“What now?”
“I’m not sure,” Teri said. “You hungry?”
He shook his head. They had eaten several hours ago at a drive-through called the Pac Out. The boy had ordered a hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. He had left a third of his hamburger and most of his fries. They were still in a bag in the back seat.
She started up the car, grinding the starter a bit, then looked across the seat and wondered what was going on inside him. Though he hadn’t used it much, he had kept the walking cane at his side most of the morning. It seemed to her that it was something to fall back on when he felt the need. He looked up from his magazine, his blue-green eyes surprising her as they always did.
“How about the park?” Teri said. “I’ll race you from the pool to the swings.”
“Mom…”
“Too fast for you?”
“Mr. Rogers is too fast for me.”
“Who is Mr. Rogers?”
“You know – that guy on television. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”
She laughed. “You’ll get stronger. Don’t worry. It’ll just take some time, that’s all.”
He nodded, not seeming to mind much. “That’s what Miss Churchill always said.”
Teri pulled out of the lot.
On the way to the park, she caught herself singing a few lines from McCarther’s Park, an early 70’s hit with lyrics that didn’t seem to make any sense. It was a song she used to sing with Gabe, and just like Gabe, the boy gradually joined in, singing about a cake left out in the rain, and a recipe they’d never have again.
If Walt could see this, Teri thought. Then he’d know.
This had to be Gabe.
It had to be.
[21]
“So no luck with the dentist, huh?”
Teri took a sip of coffee and shook her head. “No. He’s out of town on vacation. Won’t be back for another week.”
“That doesn’t help much.” Walt cleared the dinner plates from the table, dumped them in the sink and turned on the water.
On the other side of the wall, coming from the living room, Teri could hear the rise and fall of laughter from a sitcom laugh track. The boy was in there. He had picked at his meal again, a couple of bites from his garlic bread, maybe half of his spaghetti. She recalled a neighbor’s mother once lamenting that “You can’t make a picky kid eat if he isn’t hungry.” The trouble was – Gabe had never been a picky eater.
“Sorry,” Teri said, back to the subject of the dentist. “There’s not much we can do about it now.”
“I know. But it would have been nice to have put the issue behind us.”
The issue.
She had resigned herself to the fact that he wasn’t going to give up the issue. At least not until he had some hard evidence. And while that annoyed her a bit, it was also something that she greatly admired about him. Walt was a man who sought the truth. Whatever the consequences, good or bad, painful or joyous, the truth was his footing. When it came to the boy, that footing was still anchored on shaky ground. They both knew that. Teri just wasn’t as quick to concede it.
Walt stood at the sink, adding soap to the water, and she thought how lucky she was to know this man. He had been the only person in the world whom she had felt she could lean on during the worst days following Gabe’s disappearance. Michael had all but buried himself in his work. And Teri, herself, had become obsessed and distant. Walt, it seemed, had been the only level head around her.
“How about you?” she asked. “Any luck with the fingerprints?”
He turned off the water. “It’ll probably take a couple of days before we hear anything one way or the other. And like I mentioned last night, I’m not holding out any high hopes.”
“So what’s next?”
“I’ve got to go out of town, Teri. I’m sorry.”
“Now?”
“I know it’s coming at a bad time.”
“No. No. I’m the one who should be apologizing. You’ve been great, Walt. Really.”
“It’s another case.”
“I understand.”
“I want you two to stay here while I’m gone.” He paused a moment, as if he were searching for something else to add, and when it didn’t come easily, he rinsed the next plate and placed it in the rack next to the sink. “You’ll be safer here.”
“Thanks,” she said, knowing he was probably right. Then she wondered how he was going to feel about this next question. “I’d like to take him to see his doctor. You think that would be all right?”
“Sure. You worried about his strength?”
“That… and some other things.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but he’s got a streak of gray hair coming in.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I just noticed it this morning. I know it sounds silly, but it worries me. Especially with everything else that’s going on. I just want to make sure that it’s nothing serious, that he’s all right.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t tell anyone where you’re staying, though. If the doctor needs to get in touch with you, tell him you’ll call him.”
Teri nodded, surprised at how easily she had come to accept this new secrecy into her life. It was frightening how much things had changed in just twenty-four hours. It was also amazing how accepting of the changes she had already become.
Walt rinsed off the last plate and pulled the stopper out of the sink. The sharp, not entirely unpleasant aroma of Lux had filled the kitchen, reminding Teri of long ago nights when she would finish up the dishes while Michael and Gabe played catch in the backyard. Walt dried his hands off on a towel, hung the towel in the crook of the handle of the refrigerator, and swept up the stack of newspapers he had brought home with him. He sat down across from her.
“How’s he doing?” he asked, in reference to the boy.
“As well as can be expected, I suppose.”
“Has he asked about Michael?”
“Not really.”
“You still have Michael’s number?”
Teri nodded. “In my purse.”
“When I get back, I’ll want to give him a call. See if he has an inkling of what’s going on here.”
“He’s not behind this, Walt.”
“Maybe not. But I wouldn’t be doing my best for you if I took that at face value, now would I?”
She smiled.
“How about you? How are you holding up?”
“Okay.”
“Wish I could tell you what’s going on, but I’m as much in the dark as you are.”
“I know,” she said.
“It’ll all work out eventually.” He thumbed through the stack of newspapers, moved the local paper to the top, and casually glanced at the headlines. Teri watched him, realizing distantly that what she was witnessing was part of this man’s nightly routine.
“You think I should have called the police?” she asked softly.
He looked up and grinned. “A little hindsight?”
She laughed to herself.
“What did I say?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, what’s so funny?”
“It’s just something Michael used to say.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s silly.”
“I don’t care.”
She shook her head. It was silly, and she preferred not to have to mention it because she knew it was silly. But at the same time, it was still one of those things about Michael that she had always loved, that juvenile sense of humor. “Hiney-sight. Michael used to call it hiney-sight.”