The Denver Cereal (14 page)

“
I thought we were late?”
Mike asked.

“
Nervous?” Valerie
asked.

“
No, I’m torn between
bashing his teeth in and puking.”

Mike pulled Jacob away
from Jill, and Jacob laughed. He flipped a switch, and a dim thread
of lights appeared in the darkness.

“
There’s a switch at each
end,” Mike said. “There are also flashlights and headlamps if you
need them. Just toss them in the baskets at each end. Since we’re
so late, we should probably skip the headlamps and hold
hands.

“
There’s a series of
stairs — eight stairs and three landings — here and twelve stairs
on the other end.”

Jacob pulled an overcoat
over his Armani suit and flipped up the hood. He held his hand out
for Jill. Hand in hand, they entered the ancient tunnel. Created in
the 1800s, the tunnels were used to move heating coal from the
train station in throughout Denver.

“
How far is it?” Jill
whispered after they had been walking a while.

“
It’s a half mile,” Mike
said. “You don’t have to whisper.”

“
I just
feel . . . like I should whisper,” Jill
said.

“
Me too,” Valerie
whispered in response. “Maybe we feel all the sad souls Delphie was
talking about.”

“
It’s a dark place,” Jacob
said. “We’re almost there. You can see the stairwell up
ahead.”

They climbed the
stairwell. Jacob pointed to another lock box with a keypad. He
punched in his birth date and opened the box. He used the key to
open both locks. Holding the door for Jill, Valerie, and Mike,
Jacob set the key back on its hook and reengaged the security
system.

He walked through the door
to an open warehouse space. One end of the warehouse was a wood
shop. Tidy stacks of wood, windows, woodworking tools, and
worktables filled half of the space. Opposite from where they
stood, there were four aging cars — a Jeep Wrangler, an old Bronco,
a 1960s Mustang and an ancient silver Mercedes — lined up in front
of the garage doors. The cars were clean and clearly well
maintained. Jacob added his overcoat to the line of hooks near the
door.

“
This box has keys to the
door as well as keys to the cars. I thought Mike would take his
Bronco.” Jacob threw the keys to Mike. “Val? Are you okay with the
Jeep?”

“
Why are all of our old
cars here?” Valerie asked, noticing the cars for the first time.
“That’s Mom’s old Mercedes and that . . .” She
pointed to the Mustang. “That’s mine!”

“
I thought no one would
expect the famous Valerie Lipson to drive an old clunker. Delphie
drives Mom’s Mercedes. I can’t bring myself
to . . .”

“
Thanks, Jake.” Val’s eyes
brimmed with tears. “You really thought of everything.”

Jacob smiled. He pressed
the garage opener and they peered out at Detroit Street. The
residential street was silent. No helicopters. No photographers.
Just a few high school kids walking along the back of East High
School.

“
Yes!” Mike said. “I knew
we could do this!”

Valerie laughed and pulled
him to her. They kissed and whispered back and forth by the
Jeep.

“
We’ll catch up with you
at the hospital,” Jacob said to Jill. “But don’t wait for us. We’re
not exactly sure how long we’ll be. If you can take Katy home, you
should do that. I’ll find you when we’re done.”

Jill hugged Jacob. She
whispered in his ear, “Thanks. I . . .”

“
God damn it. Can we go?”
Mike asked. He opened the driver’s side of his Bronco.

Jill blushed and stepped
away. Jacob walked her to the passenger side, waited for her to hop
in, and then closed car door.

“
I remember this car,”
Jill said to Mike.

Mike laughed and revved
the Bronco’s engine.

“
Ready?” Jacob asked
Valerie, turning on the Jeep.

“
I feel a
little . . . nervous, I guess,” Valerie
said.

“
About?” Jacob
asked.

Backing out, he waited
until the garage doors closed before pulling out onto Detroit
Street. He drove a half block then turned right on
Colfax.

“
Just being here, I
guess,” Valerie said. “You must think I’m an idiot, but it’s very
scary for me to make these changes and take these
steps.”

Stopping at the light,
Jacob looked at Valerie.

“
I think you’re very
brave.” Jacob smiled. “You’re also not alone, Val. I’m here.
Delphie’s a trip but she loves us.”

“
And Dad,” Valerie said.
“Will he be there this morning?”

“
Just for a bit,” Jacob
said. “Are you ready for . . .?”

Valerie stared down Race
Street when they passed. The paparazzi surrounded the Castle and
news helicopters buzzed overhead. The Denver Police contained a
growing crowd of fans around their home. Valerie felt like she was
watching a feeding frenzy. Everyone wanted a piece of
her.

“
Hey,” Jacob said. He
touched her thigh to get her attention. “Max is waiting for us in
the parking garage at his office. He’ll escort us to his office.
Our stepsister and her Trevy-toy are already there working on the
prenuptial agreement.”

Valerie nodded. “I always
call her the step-whore.”

“
You do? I thought Mike
made that up,” Jacob said.

“
He got that from me,”
Valerie said.

“
After the ‘Valerie worked
in pornography’ thing?”

“
After she told
5280
you ‘caught AIDS at
the bathhouses,’” Valerie said.

“
Ah yes, how could I
forget my slutty gay life?”

“
You must tell Jill about
being gay, little brother. Not telling her is really
cruel.”

Valerie looked at Jake and
they cracked up laughing. They were laughing so hard that Jacob
almost missed his turn onto Lincoln Street. Jacob turned into the
parking garage and drove deep into the bowels of the Cash Register
Building. They were met by their friend and lawyer Max
Hargreaves.

~~~~~~~~

“
We have to do something
before we go to the hospital,” Mike said.

“
Mike, I want to get my
baby! I’ve been trying to get to Katy all morning!”

“
Do you want to get to
Katy or keep her safe?”

“
What do you mean safe?
Katy’s not safe?”

Stopping at a traffic
light at Eighteenth Street, he turned to Jill.

“
Trevor came to the
hospital last night.”

“
What? What do you
mean?”

Dread settled over Jill
like a bad thunderstorm.

“
He came sometime around
midnight. He was there for a while before he found Katy. He told
everyone at the hospital he was going to take Katy from her
hospital bed. He tried to get the doctor to say this proved you
were a bad mother.”

Jill bit her lip to keep
from crying. Mike shook his head at her and continued driving
toward downtown Denver.

“
Jill, you cannot possibly
believe him.”

Jill’s eyes filled with
tears.

“
I . . .
I’m not a very good mother. I try. I really try. I love her so
much. But she gets sick or hurt . . . That doctor?
Dr. Drayson? He gave me an EpiPen for myself and one for Katy when
she gains some weight. I . . . I didn’t even know
they existed. And they’re like a hundred
dollars . . . a piece!
And . . .”

Mike face
flushed.

“
That’s just bullshit,
Jill. My God!”

Mike hit his hand against
the steering wheel. Jill began crying into her hands.

“
Ah, Jilly,” Mike said.
“I’m sorry.”

“
I can barely afford to
feed her . . . Trevor should have full custody. At
least he can take care of her . . .”

“
Stop it,” Mike said.
“Just stop it. Katy freaked out when Trevor came into her room.
They had to sedate her. The hospital social worker called Social
Services. They came out to investigate.”

“
They’re going to take
her? My Katy? She’s in custody of Social Services?”

“
No. Jill, stop it. You’re
freaking out for no reason,” Mike said. “You need to hear what
happened. Stop the hysterics and listen.”

Jill bit her lip and
nodded. She took a deep breath to calm her. “Okay. I’m okay. What
happened with Social Services?”

“
They filed a report
against Trevor. The hospital social worker said she’d never seen a
person so angry and out of control around his hospitalized kid. She
felt he was an imminent threat to Katy . . . and to
you. He said he was going to kill you.”

Jill nodded.

“
He went to your apartment
to find you. I called the cops, and he was cited but let go. Jill.”
Mike put his hand on her shoulder. “Look at me.”

Jill looked up at her
brother.

“
I left a message for
Diane Radman last night. Remember your lawyer? She’s already been
to the hospital. She’s going to meet us at the courthouse. Diane
was able to get a couple people to testify this morning. She thinks
you’ll finally get that restraining order.”

“
You don’t think it’s
better for Katy to be with Trevor? At least he’s rich
now.”

“
No.” Mike laughed. “I
don’t think that. No one thinks that. Look, Diane’s right there
waiting for you. I’ll drop you and park.”

Mike pulled up to the
curb, where a fit woman with curly red hair stood. Wiping her eyes,
Jill got out of the Bronco. Diane gave Jill a hug and then began
preparing her for court.

“
We have to be in the
courtroom with all the documents and witnesses at 7:30 a.m. to get
on the 8:00 a.m. docket,” Diane said. “If we miss the 8:00 a.m.,
we’ll try to get on the 3:00 p.m. docket.”

Standing in line for
security, Jill took a breath to steel herself for another
restraining order hearing. Every day — from the moment Trevor asked
for a divorce to today — had been like a terrifying roller coaster.
She couldn’t remember a more difficult and horrifying seven
months.

And
yet . . .

Remembering this morning’s
warm, loving conversation with Delphie, Jill smiled.

“
I think we’ll get it this
time,” Diane said. “Just tell the truth about what he’s really
like. Enough people have seen him now that he’s going to have a
tough time getting out of it.”

Jill nodded and followed
Diane into the courtroom. Sitting in the crowded court, her mind
lingered on the “best not to waste time” morning shower with Jacob
just a half hour ago. By the time Mike sat next to her, she felt
herself again.

Life was terrifying and
getting so much better.

~~~~~~~~

“
Dad,” Valerie said in
quiet exhalation.

“
Hi, baby,” her father
replied.

They stood in front of
each other for the first time in almost ten years. Similar in
coloring and feature, their eyes scanned each other’s faces in
hesitant longing and mistrust.

“
I . . .”
They both started.

Her father smiled at
Valerie then nodded. He touched her arm.

“
It’s nice to see you,
Val.” Turning to Jacob, their father said, “I’ve done my part. I’ll
be with your mother.”

“
See you later, Dad,”
Jacob said.

Jacob and Valerie watched
their father walked toward the suite’s exit. At the door, he turned
to raise his hand to them then walked out.

“
What does he mean be with
Mom?”

“
He reads Mom the paper
every day. Remember he used to do that when we were kids. After the
jobsites are up and running, he spends the morning at the
cemetery.”

“
Guilty conscience,”
Valerie sneered.

“
Or something,” Jacob
said. “You know Val, not everything is as it seems.”

“
Thank you, Buddha.”
Valerie followed him into a conference room.

“
What? What are YOU doing
here?” their stepsister asked in horror.

Hopping to her feet, she
pulled at the seated Trevor. Trevor stood slowly as Jacob and
Valerie sat down across from the couple. They sat in silence for a
moment.

“
My Daddy will be so mad
when he finds out you are here to ruin my life AGAIN,” the vicious
blonde screeched at them. “And the week of my wedding.”

“
Actually, your Daddy is
still in prison,” Valerie said in an even tone.

Their stepsister launched
herself across the table at Valerie. Jacob blocked Valerie from the
attack while Trevor held their stepsister back.

“
Now kitten, you can’t to
get too upset,” Trevor said. “Remember what the doctor said.
Getting upset is bad for the baby.”

As the couple made dreamy
eyes at each other, Jacob and Valerie leaned back in their chairs.
Jacob looked at Max, who nodded. Jacob raised an
eyebrow.