The Nuclear Catastrophe (a fiction novel of survival) (34 page)

“
A son?
”
asked Frank, incredulously.

‘‘
Yes, a son.
’’

Frank laughed.
“
Shit. Lucky the son who gets manipulated by you.
”

Jorgensen lowered his voice.
“
I can see now that it
’
s impossible. You
’
d never fit into my company, Frank. Never. We need bright, ambitious men and you simply don
’
t fill the bill.
”

Frank felt a hot flush rush to his skin. He ached to hit out at the smugness on the other
’
s face.
“
We
’
re leaving here as soon as I can get Jerry out of the hospital.
”

“
Paula and the children are not going with you.
”

“
No? Well, we
’
ll see.
”

“
They
’
re not leaving with you, Frank,
”
said the father-in-law.
“
I
’
ll place money on that.
”

He sounded so positive that Frank was momentarily uncertain. Had the old man failed to tell him something?
“
My wife and my kids go with me.
”

“
Nope,
”
answered Jorgensen.
“
Not this time. Not with the baby.
”

That single word caught Frank off guard.
“
What?
”

“
The baby. Didn
’
t you know Paula is expecting? She got the doctor
’
s confirmation on it before you left San Mirado.
”

Frank mumbled,
“
She didn
’
t mention it to me.
”

“
You
’
re not very informed, my boy. But then you never were.
”

Frank was paying the taxi driver when he saw her descending the steps. She had that determined march-time walk that clued him in to her mood. The thick glass door of the hospital cast her reflection after her, outlining the purposeful swing of her body.

“
Paula! Wait!
”
he shouted, running after her.

She paused only long enough to allow him to fall into step with her.
“
We
’
ve got to have this out, Paula. Your old man has been hammering at me ever since you left the house.
”

“
I
’
m in a hurry, Frank. Jerry needs some pajamas and other stuff.
”
She started off across the street.

He grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around to face him.
“
Jerry can wait until we finish this,
”
he said angrily.

She shook him loose.
“
Not here in the parking lot, for God
’
s sake. I don
’
t want everybody staring at us.
”

Together they walked on toward the car and slid into the seat from opposite sides; he, brimming with anger, she, collected.

“
I want you to explain to me why you
’
ve done this... .
“
Frank began,
“
pouring our private affairs out to your father. It
’
s getting where everything he says ends up humiliating me, Paula. Jesus, don
’
t you think it
’
s time you acted like an adult and quit crying on his shoulder?
”

Paula drew back and glared at him as she spoke.
“
You
’
re a fantastic snot, Frank, did you know that? I
’
ve spent the best part of my life watching you crawl around in a rut, and I
’
m fed up to my chin with it.
”

“
All right. All right! But tell me, not that old bastard. Damn, I can
’
t believe you even told him how much money I was making.
”

Paula shrugged.
“
Why should that concern you, anyway? He
’
d help us if you weren
’
t such a prick. He
’
d set you up in the business and we could begin living like we should.
”

“
I thought we
’
d hashed this out long ago, Paula. How is it that we
’
re fighting over your folks again?
”

“
I don
’
t know, Frank. It
’
s just that sometimes you trigger the worst in me.
”
And she returned the favor, always.

“
We were doing fine when we were so far away from your parents that we never saw them. Now, all of a sudden, we
’
re taking their hand-outs and I
’
m feeling like pure hell. Damn, Paula, people back in Los Angeles are dying from some foul crap in the air, and here we are bitching at each other. My God, we ought to feel lucky just to have gotten out of that mess. What
’
s wrong with us, anyway?
”

She gazed out the window for a long moment, then answered,
“
I tried with you, Frank. I agreed to let you have your own way, while I sat in that stinking subdivision swapping lurid tales with Flo. Well, that
’
s behind us now. This explosion at White Water has forced me to face the facts.
”

“
You can
’
t blame the radiation crisis for forcing us into this, Paula. You
’
re well aware that you never had reconciled yourself to San Mirado—or me either, I guess. You were always searching for something better,
”
he said testily.

“
Yeah? What kind of searching did I do, Frank?
”
she asked as she faced him.

“
Flo
’
s husband probably knows more about that than I do.
”
His answer was sullen.

She
’
d have slapped him, but sitting under the steering wheel made the movement impossible. Lowering her voice in a sinister warning, she replied,
“
That
’
s a filthy accusation that could only have been made by a son-of-a-bitch, Frank Waring.
”

“
Do you deny it?
”

“
Certainly I do,
”
she snapped.
“
Although I can
’
t see why I should bother.
”

“
Why didn
’
t you tell me about the baby, Paula? I have a right to know since I
’
m the father,
”
said Frank.
“
I am the father, aren
’
t I?
”

“
I could kill you for that,
”
she said venomously.

He disregarded her threat and asked,
“
Why did you confide in your father but not me? My God, I
’
m your husband.
”

A tired, bored sigh escaped her lips.
“
Because I wasn
’
t ready to tell you. And that
’
s just as well, I guess,
”
she answered.
“
I went in to check with an obstetrician this morning. He thinks the pregnancy should be aborted.
”

“
Aborted?
”
Frank asked in stunned disbelief.
“
That
’
s murder! No, there
’
ll be no abortion on a child of mine!
”

“
It
’
s not even a child, yet, Frank. It
’
s a tiny glob of cells about the size of my thumbnail,
”
she said quietly.

“
Glob, hell! It
’
s human life! What does that butcher give as his reason for ordering an abortion?
”

“
Dr. Hellman says there
’
s a good chance that the baby, even if I carried it to full term, could be horribly deformed because of my exposure to the radiation.
”

“
Well, I won
’
t stand for it. It
’
s a sin and a criminal offense. No,
”
he shook his head emphatically,
“
I won
’
t stand for it!
”

“
It
’
s neither a sin nor a crime to terminate a pregnancy on an embryo that might never live.
”

“
You can
’
t be sure that it
’
ll be deformed. It could be a perfectly healthy baby.
”

“
Dr. Hellman will know. He expects hideous abnormalities in children of mothers who were exposed in the first three months of pregnancy,
”
she said.
“
He thinks the risk is too great for the child.
”

Slowly the realization began to sink in.
“
How far along are you?
”
he asked.

“
Over two,
”
she replied.

He obstinately shook his head.
“
No, Paula. I
’
ll never agree to it. Not ever, not on a child of mine.
”

Paula answered flatly.
“
I
’
m not sure you
’
ll have any choice in the matter.
”
The days of his importance were rapidly passing.

“
Oh yes I will. A wife can
’
t even be touched by a surgeon without her husband
’
s approval.
”

“
And you
’
d withhold it, I suppose, and bring a helpless, marked child into this world?
”

“
Yes, I would,
”
he stated.
“
I sure as hell would.
”

“
Huh, that
’
s precisely what I told Dad you
’
d say. Maybe he was right about you all these years, Frank, and I was the one who was wrong.
”

“
Answer me one other question, Paula. The other night when we talked about returning to San Mirado after this was over, you said you wanted a new house—one of the de Lorenzo places. Why did you change your mind so quickly, to not even considering going back?
”

She pondered his question.
“
It
’
s difficult to explain. In a way, I believe it
’
s what you feel when you refuse to work with Daddy, Frank. You realize how much I want you to join the business, but it
’
s more important that you live your life your own way, without being under the dictates of my father.
”

“
Well, I
’
m surprised that you understand,
”
he said.

“
For me, the situation is similar. It
’
s not that I don
’
t love you, for I do... .but I want something more, something gratifying to me, personally.
”

“
And you think you
’
ve been walking in my shadow, is that it? You need to be more than just a housewife?
”