Finding Bluefield (2 page)

“I have twelve hours off,” Barbara said.

“No problem. I’ll have you back in plenty of time.”

“But I need to sleep.”

“You’ll unwind in the car, and then I’ll take you home and you’ll get some sleep. You’ll sleep better after you get some fresh air. Trust me.”

Barbara noticed the pile of
Kennedy for President
leaflets on the floor mat.

“Don’t worry about those,” Nicky said.

“Is it always this muggy around here?” Barbara asked. She pushed the pamphlets to one side as she sat down.

“Only in the summer.” Nicky slipped into first gear. “Sometimes in the fall. But only a little in the spring and rarely in the winter.”

“So you’re supporting Kennedy?” Barbara lifted a flyer from the floor.

Nicky removed a pack of cigarettes from her shirt pocket and shook one between her lips. “How can you tell?” She didn’t offer one to Barbara. “Who do you like?”

“They’re all the same. I don’t vote.”

“Nixon and Kennedy? I don’t think so.” Nicky turned onto Main Street. “Pay close attention here. This part of town goes by fast,” she said, pointing out the Montgomery Ward, the Five & Dime, the Squire Theater that was showing Jack Lemon in
The Apartment
, Laura Lee’s Beauty Salon, Bluefield Hardware that was having a paint sale, and the Smokehouse Restaurant. “They couldn’t be more different.” Nicky continued as she made a left turn and headed away from town.

“Who?” Barbara yawned. “Sorry.”

“Roll down your window and let the wind blow through your hair. It’ll feel good. And while you’re doing that, I’ll explain to you how Nixon and Kennedy are different.”

“They might have their differences,” Barbara said, “but I’m saying that politicians are all alike.” Barbara took off her glasses and exchanged them for some sunglasses.

Nicky shifted into high gear. “Did you want to be a nurse when you were a kid?”

“I never wanted to be a nurse.”

“Because not many girls grow up wanting to be doctors.”

“In the Soviet Union, where doctors aren’t as rich, half the doctors are women,” Barbara said. “Anyway, no. I never wanted to be a nurse.”

“Okay, so you always wanted to be a doctor. You must have been an interesting little girl.”

“I didn’t always want to be a doctor.”

“What did you want to be then?” Nicky asked.

“I wanted to be a cartoonist.”

“Comics or funnies?”

“Funnies,” Barbara said. “I drew a strip in high school. I was the editor of the school paper. I drew one in college too. But I wanted to be able to support myself.”

“So you picked doctor?”

“Pays better than cartoonist, and I was good at sciences. I like knowing how things work. I like figuring out ways to fix things.”

“My friend Andy is the same way.”

“Is he a doctor?”

“Andy? No, mechanic.”

“Not that different. But he can get replacement parts easier.”

“Andy’s the best there is around here. If you ever need car work, Andy’s your guy.”

“I don’t have a car.”

“Even better. He sells used cars.”

“I don’t drive.”

Nicky turned and stared at Barbara. “Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t seem possible.”

“I never had the time. Never had a reason.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you want to learn?”

“I don’t think about it much.”

Nicky continued driving away from Main Street. “When you’re ready to learn, I’ll teach you. We don’t have subways out here.”

At Four Corners, where Bluefield Road crossed Route 212, Nicky turned into a service station and pulled up to the pump. “This is Andy’s place,” she said, tapping the horn.

Andy came over to the car, wiping his hands on a rag. “Hey, Nicky.”

“Andy, this is Barbara Phillips. I mean Dr. Phillips. She’s new in town. From New York.”

“Welcome to Bluefield, Dr. Phillips.” Andy reached across Nicky and extended his hand toward Barbara.

“Thank you,” she said, shaking his hand. “And it’s Barbara.”

“Can’t say that I’ve ever met a woman doctor.”

“I’m giving Barbara the grand tour.”

“I’m glad to be one of the attractions,” Andy said.

Nicky laughed and turned the car on.

“I think he likes you,” Nicky said as she pulled back onto the road. “If you want, I can set something up.”

“He’s not your boyfriend?”

“Andy? That would be weird. I’ve known him since second grade. He’s more like my brother.”

“He seems nice.”

“So how about it?”

“I don’t have any time for dating,” Barbara said.

Nicky lit another cigarette. “When will you have time for dating?”

Barbara was used to this line of questioning, but she was surprised it was coming from someone like Nicky. “After I finish my residency.” Barbara sat up in her seat and looked around. “This is nice out here,” she said.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Nicky kept driving until cornfields and silage silos lined the road. “Sit tight.” She turned the car onto a narrow dirt road that led through tall oaks and hickories. The woods were thick and wild with summer, and Barbara quickly lost sight of the main road. Nicky stopped the car and turned off the engine. “I got just the thing to revive you. There’s a swimming hole near here,” Nicky said, looking at Barbara. “You do swim?”

“I do swim.”

Nicky got out of the car, opened the trunk, and grabbed a blanket, a couple of towels, and a picnic basket. She started down the path. “Come on.”

Barbara hurried to catch up. Before coming to Bluefield, she’d decided to put all her energy into the hospital and avoid any social life. There would be enough challenges, enough drama at work. So why, Barbara wondered, why was she on a dirt footpath in the rural outskirts of a small town in Virginia following some woman she had just met? The trail continued under cover of trees for several more minutes and then suddenly gave way to a clearing and a small pond.

“I don’t have a suit,” Barbara said.

“I don’t either.”

Nicky sat under a large walnut tree and began taking off her shoes and socks. Barbara watched. Nicky stood and removed her shirt and pants and then her bra and panties. She walked into the pond and slipped silently under the water. She came up by the side of the raft where she grabbed hold of the ladder.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Nicky called to Barbara who stood on shore, still dressed. “The water’s great.”

“In a minute.”

“I won’t look.” Nicky sat on the raft, her back to shore.

Barbara took off her clothes and rested her glasses in a sneaker. She took a deep breath and slipped into the water. The energy it took for each stroke and the deep, rhythmic breathing felt good as she approached the raft. She grabbed the ladder with both hands and held on.

“Come on up. The sun feels good,” Nicky said.

“I’ve got to catch my breath. But that felt good. It’s hard to get exercise in med school.”

“You’re shy, aren’t you? Don’t you see bodies all day long?”

“People don’t just walk around the hospital naked. Especially not me.”

“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” Nicky said.

“Where are we?”

“My farm.”

“People live here?”

“It’s just me and my dad, and he’s out in the fields or in the barn. He never comes here.”

“What about your mom?”

“She died when I was young. I don’t really remember her.”

“What happened?” Barbara said.

“Consumption.”

“Siblings?”

“My sister, Carol-Ann.”

“Where does she live?” Barbara asked.

“She lives near L.A. with her husband Richard and their two girls. When she visits, we still like to come here and race to the raft.” Nicky stood. “We were on the swim team together in high school.”

Nicky dove off the raft and swam toward shore. Barbara followed her.

“Ever been out there?” Barbara asked as they walked onto shore.

“California?”

“Yeah.”

Nicky handed Barbara a towel and then squeezed water out of her hair. “A few winters ago, after she had Claire, her first child. She asked me to come out and give her a hand. But she really just wanted to get me married to someone in Richard’s company. I mean they hired a nurse and already had a live-in housekeeper. I was just extra work.”

“But you were family.” Barbara grabbed her glasses.

“They fixed me up with a million guys.”

“California boys. That must have been fun.”

“If blind dates are your idea of fun.” Nicky passed Barbara a hairbrush.

“Didn’t you like any of them?” Barbara started dressing.

“That’s what Carol-Ann kept asking. I didn’t even like California, let alone California guys. She just wanted me to pick a guy, any guy, and get married so my father wouldn’t have to worry about me, and then she and I could live on the same block, and borrow eggs and have barbecues and birthdays and Christmas and Thanksgiving together.”

“Sounds nice,” Barbara said.

Nicky spread the blanket on the grass and opened the picnic basket. “You want a beer?”

“Sure.”

Nicky reached into the picnic basket and handed Barbara a bottle and the opener. She rested her cigarette on a rock and began to dress. “What about you? Do you want to marry a doctor?”

Barbara coughed on her beer. “Getting to be a doctor is enough right now.”

“Men doctors marry.” Nicky took a long drink of beer.

“They get wives.”

“That’s what you need.”

“A wife?” Barbara asked.

“Tell me about your family?” Nicky said. “Your parents still in Ohio?”

“They’re both dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. My senior year at college, right before Christmas, my father was driving home from a party and got onto the highway in the wrong direction. He hit a car head on. He and my mother were killed and so was the couple in the other car. The girl was pregnant. My parents were both drunk.”

“Shit,” Nicky said, “that sucks.”

“Mostly for the other couple.” Barbara finished tying her sneakers. “I grew up watching my father drink. My mother got so tired of all the arguing with him, she decided to join him. Then they got along fine.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“Younger brother. That’s it,” Barbara said. “He still lives in Akron where we grew up.”

“Do you go home much?” Nicky folded the blanket and closed the picnic basket.

“It’s not home to me anymore.” Barbara stood and followed Nicky back to the car. “Once I went away to college, I rarely went back.”

“Didn’t your parents care?”

The trail was starting to darken under the setting sun.

“They were too drunk to notice. Besides, all I ever wanted to do growing up was get the hell out of my house. Getting pregnant didn’t seem like a good option because all the girls who got pregnant stayed in Akron, and I wanted out of Akron too. I figured going to college was my best bet so I worked hard in school. I got A’s in every class, even gym. I joined the school newspaper, became a cheerleader. I slept over at other girls’ houses just not to be home. When I got a scholarship to college, I never looked back. There was nothing at home that I wanted.”

They stopped by the car and Nicky reached into her pockets for the car keys and opened the trunk. “See, I can’t imagine that. I love this place. I love the farm. You’ll think I’m some backwoods hick, but I love this dirt. It’s like it runs in my veins.”

“Do you want to take over the farm?”

“I love this land, but I’m not up to being a farmer.”

“You could marry someone who wants to farm,” Barbara said, wondering why she was moving the conversation back in this direction.

“I’m not a package deal. I don’t need a dowry to marry. Just because I didn’t go to college doesn’t mean I have to be taken care of. I could run the farm if I wanted to. It’s just not something that I want to do right now. Maybe I will someday.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Forget it. Tell me about your brother. What’s his story?” Nicky continued loading the trunk.

Barbara laughed. “Ted? He’s a couple of years younger than me. He played football in high school. That’s a big deal in Ohio, and he had lots of friends. I guess he was pretty good because he got a scholarship to play in college. But the glory days ended and he went back to Akron, and last I knew, he was working in the tire factory where our dad worked. I haven’t seen him since my parents’ funeral. I don’t keep in touch.” Barbara opened the passenger door and got in.

“My sister can be a real pain,” Nicky said, “but we’re still close. She’ll be here for Thanksgiving.” Nicky closed the trunk and got in the car. She started the engine and turned on the lights. “Maybe you’ll meet her then.” Back on the road, on the way toward Barbara’s apartment, Nicky asked about dinner.