Mrs. Fradette can’t have given up. But she doesn’t find out, because Mrs. Fradette looks at the clock. “The party starts soon. Maybe we should save the rest of this story for another day.”

  It pains Maggie to think of leaving the story there. Did Mrs. Fradette actually abandon her dreams?

  Mrs. Fradette stands up. “Shall we?” As she and Maggie go to the door, Mrs. Fradette looks at Harvey, who has roused himself from the floor with a yawn and a stretch. “He’s a sweet dog,” she says.

  Maggie looks down at Harvey. It’s hard not to smile at him. He looks so pleased with himself as he holds his tail high and trots ahead of them down the hallway. Maggie thinks she is lucky to have Harvey, and to have met Mrs. Fradette.

  Chapter 46

  Austin

  If you ask an old person how they’re doing, you have to be prepared to listen to the answer. I made that mistake with Mrs. Gelman and heard about her sciatica for five minutes. It could have been worse. Mr. Kowalski has hemorrhoids.

  “I think everyone’s here,” Louise says. We’ve got enough chairs and Artie is guarding the food. Charlie just called. He’s on his way.”

  “Where was he?” I ask.

  “At some building site a few blocks away. Said he’d be here in ten minutes.”

  My palms are sweaty waiting for Grandpa. Mrs. Fradette and Maggie come in with Harvey. He makes
the rounds, greeting everyone who calls him over. He especially loves Mrs. O’Brien, but that’s probably because she slips him baking when no one’s looking. Maggie doesn’t look as bummed out as she did when she got here, so maybe the visit with Mrs. Fradette cheered her up.

  Louise passes me the stack of letters from all the old people. “After we yell ‘surprise,’ you can call people up to read their letters.”

  Things are going according to plan until I hear Mr. Santos shouting in the hallway. “Wait! Phillip! We were only on Zambia! I still have all of Zimbabwe to show you.”

  “Oh no! Places everyone!” I whisper-yell. No one moves. They can’t hear me above the chatter. I catch Maggie’s eye across the room. “He’s coming!” I say more loudly.

  But half the people can’t hear well, and the other half can’t move well, so watching everyone try to find a chair is like watching a slow-motion game of musical chairs. The plan was for Louise to turn off the lights, but I can see now there’s no way a dark room with a bunch of old people is a good idea. Finally, Louise takes control. “Stay where you are!” she shouts. “He’s coming!”

  When the door to the games room opens, it’s not exactly how I pictured it. We didn’t practice the yelling-surprise part, so no one does. Instead, we stare at Grandpa, who looks more uncomfortable than surprised.

  “Sorry, Austin. I did my best,” Mr. Santos puffs from behind him. His straggly comb-over is flopping onto the wrong side of his head.

  Mary Rose shouts, “Three, two, one—” And then everyone yells, “Surprise!” sort of at the same time.

  Grandpa looks confused. “Is it my birthday?” he asks.

  “It’s your work-iversary. You’ve been working here for seventeen years,” Mary Rose tells him. She brings over a golden crown and places it on his head.

  “Have I?” he says with a chuckle. “Feels like just yesterday.” That gets a laugh from the other old people.