Fly the Rain (12 page)

She gave him a dirty look. “Funny. Is that
all you think about?”

“
Well…yeah, when I’m
around
you
.
You
get
to
me. You’re just so doggone sexy.”

Cindy almost fell for it,
but then caught herself. “Wonder how many times you’ve used
that
line. How many
times, Craig?”

He grinned slyly. “Oh, I don’t know…maybe a
few hundred.”

She lowered her voice. “You are such a
tramp.”

“
Well, I’ve been called a
lot of things, but—a tramp? Maybe in Russia that makes sense, but
in the U. S. that word is only used for women—not men.”

“
It has nothing to do with
Russia or America. You’d be a tramp in
any
country.”

Craig lost his grin. “Hey.”

“
So, you don’t consider
yourself a tramp?”

“
No, of course
not.”

“
Even though you’ve slept
with dozens of women?”

“
Well…”

“
But you want to turn
me
into a tramp.
Right?”

“
No, no. You’ve got it all
wrong.”

“
Really?
Explain.”

Craig liked Cindy more than any woman he’d
met in a long time, but he knew he was on the verge of killing his
chances with her. He reached across the table and held her hand.
“Look, Cindy. I’m sorry. Sometimes I try too hard to impress
people. I’m not really like this. It’s just an act.”

Cindy looked into his eyes. She wanted to
believe him.

**********

“
Do you really think Norma
needs our help? I hate to get there early when only she and my dad
are there.” Greg pulled into the parking lot of
The Buttard Biscuit Restaurant
.

“
Why?” said Cynthia.
“Because you’re afraid you’ll have to talk to your dad? You
need
to talk to him.
There’s got to be a way for the two of you to get past this
bitterness. And it’s sure not going to get any better unless you
try.”

They walked into the restaurant and headed
for the meeting room, passing Cindy and Craig’s booth along the
way. Greg recognized Billy-Eye’s older son. He wondered if the
attractive woman in the booth with him knew about his
reputation.

“
Hello. Happy Birthday, Mr.
Tenorly,” said Cynthia as she rushed over to Ralph and gave him an
unexpected hug.

“
Thanks.”

Norma went to Greg and hugged him. “I’m glad
y’all came early.”

“
We’re here to help,” said
Cynthia. “What can we do?”

A waitress walked into the room. “Are one of
you Greg Tenorly?”

“
Yes. I’m Greg.”

“
There’s a call for
you.”

He followed her to the cashier’s counter.
She handed him the phone.

“
Hello? This is Greg
Tenorly.”

“
Greg…”

Her voice was so shaky that he didn’t
recognize it at first.

“…
there’s been a terrible
accident.”

Then he realized it was Angie
Silverstern.

“
Edsel is in the emergency
room.”

Chapter
15

Greg and Cynthia rushed into the Emergency
Room waiting area.

Angie peeked through the Emergency Room
doors and spotted them. “Greg?” She stepped through the door and
walked toward them.

“
Hey, Angie,” said Greg.
“How’s Edsel doing?”

“
It’s not as bad it first
looked. I thought he’d gone into a coma.”

“
What happened?”

“
He was working under a car
and the jack gave way. The paramedics figured the oil pan must have
hit him right in the chest when the car fell.”

“
So, what’s his
condition?”

“
He’s got several fractured
ribs.”

“
Ouch. Those are
painful.”

“
Yeah. The doctor says he
probably passed out from the pain. And he couldn’t move. He was
pinned under the car.”

“
Did he ever wake up?” said
Cynthia.

“
Yes, he did. But he was in
such pain that they immediately gave him a shot of Morphine.
They’re going to set up the automatic intravenous injections for
him.”

“
What do they do for
fractures ribs?” said Greg. “Surgery?”

“
No,” said Angie. “They just
let them heal on their own. But it can take up to two months. And
in the meantime all they do is treat the pain. The doctor doesn’t
think there are any internal injuries, but he wants to keep Edsel
in the hospital for a couple of days so they can watch him—just in
case.”

“
Did you get to talk to
him?” said Greg.

“
No. But he did see me, I
think.”

“
How does the doctor know
his ribs are fractured?” said Cynthia.

“
He pushed down on Edsel’s
chest in several spots. Even I could tell when he found one. I’ve
never heard Edsel scream like that before. It gave me the
creeps.”

“
Any chance we could see
him?” said Greg.

“
I’m sure you can—once they
get him moved to a room.”

“
I’m sorry—I’m being rude,”
said Greg. “Angie, this is my wife, Cynthia.”

The two exchanged greetings.

“
Why don’t we go and grab a
cup of coffee while we’re waiting,” said Greg.

On their way to the cafeteria, Greg called
Norma to give her a status report on Edsel. Ralph had not wanted to
cancel his party since Norma had already paid for the meeting room,
and would not be eligible for a refund.

**********

E. Z. Bender took the elevator to the fourth
floor, and walked up to the nurses’ station. “Could you please give
me the room number for Edsel Torkman? They told me he was being
moved to this floor.”

The nurse checked her computer. “They
haven’t brought him up yet, but he’ll be going into Room 419.”

“
Okay. Thank you.” She
walked down the hallway, searching for his room. Then she saw two
orderlies pushing a bed through a doorway. When she got closer she
saw the 419 numbering on the wall, next to the door. She watched as
they transferred him into the room bed. He appeared to be out
cold.

The orderlies finished, and walked out of
the room. E. Z. walked in and stood beside his bed. She studied the
bag hanging at the head of his bed, wondering what the clear fluid
was. Probably just saline, she thought.

There was also an electronic box on a stand
with a tube coming out of it that led to Edsel’s IV. The box made a
noise, and she guessed it was pumping pain medicine into his body.
But what if he got too much of the stuff? Was there any way to
override the device and force an overdose?

A nurse walked into the room. “How’s he
doing?”

“
Okay, I guess. I don’t
know.”

The nurse began to check out her new
patient. “So, is this your dad?”

There was no response.

The nurse turned around. E. Z. was gone.

Greg held the elevator door open while Angie
and Cynthia walked out onto the fourth floor. Then he continued to
hold it until the young woman walked in.

When they reached Room 419, the nurse was
coming out. “You just missed your daughter.”

“
What?” said Angie,
confused.

“
She just left. I’m
surprised you didn’t pass her in the hallway.”

“
What made you think she was
my daughter?”

“
Are you kidding?” The nurse
smiled. “She looks just like you.”

Angie was stunned.

“
Except for her long black
hair,” said the nurse, walking away.

Angie seemed to be in another world.

Cynthia turned to Greg and whispered, “I
didn’t know she had any kids.”

“
She doesn’t.”

Finally Angie spoke. “I’m just trying to
think who it could have been. I don’t have any friends or employees
with long black hair.”

“
Why don’t we go in and sit
down,” said Cynthia. She led them to the couch and
chair.

“
I hate to ask the
question,” said Greg, “but, is it possible that what happened to
Uncle Ed was
not
an accident?”

“
What do you mean?” said
Angie.

“
The jack that was holding
up the car—it was one of those quick-release jacks,
right?”

“
You don’t honestly think
somebody deliberately tried to hurt Edsel, do you?” said
Angie.

“
Maybe,” said
Greg.

“
Does he have any enemies?”
said Cynthia.

“
No. Everybody loves Edsel.
Well, I guess that’s not true. But I can’t think of anyone who
would want to
hurt
him.” Just as the last word
left her lips, she remembered the argument with her father earlier
in the day, and how he had stormed out of the restaurant after
discovering Angie was going to the birthday party with Edsel. That
had happened only a short time before she found Edsel. Her dad
hated him—there was no question about that. But surely he wouldn’t
try to
kill
him.

Then she remembered the confrontation
between Edsel and the two band members. One of them had long black
hair! “I think I know who the woman was.”

“
The one the nurse was
talking about?” said Cynthia.

“
Yes. She and another woman
came to the restaurant Saturday trying to force me to hire their
group. They’re in that all-girl band that plays at Billy-Eye’s new
place out on Highway 87. But why would she come here to Edsel’s
room?”

“
To finish off the job?”
said Greg.

Angie panicked. She jumped up to check on
Edsel. “Do you think she did anything to him?”

“
No,” said Cynthia, glaring
at her husband. “The nurse was here. She wouldn’t have had a chance
to do anything. Besides, he looks fine.”

“
Do you know if that band is
playing tonight?” said Greg.

“
I think so. Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday nights I believe.”

Cynthia knew what Greg was thinking. She
would be there with him to make sure he didn’t get himself into
trouble. She turned to Greg. “Well, since he’s doing okay, maybe we
should try to catch the end of your dad’s birthday party.”

“
But I don’t want to go off
and leave Angie here alone.”

“
It’s okay. I’m fine. Y’all
go on.”

“
Well, okay,” said Greg. He
walked over to Edsel’s bed. “Fly the rain, Uncle Ed.”

“
Do you know what it means?”
said Angie.

“
No. Do you?”

She picked up her purse and took out her
wallet. “He gave me this—years ago. It’s a poem he wrote during his
senior year. They had to read them in front of the class. He told
me his classmates were laughing out loud by the time he got to the
end of it. But I think it’s beautiful.” She handed the small
laminated card to Greg.

He and Cynthia read it silently.

I dreamed I was a speck of dust
In a beautiful puffy cloud;
A warm and comfy home forever,
High above the ground.

But then the darkness swallowed the
light;
The sky began to groan.
And my mother ship spit me out
On a raindrop of my own.

But I was not alone in flight;
I saw others on their rain.
One hit a bird, died instantly;
One collided with a plane.

Right then and there I made up my mind,
I wouldn’t let life just happen to me.
I took control, I fought the good fight.
Nobody can take that away from me.

So, you can sit back and ride your
raindrop
To wherever it may fall.
Or saddle up like me and Fly the Rain,
Have no regrets at all.

**********

“
He’s gonna be okay,” said
E. Z.

Sondra closed her car door and locked it.
“Who?”

“
Edsel. The
mechanic.”

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

“
I passed you on the road
today, and decided to turn around and follow you.”

Sondra got in her face. “Why would you do
that?”

“
Just curious.”

“
Well, just remember the old
saying, Honey:
curiosity killed the
cat
.”

E. Z. just stared at her.

“
So, stay out of my
business.” Sondra walked off, toward the entrance of
Billy-Eye’s.

Chapter
16

By the time Greg and Cynthia
made it back to
The
Biscuit
, Norma was nearly finished
bagging up all the presents.

“
I’m sorry we missed your
party,” said Greg.

“
Yeah, well I figured you’d
find some way to weasel out of it,” said Ralph.

“
Ralph! They had to check on
Edsel,” said Norma. “How’s he doing?”

“
Pretty well—considering,”
said Greg.

“
He’s going to be in a lot
of pain for a few weeks,” said Cynthia.

“
So, he won’t be able to
work for a while,” said Norma.