The Promise (3 page)

“Marion, are you all right?” He knew more about her health than anyone did. She had confided in him years before. Someone had to know, for the business. She had appallingly high blood pressure, and a serious problem with her heart.

For a moment there was no answer, and then she pulled her eyes away from her son to look at her longtime associate and friend. “Yes … yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry. Good evening, George. Come in.”

“I think I've come at a bad time.”

“Not at all, George, I was just leaving.” Michael turned to look at him and couldn't even pretend to smile. Then he looked at his mother again, but made no move to approach her. “Good night, Mother.”

“I'll call you tomorrow, Michael. We can discuss this over the phone.”

He wanted to say something hateful to her, to frighten her, but he couldn't, he didn't know how. And what was the point?

“Michael…”

He didn't answer her; he merely shook hands solemnly with George and walked out of the library without looking back. He never saw the look in his mother's eyes, or the concern in George's as she sank slowly back into her chair and brought her trembling hands to her face. There were tears in her eyes which she hid even from George.

“What on earth happened?”

“He's going to do something insane.”

“Maybe not. We all threaten mad things now and then.”

“At our age we threaten, at his age they do.” All her efforts for nothing. The investigators' reports, the phone calls, the … She sighed and slowly sat back against the delicate chair.

“Have you taken your medicine today?” She shook her head almost imperceptibly. “Where is it?”

“In my bag. Behind the desk.” He walked to the desk, saying nothing of the pages of die report scattered there and on the floor, and found the black alligator handbag with the eighteen-karat-gold clasp. He knew it well; he had given it to her three Christmases before. He found the medicine and returned to her side, holding the two white pills in his hand. She heard the rattle of the demitasse cup and opened her eyes. This time she smiled at him. “What would I do without you, George?”

“What would I do without you?” He couldn't even bear the thought “Shall I leave now? You should get some rest.”

“I'd just get upset thinking about Michael.”

“Is he still coming to work for the firm?”

“Yes, it was something else.”

The girl then. George knew about that too, but he didn't want to press Marion now. She was distressed enough, but at least the color was coming back to her face, and after swallowing the pills she took a cigarette out of her case. He lit it for her as he watched her face. She was a beautiful woman. He had always thought so. Even now, as she grew tired and increasingly ill. He wondered if Michael knew how ill. He couldn't possibly or he wouldn't upset her like this.

What George did not know was that Michael was equally distressed at that moment. Hot tears burned his eyes as he sat in the back of a cab on his way to the airport.

He called Nancy as soon as he got to the terminal. His flight would leave in twenty minutes.

“How did it go?” She couldn't tell much from his voice when he said hello.

“Fine. Now I want you to get busy. I want you to pack a bag, get dressed, and be ready in an hour and a half when I get there.”

“Ready for what?” She was puzzled as she sat curled up on the couch, holding the phone.

He paused for a moment and then smiled. It was his first smile in two hours. “An adventure, my love. You'll see.”

“You're crazy.” She was laughing her wonderful soft laugh.

“Yeah, crazy about you.” He felt like himself again. Once more it was all beginning to make sense: he was back with Nancy. No one could ever take that away from him, not his mother, not a report, no one and nothing. He had vowed that day, on the beach where they had buried the beads, never to say good-bye to her, and he had meant it. “Okay, Nancy Fancypants, get moving. Oh, and wear something old, something new …” He wasn't just smiling now, he was grinning.

“You mean …” Her voice trailed off in astonishment.

“I mean we're getting married tonight Okay with you?”

“Yes, but—”

“But nothing, lady. Get your ass in gear and make like a bride.”

“But why tonight?”

“Instinct. Trust me. Besides, it's a full moon.”

“It must be.” She was smiling now, too. She was going to be married. She and Michael were going to be married!

“I'll see you in an hour, babe. And … Nancy?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.” He hung up the phone and ran toward the gate. He was the last passenger to board the plane to Boston. Nothing could stop him now.

Chapter 3

He had been pounding on the door for almost ten minutes, but he wasn't going to give up. He knew Ben was in there.

“Ben! Come on, you …
Ben! I
… For Chrissake, man …” Another rash of pounding and then at last the sound of footsteps and a sudden crash. The door opened to reveal a sleepy Ben, standing confusedly in his underwear and rubbing his shin. “Christ, it's only eleven o'clock. What are you doing asleep at this hour?” But the grin on Ben's face told him with a second glance. “Jesus. You're smashed.”

“To the very tips of my toes.” Ben looked down at his feet with an elfin smile and an unsteady wobbling of the legs.

“Well, you're going to sober up real quick, podner. I need you.”

“The hell you do. Six Beefeaters and tonic and you think I'm gonna waste it? Bullsh—”

“Never mind that Get dressed.”

“I
am
dressed.” He squinted unhappily as Mike turned on the lights. “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” But Mike only smiled as he headed toward the tiny, disheveled kitchen.

“What'd you do in here? Detonate a hand grenade?”

“Yeah. And I'm gonna shove one up your—”

“Now, now, this is a special occasion.” Mike turned to smile at him from the kitchen doorway, and for a moment there was hope in Ben's eyes.

“Can we drink to it?”

“All you want But later.”

“Crap.” He let himself fall into a chair, and let his head loll back against the soft cushions.

“Don't you want to know what the occasion is?”

“Not if I can't drink to it I'm graduating from graduate school. That I can drink to.”

“And I'm getting married.”

“That's nice.” And then he sat up straight, and the eyes came open. “You're what?”

“You heard me. Nancy and I are getting married.” Mike said it with the quiet pride of a man who knows his mind.

“This is an engagement party?” Ben sat up with a look of delight. Hell, that was worth at least another six Beefeaters. Maybe even seven or eight.

“Not an engagement party, Avery. I told you. It's a wedding.”

“Now?” Confusion again. Hillyard was a real pain in the ass. “Why now?”

“Because we want to. Besides, you're too loaded to understand anyway. Can you get it together enough to be our best man?”

“Sure. Son of a bitch, you're actually going to—”

He leapt out of his chair, lurched horribly and stubbed his toe on the coffee table. “Goddamn—”

“Go put some clothes on without killing yourself. I'll make you some coffee.”

“Yeah …” He was still muttering to himself when he disappeared into the bedroom, but he looked slightly more composed when he returned. He was even wearing a tie, with a blue and red striped T-shirt. Mike looked at him and shook his head with a grin.

“You could've at least picked a tie that went with the shirt.” The tie was a dark maroon with a beige and black design.

“Do I need a tie?” He suddenly looked worried. “I couldn't find one that matched.”

“Just zip up your fly and we're all set. You might want to find the other shoe, too.” Ben looked down to see only one loafer, and then he started to laugh.

“Okay, so I'm gassed. But did I know you'd need me tonight? You could've at least told me this morning.”

“I didn't know this morning.”

That brought a look of sudden seriousness to Ben's eyes. “You didn't?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Very much so. And look, don't make me speeches. I've had enough of those tonight. Just get yourself decent so we can pick up Nancy.” He handed his friend a mug of steaming coffee, and Ben took a long hard swallow, then grimaced.

“What a waste of good gin.”

“We'll buy you another round after the wedding.”

“Where are you doing this, by the way?”

“You'll see. It's a beautiful little town I've been in love with for years. I spent a summer there once as a kid. It's only about an hour from here. It's the perfect place.”

“You've got a license?”

“Don't need one. It's one of those crazy towns where you do it all in one shot. You ready?”

Ben downed the last of the coffee and nodded. “I think so. Jesus, I'm getting nervous. Aren't you scared?” He looked at Mike more soberly now, but Mike looked strangely calm.

“Not a bit.”

“Maybe you know what you're doing. I don't know … it's just that … marriage … ” He shook his head again and stared at his feet. It reminded him that he had another loafer to find. “Nancy's a hell of a nice girl though.”

“Better than that.” Mike spotted the other loafer under the couch and handed it to him. “She's everything I've always wanted.”

“Then I hope the marriage brings you both everything you want, Mike. Always.” There was a bright glaze of tenderness in his eyes, and for a moment Mike held him by both arms.

“Thanks.” And then they both looked away, anxious to get going, to laugh again, to taste the moment with glee instead of solemnity.

“Do I look all right?” Ben checked his pants for his wallet, then searched for his keys.

“You look gorgeous.”

“Oh shove it … damn … where're my keys?” He looked around helplessly as Mike laughed at him. The keys were attached to one of the belt loops on his trousers.

“Come on, Avery. Let's get you out of here.” The two left, arm in arm and singing the beer hall songs of summers before. The entire building could hear them but no one really cared; the whole place was populated by students living off campus, and two weeks before the end of school everyone was raising hell.

They pulled up outside Nancy's place on Spark Street ten minutes later, and she waved nervously from the window as Mike honked. She felt as though she'd been ready for hours. A moment later she was standing beside the car, and for a few seconds both young men fell silent. It was Mike who spoke first.

“My God, Nance … you look beautiful. Where did you get that?”

“I had it” They exchanged a long smile, and none of them moved. She suddenly felt every bit a bride, despite the late hour and the unorthodox circumstances. She was wearing a long white eyelet dress and there was a little blue satin cap on her shiny black hair. She had worn the dress as a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding three years before, but Mike had never seen it. She was wearing white sandals and carrying a very old, very beautiful lace handkerchief. “See, something old, something new … the handkerchief was my grandmothers.” And the cap was blue. She looked so beautiful that for a moment Mike didn't know what to say. Even Ben seemed totally sobered as he looked at her.

“You look like a princess, Nancy.”

“Thanks, Ben.”

“Hey, listen, you got something borrowed?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know … something old, something new … something borrowed …” She laughed and shook her head. “Okay, here.” He bent his head forward and began to fumble with something at his neck. A moment later he held out a narrow, handsome gold chain. “Now, this is just a loan. My sister gave it to me for graduation, but I opened it early. You can borrow it for the wedding.” He leaned out of the car to fasten it around her throat and it fell just above the delicate neckline of the dress.

“It's perfect.”

“So are you.” Mike said it as he got out of the car and held the door for her. He had been so stunned by the way she looked that he hadn't been able to move. “Get in the back, Avery. Darling, you sit in front.”

“Can't she sit on my lap?” Ben made a feeble protest as he scrambled toward the back, and Mike gave him the finger. “Okay, man, okay, don't get excited. I just thought maybe since I was the best man, and—”

“You'll be the dead man if you don't watch it.” But the mood was strictly a teasing one as Nancy settled herself on the front seat and beamed at the man she was about to marry. She felt a moment's queasiness about Marion, but she pushed it from her mind. This was the time to think only of herself, and Michael.

“What a crazy night … but I love it.”

They alternately joked and fell silent on the road to the tiny town Mike had in mind, and at last none of them spoke. They had a lot on their minds. Michael was thinking back to his interview with his mother, and Nancy was thinking of all that this day meant to her.

“Is it much farther, love?” Nancy was getting fidgety and her grandmother's handkerchief was beginning to look crumpled as it passed through her hands.

“Only about five more miles, guys. We're almost there.” Michael reached briefly for Nancy's hand. “Just a few more minutes, babe, and we'll be married.”

“Then speed it up, mister, before I get cold feet,” Ben sang out from the back, and all three of them laughed. Mike put his foot on the gas and swerved around the next curve, but the laughter rapidly shrank to a gasp as Michael veered helplessly to avoid a diesel truck occupying both lanes as it plowed mercilessly toward them, going too fast, and almost out of control. The driver must have been half-asleep, and the only sounds Nancy remembered hearing were Ben's anguished “Oh no!” and her own voice screaming in her ears. Then there was endless shattering of glass … shattering … breaking … metal grinding, crunching, roaring, engines meeting and locking and arms flying and leather tearing and plastic cracking as everything was covered with a blanket of glass. And then at last everything stopped, and the world was black.

It seemed years later when Ben woke up, lying with his head jammed into the dashboard and a horrible pounding in his ears. Everything was dark around him and there seemed to be a handful of sand in his mouth. It felt like hours before he could open his eyes, and the effort it took made him feel sick. At first he couldn't understand what he saw. Nothing seemed to make sense, and then he realized that he was looking into Michael's right eye. He was in the front seat with him, but all he could see was Michael, and there was a thin river of blood trickling slowly down the side of Mike's face, onto his neck. It was strange to watch it, but for a while that was all Ben did … watch … Mike … bleeding … Jesus. It dawned on him what was happening. Accident … there had been an accident … he and Mike had been driving and … he lifted his head from where it had lain and tried to look up but a blow as if from iron forced him back down. It was minutes before he caught his breath and could open his eyes again. Mike was still lying there, bleeding, but now Ben could see that he was breathing, and this time when he stirred nothing happened. He could lift his head, and what he saw just beyond Mike was the truck that had hit them, lying flipped over the side of the road. What he did not see was the driver, lying dead beneath the cab of the truck. It would be a long time before anyone saw that. And then Ben realized something more, that he was seeing it all through open windows. There was no more glass left anywhere in the car, they were wearing it all, crushed into tiny particles all around them. And on Mike's side there was also no door. And then he remembered something more. Somebody else had been in the car … Nancy was … and where were they going? It was all so hard to hold onto, and his head hurt so badly, and as he moved a horrible pain shot though his leg, into his side. He moved to get away from the pain, and then he saw her. Nancy … Jesus it was Nancy in some kind of red and white dress, lying face down on the hood … Nancy … she had to be dead … he didn't even care about the pain in his leg now, he dragged himself over the dashboard and to her side. He had to turn her over … get to her … help her … Nancy … And then he saw the fine powder that dusted Nancy's hair. She was wearing the windshield all over her dress, all over the back of her head, all over … My God. With the last of his strength he rolled her slowly to her side and then pitifully, like a terrified little boy, he began to whimper.

“Oh, my God …” There was no face left beneath the blood-soaked blue satin cap. He couldn't tell if she were dead or alive, but for one horrible instant, he hoped she was dead, because there was simply no more Nancy. There was no one there at all, not even a remnant of the once beautiful face. And then mercifully, in her blood and his tears, he passed out.