Red - Jack Ketchum [43]
But she will work on this.
TWENTY-THREE
At quarter past three in the morning Genevieve Raton rolled over out of her sleep and out of a dream in which she was burning autumn leaves in the fireplace on her dad’s old farm long since sold in favor of a condo in Sarasota, realizing much too late that the flue wasn’t working right, wasn’t drawing correctly, and that leaves alight with flame were burning on the hardwood floor.
Awoke with her left forearm shoved right into Laura Hindle’s face.
Laura grunted and opened her pretty green eyes.
“Sorry,” she said.
Laura yawned and smiled. “What’s with you tonight, kiddo? You‘re not ordinarily a thrasher.”
“No, I’m not.”
“This is the third time, you know.”
“It is?”
“Yep. The first time you kneed me in the belly. The second time we went hip to hip. C‘mere.”
She opened her arms and Genevieve nestled in.
She felt comforted immediately. The flesh comforted. It always did. The flesh was warm and safe. By now they knew each other’s bodies almost as well as they knew their own.
“Is it that preggy kid? The one who reminds you of Dorothy?”
“I don’t know. I was back at my dad’s house. So maybe. She used to visit me there all the time. My parents thought we were only friends.”
“You were friends.”
“You know what I mean.”
Laura was a social worker by day and a part-time bartender at Vance & Eddie’s by night. She knew how to draw you out. Sometimes all it took was a silence at just the right time. Like now.
“Old dead leaves,” she said.
“Huh?”
“I was burning old dead leaves.”
Laura pulled back a bit and regarded her. Then gently kissed her forehead.
“Maybe you still are.”
“As in…?”
“Yes. Fallen leaves. You really did love her, didn’t you?”
“Not enough. Not enough to make her stay.”
“Come on. You know better than that. People can’t make other people stay. They only stay if they want to. Or need to.”
Of course. She knew the truth in that. It had been a bitter truth at the time. But she was so very young then. And when you’re young pain can take a long time to go away. And leave its residue forever.
She looked up into her lover’s eyes.
“Do you need to? Stay, I mean?”
Laura kissed her again.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said. “I really don‘t.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Peg awoke sweaty and disturbed. She didn’t know by what. She almost never remembered her dreams, especially the bad ones. But she felt sure she’d had a bad one.
Her mother was standing in the doorway. Darleen was already out of bed and somebody was running water in the bathroom.
“What are you doing, Peg? Time for school.”
“I’m not feeling so good, mom. I’m really not. Okay if I stay home today?”
Her mother looked angry. She didn’t know why she would, first thing in the morning.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” she said. “Get up.”
“It’s only a half-day. Teachers’ conferences, remember? Please? If I get up I’m gonna be sick.”
It was true. She felt queasy.
If she got up there would be breakfast. The very thought of breakfast made her stomach turn. Her mother waved her hand in front of her face like she was swatting at a pesky fly.
“I don’t have time for this. Fine!”
She stalked away.
What the hell was that about? she thought. She wasn’t about to ask.
But she’d bet it had something to do with her dad.
Or that strange, almost fascinating creature in the cellar.
She pulled up the covers and closed her eyes and when the sounds of morning in the Cleek household eventually ceased, fell back to sleep.
~ * ~
Brian was standing at the school bus stop when the Escalade glided by. His father gave him the usual salute and Brian returned it.
With a lot more vigor than his dad was used to seeing.
~ * ~
Peg’s desk was empty. With the kids all working on their pop quiz