Chapter 5

"This isn't Crys, but don't hang up," I said quickly to Sealy, the bouncer at COEDS – the bouncer who'd thrown me out of the club on the night that Crystal had had a near-fatal car accident – and, finally, the guy who was probably one of Crys's main friends in Las Vegas.

"Crystal had a car accident last night and is in the hospital. This is James Starzck, the guy you threw out of the club last night."

There was pause in the conversation. On my end, because I didn't want to say anything else until I could be, at least, semi-sure how he'd take it, and how close he was to Crys. On his end, I guessed, because he was trying to figure things out.

"Damn. Is she all right?" He was calm. Maybe he was always calm.

"She's hurt pretty bad." I lowered my voice to a near whisper. "She's unconscious from sedation now, and the word I have from the doctors is they won't know for a few days."

"Uh huh. Makes sense if she's seriously wounded." I thought 'wounded' was a strange word to use. "Why are you whispering? Is it Tess?"

"Yes," I said in a normal tone. "That would be right."

"How about if I come over and we discuss this over lunch at Chucky Cheese?"

Oh. Yeah. I guess he's got the gene for selecting a kid distracting place. I wouldn't have thought of it. But then, I'm only ten years out of Chucky Cheese lunches myself.

Sealy brought his kids, an 8 year old boy and an 11 year old girl. Tess was happy to see kids and happier to go to the game + pizza joint. The kids went straight for the ball pit, and I brought him up to date. I opened the bag and told him everything – minus the fantasies and the bit about the dildo-under-the-bed episode – including Tess's manipulation of the Social Services person and my lie about being Crys's half-brother.

He, it turns out, was an ex-SEAL – hence the nickname – who was the operating partner and ran COEDS. The other partners were a consortium of MD's and chiropractors in the Las Vegas area. Sealy was married, lived just outside the city with a wife and 3 children. He had a very paternalistic feeling about Crys but he made it clear that there wasn't any money from the club to help her. Maybe 'paternalistic' was a stretch. He seemed to care, but wasn't willing to do anything. All the girls (his word, not mine!) were self-employed contractors, with no benefits. His main goal was to make sure she was getting good medical care and that Tess was being looked after.

In other words: Crys was on her own. She was unconscious, her body broken in more ways than you could count, in an intensive care suite that probably cost more per day than she had, and "Good luck. Hope it works out." was his contribution to her recovery and the welfare her little girl. Thanks a bunch.

I nodded, made the right sounds and was generally depressed at Crys's outlook. Then, I kicked myself in the ass and put my mighty mind to work. "Say Sealy, I know you can't do much directly. But do you think you can get me some information about the other driver? Maybe the name of a good but honest plaintiff's attorney?"

"Good and honest? No such thing. But let me work on it and I'll see if I can find out who was driving the other car." We parted on fairly good terms with him promising to call me as soon as possible.

I collected Tess and decided to stop by the hospital on the way back to the apartment. Crys was still out, but I did get to talk to the doctor who did the emergency surgery. The good news was she would live – internal bleeding stopped when they removed her spleen and didn't have a broken nose and her concussion was not too serious – they thought. The rest was pretty bad. Broken clavicle on both sides, broken jaw, her spleen was gone and her liver was bruised, her right leg was pretty mangled. She needed to be unconscious until the swelling went down enough that they could operate again, and THEN she'd be in a series of casts.

Tess spent the few minutes while I was talking to the doc at her mother's bedside. "She's still sleeping, Unca James. I saw her breathing, so she'll be ok. Do you think she'll be home this week? I have my First Grade grad-ation on Friday."

"Tess," I said with a suddenly thick throat, "Your mom isn't gonna be home by Friday. Maybe she'll be awake by then – maybe not. She's going to be in the hospital a long, long time. But we'll take lots of pictures and even a movie and she can see it later." Have to remember to keep Friday clear.

"Oh." She was crying again, quietly. "OK." She tried to reach up and touch Crys's hand (the traction rig kept her arms back and to the sides). She looked back at me with a pitiful glance; I went over and lifted her up. "Bye mom. I hope you feel better." And she kissed the back of Crys's unmoving hand. When I put her down, she held on to me with both hands as we walked out.

We went back to my dorm room that Sunday afternoon. I needed to pack some stuff and return the car. Busses would do for me, I guess. Taking Tess along to a dorm room was a trip, let me tell ya. I walked in on Mark and his girlfriend, making out on his bed. That wouldn't have been a problem, except for the 6 year old next to me. They made a quick grab for the sheet and covered themselves.

"Oh don't stop!" That was the girl on the bed who didn't see everything at first.

"Oh crap!" That was me.

"What the... ?" From Mark.

And then Tess started. "Why are they in bed in the middle of the day? Grown-ups don't take naps. And she was nekkid, I think. Him too. Are they married? Or is it like the TV? Where everybody is doing it all the time and getting in and out of bed? What is 'IT' anyhow? That's 'fusing. Is it just sex? Ralphie said he saw his mommy and daddy doing sex and they were nekkid in the middle of the day. 'Cause if it is sex why don't they just say doing sex instead of doing it? That's 'fusing too. Ralphie said his mommy said they were trying to make a baby sister for him. Are they (she pointed) trying to make a baby sister?..." That was only the first blurt of questions from her. I managed to whip her around to face the door.

"Un sorry for the interruption. Really ... VERY sorry. Here's the car keys. I'm going to be staying over at Tess's house for a few days." I started to pack a couple of t-shirts and briefs and my essential books and papers into a backpack.

"Unca James, we don't have a house. We have a 'partment. I got my own room but the TV is in the living room. Not like Carmella. She says she got her own TV in her very own room..." I hustled her out the door while she was in mid-blurt.

The door snicked close behind. I had an insta-flashback to the door snicking closed behind the blonde goddess in the Catholic schoolgirl outfit back at COEDS – it seemed a lifetime ago.

It took 45 minutes to get to Crys's place by bus but we got there. Along the way I tried to explain to Tess that 'it' was 'sex' but that she wasn't really old enough to know what that was. She glared at me. "I'm OLD. I'm almost 7. What is it?"

I thought for a few seconds. "I'm 17 and I don't think I really know either." That quieted her right down. WOW! There was something that a grown up didn't know.

"James! JAMES! Wake up! It's bedtime."

I'd fallen asleep on the couch when we got home. The combination of not enough sleep the night before and all the stuff from today had done me in. From the look of the TV, Tess had been watching some reality show about eating worms and other disgusting things. Swell. If Crystal ever found out I had to explain a near-copulating couple to her daughter and that she'd watched people eating insects – she'd rise up from her sick bed and kill me.

I bundled up the little girl, grabbed Mr. Bear and headed off to her room. I tucked her in, like I usually did on Fridays and Saturdays, but then sat down on the side of her bed. "Everything is going to be OK, Tess. It's going to be OK." I gave her a kiss on the forehead – a first for me.

And she said "I know."

I wandered through the apartment, turning off lights and locking the door. When I got to Crys's king sized bed, I pulled back the covers and smelled the pillow. There was that perfume again. Soft and flowery. I kicked off my shoes and laid down – for just a second. My head was where her head was. I fell asleep again with the image of the beautiful woman of my dreams, who was sharing a bed with me. Just cuddling.

Monday morning was a thrill. It started at 6:30 a.m. with Tess jumping on her mother's bed – with me in it, of course. "JAMES. JAMES. It's time to wake up." The message must have come with directions: Repeat until the teenager is awake. She was dressed already, and I was still dressed from last night. She had on jean shorts, and an overly large COEDS t-shirt.

"Is that your mom's t-shirt." She nodded. "I don't think that ... uh..." I ran out of words to explain why wearing a t-shirt from a strip club wouldn't be appropriate for the first grade. "Better go put on one of your own."

"But I wanted to wear one of mom's, because ... you know."

"OK. I'll find you something special to wear. But not a t-shirt. It's WAY too big for you." She ran out to her own room and I started to go through Crys's jewelry drawer. I found a little heart on a chain. Perfect. I helped Tess put it on and told her it was a special necklace that she could wear any time and just touching it would remind her that everything would be all right, eventually.

The refrigerator yielded four eggs, which were soon scrambled. That plus OJ and toast would be a good breakfast.

"OH YUCK!" Apparently the eggs didn't meet with the lady of the house's approval. "That's eggs. I don like eggs."

"Well, they're not green. If they were green you wouldn't have to eat them. But they're not. They're good for breakfast, and we're almost late. So eat up."

"HUH?" The look of confusion on her face almost made me laugh.

I quoted from memory: "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them James I am." Well, it was almost a quote. "I do not like them, they're not cool. I will not eat them on the way to school.

"But they are not green. So eat."

She choked them down, making faces that would do a mime proud. They were obviously the most vile thing so far in her life.

School was within walking distance, and I went with her to talk to her teacher. She was very nice and very understanding. Almost too understanding. She suggested that the shock was too great for anyone to bear and maybe Tess should stay at home. I put my awesome brain to work and said, "No, that won't work." Clever huh?

I went from school back to the apartment where I went through all of Crys's papers. I contacted her advisor in the Business School, explained the problem and managed to get her courses suspended until next semester. Her insurance company was miffed that they weren't called right away. I called my profs and got a day off too. About noon Sealy called. He had good news – sorta. The other driver was an employee of a casino downtown. He was on company business and he was stoned out of his gourd. The bad news: the casino was trying to get the records of the arrest "disappeared."