Serial Separation (8 page)

Chapter 19

He was familiar with this routine,
waiting on the couch for Dottie. There was less activity than usual in the
reception area, since many students had already left for the winter break.

He noticed Dottie approaching, and
she looked festive in her red sweater.

“JJ, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing okay; you look very
nice.”

“Thank you. I thought if we are
going shopping it would put me in the holiday spirit to wear red. Are you
ready?”

“Let’s go; the cab is outside.”

Jeremy told the cab where to go,
heard him grumble something about the downtown traffic, but flipped the flag,
gunned it, and they were off.

“JJ, I just saw Lisa. She was on
the phone, and I saw her hang it up . . . she must have been talking with
Scott. Judy says she’s been acting strangely, but I guess I never saw it first
hand. Every time I see her she’s in control. I wonder what has her upset. I’m
more than curious as to whether Scott and Lisa will be still going skiing with
us New Year’s.”

Jeremy considered his own situation
and bit his tongue.

Dottie whispered, “JJ, are we
okay?”

“Sure we are. Why are you asking
that?” He knew why she asked.

“You’ve been acting strangely.”

He thought he had done a good job
of hiding his problem.

“We all have some pressure at
semester end . . . that’s all.”

He looked out the window to hide
his eyes.

Dottie studied him. “We all have
pressure just like you said, but, honey, I’ve known you for many semesters, and
you have never behaved like this.”

“Can we talk about this when we’re
alone?”

“Surrre. Let’s do that. Hopefully,
you’ll remember to tell me and not your other friend, what’s bothering you.”

“Is that what you think . . . that
I have someone else?”

“You know, Jeremy, we haven’t made
love in weeks . . . in fact, I can’t remember the last time we were together
that way. Can you?”

He put his finger to his lips.

“No, Jeremy, I won’t be quiet any
longer. It’s time you either told me what’s bothering you, or tell me you have
someone else. I can’t take your being somewhere else when we’re together. If
you really love me, you have to share what’s bothering you.” She paused looking
at him.

“JJ, I love you with all my heart,
but you’re killing me. Please, please tell me right now, right here . . . I
don’t give a shit about him,” she said, pointing to the driver.

However, at that moment, the driver
stopped the cab and announced they had arrived. Dottie started to cry and
jumped out of the cab. Jeremy fumbled with his wallet and tossed the driver a
twenty, which more than covered the fare and tip. He ran after her, caught up
with her, and grabbed her by the arm.

Dottie slapped at his hand,
yelling, “Let me go . . . get your hands off me . . . I’ve had it.”

They were drawing the attention of
people on the sidewalk.

“Dottie, it’s not what you think.”
He grabbed her around the waist and turned her to face him. “Dottie, it’s not
someone else. I love you . . . but something happened to me . . . I can’t talk
about it.”

She stopped her struggling, and
people went back to what they were doing. “If you love me, you know I love you,
but you have to share what’s wrong so I can help you.”

He guided her to the nearest bench.

“Why haven’t you made love to me in
over a month?”

He looked into her eyes, trying to
beg her to let it go.

They were both silent for a while.
“Okay, Jeremy. If you promise to tell me real soon I will let it drop. But you
have to know that not knowing what’s bothering you . . . well, it gives me all
kinds of ideas about what it could be. Those things could be worse than
whatever has been bothering you. If we’re going to have a future together, we
have to start sharing the bad with the good.”

Jeremy was glad the situation was
defused but realized he had to show her more affection, if he could, or risk
losing her.

Chapter 20

I had finally completed all my
Christmas shopping that morning. Good thing the next day was Christmas. The
presents were wrapped and loaded in the car. The freezing temperature wouldn’t
hurt the fruit cake I had picked up for Lisa’s parents.

Many of the businesses near the task
force office were closed. The wind was really blowing. The heavy, wet snow was
now sticking to everything, including the face of the clock tower. I could
still read the time. Not bad. I still made the office before 10:00 a.m.

Opening the door to the office, I
saw Colleen and Mercedes standing by the reception desk. Neither looked happy.
“What’s up ladies?”

Colleen responded, “Mike and the
others left for Newburyport Harbor, where a torso was found. He commented it
might be Bob Sullivan. A trawler off the coast of Newburyport called the Coast
Guard station to report finding a body in their net, and they informed the
State Police. Mike wanted to be there when the trawler pulled into dock. They
left about an hour ago. Mike left you the dock location in case you want to
join them.” Colleen gave me the note with the address.

“Paddy also told me to lock up here
no later than noon and to have a Merry Christmas. Both of you have a Merry
Christmas. See you on Monday.”

I gave her a hug.

She quickly put on her coat and
scarf and headed to the back of the office. “I’ll check things down here, if
you could check upstairs for me, Scott?”

“Sure. I’ll make sure things are
off upstairs. I might still be able to get a cup of coffee from Paddy’s pot.” I
made a quick run up the stairs to check and yelled back down. “There’s enough
for a couple more cups. Mercedes, do you want a cup, and how about you,
Colleen?”

“She just left, Scott, but I’ll
take a cup. Black, no sugar please,” Mercedes yelled upstairs.

The phone rang and Mercedes picked
it up. “Task force office.”

“Hi, this is Mike. Colleen, I’m
glad I caught you . . . please tell Scott not to try to make it up here; the
roads are really bad and getting worse. Just tell him to have a Merry
Christmas, and you have one too.”

“Thanks, you do the same.”

* *
*

When I returned, Mercedes was
waiting, already wearing her coat and scarf. “Here’s your coffee. Everything’s
turned off upstairs.”

“It’s all off here. Colleen left us
a spare key to lock the office.”

I noticed Mercedes looking like she
wanted to ask me something. I still had my coat on and asked her, “Did you
drive over? Are you going up to Newburyport?”

“Yes, I drove here, but I’m
concerned about the roads. Would you mind if I rode with you?”

“Well, I guess if you still want to
go, you can ride with me.” However, if she hadn’t asked I might not have
considered going any longer.

“I think that will be better. Your
driving in the snow is safer.” She smiled while she buttoned her coat.

“Well, I guess we should leave. I’m
parked just around the corner.” I turned the front lights on, locked the door,
noticing the wreath already covered with wet snow. It reminded me of a
Christmas card.

We walked the snow-covered walk,
the bricks already hidden by the snow. When I opened the gate, Mercedes looked
back at the office. “Scott, look at the office . . . it looks like a Christmas
card!”

I turned and looked back at the
building. “It does look like that.” I also noticed how cute the snowflakes were
in her red hair and on her coat. It was slick going so I held her arm to make
sure she didn’t slip.

While walking to the car, we were
quiet and focused on our progress. Newburyport was an hour from the office on
clear roads. I’m sure if the driving was bad Mike would have called to let us
know.

Chapter 21

I filled the gas tank before we got
too far from the office. Most stations would be closed for the holiday
tomorrow. We made it out of Cambridge okay, but when we got further north of
the Boston area, the roads were considerably worse.

The wet snow was mixed with
freezing rain. I directed the defroster on full, but it was hard to keep enough
heat on the windshield. The wipers were getting caked with ice. My visibility
was getting worse, and the tires were starting to slip taking off at lights.

“Mercedes, I’m not sure we’re going
to make it much farther. The roads are getting much worse, and I haven’t seen a
plow or sander out yet.”

“You’re doing a fine job, but I’m
glad you’re doing the driving. I’d be a nervous wreck trying to see and keep
from sliding off the road.”

“If I could keep moving, it wouldn’t
be that bad, but every time we stop and get moving again I’m losing the
battle.”

I kept up my efforts, but I knew we
would never make it, and getting back to Boston would be dicey.

“Mercedes, could you try to get a
weather report on the radio?”

“Sure, Scott. I think it’s time you
called me Mercy.”

“Okay.” I looked at her briefly.
She wasn’t smiling any longer, staring down at the radio. I reached over and
pushed one of the station buttons on the radio, and our fingers touched for a
brief second. “Sorry.”

“What do you think about the
roads?” she asked.

“Mercedes . . . sorry . . . Mercy .
. . it doesn’t look good at all. At this rate, if we could make Newburyport, we would certainly miss Mike and the others. I’m really surprised he didn’t
call to let me know . . . I bet he called after we left. They are probably in
the same pickle returning to the city.”

The lights changed at the next
intersection. I braked, but the car started into a skid. I swerved to the left,
letting up on the brakes and compensated, but we were then headed to the right
side of the road and the intersection.

Fortunately, nothing was coming. We
slid into the road on the right. I let the car take us where it wanted to go.
We finally came to a stop on the wrong side of that road. I gave it some gas
and headed up the street, looking for a place to turn around. The wheels were
now spinning, trying to get us up the small incline.

I could see Mercedes with her hand
on the dash, trying to see what was in front of us. My headlights were now of
limited value, due to the ice and snow. The wipers were caked with ice, and I
could only see through two breaks in the ice.

“Mercy, we have to look for a place
to pull off the road. If we stop here we’re going to be stuck for some time.”

* *
*

I kept moving toward what looked
like the center of town. “I think we’re in Topsfield, but I have no idea what’s
here.”

Someone must have heard my silent
prayer—I saw the familiar yellow arches of a McDonald’s up ahead. It was on the
other side of the road, and there were cars coming down the hill toward us.

“I’m going to pull in at the
McDonald’s up there and we’ll see how things go from there.”

“Scott, you’re doing okay. I’m
surprised we’re still moving up this hill. Do you think you’ll be able to turn
in with those cars coming?”

I sensed the fear in her voice.

“If I stop, I’m not sure if I’ll be
able to get us into the lot.” I tried to time the two cars coming down the
road, and our progress to make the turn, but they were going faster than I had
anticipated. I elected not to make the turn, but continued up the hill. I could
see a lit sign up ahead indicating ‘Tops’ Cabins—Vacancy.’
Without any
announcement of my intentions, I turned at the entrance and gunned the gas.

After bouncing when we hit the new
driveway, we slid just a little. I realized that if we didn’t make it up this
drive, we were going to have problems. I put the car in low gear and gave it
some more gas. We managed to get up the drive. We didn’t have far to go,
sliding to a stop near a wooden fence separating the drive from a circular row
of cabins.

I was amazed that we made it off
the road and up the drive. The slapping of the wipers was like a drum beating,
or was it the sound of my heart?

Mercedes cheered. “Wow, I can’t
believe you got us up that driveway. I take it we’re not going to McDonald’s?”

“I think we were going to be stuck
in McDonald’s parking lot, if we had made that turn. Chances are we were going
to have to look for a place to stay anyway, but now we’re off the road. They
have a vacancy sign, but I wonder if they’re even open since it is Christmas
Eve.”

I looked at her for a reaction, but
she just stared through the windshield streaks at the cabins. I turned the
wipers and lights off, but left the car running.

“Mercy, I think we need to talk. I
have about twenty dollars left after filling the tank up. Do you have any
money?” I felt very uncomfortable.

She looked at me with just the
light of the office sign showing on her face and said hesitantly, “Not much. I
was planning to go back to my dorm to pack and take some money I had there. Let
me check.” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out some one dollar
bills. “Sorry, this is all I have.”

We both reached the same conclusion—we
were going to have to share a cabin.

* *
*

They were open and amazed to have
customers on Christmas Eve. The owner said he had just watched the weather
report; the storm was turning into a Nor’easter, which meant the driving would
be impossible. He was surprised we made it off the road and up the driveway.

I registered as Mr. and Mrs. Tucker
to prevent any problems, paid with the cash I had, leaving me with six dollars.

I came back to the car with the
cabin key. “We’re in luck, they’re open, and we’ve got a cabin. Here’s the key.
I suggest you take the key and go to the cabin, number seven, the second one.”
I pointed to it. “The first cabin’s heater is not working. I’ll take the rest
of our money and get us something from McDonald’s before they close for the
night.”

“Okay. We’re lucky we made it here.
I wasn’t sure for a while what was going to happen. I knew we weren’t going to
get far.” She turned in the seat, putting her boots on, and the red sign out
front lit up her bare legs. I thought I also saw the corner of her lips curl.

* *
*

I decided to go back to the office
to call Lisa at her parents’. I needed to tell her I wouldn’t be there for
dinner.

“I’m sorry to bother you again, but
do you have a pay phone?”

“Yes, there’s one in the hall over
there, but I’m closing in a few minutes . . . we’re full already,” he said,
smiling.

I was fortunate I had change left
to make the call. I pulled her parents’ phone number from my wallet and dialed.
Shortly, the recorded message indicated to deposit another thirty cents for the
first five minutes. I thought this might be a long call and wondered if I would
have enough change.

Lisa’s mother answered on the
second ring. “Hello.”

“Mrs. Anderson, this is Scott.”

“Hello, Scott. How are you?”

“I’m okay, and you?”

“We’re okay. Are you still trying
to make it up here?”

“No. The roads are very slippery,
and we decided to put up in a motel.”

“Oh, I’m so glad . . . I was
worried about you and Lisa. She’s not here yet. She called about an hour ago,
and said she was going to be able to make it . . . but we’re not sure any
longer.”

I realized I had said “we’ to her.
“Please let Lisa know I called. I’ll give you the phone number to the motel,
and my room number is seven.” I gave her the number, but realized Lisa would
have a problem reaching me.

“Will you be able to stop by
tomorrow?”

“It looks like the storm is going
to hit us hard. I’m not sure how the traveling will be, but if I can make it, I
will. Please wish Lisa a Merry Christmas and you folks as well. Please tell her
that I’m safe, but stuck on Route One in Topsfield. We were heading to Newburyport. A body was discovered, but we never made it there.”

“We’ll tell her you called and
you’re safe. Merry Christmas, Scott. Please be careful, and we’ll see you
whenever you can make it.”

After I said good-bye, the owner
was waiting near the door to lock up. We wished each other a Merry Christmas. I
went back out into the night. I could see the lights were on in the cabin, but
I needed to make McDonald’s before they closed.

The short walk was extremely
slippery. Going down the driveway to the end of the parking lot took longer
than I expected. I wondered how I was going to make it back up the hill, but
first things first.

The lights were on in the
restaurant, and I saw a couple of people pushing mops. I scared the two young
boys when I stomped my feet at the door. “I hope you still have some food . . .
do you?”

“Five minutes from now what we had
would be thrown out. All we have is a few burgers and fries.”

“I’ll take what you have. How are
you guys getting home? It’s really bad outside.”

“We know, but we couldn’t leave
until the owner told us we could close. He gave us the word a few minutes ago,
which is why we’re cleaning up. You can have the food. We already closed the
register. We were only going to throw it away anyway. The owner lives near us
and is giving us a ride home in his four-wheel-drive Jeep.”

“You guys are life savers; here are
a couple of bucks for you. Merry Christmas and thanks again.” One of the clerks
put a soda on the cardboard tray and double-bagged the food.

“Can I please have another soda? There
are two of us.”

“Misery loves company,” the other
clerk said, pushing the mop pail toward the restrooms.