Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (19 page)

He’d be home in seven days. Home with
Lizzie.

~~~~~~~~
Friday afternoon—1:00 P.M.

Nervous, Noelle straightened her black
beret. She cleared her throat and tried to knock on the carriage
house door again. She raised her hand but couldn’t make it knock.
She was about to turn around when Mike opened the door. Wearing a
pair of tattered jeans and a paint stained dress shirt, Mike’s hair
was as wild as his beard. Noelle was more than a little intimidated
by the tall, powerfully built man.

“
Ready?” Mike
asked.

Noelle nodded.

“
We have a month before
school starts,” Mike said. “You sure you want to spend your
afternoons with me?”

“
Dad said…” Noelle’s voice
squeaked with anxiety.

Mike gave Noelle a kind smile. She beamed at
him in return.

“
I want to learn how to
paint with oils and watercolor,” Noelle said. “This is my birthday
present from Sandy and Dad and Charlie and Nash and
Teddy.”

“
And from me,” Mike
said.

“
And from you!” Noelle
smiled. “I’m eleven today. Don’t you think that’s a good time to
apprentice with a master painter?”

Mike scowled at the idea of him being a
master painter.

“
You’re scaring the girl,”
Valerie’s voice came from inside the studio.

“
Valerie’s here?” Noelle
bounced up and down on her feet with excitement.

“
She’s modeling for us,”
Mike said. “Couldn’t keep her from meddling.”

“
Meddling?” Valerie
laughed. “You say meddling, I say
modeling
.”

Mike rolled his eyes.

“
You may as well come in,”
he said. “Kinda hot for a beret though.”

“
I thought all artists
wore a beret,” Noelle said.

“
I don’t,” Mike
said.

“
Oh,” Noelle said. “I
don’t have to wear it?”

“
Makes you look a little
A-R-M-Y.”

He saluted her and turned into the carriage
house leaving Noelle standing on the doorstep. Confused, Noelle
stood there for a moment.

“
Coming?” Mike
asked.

Noelle pulled the beret off her head and
stepped into her first art apprenticeship.

~~~~~~~~
Friday afternoon—1:20 P.M.

Sissy had been talking so much that Sandy
almost didn’t hear her words. Sissy was excited about the start of
school. She was excited for Noelle’s birthday. She was excited that
dance was winding down. She loved the extra dance workouts because
everyone worked out together. Sandy was pretty sure that Sissy
hadn’t stopped talking since they’d gotten into Aden’s SAAB twenty
minutes ago.

Sandy also knew Sissy was nervous about
going to her mother’s storage unit. Still. Did she have to talk so
much?

“
I guess I’ve been talking
a lot,” Sissy said.

“
Really?” Sandy raised an
eyebrow. “How about some more ice tea?”

Sissy laughed like it was the funniest thing
she’d ever heard.

“
Ok, we’re almost there,”
Sandy said. “Remember you don’t have to stay. You don’t even have
to go in. We were just running out of ideas.”

“
You didn’t find what you
wanted?” Sissy asked.

“
We found a lot of stuff,”
Sandy said. “Jill says there’s a room with the information we want.
We asked Delphie and she also sees a room. They both say the same
thing. The room is connected to this room. But we can’t find
it.”

“
So you want me to take a
look?”

“
I’m hoping you might have
seen something when you were here before,” Sandy said. “Was Mom
coming from some other direction? Was she right here? Where did you
and Dad go? At this point, anything would be helpful. We’re pretty
frustrated.”

“
Mom’s not really smart
enough to hide this for so long,” Sissy said.

“
Right,” Sandy
said.

Sandy put on her blinker and pulled between
the median lines to turn into the parking lot of the storage
unit.

“
Where are you going?”
Sissy asked.

“
To the storage unit,”
Sandy said.

“
That’s not the storage
unit,” Sissy said.

Sandy felt the wheels of the world come to a
complete halt. She turned to look at Sissy.

“
What do you mean?” Sandy
asked.

“
That’s not where we
went,” Sissy said. “Not me and Dad. That’s not where I saw Mom
coming out from either.”

“
But it’s where you
pointed to on the map,” Sandy said. “Remember, we looked at it in
Arizona.”

“
No Sandy.” Sissy shook
her head so adamantly that her pony tail whipped around in the
small space. “Not there.”

Frustrated, Sandy pulled out of the median
and continued on Federal.

“
Now you’ve gone too far,”
Sissy said.

“
Where is this place?”
Sandy asked.

Sissy pointed toward the storage unit where
Sandy was originally going to turn in. Sandy made a U-turn. She was
about to turn into the parking lot when Sissy made a frustrated
sound.

“
You never listen to
me!”

“
What?” Sandy asked. “One
minute you’re saying it’s not here. The next moment you’re saying
it’s here. Where is it?”

Sissy pointed to a building across the
street from where they were parked.

“
What?” Sandy
asked.

“
I saw Mom coming out of
that building,” Sissy said.

“
That’s a nursing home,”
Sandy said.

“
No,” Sissy said. “It says
storage right there.”

Sissy pointed to a sign
that said in big bold letters: “
STORAGE
AVAILABLE
.” Sandy turned to look at her
little sister. Sissy nodded her sincerity. Without saying another
word, Sandy pulled out into the street. She drove to the
intersection and made another U turn. Driving along Federal, she
pulled into the parking lot of the assisted care facility. She sat
staring at the front door for a minute.

“
What is it?” Sissy’s
voice rose with anxiety.

“
I’m not sure,” Sandy
said. “Just a feeling.”

“
What kind of a feeling?”
Sissy’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“
I’ve been here before,”
Sandy said.

She took out her cell phone and called
Seth.

“
Schmidty,” said the voice
that answered.

“
Hey Jammy, it’s Sandy,”
she said. “Can I talk to Seth?”

“
He’s meeting with the
orchestra,” Schmidty said. “Plus, you’re not supposed to call me
Jammy anymore.”

“
Why?” Sandy
asked.

“
I don’t know,” Schmidty
chuckled. “My Dad says it’s unprofessional.”

“
And Schmidty is better?”
Sandy asked.

“
There has been a Schmidty
representing artists since the 1800s,” Schmidty laughed.

“
Yes, very impressive,”
Sandy said. “Listen, this is kind of important. And you owe
me.”

“
I do?”

“
For keeping Lizzie calm,”
Sandy said.

“
I owe you big time,”
Schmidty said. “You know I love her.”

“
I know. And I know she
loves you,” Sandy said.

“
She does?” Schmidty’s
voice cracked. He cleared his throat.

“
You know she does,” Sandy
said. “She’s just upset about her life and the baby. Now can you
help me?”

“
What do you need?”
Schmidty asked.

“
Can you ask Seth what his
Eastman girlfriend’s name was?” Sandy asked.

“
I don’t have to ask Seth
that,” Schmidty said. “My Dad represented her. I represent her
collection, her name, and her image.”

“
What’s her
name?”

“
Andrea Menendez,” he
said. “She toured under the name Andy Mendy. Her work is still
quite famous. She has a number of solo albums and…”

“
Who are you talking to?”
Seth’s voice carried over the orchestra noise.

“
Hey Schmidty, I have to
go,” Sandy clicked off the call. She turned off her phone and
tucked it into her purse. She turned to look at Sissy.

“
You’re sure you saw Mom
coming out of this building.”

Sissy nodded emphatically.

“
Are you mad?” Sissy
asked.

“
A little scared,” Sandy
said.

“
Oh.”

They sat looking at the building for a
moment.

“
Sissy, I’m going to go in
there,” Sandy said. “You can come with me if you want or you can
call your Dad. He’s not far from here. He can pick you
up.”

“
I’m going with you,”
Sissy jumped out of the car.

Sandy closed her eyes for a moment. Saying a
soft prayer to Mary or whoever might be listening, Sandy got out of
the car.

“
Stay close to me, Sis,”
Sandy said.

Sissy nodded. With Sissy glued to her side,
Sandy walked up to the building.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
& SIXTY-EIGHT

Dashed

The doors opened automatically. Sandy’s
first impression was that the facility was very clean. For all the
hubbub and mess of Federal Boulevard, the facility was light and
well appointed. An elderly woman smiled at them from behind a
desk.

“
May I help you?” the
woman asked.

“
Actually, you can,” Sandy
peered at the woman’s name tag. “Lois, I’m looking for someone. I
believe she’s a patient here.”

“
Let’s check,” the woman
said. “What’s her name?”

“
Andrea Menendez,” Sandy
said.

The woman typed the name into the computer
then shook her head.

“
My Mom was taking care of
her,” Sissy said. “Her name is Patricia Delgado.”

“
Patty,” the woman said.
“Of course. She comes to see her cousin, Andy.”

“
Andy Mendy?” Sandy
asked.

“
That was her stage name.
No one knows that here,” the woman smiled. “At one time, she was
quite famous. I used to be a big fan; now she’s my best
friend.”

“
What does she go by
here?” Sandy asked.

“
Andy Cosgrove,” the woman
said.

“
Yes, I’ve heard that,”
Sandy nodded.

“
You must be Patty’s
daughter,” the woman said to Sissy.

“
Mitzi,” Sissy
said.

“
You have your father’s
height and your mother’s beauty,” the woman turned to assess Sandy.
“Are you related to Andy? You look quite a bit like
her.”

“
Why is she here?” Sandy
asked.

“
She had a stroke in
childbirth,” the woman said. “She’s been here ever since. I guess
the baby was early and she was on the road. There wasn’t anything
anyone could do for her.”

Unsure of what to say, Sandy nodded.

“
Patty takes such good
care of Andy,” the woman said. “Andy has a nice suite on the fourth
floor, number 427. Why don’t you girls head on up? I know she’d
love the company.”

“
Is she bedridden?” Sandy
asked.

“
Oh no. She’s not all
here,” the woman made a motion toward her head. “A stroke will do
that to you, but she gets around. She very popular here.
Entertains. She plays the violin, you know. She has a number of
friends and a boyfriend. She’s never married though.”

“
She still plays the
violin?” Sissy asked.

“
Oh yes. Fills the whole
building with music,” the woman said. “She’s quite
good.”

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled and gave
them directions to the elevator.

“
Sandy,” Sissy whispered.
“Don’t you think we should call Dad?”

Sandy shook her head and pressed the
elevator call button.

“
Ok,” Sissy whispered.
“I’ll go with you.”

“
Thanks,” Sandy
said.

The elevator door opened and they got on.
They rode in silence until the elevator stopped. The doors opened
to the fourth floor.

“
This is a really nice
place,” Sissy whispered. “How does Mom…?”

“
I’m sure Andy’s estate
pays,” Sandy said.

Sandy marched down the hallway to the door.
She raised her hand to knock and then stopped. She glanced at
Sissy.

“
We can leave if you want
to,” Sissy whispered. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Sandy shook her head. She mustered her
courage and raised her hand again.

The door opened. A woman stood in front of
them. Sandy stared at the woman and the woman stared at her. Sandy
felt like she was looking into her own image twenty or thirty years
from now.

The woman’s hair was more gray than blonde.
Half of her face was slack but her eyes were sharp and bright. Her
clothing was designer made and clean. She was Sandy’s height. Her
eyes flitted to Sissy’s taller ballerina frame then back to
Sandy.

“
Sandy?” the woman asked.
Sandy nodded.

“
Mom?” Sandy whispered.
The woman nodded.