28. Knowing Which Horse to Back…
28
Knowing Which Horse to Back…
Mac
It’s late evening by the time the medical team signs off on me going home. I had to lie and tell them I’m staying at Jack’s tonight, just in case I somehow take a turn from being perfectly healthy to on death’s door from a lack of hydration.
As soon as the doors slide open and I step outside, I see Jack sitting on a bench. His face lights up and he springs to his feet, looking a lot younger than his eighty-two years. “Well, if it isn’t Big Mac?!”
My heart lifts at the sight of my grandpa, and it hits me that, in the back of my mind, I’ve been ignoring the possibility that I’d never see him again. I’ve been so busy worrying about the money I owe Violet, that I didn’t even bother to think of what would happen to him if I was gone for good. Smiling at him, I say, “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“Got nowhere better to be,” he answers .
We give each other a quick man hug, and when we pull back, I can see that his eyes are glistening every bit as much as mine. We both clear our throats and look down at the ground for a second. Then he sniffs. “Glad you made it back, kiddo.”
“Me too.”
“Not that I didn’t fully expect you to,” he says with a firm nod. “You’re a survivor. Always have been.”
“Yup,” I answer, not wanting to think about the crash. “No question about that.”
“Come on. I’ll give you a ride home.”
“Can we go to the dock instead? I left my bike there.”
Nodding, he says, “Of course.”
We start walking together through the parking lot until we reach his red ‘69 Chevy Corvair. The top is down, but we both open the doors to get in because we’re ‘civilized’ like that. At least that’s the reason he gave me when I was a rowdy teenager who wanted to hop over the way they do in the movies.
I sink into the leather seat, suddenly feeling exhausted as he starts up the engine and pulls out of the parking lot. “I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“Nah, I know you better than all those jackasses on the news who were busy saying you were dead.” He signals to turn right onto the road, then guns it. “So? Tell me about the girl.”
Her face pops into my mind, causing a stabbing feeling in my chest. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not.”
“Sure, sure. You’re probably wiped after everything you’ve been through.”
“I am. Can’t wait to get home and have a long, hot shower, an ice-cold beer, and sleep for about twelve hours.” I let out a sigh, thinking of the fact that I’ll be utterly alone doing all of that. But I’ll get used to it again. Eventually. Maybe. “Tomorrow, I’m going to have to arrange to pick up Tweety and take her in to a mechanic to find out if she’s worth fixing.”
He reaches over and pats me on the knee, like he used to do when I was a kid. “Don’t think about that today. Today is for being glad you’re alive and that you made it home.”
We drive in silence for a few minutes, the warm evening breeze flowing through my hair. I should be content. I’m alive. I’m home. But my insides are all tangled up instead. I spend almost the entire drive trying to think of a way to find out if he knows about the money. If not, I’m going to have to tell him. I promised Paige I’d refund her the cost of the flight and it’s going to be a long while before I have a source of income again. Finally, I decide I just need to come out with it. “So, Grandpa, I have something to tell you.”
“About what happened out there or the money I owe you?”
Ah, crap. He knows. “You don’t owe me any money.”
“Like hell I don’t. You’ve been paying the increase in my fees for a year now,” he tells me.
“It’s not a big deal. In fact, it’s the least I can do for you after you took me in,” I answer, hoping that he’ll accept my reason instead of trying to fight me on it.
“You should’ve told me instead of going behind my back.”
Yup, I knew he was going to say that. “Come on, you never let me do anything nice for you. I thought I could?—”
“You thought wrong. And you made me look like an ass to Violet while you were at it,” he says, sounding thoroughly annoyed. “And here I’ve had no clue why she won’t accept my invitation for a dinner date. But it turns out it’s because you told her I was broke.”
“You’ve been trying to date Violet?”
“Why not? She’s single. And she’s a real looker, too.”
“Oh yeah, for sure she is, for someone in your demographic,” I answer, wondering if, when I’m in my eighties, I’ll be into muumuu wearing ladies. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t tell you everything,” he says. “And I don’t know where the hell you got the idea that I don’t have any money.”
“You left your bank statement open on the table one night,” I tell him.
“So you took it upon yourself to snoop?”
“No, well, yeah, I guess so,” I answer, feeling like I’m about fourteen years old and just got caught sneaking a beer from his fridge. “I was cleaning up so I could set the table. I didn’t mean to read it. But I had other reasons too, you know. There’s the fact that you never buy anything new for yourself. Like when your TV broke two years ago and you went to a thrift store and bought that ancient wide screen that weighs eight hundred pounds and is about as low res as they come.”
“Hey, that TV works just fine, thank you very much,” he says. “And just because I buy things used doesn’t mean I can’t afford to buy something new.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I was a mailman for forty-five years. I’ve got a great pension,” he tells me, turning into the parking lot of the dock. “I’ve got plenty of money in the bank. Just not in that account you were snooping in.”
“You do?”
He pulls up next to my bike. “Yeah, you donkey. ”
“Okay, well, I’m glad for you. Really,” I tell him, grabbing the door handle. “I’ve been worried about you.”
“Worry less. I’ve got my shit covered,” he says.
“All right. Good to know,” I answer, getting out of the car.
“In fact, as of this afternoon, I’ve got your shit covered too.”
Feeling totally confused, I say, “What do you mean?”
“After the Coast Guard announced that today would be the last day of the search, Vegas was giving a thousand-to-one odds that you’d be alive,” he says with a smile. “But I knew better.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant, even though part of me is already getting excited. “How much better?”
“A thousand dollars-worth better,” he says with a wide grin.
“A thousand?!” My brain scrambles to do the math, and when it does, it seems like too big a sum for me to be right. “But that’s…”
Grinning, he says, “A cool million.”
I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
I laugh some more, then reach into the car and give him a high five. “Way to go, Grandpa! Wow!”
After a second, I realize he could’ve just as easily lost that money. “But what if I hadn’t made it home?”
He shrugs. “Like I said, I have a lot of savings because I don’t buy stupid shit like brand new television sets.”
Chuckling, I say, “Yup. You got me there.”
“All right, I gotta go. If Violet’s still at the office, I’m going to see if she wants to go for a celebratory drink with me.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “You get some sleep and don’t worry about Tweety. If she can’t be restored, I’ll get you back up and running. Nothing new mind you, but something reliable.”
“I can’t take your money.”
“Sure you can. Without you, I wouldn’t have it.”
“Grandpa—”
“Shush it. The conversation is over, kid. Now, get out of here.”
“I just … can’t believe you won that kind of money,” I answer, shaking my head in disbelief.
“I knew raising you would pay off eventually,” he says. “I just didn’t know it would be this big of a payoff.”
I laugh some more, a sense of relief coming over me. “Okay, well, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. And call me tomorrow so I know you’re still alive.”
“Will do.”
I watch as he pulls away, shocked and excited. My first thought is that I wish I could tell Paige what just happened. But I can’t. I don’t even have her phone number. Besides, she’s probably landing in New York right about now, and going back to her real life. The last thing she’s going to want to do is hear about my little plans when she’s got big things cooking for herself.
I climb on my bike and start it up, then head for home, a feeling of dread coming over me in place of the usual happiness. I’m just tired. Tomorrow morning, when I wake up, it’ll all be okay again. And each day, the memory of my time with Paige will fade more and more.
I spend the ride home doing my best to convince myself of what I know are lies, but by the time I pull up, my heart is telling me the truth. The first thing I do when I get home is look for Steve, but he’s nowhere to be found. I crouch and look under the porch swing and lift the side table, but he’s not there. “Steve, where are you, buddy?” I ask, even though logically, I know geckos don’t come when they’re called. I also know he doesn’t know his name. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to go inside just yet. Instead, I sit on the swing and wait for Steve to appear, only he doesn’t. Finally, I tell myself to accept the fact that he’s gone. Just like Paige. And I know that nothing is going to be the same again, because I’m not the same guy who left here all those days ago.