Getting Old Is to Die for (7 page)

"Why not?" Ida says. I shake my head no.

The girls take off. I realize I'm the only one left in the rec room. I shut the lights, close the door, and make my way down the bridge path toward my apartment.

There is a sound somewhere off to one side of the bridge. Then I see them, standing half hidden by a palm tree. Irving and Mary are whispering. A moment later they lean toward one another, kissing gently.

Oh, my, I think. This will cause an uproar around here; sparks will fly. They look so sweet together. Poor Irving. Millie's been sick so long. He deserves a little happiness. And so does Mary for that matter.

I think sadly, Don't I deserve a little happiness, too?

10

COLD CASE

A
s Jack, holding his cell phone, walks to the window of his small, generic hotel room, he assesses its few amenities: an ancient TV that's bolted to the wall, ditto the tarnished mirror. A rickety lamp with a lightbulb so low, it's impossible to read at night. Glancing into the bathroom, he notes the one threadbare towel and one washcloth. Good thing he doesn't intend to bring anyone to this pathetic excuse for a hotel accommodation. He looks down below.

"Yeah," he says on his cell phone to Morrie. "Got a great view of an air shaft, and the noise of the air conditioner unit down below could deafen a person."

"Why don't you go somewhere else?" Morrie comments.

Behind Jack, spread out on his bed, are dozens of folders. They look as old and faded as the shabby bedspread. "As long as it's clean, it suits my purpose."

He pictures his son leaning back in his office chair, with his feet propped up on his desk, prepared to listen to his dad's adventures in the Big Apple. "And here I was expecting you to be getting ready for a night on the town."

"Dinner at your sister's was excitement enough. By the way, the boys said to say hello to Uncle Morrie and not to forget their birthdays are coming up. And your sister and brother-in-law send regards, too."

"Thanks. Bet those kids wore you out."

"Never, never take eleven-and thirteen-year-olds to FAO Schwarz unless you've gone into heavy training in advance. Frankly, I hate to admit it, I'm glad to be staying in this dump for the peace and quiet."

Jack walks back to the bed, moves papers around to make room for himself, and stretches out. He occasionally glances over at the files next to him.

"Any luck on the case?" Morrie asks.

"Tim Reilly is fantastic. I guess he called in a lot of markers for this information. I pulled everything I could out of the old files, but it's one of those no-win situations. Nobody saw anything or heard anything. The guys canvassed the entire neighborhood." Jack tries to downplay his frustration. He props the pillows behind his head, trying to get comfortable.

"What about the girl? His student. What did she say about the attack? How did she come to be in the alley? Did she recognize the guy?"

The pillows are too large and stiff. He pushes them off to one side and gets up.

"Apparently Patty Dennison was a fragile young woman who went to pieces because her favorite teacher died saving her. She was hospitalized, severely traumatized. Couldn't speak. Couldn't remember anything. Her family took her out of school and left the city. Never came back."

"Pretty much a dead end?"

"Looks like it."

"What's your next step?"

"I was thinking about going to see Gladdy's daughter, Emily. She was only eleven at the time. Ironic, she has a daughter that same age now. And the same age as our Jeremy. In fact, Lisa found out the two kids go to the same school and are in the same class."

"Hey, what a coincidence." He pauses. "Pretty awful, Dad, to think of a kid that age going through what Gladdy's little girl did."

As Jack paces his small room, he stops to pick up a dropped piece of paper and adds it to the pile on his bed.

Morrie goes on. "Interesting dilemma you have there. Wanting to visit the daughter of the lady you hope to marry without said lady even knowing about your intentions."

"It will be quite a surprise for Emily. I have no idea what Glad's told her about me. If anything. In fact, get this: Lisa is taking me to Welcome Back to School Night. Kind of a transition event to take the kids from summer fun to schoolwork again. Maybe I'll get a chance to meet Emily there. Funny, our daughters live only a few blocks from one another."

"And if you meet her in Jeremy's classroom, what will you do?" Morrie sounds curious.

"I'll ask her if she'll speak to me. If not, then I won't bother her."

"Why don't you call her first and warn her?"

"I think I need to surprise her and catch her off guard. I don't want her too comfortable."

"Once a cop, always a cop." Morrie's tone is amused.

"By the way, have you seen or heard anything about Gladdy lately?" Jack asks carefully. He misses her greatly and can't admit it to his son.

"She has a new case. The Lanai Gardens grapevine's still going strong." He stops and Jack realizes he's being punished by his son.

"What's it about?" He laughs, trying to get Morrie to say more. "Come on, you can tell me."

"No, and if you want to find out more, the ball is in your court. She specifically asked me to tell you to call."

Jack is surprised. "You spoke to her?"

"She actually came down to the station and trapped me in a corner."

Jack smiles. That's his Gladdy, all right. "How did she sound?"

"Pretty mad, I think. I don't like being put in the middle." He tries to sound grumpy, but Jack can hear the caring in his voice.

"Stop nagging," Jack says gruffly. "I'll call when I'm ready."

"Yes, sir. If you could see me, I'm saluting."

Guilt, guilt, guilt, Jack thinks. He should have confided in Gladdy. But he was afraid of raising her hopes or, worse, being told to leave the case alone. How will he ever make it up to her?

11

OPEN HOUSE

A
s Jack enters Middle School 44, with eleven-year-old Jeremy hanging on one arm and thirteen-year-old Jeffrey on the other, he is reminded of the times he accompanied Lisa and Morrie in their early days of elementary school so many years ago. Talk about deja vu. It is the winters he remembers the most, for he always had to help the kids with their heavy coats and galoshes before they went running off to their classes.

Lisa is right behind them. Dan has stayed home to take care of the baby.

All school buildings seem to smell the same. Chalk dust and regular dust and old gym shoes. It feels wonderfully alive. The boys, like energetic young colts, drag him along at as fast a pace as they can get him to move.

Lisa laughs. "You're always this excited when school starts. Three days later, what will you kids say?"

The boys answer together: "I'm bored!"

"Exactly."

The walls are filled with some of last year's best artwork and science posters. Jack shows suitable appreciation as the boys make Jack look at every single one until they find Jeremy's. It is a picture of a boy riding a horse in a park. Jeremy explains, grinning through his braces, that it's him riding in Central Park.

"Enough dawdling," Lisa says. "We'll be late."

They climb up to the second floor. Tonight it's Jeremy's sixth-grade class. Tomorrow they'll meet Jeffrey's teachers.

The room is already crowded. The youngish, athletic-looking teacher, Mr. Fieldstone, seems to be very popular as the boys and girls crowd round, eager to introduce their parents. Jeremy pulls loose to grab on to his buddies with a lot of back-slapping and high-fiving. As if they hadn't seen one another almost every day of the summer.

Jack glances at the mothers, wondering how he'll recognize Emily if she's here. He's seen photos of her in Gladdy's apartment, but that might not be enough. He and Lisa watch as Jeremy slowly approaches a girl, who smiles shyly at him. He smiles shyly back, and suddenly, with a silly grin forming on his face, he attempts to smooth back his unruly mop of blond hair.

"Oh, my," Lisa says, grinning. "That must be the Lindsay who Jeffrey keeps teasing him about." The girl is adorable, standing there with her wide mischievous eyes and reddish-brown pigtails and dimples. And she has braces also. She is giggling, putting her hands over her mouth. It's obvious how much she likes her nervous suitor.

But it's her mother standing next to her who Jack finds himself staring at. He knows at once it has to be Emily. He sees Gladdy in her lovely oval-shaped face and in her relaxed posture. And her smile, he'd know that smile anywhere. And the simple pleated dress she's wearing--Gladdy's preferred beiges and browns.

Jeremy turns redder and redder and seemingly becomes totally tongue-tied.

Jeffrey is about to go over and make his brother even more miserable, but Lisa grabs his shirt and holds him back. "Don't even think about it."

Emily is standing next to a man--her husband, Alan, Jack assumes--and another of their children, a boy, about fifteen. That would be Patrick. For a moment he watches their animated chatting. Emily and Alan are both dark-haired and tall. He remembers Gladdy telling him that Alan is a doctor, a pediatrician. He has a kind face and Jack assumes his small patients feel comfortable with him. He likes the way Alan holds his wife's hand.

"It's Emily," Jack tells Lisa. "I recognize her."

"And Lindsay's her daughter?" Lisa grins. "We may someday have two matches from the Gold family."

Jack grins and pokes her playfully.

Lisa glances at Jack. "Ready to make your move?" By now it's almost her turn to greet Jeremy's teacher and she gives Jack a little push before she moves up in the line.

Jack strolls over to where Jeremy is listening avidly to what Lindsay is saying about the ballet classes she's taking this year. Jeremy breathes a sigh of relief at being rescued from his inability to mumble a word on such an alien subject. "Hi, Grandpa."

"Would you introduce me to your friend?"

He's able to do that. "This is Lindsay and that's her mom and dad and brother." It all comes rushing out of his mouth as if it were one run-on word. With that, Lindsay says hi and pulls Jeremy away with her as she spots other friends.

Jack introduces himself. "Jack Langford."

Alan says, "We're the Levinsons; Emily, Alan, and Patrick. And of course, Lindsay, who's run off with your grandson. Not literally, of course."

"Your name is familiar," Emily comments, squinting at him.

"I hoped it would be. I come from Fort Lauderdale."

Her eyebrows lift and she grins. "Lanai Gardens? That Jack?"

"Gladdy's Jack?" Alan adds, equally surprised.

There's a lot of smiling and shaking hands. Jack points to Lisa, who's been watching. She waves. "That's my daughter, Lisa, and my other grandson, Jeffrey."

Alan says, "Well, how about that? We all live in the same neighborhood."

Emily is beaming. She teases him. "So, how come Mom didn't tell me you'd be in town?"

"She doesn't know I'm here."

There's a pause at that.

"I definitely intended to look you up," Jack says directly to Emily. "Actually, I'd like to have a talk with you."