“Not at all. I’m trying to catch up with my daughter after years of bossing her around and making her do everything that was important to me rather than what was important to her. I’m making great progress—I think she’s starting to actually like me, hard as I make it sometimes. That’s one reason. Another reason—she’s carrying my grandchild. I’m not giving up a chance to know that baby without a fight. I might die, but it’ll be heel marks all the way. And three, I might miss my old body and find the handicaps that come with ALS to be perfectly terrible, but I can cope as long as I have my mind. And by God, I have it. I think the lot of you should be warned—I might hang around for the next two grandchildren. And Charlie’s graduation from Harvard.”
Lin Su smiled at her. “I agree, stubbornness has played a crucial role in life expectancy.”
There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and the women stopped talking. Charlie came onto the deck first, Frank right behind him. Charlie plopped his backpack on a deck chair. “I gotta get my Nikes,” he said, running through the house and out to the car where he kept extra clothes and necessities.
“Hi, Frank,” Lin Su said with a smile. “How are you?”
“Good. Excellent. I’m going to take Charlie up on that ridge and show him the flora and where we go to watch whales. I won’t be here when they migrate in a couple of months, but I can show him the spot.”
“The ridge?” Lin Su said. “The flora? The whales?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Frank replied.
“There are bugs up there. Pollen. Bees and plants he hasn’t been around. He has a lot of allergies. And asthma.”
Charlie was back, sitting down to put his shoes on. “We’ll go slow. If I get out of breath, we’ll stop,” he said.
“But is this a good idea? You’ve been doing so well! Why tempt fate?” Lin Su said.
“Because tempting fate is fun,” Charlie replied.
“Do you have your—”
“Inhaler and EpiPen? Do you ever get tired of asking me that? You think I want to blow up like a blowfish right before I die?”
“If he has to even pull the inhaler or EpiPen out of his pocket, I’ll bring him back off the ridge. But insect life is dying off up there with the cooler temperatures and the bloom has died down. But there are still some great species to see. Plus it’s a good steady hike and an amazing view.”
“I’ll be fine,” Charlie said.
“Of course you will,” Winnie agreed. “Have your cell phone?”
“What am I going to do if I wheeze up there? Call home?”
“I just wanted you to take a few pictures if you see anything interesting. It could be a while till I get up on that ridge to see for myself.”
“Right,” Charlie said, grinning. Then without any further conversation, he was scrambling down the stairs.
“Don’t worry,” Frank said. He put his backpack on the chair beside Charlie’s. “Can I leave this here?”
“Sure,” Lin Su said. “Please be careful.”
“We will, but it’s not dangerous. It’s a path, that’s all. He gets shots, he said. He shouldn’t have any problems.”
When Lin Su was alone with Winnie again, she sat down a little weakly.
“You should have that conversation with Charlie about going to school out here. He needs a little more freedom, a little challenge.”
“He has plenty of freedom!” Lin Su snapped. “I’ve been leaving him alone while I work for the last two years.”
“And I bet it’s driven you crazy. It would be better if he had a little more freedom while you’re nearby to nag him constantly.”
Lin Su scowled. “I think it might be time for your nap, Mrs. Banks.”
Winnie laughed. “Not on your life.”
* * *
Grace was amused by the amount of entertainment Winnie was getting out of her new friend Charlie. Any other daughter might’ve been jealous, but Grace was pleased. Charlie took some of the heat off her, absorbing all of Winnie’s opinions and objections and interfering. And because Winnie wasn’t his mother, he could take them in stride and dismiss them.
So, the dinner table was occupied with animated conversation about Charlie’s trek up on the ridge with Frank. He took a lot of pictures with his cell phone and, he announced triumphantly, he had not wheezed or had any allergic reactions.
Grace had brought home a pan of Carrie’s lasagna, garlic bread and salad, what she called a perfect Winnie dinner. Anything Winnie could stab with a fork or lift with her trembling fingers worked very well for her.
“I used to have a chef, you know,” Winnie said to Charlie. “And guess what? It wasn’t any better than this.”
“Isn’t having a chef kind of like someone else’s mother making dinner?” Charlie asked.
“Not quite as good as that,” Grace said. “Chefs are more in love with the art of their flavors and their presentation than what you really like. I asked for mashed potatoes for years but they didn’t come into fashion until a few years ago.”
“I love mashed potatoes,” Charlie said.
“Then the next time Carrie has meat loaf and mashed, it’s yours,” Grace said. “I love mashed potatoes, too! What’s your favorite, Lin Su?”
“Oh, this is amazing,” she said, taking a bite.
“Mom doesn’t like dinner that much,” Charlie said. “She usually isn’t hungry and maybe has a bowl of cereal before bed.”
“You cook just for Charlie?” Grace asked.
“Sure. He is always hungry. I make all his favorites and I freeze meal-size portions. Sometimes I have what he’s having, but he’s right, sometimes I just want a snack.”
“Do mashed potatoes freeze?” Grace asked.
“They sure do. You’d be surprised the things you can freeze.”
“Mom will freeze one asparagus spear,” Charlie said, shoveling lasagna in his mouth.
“That’s not so,” Lin Su said with a laugh. “But I don’t waste. And when I’m cleaning up your kitchen, neither do you!” she said. Then she stood and started picking up plates. “Charlie, when you’re done there, will you help?”
“Sure,” he said, gobbling two last bites.
“I’ll help,” Troy said. “Charlie looks like he might need a second helping. Hiking up to the ridge is hard work.”
“And I think I’ll get ready for bed,” Winnie said. “Somehow I missed my nap.”
“Yes, I wonder how,” Lin Su said, letting Troy take on kitchen duties so she could take Winnie to her bedroom.
Once Winnie had washed up, changed and was settled in bed with the TV on, Lin Su made sure her few evening chores were done. There was a little laundry to fold but she would put it away the next day. She gave the bathroom a quick clean, checked to make sure the extra lasagna and bread were properly stowed and gave the kitchen floor a once-over. The rest of the family was out on the deck with Charlie, watching the sunset over the bay.
“I’m ready to leave, unless anyone needs anything,” Lin Su announced to the gathering.
“I’m taking walk on beach before bed,” Mikhail said, rising from his chair.
“No one needs anything more, Lin Su,” Grace said. “Thank you for everything and I’ll probably see you when I get home from the shop tomorrow.”
“Good. Let me know if you want me to come up with dinner.”
“I’ll text you in the morning after I check out Carrie’s specials. Have a good evening.”
Charlie dragged himself up from his chair and followed his mother out to the car. He slumped back in the seat, worn out from yet another busy day filled with fresh air, sun and exercise.
“I want to ask you something,” Lin Su said. “Would you like to go to Thunder Point High when school starts?”
He straightened instantly. “Could I?”
“Troy seems to think you could, based on my work location and schedule. But Charlie, I don’t know that it’ll be better. You could have issues there, as well.”
“I could, but
I know people there. I wouldn’t be the nerdy strange kid who popped in from out of town. Troy and Spencer are friends. Iris and Seth are friends. Um, I mean Mr. Headly, Mr. Lawson, Mrs. Sileski and Deputy Sileski.” Then he grinned.
She laughed. He might not be big but he sure was good-looking. “So—you like that idea?”
“I love that idea. Can you do that? Does it cost anything?”
“It’s public school. And they have a chess club.”
“Cool. Yeah, I’d do that in a heartbeat. But what about...you know...Winnie?”
“She thinks she’s going to last a long time and I wouldn’t be surprised, but we know the reality—her disease doesn’t promise long-term survival. We could have to make another change.”
“I get that. But I’d do anything to live in Thunder Point!”
“I know it’s nice, Charlie. But there isn’t anything I can afford in that town.”
“But I could go to school there for a while.”
“You could, I guess. But you’d have to remember, it could be temporary.”
“Mom. Everything could be temporary.”
* * *
Grace was just about to close the doors to the deck when she noticed something. She went over to one of the chairs and lifted Charlie’s backpack. “Uh-oh,” she said. “Look what he forgot.”
“He might make his mother come back for it. I’m going to run over to Spencer’s. He’s hooking up the automatic garage door and I said I’d help,” Troy said.
“And you think you’re the man for that job?”
“Try not to damage my manhood. I do many manly things. I have my own tool belt.”
She laughed, but then she kissed him. “All right, then. I’m going to run this over to Lin Su’s. She said she lives about fifteen minutes away. I’ll get the address from Winnie and take the Jeep. By the time you’re done with Spencer I’ll be back.”
Grace put the address in her phone before leaving the garage and watched as the directions were calculated. It was calculated as farther than a fifteen-minute drive, but she dismissed that. She’d beat the GPS at its own game in the past with some clever shortcuts. In fact, she enjoyed that challenge. She wouldn’t try it tonight, however. She’d play it safe.
She drove through the south part of Bandon and then east toward Coquille. She passed a barbed-wire-encircled industrial lot where construction equipment seemed to be stored. Guard dogs patrolled inside the fence, an eerie sight. Nearby, there were storage lockers of the large, commercial capacity. A convenience store and bar were on the corner across the street from a run-down apartment complex. Customers were spilling out onto the street with their drinks in front of the bar. A bunch of teenagers were hanging out in the parking lot and a police car was parked nearby, an officer in the front seat. On the other side of the convenience store was a motel. The vacancy sign was flashing, missing the V. She passed through a sparse neighborhood comprised of old houses, crossed some railroad tracks, made a few turns and assumed she was leaving the populated area for the more rural area. Then the nice GPS lady informed her that her destination was on the right and she noticed the entrance to a trailer park. There was an outdoor lavatory attached to a small Laundromat. There were exactly two security lights shining down on maybe twenty trailers of various models. Among the mobile homes was an old Airstream, a few fifth wheels, a couple of abandoned trailers. The ground was dirt and a couple of trailers seemed to be well lit with outdoor lights for the purposes of beer-drinking gatherings or home auto and motorcycle mechanics. There was a police car at the far end of the one-street park. Two officers were cuffing a couple of men who wore jeans and leather jackets and looked dangerous to Grace.
She spotted Lin Su’s car sitting next to a very small fifth wheel with one dim light shining inside. It was more of a little camper. The car was parked very close to the single door. And in the yard between Lin Su’s trailer and a mobile home a man and woman who appeared to be drunk were having a very loud, very angry argument. The man—who, Grace noted the irony—wore a wife-beater T-shirt and was gesturing at the woman with his beer bottle. The woman wore a bathrobe. And the only vehicle at that residence was an old truck up on blocks.
The squad car was now moving toward Grace. There were two officers in the front and two passengers in the back. The driver pulled up next to her and rolled down his window. “You looking for someone, ma’am?”
“I guess I’m lost,” she said with a nervous giggle. “I’m going to turn around and reset my GPS.”
“Well, if you’re coming to buy something, the drug store is closed.”
Grace’s eyes grew round. She swallowed.
She drove to the next wide space in the road and maneuvered the Jeep into a U-turn. She drove out of the park, slowly. An elderly man was taking a bag of trash out to a silver garbage can that was chained to a post. She noticed that his mobile home had a screened porch and some patio stones forming a walkway to an ancient Oldsmobile.
The place wasn’t a complete ghetto and drug haven. But it was poor. Very poor. And there was no place for a boy to play; no beach or park. She had no idea where the school was but if Charlie had to walk there, he would be crossing railroad tracks, industrial parks, storage lockers and passing the convenience store, bar and seedy motel.
She stopped at the entrance of the trailer park, made sure her doors were locked and turned on the dome light to program her GPS to take her home, though she was certain she could remember the way. Then she got out of there.
She was sure it looked a lot better by the light of day. After all, not having a lot of money was no crime. She even thought about taking a drive out this way the next day to see if her worst instincts were confirmed or if she was just scared of the dark. There was one reality she was certain of—Thunder Point didn’t look like that after dark. And if there were drug dealers in town, they were very well hidden. And domestic disputes? Seth hated them, but he took action—no one was waving beer bottles around, yelling at each other in their yards.
When she got home, she dropped Charlie’s backpack on one of the dining room chairs.
“Grace?” her mother called.
She went to her mother’s bedroom.
“Lin Su phoned,” Winnie said. “She wanted me to know Charlie left his backpack behind and that they’d catch up with it in the morning. I told her you were taking it to him.”
“I got lost,” Grace said. “Rather than hunting in the dark, I just gave up. Would you like me to call her and tell her not to watch for me?”
“I can do it,” Winnie said.
“Good. His backpack is on the dining room chair. Tell her I’m sorry she was waiting for me. I made a couple of wrong turns and got frustrated, not knowing where I was going, so I just came home. I figured by the time I got straightened out Charlie would be in bed anyway.” She faked a yawn. “Which is where I’m going. Is Mikhail going to watch television with you tonight?”
“I imagine so. He’s gone upstairs to get into his comfortable pants and slippers.”
“I’m going to lock up and go to bed.”
“I thought we never locked anything,” Winnie said.
“Tonight I’m locking up. Because...uh, because I usually forget but tonight I remembered. Good night, Mama.”
Downstairs in the quarters she shared with her husband she told him about her little adventure. “It’s probably not nearly as bad as it looked, but my first thought was—they’re very vulnerable living in a seedy neighborhood in a trailer that can barely keep the wind out. I don’t know how to handle that. I can’t stand to think they might be at risk. Either of them. Lin Su’s a single woman and Charlie is a small boy.”
“Why don’t you give me that address. I’ll drive over that way and look around, see where the schools are, what the neighborhoods look like in the light of day, just kind of see if I’d live there. My apartment wasn’t exactly high-rent.”
“We live in a million-dollar house,” she reminded him. “We might not be the mos
t objective.”
“Well, Winnie lives in a house that cost a million plus and we live with Winnie. I grew up the son of a teacher and a city maintenance worker. Our neighborhood was safe and clean but it wasn’t exactly chi-chi.” Then he laughed.
* * *
The next day at about noon Troy wandered into the flower shop. He said hello to Ginger then invited Grace to walk down to the deli with him to check out the day’s specials. “Then I’ll know if I have to make a store run before dinner.”
Once they were outside he fessed up. “I went to look around Lin Su’s neighborhood. It was pretty well balanced between little old people on fixed incomes without a lot to spare, some unemployed, some down on their luck and some real badasses. I don’t know how it looked in the dark but it was pretty tame in the light of day. I’d live there, but I’d have a baseball bat under my bed.”
“Oh, Troy.”
“I even talked to a couple of folks. They were elderly. I said I was looking for something for my sister to rent and asked if a single woman would feel safe there. One old guy said there was a single nurse in the park and he looked out for her. He’d be just as willing to look out for my sister. That was nice. Not that he could, however. Look after anyone. This old guy was no Rawley, if you get my drift.”
“They sell drugs in that trailer park!” Grace said in a heated whisper. “And what is this business about her eating cereal at night? She’s always had a perfectly good appetite around here. I think she’s saving real food for Charlie.”
“Maybe she has debt,” Troy said with a shrug. “I’m no stranger to debt. Listen, I think this can be remedied,” he said. “I think it would be best if you’d be chairman of this project. Winnie would just offend Lin Su by not approving of her residence and try to give her something. Hell, I’m sure Lin Su doesn’t approve of her own residence, but she has to live tight and she has pride. I think there’s probably a solution in Thunder Point. Let’s start by getting her committed to letting Charlie go to school here. Then we can look around for something affordable. It won’t be fancy but I don’t think she’s looking for fancy. One step at a time, okay? Can you try to be patient?”