Chapter 21: Errands

I was up early, just as dawn was breaking. I went outside to find June sitting in one of the pool chairs. "I hope you didn't sleep there," I told her.

She stood, shaking her head. "I like to get up early. Mom says this is the best time of day, you avoid the lowlife scum -- they're still sleeping off last night."

"Well, if you're here to swim, we can do that," I told her. She peeled out of the jeans and blouse she was wearing, revealing a modest two-piece suit. I didn't bother with one, just hopped in nude. The water was warmer than I expected, downright pleasant -- until I started to swim. Then I found that warm water isn't much fun to swim in.

And of course, June was running rings around me. I kept at it longer than I usually did, remembering Elena's request to swim. I wondered what June would think if I invited someone else to swim early? I laughed at myself -- as if what June thought mattered.

When June finished, she smiled at me. "You swam longer today."

"Yes, I went for a jog yesterday with a friend up Squaw Peak."

"You told me yesterday," June reminded me, "before you left."

No wonder I hadn't remembered talking about jogging with June!

"It was pretty bad," I told her. "Carolyn's mother really flipped."

"Worse than the other day at the party?" June seemed incredulous.

"Much worse," I told her.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" June asked.

I met her eye and shrugged. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was talking about. "I don't think so."

"When I was thinking about you..." June stopped and glanced my way, then went back to watching the waves in the pool, "I thought about what would happen if someone asked me about it. Someone besides my parents."

"Them too," I told her, suddenly a little dizzy. I really was crazy! A single careless moment yesterday and Carolyn could have messed up my life beyond measure. A single careless word on my part, on Susan's, on Sherrie's. It was simply crazy.

"Oh, they're cool."

"When you were twelve?" I asked, feeling bitter.

June lapsed into silence for several seconds. "Carolyn seems older. She is really nice. When we talk..." June spread her hands. "It's like I'm talking to Mom or Gus."

Better by far, I thought, you than me.

How easy by far, not to pay attention to the abyss! You walk out and stare into it, and don't notice you're standing on mist!

I got Susan off to school, Sherrie left and I was alone again with my thoughts. About ten I called up my father-in-law and spoke to him briefly. Things were in progress, he told me, and he'd be sending details in the next few days.

I called the lawyers and talked to them. Being busy made me feel better. When I ran out of things to do, I started working on packaging the results of the Costco trip. I was in the middle of that when the phone rang.

"Hi, Laura, this is Lou."

"Hi. What can I do for you?"

She laughed, "You already did that! Thanks, Laura for last night, what you did for Denise and Carolyn. I talked to Nancy this morning and she told me about it."

"Like I said, it's hard to get an adult to take a time-out. Denise needs one."

"Well, you did good!" She hung up, and I'd barely put the phone down when it rang again.

"Morning, Laura," Marybeth said. "I have a favor to ask."

"Sure," I told her.

"I went to see Denise this morning. When she was in cheer, I got to know her well, even if I was doing a lot of traveling on business."

I made a socially polite sound. "I talked to Father Luis. I talked to the shrink at the hospital. Everyone agrees that Denise needs some extended time off from Terry and Carolyn. I invited you for the weekend, and I want you to know I still want you to come. Denise is going to be here though; I'm going to put her up for a couple of weeks."

I didn't know what to say. "We met just once and had some words," I told her, wanting to be honest.

"Yeah, I think that's part of the problem. Sometimes people lose their way, and they don't want to admit it. When people remind them, they get angry at the messenger; anything to distract them from the message."

I didn't say anything for a second, as I thought it over. "Please, Laura, as a favor. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. We can do the book review another time."

"You think it will be okay?" I asked.

"I do," she said with quiet confidence.

"Okay."

"That's my Laura!" she exclaimed, obviously pleased.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I'll even try to answer it."

"Elena told me about her parents. Yet, last night I met Father Luis. How is that possible?"

"Just a second," she said.

There was a moment of silence, and then a familiar male voice spoke. "Marybeth says you want to know how a husband and father can become a different kind of Father."

I was startled. "Yes." I was also terribly embarrassed.

"Once upon a time, I was a businessman who spent a dozen hours a day, six and seven days a week, making things add up. I had a wife and a daughter. A wife who drank too much, and who at first screamed and shouted at me and at my daughter. Then she started hitting Elena. And me? I had my own world, one where I didn't have to see it; I started pushing up my hours.

"One afternoon, I went home, planning on changing clothes, getting something to eat and hopping a plane to Pittsburgh. I found my wife standing over Elena, who lying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding. I took exception to it, so I'm told -- but I don't remember. I remember waking up in the hospital with the mother of all headaches and a fractured skull.

"They put my wife in jail, Mrs. Hunt."

"Laura, please," I said absently. This sounded uncannily like what had happened to Carolyn and her father.

"My wife was sentenced to a year in jail for two counts of assault and battery. There were no plea bargains, no nothing. She'd hospitalized a sixteen-year-old girl and a forty-something pillar of the community.

"Some people deal with jail well, most do not. Some few can't deal with it at all. A few days after she started her sentence, she got into a fight and was knifed to death."

"How did you come to be a priest?" I asked, curious and mystified. Not to mention I was eager to change the subject.

He laughed. "The Church requires celibacy for our priests when they are priests. Not before and not after. The Papacy has passed from father to son in the past."

He paused. "I think I understand a little of what I've heard. That Elena told you about her mother... that is, so far as I know, the first time she's ever done that. I think you want to know why, more than how, don't you?"

Why not be truthful? "Yes," I answered.

"I facilitated my wife's descent into hell for years and years. I didn't say anything about her drinking. I didn't speak out when she started hitting Elena. Penance, Laura. Penance. Then, even more than that, I want to help people, help families, avoid what my daughter, my wife and myself endured."

"Thank you, Father, for being so candid."

"Laura, Denise helped Elena, after she was hurt. She and all of the other people like her. Denise, Nancy, Marybeth all worked to make my daughter whole again. I gave up my business; I turned to the Church. I make no apologies to anyone, except Elena, for what I've done since then. I apologize to Elena every chance I get, even though she's threatened me with another braining if I don't stop. I wasn't there when my daughter needed me. I wasn't there for my wife. It colors my thinking."

"I understand." I did, too. "Tell Marybeth I will be there Friday evening, whenever she wants me there."

"From the expression on her face, I think she wants you now," Father Luis said and I nearly choked. "But, all good things come to those who wait."

Marybeth and I exchanged goodbyes and I promptly called Children Services and asked what I had to do get a new caseworker. Sure enough, go down, fill out a form and talk to yet another caseworker.

I got in the car and headed for their office, pausing only to brush my hair a few times, gather my purse and go out the door. Halfway there, I regretted my decision, because I realized I wasn't wearing a bra. I glanced down and saw that underneath my turtleneck, you couldn't really be sure. I kept going, eager to get the deed done.

The man who met with me was more polite, his face more controlled and unrevealing than Sanchez's. I explained that I'd had several meetings with the woman and that the chemistry wasn't there.

"Is it because you feel that she isn't going to give you a favorable recommendation?" he asked towards the end.

I met his eye. "I haven't discussed with her what she might recommend. She hasn't discussed it with me. I would assume that if I were to be disqualified for some reason, I would be told what the reason was and could appeal."

"No decision has been rendered," he looked down at a file folder, obviously reading. Then he looked up.

"One item of concern is that you have a three bedroom house. You currently have a boarder living with you, as well as your daughter."

"The boarder is temporary, until she can work something out," I told him. "It was my understanding that Amy would not be moving until after the end of the school year."

"That's true. I also see a note here that your case worker is concerned you might allow the young woman to visit her current foster parents."

"I would accord anyone living in my house all of the rights my own child has. To have her own friends, to be able to associate with them in according to the rules of the house. Amy would also be subject to those rules."

"And you're not trying to circumvent the rules?"

"Sir, what I'm interested in is doing the best I can for Amy, as I would for anyone given into my care. I fully understand the responsibilities I have towards the young woman as they've been described to me. I have every intention of meeting those obligations."

He looked at me without expression for a moment, and then turned back to the folder. "Carolyn Gamble. I understand she has visited with you on several occasions, that she has stayed the night."

"Yes." I waved at the folder. "Her mother is having a difficult time right now and last night had a break down. Carolyn's mother is receiving medical care and observation. Carolyn is in the custody of her father."

"Who allowed the situation to develop," I was told.

"Who was powerless to stop what happened," I replied. "Denise Gamble has a number of very close friends, people who've been her friends for decades. They thought she was working through her problems. None of them anticipated what happened."

"You are very glib, Mrs. Hunt."

"I have come here to present you with an issue I think is important," I told him, my voice level. "What you choose to do, of course, is your choice."

I sat still for a few seconds. A week ago, I'd considered dropping a nuclear weapon on Linda Kellogg. Now I was considering dropping a quite different one on this man and everyone associated with Children Services.

I decided that was too extreme. No, there was a better way, a much better way; I was surprised it hadn't occurred to me before. Probably because I'd never cared for lawyers or lawsuit-induced coercion.

"Do you have anything else substantive, or am I done?" I asked.

There was a tiny tightening of his eyes. "No, I have nothing else."

I got up, thanked him for his time, turned and left. I reached my car, and found to my dismay it was a quarter of three. Worse, I hadn't programmed the lawyer's phone number into my phone.

I drove home, getting there about three thirty. Everyone was in the pool, even Sherrie.

I waved, then went and called Amy's phone number. Her mother picked up and I asked if I could bring a guest by later to talk with her, her husband and Amy. She was a little curious, but agreed. "Ann, when's Amy's birthday?"

"The thirteenth of May. She's going to be fifteen. She was really looking forward to it, until this..."

"Well then!" I said, happily. "Cool! That's my daughter's birthday as well. Let's have a party for both of them!"

"Amy doesn't have that many friends. Some of the girls on the cheerleaders," she told me.

I realized that she wasn't aware of Amy's problems with the cheerleaders, or much of anything else about them. "Look, we can talk about it tonight, but one thing I know about teenagers: invite them to a party and they will come!"

She agreed and I told her I'd be there around eight. Then I programmed the law firm's number into my cell phone and called Devin Hannigan. He was polite and didn't seem to be fazed with I asked him to meet me at Amy's.

I explained what I wanted and he was quiet a few seconds before answering. "Legally, you have no standing; thus I can't intervene on your behalf. What we would have to do is have the Bowdens retain us for a nominal sum. A dollar suffices. You and the firm would have a side agreement about fees." He laughed. "We do this sort of thing all the time for mob defendants."

I laughed as well. "Thanks!" I replied.

We talked a little more about the issue at hand, as I explained what I'd been told. When I finished, he was forthright.

"You obviously are interested in knowing the likely outcome."

"Yes."

He chuckled, "Well, that depends on how willing your friends are to going all out. If we take this to trial, the odds are about 60-40 in their favor. While that's good, when you're talking about CPS possibly breaking up your family, it's not really acceptable. No, the way to win is to drop a mention to the press. They will be on this sort of story like a swarm of locusts. CPS has done a number of stupid things. Across the nation, the various state children's welfare agencies have repeatedly been hammered by their abysmal incompetence."

When he said abysmal, I was reminded of why publicity might not be welcome.

He went on, "This would become a human interest story. There are a lot of people out there who've lost loved ones to cancer, to any number of causes. People who would take great umbrage at the notion that the family of a cancer victim can't adopt a child. Really, you can take it to the bank: once this reaches the six o'clock news, CPS would backtrack by the next day."

He paused and then went on. "You would probably get approved for placement the day after that and would have someone assigned to you right away. Someone they would be confident you could not possibly succeed with."

He hung up and I went into the kitchen where Susan and Sherrie were in the last stages of dinner preparations. "Susan, this concerns you too," I told her. "This concerns both of you, but you, Sherrie most of all."

"Me?" Sherrie looked confused.

"I have something I want you to think about. It is possible events may move swiftly, so you need to think about it sooner rather than later. I realize you aren't paying much in rent; you paid once, but I don't honestly think I could collect more. Not with what's happened."

"It shouldn't affect things," Sherrie said. "We did start outside, after all."

She grimaced when she saw my expression. "Okay, I'm thinking!"

"You have three choices that I see, right now," I told her. "You can take my money and either accept it in the spirit it is offered, or if you want to, take it as a loan. If you do that, I will never dun you, never ask for repayment in any form whatsoever. The last thing you can do is something else."

"I don't understand," Sherrie said, looking hurt. "Are you kicking me out?"

I sighed. "You are a mature young woman, Sherrie. You are capable of living by yourself in an apartment. If you get an apartment with a couple of bedrooms, you could have roommates, who would further cut down on expenses. The thing is that I need the room, in case I can get Amy as a foster child. Or, if they are bastards, if they send me someone else. I'm betting they are bastards, and I'm going to be ready for that. One thing I need to do, is be able to look them in the eye and say I have a room free. It has nothing to do with what's happened between us. Absolutely nothing."

"You're not just saying that?"

"No. I realize this hasn't been the longest acquaintance in the world, but I hope you've learned a few things about me. That I would never consider this if I had a choice. My offering to help you with rent isn't conscience money. It isn't an attempt to buy you or pay you off in some way. Money is something I have scads of, and if I can use it to help a friend, I will."

"That's a lot of money," Sherrie told me.

"You have no idea, Sherrie. None. I could walk down the street outside, find the single most expensive house around and plop down the money from my checking account. And not materially affect it. Renting an apartment?" I just shook my head.

Sherrie looked at me, took a step close and reached out for me. I took her and hugged her, a very mutual hug.

When she let go, she looked me right in the eye. "Can I suggest something?" she asked.

"Anything, like I said. I wouldn't do this if I wasn't desperate."

"Mom, you are so stupid!" Susan said with a laugh. "I know what Sherrie's going to say!"

I looked at Sherrie. "What are you going to say?"

"Laura -- do it. Walk out the door; find the biggest, nicest house for miles around. Buy it. Sixty-'leven bedrooms. A kitchen the size of a restaurant. More freezer space than closets here. A pool, tennis courts -- just do it."

I opened my mouth to speak and instead emitted something that sounded like a mouse squeak when the trap closes on it.

I could do that, yes I could. The question then became, how fast?

"Let's eat dinner," I told them. "I have to go out. Manana will have to do for a new house."

We'd just sat down when the phone rang, and I went to get it.

"Laura, you are the hardest person to get a hold of!" Elena told me.

"It's been a busy day, and it's not over yet."

"Is this about yesterday evening? I heard about that."

"That and some other things," I told her.

"I want to see you," she said baldly.

"How bad?" I asked.

"Well... I'd really like to."

"How about tomorrow at five thirty in the morning? Come swim with me and a neighbor."

"Is she cute?"

"Yes she is, albeit she's my daughter's age."

"Well, I will stir my lazy bones out of bed in time to be there. Five thirty?"

"Yep, we're early risers out here in North Scottsdale."

She laughed. "Okay... see you then."

I shook hands with Jack Bowden, smiled at Ann. Odd, I thought. Two people with the same name -- and personalities as far apart as night and day.

Jack ushered me in and I looked around. A nice living room, not too fancy. Something someone who has had a lot of medical bills might have.

"I took the liberty of inviting someone with me, he'll be here in a minute," I told Jack. "Before then, I want you to listen to a proposal I have."

He nodded, but waved his hand, nervous. "Ann and I need to talk to you. Right now Amy is in her room, with her friend Fred."

I nodded.

He looked at me. "Amy and Fred came to us yesterday. Amy says she's gay, so is Fred. That they've been lovers." He rushed, his voice nervous. I kept my eyes on his, not wanting to look at Ann.