who pay for a single explosive moment with long stretches behind bars.
The hairy man was crying and pleading. Mainwaring didn’t stop hitting him until I kicked him so hard in the back of his left knee that he slowed and turned just enough for me to hit him almost square in the face. The hairy man was smart enough to slide away.
Nicole was back on the couch, sobbing now, sounding as crazed as her father, striking her fists against her thighs again and again.
I shoved Mainwaring toward her. “Take care of your daughter.”
Dazed, he stumbled toward the couch and sat down next to her. He still didn’t know what to do. He just sat there, still trapped in the vestiges of his rage. Then she surprised both of us by throwing herself into his arms and finally he was her father again, and he held her and began crying along with her.
I followed a trail of blood dots on faded linoleum to a small bathroom where the hairy man was splashing water on his face and cursing with a good deal of eloquence.
“That son of a bitch is gonna be payin’ me a lot of money by the time I get through with him.”
“Are you Windom?”
He whipped around and glared at me. “No, I ain’t Windom. Windom moved about four months ago when me’n the missus moved up from Anamosa. She’s at work and this is my day off from the railroad.” He put a hairy paw to his nose. “This look broke?”
I stepped closer. “Doesn’t look like it but I’m not a doc.”
He was still trembling. So was I for that matter.
“I’m gettin’ me a lawyer.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ll help you find one. I’m Sam McCain.” I put my hand out and he shook after hesitating. Blood bubbled on the left side of his mouth. “You need to go to an emergency room and get checked out. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Ryan. Nick Ryan.”
He grabbed a towel, wincing as he wiped his face. “Bastard is lucky I didn’t have my glasses. I can’t see much without ’em.” Finished drying his face, he said, “She ain’t been here but maybe fifteen minutes and I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. She said she was in trouble and didn’t I know what she meant. Then she started cryin’. If the wife was here she woulda known what to do but you know how it is when women cry- especially a young one like her-I just got her a bottle of pop and an ashtray. Young kid like that, I felt sorry for her. Then her old man busts in and tries to kill me. What’s this Windom s’posed to have done, anyway? This is the second girl come here since we moved in.”
“He supposedly performed abortions.”
“I’ll be damned. I don’t go for that, you know. Catholic.”
“You go to the E.R. and they can bill Paul Mainwaring.”
“Who the hell is Paul Mainwaring?”
He squinted at me when I laughed. “A very important guy. Just ask him.”
“Well, I hope he’s rich because I’m gonna sue his ass off. We need to fix this place up, that’s why we got a deal on it. Place we had in Anamosa was real nice but then the job shifted down here. I make a good living.”
“I’ve got an uncle on the railroad. He makes a lot more than I do.”
“Yeah? Whadda you do?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
This time the laugh was on me. “You should work for the railroad like your uncle. Honest work.”
“Believe me, I’ve thought about it. Now let’s go back to the living room.”
I led the way. Mainwaring was helping Nicole to her feet. I said, “You owe this man a sincere apology. And you’re going to pick up his E.R. tab. And unless you can make some kind of settlement, he’s going to sue your ass off.”
“He’s an abortionist.”
“Now you’ve slandered him, too.”
“I told you, Dad, Mr. Ryan’s been very nice to me. He didn’t know what I was talking about when I said I needed help.”
Mainwaring’s eyes roved from hers to mine. “This is true?”
“No, we’re making it up because we’re all scared you’ll go crazy again. Now apologize to him and then give him a ride to the E.R. and then come to an agreement about how much money you’re going to give him.” I glanced at Ryan. “I’m his lawyer.”
“That’s a surprise.”
“I’ll drive myself home, Dad.”
“Can I trust you?”
“How about you? Can I trust you?” This was one of those questions carrying a load of history with it-Eve, open marriage, wife swapping, and alienating his two girls.
“Just go straight home.”
“You’re forgetting something,” I said to him. “I don’t have a car here. I’ll have to ride with Nicole.”
She took the keys from her purse, zipped the purse shut, and then looked at me. “Maybe you should drive, Sam. I’m still shaking.”
“Just hope that Mr. Ryan doesn’t have any serious injuries, Mainwaring.”
“Oh, great, now I’m the villain.”
“Yeah,” I said, “as a matter of fact, you are.” If I’d been a sadist I would have used the moment to tell him what I’d learned from the Wilhoyt investigators about his wife. But as much as I disliked him, he had more than his share of grief. I didn’t want to add to it.
Nicole, in her peasant skirt and blouse, led me out of the Ryan home. As we walked to her car she said, “Maybe he’s learned his lesson. Maybe he’ll change.”
I didn’t want to give her odds on that but I said, “Yeah, maybe.”
I drove at about half the speed Mainwaring had a bit earlier. For a time neither of us spoke. “Van and I used to play a game. We used to sit in the back of the car when Mom and Dad would take us someplace and look out the back window at license plates. For weird ones, you know. One time we saw one that read ‘I’m cute.’ We laughed about that the whole way to Cedar Rapids.” Her voice was wistful but pained.
After a time she said, “He wants to send me to my aunt’s house till I have the baby. Then we’ll adopt it out. That’s what he says now, though. I’m trying to imagine having a baby and giving it away.”
“You want to go to your aunt’s house?”
“Yeah. Even Sarah said I should go away, I mean before she told me about Windom. She said I should go away to school for a year. Try to forget everything.”
“She told you about Windom?”
She patted her face as she sometimes did. Maybe she was hoping that her acne had magically disappeared. I used to have moments like that-daydreams-about being taller. “She’s my best friend. When I told her that Neil and I snuck around and saw each other for a month, and then I told her I was pregnant, she said I should see this Windom and get an abortion and go away to school. And try to forget everything. I think the whole thing made her mad. She said that Tommy was going to beat Neil up for her but she stopped him and said she’d take care of it.” Then, “Poor Tommy. He was kind of a little boy in a lot of ways. But he was so sweet.” Her eyes glistened. “And Van and Neil-it’s just all so screwed up.”
“You don’t hold anything against Neil?”
“I want to but I can’t.” Her gaze was distant now. “I knew he was with me just to make Van jealous. I even told Van about it. But she didn’t care. She thought it was funny. She didn’t know I was p.g. though. But it was my fault as much as his. I always saw all these really handsome guys around Van. I guess I just sorta wanted one for myself. You know, with my face and all. He was a lot of fun, too. Took me places and made me think about things I never had. He was brilliant. He really was.”
“You need to see a doctor right away.”
“I know. I’ve been afraid to go. I’ll probably go to Iowa City, where nobody knows me.”
“Fine.”
“You know, I have a little crush on you. Not a big one. But a nice little one.”
“Well, that’s funny because I have a little crush on you, too. Not a big one. But a nice little one.” Her laugh
