The Reunion (5 page)

A
aron did his best, running through the park toward Lot 31. As he neared the trailer, he saw the boyfriend’s car parked at an odd angle. He listened but didn’t hear any yelling. When he caught his breath, he called Sue on the walkie-talkie. “Sue, I’m outside Lot 31. Stay near the phone, will ya? You might have to call 911.”

“I know,” Sue said. “I saw that blue car whiz by my window. Don’t you keep a pistol in your room? Maybe you better go get it, just in case.”

“I don’t want to leave here to get it, in case something happens while I’m gone.”

“Your call, Aaron. Just say the word if you need me to call the cops. But let’s don’t do anything unless you think he might get violent. Don’t want to stir a big mess if they’re just talking. They get loud, you can step in for the park’s sake. Tell them we can’t have them yelling like that around here.”

“All right, Sue,” he whispered back. He walked a little closer till he was between Ryan’s car and the front door. He heard them talking through the open window.

“Don’t you tell me what you’re
not
going to do. You’ll do what I tell you.”

Aaron understood that. So did anyone else within a hundred yards. Heather said something quiet in reply.

“The most you’re getting outta me is a few hundred for an abortion. That’s it! I told you, I ain’t stickin’ around to be no kid’s father.”

Heather said something back.

“Love you? We were having fun, least I was. But it ain’t fun no more.”

Heather said something else, but now she was crying.

“You crying don’t change a thing. I’m serious. You
will
be getting an abortion, that’s all there is to it.”

“I am not!”

Aaron heard that. Then some banging noise, sounded like from the kitchen. Drawers being pulled out.

“Stop . . . Ryan, what are you doing?”

“You ain’t keeping that baby, then telling folks it was mine. I’ve been asking around. They got tests that can prove it’s mine, then you can start hitting me up for money. I can’t have that. Someone told me they could even put me in jail because of your age.”

“Ryan, put that down.”

There was terror in her voice. That was it.

No time to call Sue. He had to move now. He scrambled up the metal steps and pushed open the front door. “Hey!” he shouted. Heather was backing up against the living room wall. Ryan was moving toward her, a kitchen knife in his right hand.

He turned.

“You put that thing down, right now.”

Ryan’s face filled with rage. “Oh, you gonna be a hero, old man? Guess I gotta take care of you first.”

“Well, come on then,” Aaron said. “Let’s see what you got.” He braced for the attack.

Ryan took a short step, faked one direction then lunged forward, jabbing the knife at Aaron’s middle, like a sword. Aaron deflected Ryan’s arm upward and grabbed his wrist, then shoved his right knee full-on into the boy’s face. Heard a crunching sound. Ryan dropped the knife and fell back on his rear end, crying out in pain. Aaron jumped down on him, started pounding him in the face with his fist, two or three times. “How’s that feel?” he yelled. “Feel good getting hit?” He smacked him again. “You like hitting girls?”

“Stop!” Heather screamed.

Aaron stopped. He looked up at her then down at the boy.

Ryan covered his bloody face with his hands. He looked confused. Aaron stood up, then bent over and grabbed Ryan by the collar, lifted him to his feet in one motion. All the while, Ryan covered his face. Aaron pushed him toward the front door. “Not so tough when you’re fighting a man, are you, punk?”

The boy didn’t answer. Nothing but fear in his eyes. Aaron walked him to the front door and shoved him out, over the steps. Ryan fell to the ground. “You get out of here and don’t come back. I ever hear that you laid a hand on Heather here, I’m coming after you. I’m faster with a gun than my fists. I’ll make sure you don’t ever hurt her or anyone else again. You got that?”

Aaron looked around. A small crowd had gathered beyond the outskirts of the trailer.

Ryan looked up at him, then at the people. “What about my stuff? It’s still in the trailer.” There was no anger in his voice now, only fear.

“You just made a donation to the Goodwill.”

Ryan nodded then rose to his feet.

“And you’re not going to go tearing out of this park when you leave. You drive out of here going fifteen miles an hour. You understand? The whole way.”

Ryan wiped his face on his sleeve and walked to his car. He got in, turned it on. Some people backed out of the way, and he drove off. Aaron watched, and so did everyone else, as he drove slowly through the park toward the front entrance. Aaron saw Sue coming out of the office, looking his way.

She held up the walkie-talkie, pointed to it. “Aaron?” she said. “Everything okay over there?”

He picked his up and said back, “Everything’s fine now, Sue. Had a little ruckus, is all. But I think I scared that young man off. Maybe for good.”

“I need to call the cops?”

“Don’t think so. Let me talk to this young lady here a minute, see what she wants to do. Then I’ll come over there and fill you in.”

“All right then.”

Aaron looked up at the folks standing around. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Everything’s okay now. Just had to get rid of a troublemaker.” He waved, then backed inside Heather’s trailer.

He turned and saw her sitting on a nearby armchair, holding her head in her hands. She was trembling. “You gonna be okay?” he said softly.

A few hours later, Aaron was back in his place in the storage room, trying to calm down. Heather felt pretty sure Aaron had scared Ryan off for good. She gave him a big hug and said, “You saved my life, Aaron. Me and my baby.” She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do in the days ahead.

Sue could tell he was pretty upset, and his knuckles were scraped up, so she’d given him the rest of the afternoon off. He’d taken a long, hot shower and was getting ready now to head out to his quiet place by the river.

He needed some time out there after a day like today.

His hands were still shaking. He didn’t know when that had started, sometime after all the fuss settled down. He wished he could make them stop. Probably just the adrenaline. Still it bothered him, the level of violence that arose in his heart while he was hitting that boy. Aaron hadn’t felt anything like that since Vietnam. It was like his training was right there below the surface.

Along with the instinct to kill.

He didn’t like how it felt. Not one bit. That’s not who he was anymore.

T
he next morning after his quiet time, one theme kept running through Aaron’s mind. It had started yesterday evening, out by the river. He kept dismissing it as just an aftershock from the tension he still felt over his confrontation with the boy. But the way it kept coming back this morning made him start to wonder if it wasn’t God trying to warn him about something. He needed to fix the lock on Heather’s door, so he made Heather’s trailer his first stop.

As he stood at the base of the steps, he looked at his watch. Hoped it wasn’t too early. He knocked gently, just enough so she’d hear if she were in the kitchen or the living room. He heard footsteps.

“Hi, Aaron.”

He turned toward the voice coming out the screened window to his right. “I came to fix the lock on this doorknob.”

“I’m glad. It sure needs it.” She unlatched the chain and opened the door.

He stepped up inside, looked at her face as he walked by. The dark rings under her eyes told him she hadn’t slept much last night. “How are you making out?” Tess ran up to greet him, wagging her tail.

“Not very well,” she said, relatching the chain across the door. She stepped into the kitchen, picked up a mug of coffee from the counter. “I don’t feel very safe in this trailer anymore.”

“That’s really what I’ve come to talk to you about. Did you hear from that boy?”

“Not yet. I know I was saying yesterday that I thought you scared him off for good. Last night and this morning, I’m not so sure.”

“He’s an angry young man,” Aaron said. “I’d judge him to be real unstable.”

“Believe me, he is.”

“You know you can’t stay here, not in this trailer anymore.”

She paused, took a sip of coffee. “I know.”

“You have any place to go?”

“I called a friend who works at my restaurant and explained what happened. She said I could stay with her a few days. I’ll probably go there. But I don’t know what I’m going to do with Tess.”

“Then where will you go after a few days?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even feel good going there. Ryan’s met her before. I wouldn’t put it past him to come looking for me over there.”

“He knows where she lives?”

“No, but it wouldn’t be too hard for him to figure out.”

Aaron just needed to say what he came to say. He knew she hadn’t been open to the idea before, but it was what he felt God wanted him to say, the real reason he was there. “Can I sit down a moment?”

“Sure.” She walked into the living room, sat on the edge of the sofa. Tess followed, jumped up beside her.

He sat on the armchair nearby. “This won’t take a minute, but I’d like you to hear me out. I know it ain’t something you’re too keen on.”

“What is it?”

“See, I know you said you’re . . . having a baby. That’s what got all this going, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“And I take it you’re set on keeping it, right?”

“Well, I know I’m not getting an abortion. Whether I keep the baby or not . . . I don’t know. I was raised in a church, and I know right from wrong. I’ve been doing nothing but wrong since the day I ran away. And look where it’s got me. But I can’t make this baby pay for my mistakes.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “About the baby. I wasn’t raised in a church, and I spent a whole lot more years doing everything wrong than you. More years than you been alive. But I got right with God some years back, started going to church myself. And one thing I know for certain, God loves little babies something fierce.” He took a deep breath. Had to come at this slow. “So you thinking maybe about adoption?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” She took another sip of coffee, set the mug down on the coffee table. “I’m so confused. All I do know is, I can’t stay in this trailer.”

“Well, see, Heather . . . I think part of the reason you’re confused is, God doesn’t mean for someone your age to be going through all this by yourself, making these kinds of big decisions on your own.”

“But I don’t have anyone else.”

“I think you do. Or at least, you might.”

She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was getting at. Her eyes said she got it. “You mean my parents.”

Aaron nodded. “After what happened last night, and the predicament you’re in right now, I’m thinking you should try calling them, or at least let me try.”

She sighed loudly and looked away. “It’s too late. I’ve been gone too long.”

“See, I don’t think that’s probably true. Those are feelings you’re having. My preacher might even call them lies of the devil. All’s I know is, I keep getting a strong feeling God wants them involved. Won’t you at least let me call them, see what they say?”

She didn’t answer for the longest time. He decided it was best not to speak.

Finally, she turned and faced him. “They probably hate me.” Tears streamed down her face.

“There’s a chance they might,” he said softly. “Folks can be hateful sometimes. But you know God doesn’t hate you, right? Even if they do?”

She shook her head slowly.

“If you were raised in church, you must have heard how Jesus treats folks that have done wrong and then turn back to him. He’s all about forgiving people, taking back sheep who strayed. And if your folks are still church folks, there’s a good chance they know they’re supposed to forgive people who’ve done them wrong, especially if . . . if those folks are sorry for what they’ve done. Sounds to me like you are sorry.”

Tears poured down her face. “I am.” It was all she could say.

He saw the tissue box and pulled some out, waited a minute to give them to her. When she calmed down, he said, “How about you let me call them? I could do it right now. You know how to reach them?”

“I know their number. I’ve called them a few times, even recently. From a pay phone, so they couldn’t see the number.”

“So you have talked with them?”

“No, I never said anything. I just wanted to hear their voices. Then I’d hang up.” The tears were welling up again.

“Well, let’s get up, and you write that number on a piece of paper. I’ll go right over to the office and call from there. Won’t matter if they see that number, you’re leaving this place anyway, right?”

“I guess.”

“Have you ever talked about your parents with Ryan? He know where they live?”

“No, I’ve never told him anything about them. Of course, he never asked either.”

“That’s good,” he said.

She stood up and walked toward the kitchen, then pulled out a drawer and fished around for a pen. She grabbed a pad from a little tray next to the refrigerator. “I guess it can’t hurt to try,” she said.

“If it goes sour,” Aaron said, “you’re just back where we started, right?” But he didn’t think it would go sour. Wouldn’t be like God to stir up this idea and keep stirring it, if he knew there weren’t any point.

“But that won’t work.” She looked at Tess, then reached over and hugged her around the neck. “I can’t go home. I can’t bring Tess if I do. My mom’s allergic to dogs. And I can’t bring her back to the humane society. She was just two days away from being put down.”

Aaron stopped and thought a moment. Then an idea came to him, a good one. “Let’s take one thing at a time. You let me worry about Tess. Whatever happens, I won’t take her back to the pound.”

As Aaron walked toward the park office, he was aware of something else stirring inside him, something Heather had said that bothered him. But for some reason, he couldn’t quite get a bead on it.