last ten years. He remembered this time and how he’d come home and told Maria all about it after he’d thought the kids had gone to bed. It wasn’t hard to extrapolate what had happened. Jeanie was a very bright girl and she would’ve found a way to narrow down where his father was living. The only question was if she’d purposely planned to visit him after she ran away.
So it came down to the fact that she did know how to find his father and the old man had not had a hallucination and his recollection of the visit wasn’t a component of his memory problems. Stallings had a lot to talk to the old man about.
He laid his head on the back of the couch and put his feet on the coffee table. Maria nudged closer to him, then looked him in the face.
Hope flashed in Maria’s dark eyes.
THIRTY-SIX
John Stallings woke to sunlight streaming in from all the windows. He’d slept through the night for the first time in months. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was and why he slept so soundly. He was on the couch in this old house and Maria was snug against his chest, snoring softly.
He worked his arm out from under Maria, who was sleeping comfortably on the couch. He would’ve enjoyed staying and spending a few moments with his wife in the setting he missed so desperately. Instead, he had a burning desire to speak with his father. Stallings didn’t know what he could say or do to help the old man’s memory, but he could try.
Stallings covered Maria with a small blanket that was always stored in the window seat of the front room.
He stepped into the bathroom, washed, and got ready to leave. He stepped out and closed the door quietly and looked up and saw Lauren. She was already dressed for school and gave him a sly smile and nod.
Stallings didn’t know what to say or do, so he set out on his day.
Buddy sat at his usual Starbucks table like he did almost every Tuesday and completed his downloaded version of the
This time he made room at his own table for her and she didn’t hesitate to sit with him.
The pretty nurse said, “I was hoping I might run into you.”
Buddy was truly surprised and blurted out, “Really?”
He settled into a pleasant conversation with her and she did most of the talking. That was one thing Buddy realized a long time ago: Who wouldn’t want to talk about themselves? It wasn’t just that women liked to talk about themselves but also that there were very few men willing to listen. He loved to listen to women, especially pretty ones. And the more he listened to this one, the more he realized she really was a possible candidate for eternity.
Her name was Katie Massa, a divorced mother of a four-year-old boy named Tyler.
Buddy said, “How do you work the late shift at the hospital if you have a four-year-old?”
Her face lit up and she reached across and placed her hand on top of his. He could tell she liked questions like this. She liked to explain how industrious and intelligent she was. “I work three twelve-hour shifts in a row from eight p.m. to eight a.m., then I’m off for days. My mom comes over and spends the night for the three nights I have to work and I get to spend the rest of the time with Tyler. We have a great time.”
“Where’s his father?”
She hesitated, then said, “He works as a security agent for Blackwater. He’s off in Iraq or some other place like that protecting executives and Halliburton contract workers. He’s listed his official residence as Switzerland and gets away without paying any child support whatsoever.”
Buddy said, “It’s his loss to miss out on his son and someone as bright as you.”
Katie smiled and it was dazzling.
John Stallings found his father working in the community center across the street from the house where he lived. He hung back to watch with an unmistakable pride as his father patiently supervised three younger homeless men while they worked on out-of-date computers with huge, green-screen CRTs. When it looked like he was done with his lesson, Stallings started across the floor.
The old man’s face brightened, and he said, “Johnny, what are you doing here?”
“Came by to check on you, Dad.”
“How’d you know I was here?”
“Your landlady told me.”
James Stallings sighed and looked off into the distance. “She is a fine woman. Almost as great as your mom.”
Stallings smiled.
His father looked at him and said, “Everything all right?
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I’m a drunk and a shitty father, but I know when someone’s preoccupied. Spill it and tell me what’s going on.”
“I worry about you, Dad.”
“What are you worried about me for?”
“Your memory problem, for one thing.”
“What memory problem?”
Stallings stared at his father and was about to explain some of the problems he’d been having when the old man grinned.
James Stallings said, “You can’t even take a joke anymore. Oh wait, I forgot, you never had a sense of humor.”
Stallings had to give his father a chuckle for that one. He led the older man over to a set of chairs and they sat, facing each other. “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about, Dad.”
“Fire away.”
“I think Jeanie did know where you were living and would’ve been able to find you. What I need you to do is think real hard about your visit with her. Try and remember if she said anything that might give you a clue as to where she was going or if she was in real trouble.”
The old man looked off in space and seemed to concentrate as his face clouded and his eyes began to water. Finally James Stallings said, “I’m sorry, son. I’m not even sure I know what you’re talking about. I remember enough to know that I’m causing a lot of pain when I didn’t mean to.”
Stallings put his hand on his father’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Dad. I want you to think about it and maybe write some notes.” He knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with the old man today, but he wasn’t going to give up either.
Then his phone beeped into the text message from Sergeant Zuni: COME BACK TO THE OFFICE RIGHT NOW-YZ.
Tony Mazzetti heard the sergeant’s voice when she called out for Stallings. It had an edge similar to the voice of his second-grade teacher, Sister Teresa, when she’d yell at him for not paying attention in geography class. Mazzetti had a similar reaction to the sergeant’s call for Stallings. He almost giggled out loud thinking of all the things Stallings could have done to rate the sergeant’s ire. Knowing Stallings, he probably punched a city commissioner or roughed up a doctor who didn’t tell him everything he knew right that second. Whatever it was, aside from providing temporary amusement, it was not Mazzetti’s business.
Then Mazzetti heard his name in the same tone. He looked around and saw Stallings hustling in from the
