Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Landon
Sweat runs down our faces. Never mind I’m the old man here at thirty-five. It is getting to the young fuckers too. Bing trips on the first stair leading to the master and it pushes Hunter’s hand against the rail.
“Ow!”
“Let’s put it down for a minute,” I say.
Everyone is onboard with the idea. The mattress gets leaned against the wall and we take a breath.
“What is this, King Kong’s bed?” Hunter says, sitting his ass on a stair.
“It’s a California King. They’re a little wider. What say we stop after this one? We can pick it up in the morning. It’ll just be what’s left in the garage at the condo. The motorcycle, a few boxes, and the patio furniture.”
Bing lets loose with a yell to the heavens.
“Shit yeah!”
Hunter rises and takes his corner.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
We follow the direction and make it up to the landing.
“How old’s this place?” Hunter asks.
“It was built in the eighties. But there was a remodel about ten years ago. Okay, let’s go.”
Again, we lift. This time we make it into the bedroom.
“It may be a mirage, but I see it! We’re almost there!” Bing says with a dramatic flair.
The mattress gets placed atop the box spring.
“God.” Hunter falls backwards onto the mattress. “I’m not going to move for the rest of the night.”
“The view is aLexome,” Bing says, looking at the unobstructed expanse of lake. Wave runners and big blowup floats dot the blue water. A boat in the distance speeds across the mirrored surface.
“That’s half the reason I bought the place.”
“Has Mom seen the house?”
“Not yet. But as soon as we can swing it, I’ll bring her here. Think she’ll like the place?”
“She’s gonna love it,” he says matter-of–factly. “She likes being around the water.”
I am not sure what he really thinks of that. Kids aren’t the most adaptable people, unless it’s them choosing the pivot. Maybe Hunter is a smarter person than most at his age.
“Let’s have a beer.”
Their faces look happier than expected for such a small suggestion. Shit, they’re nearly twenty. I would bet they have been stinking drunk a few times over the last year. That’s what you hear about the college experience, anyway. My one year of community college backs it up.
They follow me downstairs and head for the kitchen.
“Hey, grab one for me, guys. My cell’s ringing.”
I take Kim’s call, and flop on the couch.
“Hi. I may be dead. Your son and Bing are better equipped to lift shit. I feel like I’m a hundred.”
“Oh no. Who’s going to carry me to the bedroom now?”
I want to say something appropriately filthy, but the boys return with the beers.
“It’s your mother,” I say to Hunter as he hands me a cold bottle.
There is no reaction at all. He sits in the recliner, puts his legs up and reaches in his pocket for his own phone. Bing stretches out on the floor.
“Hello? You still there? Or did the thought of being in bed with me make you faint?” Her voice is like a tonic.
“Oh yeah. I’m opening a beer. We just finished for the day.”
“They’re going to want to have one too, you know.”
“I already offered them one. We’re unwinding.”
All four eyes look at me. They know Kim is questioning my good sense. Hunter shakes his head. The kid knows his mother thinks he’s twelve.
“Okay. Just don’t let them have more. They have a car remember!”
“You worry too much.”
As the words leave my mouth, Hunter smiles. There’s no eye contact, but he’s listening.
“So did you and Dad take the truck out again?”
“We took it on the frontage road this morning. Tomorrow we’re going to town. He wants to see Mom's.”
“Great. That’s encouraging.”
“Ronnie wants to know if your motorcycle is in its new house yet?”
“No. We have a few things to bring tomorrow. I can’t wait to take it for a drive around the place. Scope out the scenery. But that’s for another day. You two just chillin’?”
“Oh noooo. For the last few hours we’ve been dusting. I have sneezed a hundred times. The photographs on the walls, the books, all of it. Sounds easy, right?”
“No. I’d hate the job.”
“The pictures have a film on them and the books have to be handled delicately. Tomorrow we clean out the office. If you can call that pile of old papers and boxes an office.”
“Okay, I have a job for you. Detective work.”
“I’m intrigued. Doing what?”
“I am still looking for the VIN number for the Galaxie. It has to be in an obvious place that he could access it. Dad isn’t the type to hide things under the mattress. If you run across an important papers file, or automotive paperwork he’s saved, it might be there.”
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
“I haven’t been able to find it, and I know he must have it. And if there is any other information about the sale, keep that too. But you can’t let him see you looking.”
“Maybe we should just ask if he still has it,” Kim says, stating the obvious.
“No! That would ruin the surprise. Even if it takes me a year, I’m going to track it down. There’s no need to bring him in on it. He’d just tell me no anyway.”
Bing catches my eye and mimes working a television remote in his hands. He looks to me for the answer. I point to the small box sitting on the coffee table, clearly labeled remotes and cords. He points to his head and makes a goofy face.
Hunter tears it open and rummages through for the right one. Luckily they are labeled. It only took me till my thirties to take the time to do a move right.
Somewhere in the background of where Kim is, a bell tings.
“Oh, that’s the timer. We’re making pineapple upside down cake. Wish you were here. I’d feed you.”
She is a temptation. Every day. The frustration is real. Not being able to respond like I want to is eating at me. So I get up and move toward the hallway.
“Hold on, I have to move.”
As soon as I make it out of sight and hearing, I tell her how I really feel. In a whisper.
“Tell me about what you would do.”
“I would spoon feed you as you lay naked in our bed. You would have a hard on, obviously. And if even one crumb dropped, I would lick it off you. Slowly.”
My balls ache. “That sounds about right. With one addition to the story.”
“What’s that?”
“You would be naked too. And my hand would…”
I am interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the kitchen. That is too close for comfort.
“This isn’t the best place to talk right now. Let’s save it for later tonight.”
“Understood. I love you, handsome.”
“I love you too.”
“Night, baby,” she says.
“Night.”
Hope I didn’t say that ‘I love you’ too loud.
All of a sudden I lost the whisper. But what harm would it be if someone heard.
That someone. In fact, it would be good if Hunter did know how we feel.
I am not sure how to navigate this one. It highlights how much I have to learn about being with someone who has a child.
Especially a grown one. Not old enough to be my equal, and not young enough to mold.
I mean technically he could be mine, but I don’t think either one of us think of each other that way.
When I return to the living room, he is sitting back in the chair, watching whatever Bing is flipping through. His head turns my way, and an unspoken message passes between us. I am saying I know you heard me, and I will be good to her. Just wish I could figure out what it is he’s saying back.
Two hours, six hamburgers, and three milkshakes later, the day has caught up to us. Even the guys look beat. My eyes are closing, as Bing watches something funny on his phone and Hunter and I watch a Mavericks game on the big screen TV. We have nearly wiped out the bags of snacks Kim doled out.
“Mom said she met some of the Swift family at the wedding.”
His voice alerts me to reality. Shit. I need to go to my room.
“Yeah. They were really nice. I guess my parents were friends with them back in the day.”
Just as I rise, the cell sounds. Kim.
“Hi. I’m just about to head for bed. Want me to call back in five?”
Her voice is a whisper.
“No! Listen. I just found the VIN number!”
“What?! Where?”
I come alert with the news and sit my ass back down. Bing and Hunter watch my reaction.
“Ronnie’s wandering around here somewhere.
I have to be quick. He wrote on the backs of the pictures.
He had dusted the one of the car, so I didn’t see it.
But I just got this brainstorm to look! On the back is a copy of the transfer of ownership!
! I am so friggin excited! He doesn’t know I looked of course. ”
Now I am fully awake.
“This is great. Did you copy the information?”
“I took a picture. Oh! He’s coming in from the porch.”
“Be careful you don’t give it away!”
The creaking of the door sounds. Shit. I have to get to that.
“Want to say hello, Ronnie?”
My father’s voice carries.
“No time. The President’s calling.” His voice raises as he heads for the john. “I’ll call him back!”
“So send me the picture. I have to get to work.”
The boys are listening and have put the pieces together.
“I’ll send it now.”
As soon as I am off the phone we give high fives all around.
“This is going to be so cool,” Bing says.
“Think he’ll cry?”
“Shit yeah. Wouldn’t you?”
“I can’t see my future kid tracking down the Honda.”
Bing finds it funny to even consider. “Make sure he knows you’d rather have the cash.”
“Cars were different then, when you could work on them yourself. People got more attached,” I say.
Hunter tosses Bing and I one of the three remaining peanut butter cups. We avoided the half-smashed ones till now.
“Mom said it was your mother’s favorite car too.”
“She was as crazy about it as Dad.”
The ping of the photo’s arrival sounds.
“Let’s see what we have.”
I blow the image up and read the information.
“Howard Maple. Yeah, Dad said he lived in Kentucky.”
“What are the odds he still has it?”
“They’re slim. The guy may be dead. But it’s a place to start. First off, I need to run the number. See who owns it now.”
“You can do that online?” Bing asks.
“Yeah.”
“How about we have another beer?” Hunter says like it just occurred to him.
“That’s your decision. But if you do, no driving, okay?”
Let them make their own choices. Kim’s words pop up in my mind. Ha. Mothers know it all. But there’s only three bottles left, so I am not concerned.
“I’m going to bed. See you in the morning, guys. And thanks. Good job.”
There are a few grunts and a head nod, acknowledging the compliment. I don’t care. I am too tired for anything other than sleep, as I head for the stairs.
Each step feels like I’m climbing the last few feet to the summit.
And I am wondering why I decided to be on the mountain anyway.
Muscles and head ache in time with each other.
Shit. Kim would be rubbing my shoulders if she were here.
Or I would be rubbing her pussy. Bottom line, I would feel better than I do now.
So this is it. My house. Yep. An achievement.
Uh huh. Instead, I feel like a kid who opened a disappointing Christmas present.
I know what it should be, but this isn’t it.
And the weird part is I can’t show the letdown.
There is no mistaking the feeling though.
This is supposed to be a high. Becoming a homeowner, achieving the American dream.
The thing is, without her it just does not feel right. It is missing the soul.
Closing the bedroom door behind me, I give one glance at the bathroom and decide I don’t need to piss that bad. I want to look at the car info first. Shoes are kicked off, and clothes removed. They do not get picked up off the floor.
Shit. No sheets. They sit folded on the dresser, along with the blanket. Waiting for me to make the bed. Fuck me hard. Hey, this is my place. I can do whatever the hell I want. So I grab the folded blanket and a pillowcase. That’s all I need for the night.
It’s a quick job, and I am in bed in thirty seconds. Lights out. Ah. I begin scrolling the details of the owner transfer all those years ago. Adjusting the pillow, I get in my side position. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute.
Someone is knocking in my dream. The persistent sound annoys me. My eyes slowly open and I realize where I am. Time has passed. The room is pitch black, except for the lights on the lake. What time is it?
“Landon. Landon.”
“Yeah? Come in.” My voice is graveled with sleep.
The door swings open as I pull the blanket over my exposed ass. One leg out one in has its flaw.
“What?”
Hunter comes in carrying Bing’s iPad.
“What time is it?” I sound like an old fart.
“I don’t know. Around three maybe. We found the car!”
“What? Already?” I sit up and reach for the Pad. “Let me see.”
“It’s registered to a Mabel Augustus. Different last name, but the address is the same!”
Now I am awake.
“Maybe it’s the guy’s daughter. She could have inherited it,” I say.
“No. He didn’t have any kids. Plus we figured she was old. And we were right.”
Am I still dreaming?
“How do you know that?”
“The name, dude. Mabel.”
He sits on the edge of the bed and takes the iPad from my hands.
There is a look on his face like he feels sorry for my complete lack of technological awareness.
As if I am so far behind the times, there is little hope for me to survive.
Thirty-five is way too young to feel like I do right now.
Looking into the eyes of Sherlock Ripley, I’m taken to school.
“Let me show you. It was easy. Bing is kinda brilliant at it.”
“Did I hear brilliant? Thanks, bro.”
Bing walks in the room eating a burrito. I’m not even going to ask.
“Turn on the light,” I say.
He does, then reclaims his property.
“Give that to me,” he says, scrolling through a few things and then turning it for me to see.
It is a Facebook page for a middle-aged woman. Her name does not match either the original buyer or the current owner.
“Who’s this now?”
“I’ll show you. Give it here. Let me show you her pictures.”
“How did you know where to look?”
Hunter takes the stage. “There’s too many details to tell you, but eventually we found the old guy’s daughter.
Her name is Maddie Augustus Maple. Facebook is more an older generation platform.
Mostly the Boomers get off on it. They have photographs of their families.
You can piece things together because most pictures are labeled. That’s how we found her mother, Mabel.”
He hands the iPad over and I stare into the lined face of Mabel Augustus at her ninetieth birthday party.
She sits in a wheelchair, but I would guess walking may be her only weakness.
There is strength in her expression. She is surrounded by two younger women, probably in their sixties, who have pressed their faces against hers.
Behind her on the street, through a picture window, sits the Galaxie.