Queen's Park

CHAPTER 8

Beth felt the best part of the day settle around her like a prayer. Mom’s having a nap and I’m enjoying a cup of tea, she thought. She took a sip and felt the warm gold of Earl Grey wander its way to her toes. They wiggled at her. She pushed her black hair back with her free hand.

She looked up. Ernie used his thumb and forefinger to pick up a green tennis ball. He shook off some of Scout’s drool. She jumped at the ball but he held it high. Scout sat, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. Ernie flicked his wrist. Scout was after the ball before it hit the fence. She jumped. The ball rebounded past her nose and she was frozen; tail pointed here, nose over there.

After the divorce, after Bob’s attack, Beth feared she would never hear her son laugh again. But she heard it now. It came from way down inside of him. She ignored the guilty reminder that Ernie had no brother or sister and never would. The postpartum depression following her child’s birth had lasted for months. She remembered the fatigue, the hopelessness, forcing herself to eat food that tasted like nothing at all.

“Beth!” Nanny’s voice cut through the summer heat.

Beth’s shoulders sagged. Responsibility settled in her belly. An anchor holding her on the bank while the river rushed past.

“Beth!”

Beth’s motion was well practiced. She stood. With a flick of the wrist, the hedge was showered with the remains of the tea. Its amber was suspended, like the dog, like the laughter, like her life.

“What’s up, Mom?”

“How long did I sleep?” Nanny sat up with sweaty hair flattened on one side.

Beth looked at the clock on the microwave. “About half an hour.”

“The detective. You know, the one called Lane. He went to see Ernesto today,” Nanny said.

“I didn’t know.” Beth sat down in the chair across from her mother. She looked at the coffee table and saw a large brown envelope. “Get some mail today?”

“Oh, that.”

“What kind of letter?” Beth was afraid her mother had received more bad news. But what could be worse than emphysema and two heart attacks?

“Nothing to worry about.” Nanny tried to light a smoke with shaking hands.

Beth read the fear in her mother’s voice. It was something to worry about. Without thinking, Beth stood, took the envelope and opened it. “This is disgusting,” she said. It was a glossy centerfold of a woman with her legs spread and the fingers of her right hand tangled in pubic hair. FIRST I’M GOING TO KILL THE BOY THEN I’M GOING TO RAPE YOU! was written across the bottom. Beth shivered. The obscenity fell to the floor. She wanted to wash her hands. “What is this?”

“It’s starting all over again.” Nanny lit a cigarette.

“Did Bob send this?”

“No, it was Marv and Lester. They’ve done this before. When Judy ran away I got a letter like this, only it said you were goin’ to be raped.”

“I’m calling the police.”

“Go ahead. Waste your time. They’ll tell you there’s no way of tracing something like this. There won’t be any fingerprints but yours and mine.”

The phone rang. Beth reached for it. “Hello.” She was surprised by her lack of reaction to a familiar voice. “Hello, Miguel. I’ll get Ernie.”

It took two steps to reach the kitchen window. “Ernie, it’s your Dad. Long distance.” Beth moved back into the family room, picked the picture off the floor and slid it into the envelope.

“What does that son of a bitch want?” Nanny said.

The screen door squealed open. Ernie and Scout bounded inside. He reached the phone in three long strides. “Dad?”

“Take your shoes off!” Nanny said.

Beth watched Ernie press the receiver to his right ear and clamp his left palm over the other. “Hi Dad.” Ernie listened for at least 30 seconds before saying, “Next week?”

“Shit!” Nanny said.

“What time on Saturday?” Ernie said.

“Don’t forget the oxygen,” Beth nodded at the plastic lines under her mother’s nostrils. She turned to Ernie, saw the colours of the bruise on his cheek and the scar on his nose. Later, when she had the time to think back on this day, she realized this was when she became a different person. When she discovered that anger could make her walk right over top of her fear and grind it into the ground like it was a cigarette butt. How she hated cigarettes!

“Don’t tell me what to do in my own house!” Nanny said.

“Seven thirty?” Ernie said.

“Get me another pack of smokes,” Nanny said.

Beth was motionless.

“Where? You wanna go where?” Ernie said.

Ordinarily Beth would have been hurt with her son’s happiness at hearing from a mostly absent father. And she would have buried that hurt. Not any more, Beth thought.

“Tell him your mother could use more money for support!” Nanny said.

Being caught in the crossfire was familiar territory for Beth. She was sure Ernie would be furious when he got off the phone. Still, she thought, Canadians have a tradition for peace keeping. Beth held the joke inside and put a hand to her chest.

“Sounds great, Dad!”

“Beth? You gonna let him go?” Nanny said.

“I’ll see you at the airport,” Ernie said.

“Who’s gonna tell Miguel what’s happened? It’ll end up being the women ‘cause the men in this family got no balls!” Nanny said.

“Coglioni,” Beth corrected in Italian. “Ernie, take the dog for a walk. I need to talk with your grandmother.”

“I just finished throwing the ball,” Ernie said.

“Take her for a walk, please,” Beth said. “Your grandmother and I have some talking to do.”

Ernie was about to argue when the phone rang.

“Who’s calling now?” Nanny picked though the clutter atop the coffee table and found a fresh package of cigarettes. “Damned phone.”

Scout led and Ernie followed. He grabbed her leash and his shoes.

Nanny stood and shuffled over to the phone. Beth stood, arms crossed under her breasts.

The phone rang twice more before Leona reached it. “Hello? Judy? Where are you?”

“Cayman Islands!” Nanny said. “Where the hell is that?” Ernie left.

Nanny covered the phone with her palm and said to Beth, “It’s Judy.” Leona took her hand away from the mouthpiece, “I was just tellin’ Beth.”

Beth held her hand and wiggled her index finger in front of Leona’s face. Nanny’s mouth dropped open. She stared at her daughter’s hand. Beth grabbed the phone. “Judy? It’s Beth.”

“Oh, hello Beth. I was just calling to see if you’d heard from Bob,” Judy said.

Beth heard ocean waves in the background. “No, we don’t know where Bob is. Do you know Bob attacked my son?”.

“What are you talking about?” Judy said.

“It’s called sexual assault.”

“Bob wouldn’t do that!” Judy said.

“You haven’t faced the truth about Bob for 25 years, why do it now? And, since we’re on the topic of what Bob’s been up to, what do you know about the missing three million dollars?”

“Some money is missing?”

Beth’s rolled her eyes at the innocent guilt in Judy’s voice. “Afraid there might be a tap on this line? Guess that says it all. So, I assume you’ve got the money and Bob hasn’t shown up. Well, that bastard put Ernie in the hospital. You’re free and clear with a pile of cash and living on a beach!”

Beth hung up while watching Leona’s eyes.

“What the hell’d you hang up for?” Nanny said.

“I’m sick and tired of dancing.” Beth sat down in the chair.

“Dancing?”

“Yeah, dancing. Dancing around what happened to Ernie. Dancing around the fact that Judy’s gone, Bob’s gone and three million’s gone. And we’re left to deal with the mess. We dance and Judy just walks away.”

Nanny lit another cigarette.

“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that three million disappears and Judy turns up in the Cayman Islands? I bet it’s one of those islands where the bankers don’t ask too many questions! And guess what? Judy’s at a loss for words when I ask about the money. Ever know Judy to be at a loss for words?” Beth said.

“My Judy wouldn’t steal three million dollars!” Nanny said.

“And your Judy never ran away at 18 after bad mouthing the family business. She did such a good job we had to sell out and move away!”

Nanny didn’t answer.

“It’s funny, Judy won’t talk about the money and you won’t talk about Bob or this letter.” She pointed at the envelope. Beth thought for a moment, “Judy phones and asks about Bob, so she doesn’t know where he is.”

“Don’t ask too many questions,” Nanny said.

“Then tell me what the hell is going on here!”

“Leave it alone. You don’t want to know,” Nanny said.

“Not only do I want to know, since my son’s involved, I have every right to know.”

Nanny glared back in silence.