Canyon Secret (18 page)

Arm in arm they walked to her door. “Mikhail, I really enjoyed tonight. It was very nice. Your partner Bud and his Sara are fun people. I’m glad we’re getting together with them next Friday night.”

They kissed softly one more time and said good night. As he walked to his car, he noticed how good it felt to think about someone other than one of his family members. He also thought how the long lost erection scrunched in his pants felt pretty damn good too.

T
he Oasis Bar in Polson stood as a mainstay for customers driving Montana Highway 93. Travelers stopped often and used the restrooms, drank a couple of beers, and usually toted along a six-pack or two for the road. David finished the second of his tap beers, and Tomas drained his ice-cold bottle of Pepsi Cola. He held true on his July 5th promise not to drink again. The bartender ignored David’s attempt at friendly conversation and paid more attention to the baseball game over the static of the well-used radio. David ordered a six-pack of Great Falls Select, and handed them to Tomas to take to the truck. He sauntered back to the men’s room and lit a cigarette as he walked.

Tomas regretted not eating the sandwich after the funeral. His stomach growled, and he planned to ask David to stop somewhere around Missoula to eat. He checked his pocket watch as he waited for his brother-in-law to join him in the truck. It was 1:30 and Tomas figured it would take about three to three and a half more hours to make the drive to Butte.

On the drive to Missoula, Tomas tried to talk to David about him joining the Navy. “David, what do you think about me joinin’ up with the Navy? I really have—”

David interrupted him in mid-sentence, “I don’t know. Hey, what did you think about that bartender back in Polson? She sure was friendly to me. If I wasn’t married, I’d probably take her up on her offer to stay the night.”

His eyebrows felt the pressure of his eyes squinting. He hesitated before answering, “I, I didn’t pay no attention. I was thinking about seeing Anna.” Tomas looked in his side view mirror, signaled, and passed the slow-moving farm truck overloaded with hay.

David ignored the words about his daughter, Anna. He popped another beer and then asked, “I mean, did you notice how that lady bartender kept flirting with me? You must’ve seen the way she smiled and brushed me when she set my beer down.”

He stepped on the gas pedal and hit sixty miles an hour. “Didn’t notice nothin’ about her.” Tomas didn’t care to talk about any bartender. He wanted to talk about his plans for the Navy. Or talk about Anna. “When did you see Anna last, David?”

“Jesus, it’s hard to keep you on the subject. I’m talkin’ about some good-lookin’ woman, and you’re talkin’ about some other shit.”

Tomas shook his head and decided to just drive and forget about talking to David. He noticed David slurred his words and only wanted to talk about some bartender. As they neared Missoula, David told him to pull over at Fred’s Bar and Restaurant right outside the city limit of Missoula.

After a quick burger and fries, Tomas stood up to leave for the truck. David grabbed his arm hard. “Sit down for Christ’s sake. I ain’t ready to leave yet. I just ordered a boilermaker. What’s your hurry anyway?”

Tomas looked down at David’s hand locked onto his muscular forearm. Quietly he confronted David, “Let go of my arm, David.” His hand loosened and Tomas continued, “I’m really anxious to see Kat and Anna. It’s been about three and a half months. I can’t wait. Besides, I told Kat we’d be home around five o’clock.”

He mumbled something to himself as he stared into the back bar mirror.” He awkwardly spun the barstool around and faced Tomas. “So you think you’re gettin’ pretty salty, huh? Maybe we should go out in back and see who’s who.”

The bartender tapped the nightstick on the bar. “Time for you to hit the road, pal. Pay up and leave.”

David fell asleep in the truck about thirty miles outside of Missoula. Tomas experienced a form of relief. He didn’t like being around David when he got drunk. Memories of July 3rd stood fresh in his mind. His stomach turned as he thought how cross his sister would be when David showed up drunk. He decided to remain as quiet as possible and hoped the two-hour drive to Butte would be enough time for David to sober up some.

The drive to Butte went by quickly and David slept soundly. He never moved a muscle. About five miles outside of town, Tomas gently nudged David and woke him up. David sat up straight and said, “You gotta pull over somewhere quick. I gotta piss right now.” Tomas guided the truck to the turn off at Ramsey. David quickly ran over and relieved himself behind a parked car. Tomas needed to go too, but he decided to wait until he got to McQueen. After he zippered his pants, David walked around to the driver’s side. “I’ll take over from here. Push over.”

The smoke from David’s cigarette blew across the front seat and caused Tomas to cough. He quickly opened his window and stuck his head outside to catch some fresh air. David tapped the ashes off his cigarette into his pants cuff. The truck swerved into the middle of the highway. He looked up and corrected. Tomas quietly asked, “Are ya sure you’re okay to drive, David?”

“Ya, I’m okay. I have a bad headache, but I’ll be fine. Pick up those empties and stuff em’ in that there bag for me. I don’t want your sister seeing them. She’ll go off shift on me.” He laughed and patted Tomas on the thigh. “It’ll be good to see them again. I ain’t seen em’ since about March or April.” Tomas wondered how a father could stay away from his sick daughter for that long.

David stopped the truck in front of the McQueen Club. “Let’s go in and have just one. It’ll do my hangover some good. Just one, I promise you Tommy Boy.”

“It’s almost five right now. Knowing Kat, she has dinner waiting for us.”

“Okay. Okay. You win. Let’s go.” David dreaded seeing his wife after such a long time. He knew that he didn’t want to get back together. All the alcohol in Hungry Horse didn’t drown the fact that he and Kat weren’t any good for each other any more.

Divorce would be tough. And now he had to see his little girl sick and weak from polio. He wished he’d found the courage to come visit sooner. David wondered if he could even stand being here for two days.

Tomas snapped him from his thoughts. “There she is sittin’ on the porch waitin’. She’s wearin’ her apron. Can only mean supper’s waitin’.” After the truck came to a stop, Tomas rushed out of the truck and lifted his sister up off the porch and into the air. “Oh Kat! It’s so great to be home. You look real good. And you smell good too. Did you cook lasagna?”

She laughed and slapped his back urging him to put her down. “Put me down you wild man. Of course I made lasagna. Now go see your niece. She wouldn’t take a nap she was so excited.”

Tomas gently set his sister back down on the porch and kissed her firmly on the cheek. She hugged him and looked over his shoulder at her husband. David sheepishly stood at the head of the sidewalk and forced a smile. She walked down the porch steps toward him. He closed the distance between them as tears burst from her eyes. Kat Sednick embraced her husband for the first time in months. She smelled his stale beer breath and his cigarette smoke-drenched shirt. It didn’t matter; they were together.

Tomas learned from a phone call two days earlier that his niece Anna showed some improvement. But she remained weak and remained totally dependent on the oxygen mask for breathing. Tomas flashed on the last time he saw her and how she looked trapped in the iron lung. He walked into the living room and made her favorite face. His fingers pulled hard on each side of his mouth and his eyes crossed and pointed downward.

Through the oxygen mask she giggled like he saw her do every time he made that face. Tomas walked over to her with his hands in front of his chest. He curled his fingers and wiggled them like a cat moves their claws. Anna moved her hands in front of her eyes and blocked his hands from her view. She giggled harder now and then started to cough. “Oh, I’m sorry Butterfly. Take it easy now. The monster is going to take a rest. Oops. He’s gone now. Whew! That was close. All gone.”

Anna regained her breath and reached out for her uncle. They hugged around the tubes. “You look like a million bucks my Little Butterfly.” Tears came easily for him as he whispered to himself a prayer of thanks. He visualized this moment for weeks and begged God to send her good health. Her improvement exceeded his expectations. She looked good. Tired, but good.

Anna cautiously lifted the mask up onto her forehead. She whispered in a wispy and breathy voice, “Is my daddy here too?”

Tomas broke into a big smile. “Yes, he is. He’s out talkin’ to your mom. He’ll be right in.”

The paper bag he laid on the floor caught Anna’s attention. “What’s in the bag, Uncle?”

He shook the bag. “What do think it is?”

“Don’t tease.”

He opened the bag and pulled out two cutout doll books. She opened her mouth and snorted in some air. Anna pulled the mask down over her mouth and nose. A big, open smile crossed her pale face as she fingered the pages of the first book, Puss and Boots. Anna slid the second book on top. Raggedy Ann and Andy contained a boy and a girl doll with several outfits. “What does it say? What does this one say?”

“It says Raggedy Ann and her friend Andy.”

Anna turned the pages slowly. She pointed to Raggedy Ann. Her muffled voice cleared the oxygen mask, “Raggedy Anna?” “That’s what it says. It’s about you.”

The front door opened slowly and David and Katya walked in arm in arm. Anna looked up from her book. Her brown eyes focused on her father. He hesitated before going to her. Katya led him toward the big recliner chair. Words eluded him. Reluctantly, he knelt down in front of her and touched her arm. “I, I, I.”

Anna raised her mask once again, “Hi, Daddy. I missed you.”

Tomas excused himself and went outside to the porch. More tears rolled down his cheeks. He wondered how many more times he could cry. Shorty’s death drained his bank of grief tears, and now Anna wrenched any remaining tears from somewhere. He didn’t know where. But somewhere. “Maybe this visit is just what David needs to straighten up. Now maybe we can get back together as a family. Dad and John Nolan will learn what a good man he really is. We can all help him to stop drinking. That’s his main problem anyway.”

After they finished eating Katya’s lasagna dinner, Tomas helped her clean up the dishes and the kitchen. He dried the last plate and placed it in the cabinet above the toaster. In the background he heard David talking with Anna. Katya dried her hands on the dishtowel he used. She folded the towel and carefully tucked it in the door handle of the refrigerator. She watched her brother walk outside onto the back porch. In her mind she flashed back to days when they were children. It seemed like yesterday. And now she watched a full-grown man stand on the porch. “When did he become a man? I’ve been so busy being a mother; I’ve missed his whole growing up. My brother, a man. Holy smokes.”

She joined Tomas on the porch, stood next to him, and placed her arm around his waist. “How much do you weigh, Tom? You’ve really gotten huge.”

He looked down at her and smiled, “I weighed on your scale in the bathroom before supper. If it’s close at all, I’m right at two hundred fifteen. And after your supper, I’m right at two-hundred and forty.”

His sister squeezed him and laughed like she did years ago before her life changed so much. “I really have missed you. You make things so much easier. Things are still real tough here with the strike and Anna and that. You look real good. So strong. The work up there’s good for you. You must really like it.”

Tomas nodded his head, but his mood changed. He looked out over the neighborhood and sucked in some air through his nose. “I lost my partner in a bad accident. He saved my life but got crushed in doin’ it. He, he,” Tomas gulped hard and resisted the overwhelming urge to cry.

Katya slid in front of him and placed her hands on his bulging biceps. “Oh, Tommy. I’m so sorry. It had to be awful on ya. Do ya want to talk about it?”

He shook his head and displayed a weak smile for her benefit. “No thanks, Kat. I need to deal with it alone. One of them things. Ya know what I mean?”

“Ya, I do know. Let me know, though. I’m all ears. You’ve always been there for me. So I owe ya some good listening too. Alright.”

“Alright. I’ll be fine. It’ll just take some time.” He walked down the stairs, turned on the hose, and took a drink.

His sister watched him and again flashed back to their days as children. Drinking out of the hose was a daily thing for him. Their mother scolded him and warned him of catching trench mouth. The warning never stopped Tomas, and he never caught trench mouth. Most times he ended up squirting his sister with the hose. In her mind’s eye she reviewed wrestling over the hose and laughing until she almost got sick. The cold water snapped her from her trip through memory lane. She hopped off the porch and attempted to steal the hose from him. Things changed over the years as he held her off with one hand and drenched her with the other. Once again Katya laughed until she almost became sick.

The next morning David and Katya took a ride. Tomas stayed with Anna and played with the cutout dolls that he gave her. He purposely misplaced items of clothing on Raggedy Ann. Anna rolled her eyes and rearranged the clothes where they belonged. She slid the oxygen mask up. “Uncle. The dress goes here. Not up there. Silly.”

He slapped his forehead and picked up the white apron cutout and attempted to place it on the legs of the doll.

A loud gasp of air flowed out of Anna’s mouth. She placed her mask back in place. Her little fingers gingerly slipped the cutout apron from around the doll’s legs and attached it over the dress. Anna shook her head and gently slapped Tomas on the forehed.

Tomas shrugged his shoulders and turned his hands upward, “I don’t know where these clothes go. I thought this little white thing was Raggedy’s pants.”

Again Anna shook her head and pointed to the picture on the cover of the cutout book. “Oh, that’s where it goes. It’s a good thing I ain’t no Raggedy Ann doll. Huh, Butterfly.” He reached up and kissed her on the head. The smile she gave him made the long, difficult trip with David worth every minute of the drive from Hungry Horse.