See Tom Run (24 page)

As he drove, Tom flashed back to Mindy Conkel and his
one- night stand with her twenty years ago. She would have been
around twenty or so at the time, making her about forty now. He
wondered how much she had aged since then. She would probably be
overweight with an outrageously outdated hairstyle, he thought,
like the majority of the women around this hillbilly town. There
was a unique quality of Smithtown that set it apart from any place
he’d ever seen: the place was in an eternal time warp. Whatever was
happening in the rest of the country would be about ten years ahead
of where Smithtown was at that time, socially and politically. It
was as though the little river town was an eternal time capsule,
reflecting the way the world had been ten years past.

Tom spotted the first flurry about ten miles from the
Adams County line. In another five minutes, it began spitting snow.
He checked the clock nervously, realizing that this would indeed
have to be a brief encounter with Mindy Conkel Gossett. Not only
did he want to avoid driving in a snowstorm, he didn’t want Peg to
be calling him endlessly, worrying about his making it home
safely.

He sped up to sixty-five, hoping the highway patrol
hadn’t set any speed traps up ahead. In another few minutes, he
spotted the sign for Slow Possum Road as he whizzed by the tiny
two-lane road. Cursing, he continued until he reached the first
driveway he could find, pulled into it, backed out and backtracked
to Slow Possum.

The road was incredibly rough-a mixture of dirt,
gravel and decaying asphalt. Dodging crater-sized potholes, he
carefully negotiated the winding road that ran parallel to a swift
running creek. He realized that he was actually in Shawnee State
Forest when he spotted one of the familiar wooden marker signs
along the way, indicating a specific trail. He passed a two-room
shack that blatantly reminded him that he was on the fringe of
Appalachia, where the ugliness of poverty still prevailed amidst
the enchanting beauty of the forest.

Just as he was about to glance at his odometer, he
spotted a white mobile home on his right. It was at the end of a
dirt road that forked off then ran over a small, ramshackle bridge
before dead-ending ten yards to the east of the trailer.

Tom pulled onto the road and held his breath as he
crossed over the bridge. He could feel the thing sway sickeningly
from side to side as the Jeep deposited its full weight upon its
fragile rotting boards. On the other side, he saw a ten-year-old
blue Honda Civic parked around the back of the trailer and pulled
up beside it.

Tom got out and strode toward the small covered
patio, aware of a face peering through one of the windows. It was a
young boy, about eight or nine, with longish blonde, unkempt hair.
Tom had just stepped onto the patio when the inside door opened.
The boy stared at him from behind the door curiously, making no
effort to open the storm door. Tom smiled at the boy, who suddenly
turned around to look behind him. He heard Mindy say, “Let the man
in, Jason, for crying out loud!”

The boy grasped the handle and opened the door about
a foot. Tom stood there awkwardly, not sure whether to go on in or
not.

“Come on in, Tom. My son doesn’t seem to understand
English.”

Jason turned and ran away as Tom took hold of the
door. He stepped inside, noticing the beige shag carpet and smell
of laundry detergent at the same time.

“I’m loading the drier, Tom. Make yourself
comfortable and I’ll be there in a minute,” he heard Mindy holler
from a room to his right.

“Okay,” Tom replied. He headed across the living room
to a sofa and sat down.

The mobile home seemed twice as large as it looked
from the outside. The living room was good sized with a couple of
vinyl upholstered chairs, a coffee table, an end table and a big
flat screen television set. To his left was a spacious kitchen,
spotlessly clean and equipped with slightly dated appliances.

He noticed several framed photos hanging on the wall
above the television, stood up and went over to examine them. There
was one small black and white picture of an elderly couple, perhaps
Mindy’s grandparents, hanging beside a much larger framed family
photo. Tom drew closer and saw Mindy and a middle-aged man standing
directly behind two children sitting in matching chairs: Jason and
a girl who apparently was Jason’s older sister of around twelve or
thirteen. Mindy herself looked damn good-much better than Tom would
ever have guessed. The man standing beside her seemed camera shy
and awkward, forcing himself to smile as if he would be elbowed if
he didn’t.

Mindy’s father? Tom wondered.

He looked at the remaining pair of photographs on the
wall, which were both 8x10 portraits of the two children.

There were no other photos on the wall.

Tom looked around, anxiously hoping to spot a photo
of an older child somewhere-an older son or daughter who would be
around nineteen by now …

He saw no more family photos.

Mindy suddenly entered the room. Tom was barely able
to repress a gasp when he saw her. She looked even better than she
did in the photo. She wore tight jeans and a white oversized oxford
shirt, unbuttoned a third of the way down from the top. Her hair
was tied in a rather loose ponytail, long strands of blonde falling
randomly onto her shoulders. Her eyes were large and blue, her skin
radiant with just enough age lines to complement her mature good
looks. And her full lips were just as pouty and sensuous as they
had been on that fateful night.

Mindy was still in fact, a frigging knockout-

“Hi, Tom,” she smiled, approaching him and throwing
her arms around him.

Tom felt her soft, firm breasts press against his
chest as he held her close.

“Hi, Mindy.”

They held each other a bit longer than necessary, and
Tom felt himself actually regret letting go of her. She stood back
and looked him over from head to toe.

“You look damn good, Tom. In fact, you look about the
same as you did twenty years ago!”

“Right,” he replied. “Except for this large growth
above my belt, which seems to have taken on a life of its own. You
look absolutely awesome, Mindy. And I must say, even better than
you did twenty years ago!”

She smiled warmly. “Why thanks, Tom. I haven’t been
complimented like that in a long time.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Tom said in genuine
disbelief.

“I shit you not. Anyway, have a seat. Would you like
something to drink? Coffee, a beer?”

“Coffee would be great if you have some handy.”

“I just brewed a fresh pot a few minutes ago. How do
you take it?”

“Black.”

“I’ll be back in a flash.”

Tom stared at her beautiful ass as Mindy made her way
over to the kitchen. He was mesmerized by her looks and wondered
why he hadn’t taken this girl a little more seriously all those
years ago. Then he recalled the fact that Mindy Conkel really
hadn’t been his type. At least not personality-wise. She was much
too extraverted if not downright slutty for him to have considered
any kind of lasting relationship with her. Yes, she had been drunk
and no doubt more forward than usual, but her drink-fueled behavior
and blind lust had left Tom feeling zero emotional attachment and
little respect for her after that crazy night.

Mindy Conkel had been just what he needed and nothing
more: an easy one-night stand.

She returned to the living room, set a mug of
steaming coffee on the coffee table in front of him then sat down
on the sofa. She leaned back against the arm of the sofa and swung
her long legs up, encircling them with an arm at the knees. After
taking a sip of coffee, she motioned toward the rear of the mobile
home and cast him a conspiratorial smile.

“My son is incredibly shy around strangers. That’s
why he hesitated to let you in. He’ll make the scene though soon
enough and you then you can meet him properly. He’s as curious as
he is shy and literally can’t stand still for over five minutes at
a time.”

“I see. He’s a good-looking boy,” Tom said. “Looks a
lot like his mother.”

“Thanks. Some people think he looks more like
Charlie. I think he looks a bit like us both.”

“I noticed a girl in the picture over there. Your
daughter, I presume?”

“Yeah, that’s Josie. She’ll be showing up pretty
soon, actually. She’s been over at a friends but just called to say
that she was getting ready to head home.”

“What grade are your kids in?”

“Jason’s in fourth; Josie’s in seventh.”

“Well they sure seem to be nice kids,” Tom said, not
sure what else to say.

“Thanks, they are. How old are your kids?”

“My girl, Kelli, is seven and Tyler is five.”

“That’s great-isn’t having children a wonderful
gift?” she said, eying him oddly.

“Yes, it is.” Tom paused a moment then said, “Um,
I’ve been wondering, Mindy, what ever happened to-“

“Our baby?” she interjected.

Tom’s heart skipped a beat as he stared at Mindy,
trying hard to read what she was thinking behind those blue eyes.
He detected a note of sadness-or was it remorse? He wasn’t sure.
All he knew was that in a moment he was going to discover the fate
of his child. The one he had forsaken so long ago.

Mindy looked away a moment, then turned back and
gazed at him intently.

“I had an abortion,” she declared flatly.

Tom was stunned. She may as well have slapped his
face.

The child in his dream, his Erin, had never existed.
She had never even had a chance …

“You mean, you never had the baby?” he asked
lamely.

“Yes, Tom. That’s exactly what I mean.”

“But why not?”

She stared at him reproachfully and Tom realized how
stupid his question must have sounded to her.

“You have to be kidding, right, Tom? It’s not like
you made any indication that you wanted me to keep the child back
then. In fact, if I remember correctly, you didn’t even give it a
second thought.”

She was right, of course. He had blown off the matter
like batting away an annoying fly. But he had never considered for
a moment that she would abort the child. In fact he had—

Tom looked away from Mindy, trying his damnedest not
to let his emotions show. The cold, hard truth reared its ugly
head: he had in fact not given any of this any thought back then!
He had simply told Mindy to go away and not to bother him with it,
not considering the possible consequences for even a moment of his
precious time.

Could he really blame her for not having the
child?

“I’m sorry, Mindy. I understand why you did what you
did. I was a total asshole about it. I just wish that—”

“That I would have told you I was having an abortion?
And what good do you suppose that would have done?”

She had taken the words right out of his mouth. And
again, she was dead right. Had Mindy called back to tell him that
she was going to have an abortion, he would have simply told her it
was fine with him, to go ahead and do it. He may have actually had
the decency to offer to pay for it. But he would not have wanted
her to have the child—that much he knew. He had been much too busy
with his life in the Big Apple to even give that the slightest
consideration.

But still … Didn’t he at least have some say in
the matter? She could have at least given him the option to oppose
the abortion, for chrissakes! After all, it had taken both of them
to make the baby.

“I think you should have called me first, at least,”
he finally said.

“Why? So you could tell me that I had your permission
to murder our child? Because you know as well as I do that you
would not have wanted to be a father to that baby. Nor would you
have offered to help pay any of the expenses in raising it. C’mon
Tom, admit it!”

Tom lowered his head and replied, “You’re probably
right.”

He looked into her eyes again. He saw a single tear
stream down her cheek and drop off of her chin. He scooted over on
the sofa and put his arms around her. He held her close.

“God Mindy, I’m so sorry. I was such a jerk back
then. It’s just that I didn’t want to believe I had gotten you
pregnant in the first place. I mean, look at the odds! We’d only
been together that one night and surely you were—”

She pushed him away. “Screwing other guys? Is that
what you were going to say, Tom?”

Tom felt as low as he could go.

“Screw you, Tom! Just for your information, you were
the first guy I had gone to bed with in over six months! That is
how far off you were in your brilliant deduction of the situation.
Granted, I was drunk and aggressive that night in the bar—it’s not
like I don’t like to go out and have a good time once in a
while—but that doesn’t make me a slut. Which is apparently what you
thought I was.”

Her words stung. And as he considered the intensity
with which she argued her case, he knew that it was all probably
true. He had unfairly misjudged this girl-big time.

And had he known then what he knew now …

“All I can say is that I’m sorry, Mindy. I obviously
was wrong about a lot of things back then.”

“Listen, Tom. You have no idea how many times I’ve
thought back to the day I had the abortion. I think of how my life
could have been different if I wouldn’t have done it. Had I kept
the child, maybe I would never have made the mistake of hooking up
with Charlie. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and have no
regrets whatsoever about the beautiful children Charlie and I made
together. But that man has ruined my life. He abused me in ways I
can’t even begin to explain. I’m afraid of him every time I get up
in the morning— terrified that he is going to get out of prison and
murder me and the children. The man is a maniac! And he is going to
get out of prison one of these days—he only got five years. And
then he’s going to find me and kill all of us. I just know it!”