Читать книгу Hell's Roundabout - Benjamin Vance - Страница 6

Friday night came rather quickly and although he’d promised Charley they could check out the eerie lights in the canyon, Army was desperate for an excuse not to go. He rationalized it by worrying that just being there would affect his son in some adverse way. He relented due to Charley’s constant excitement; a magnitude or two above what he usually exhibited prior to a trip. When at last he found out why Charley was so excited he was utterly disarmed. He received a call from Sonora Stottlemeyer, Lucy’s mom, asking what she could bring for Friday night’s light vigil.

“Did Charley invite you Mrs. Stottlemeyer? I had no idea.”

“Oh God … I’m totally embarrassed Mr. Lennox. I thought you asked him to invite Lucy and me. I was suspicious though and that’s really why I called. Don’t worry about it, I understand what kids do sometimes and I completely understand.”

Disarmed by her frank demeanor, he said, “Please call me Army. You know … just forget you called and assume I’m calling you … Mrs. Stottlemeyer. Would you and Lucy like to go with us to see the lights tonight? It would be a pleasure for Charley and I, and you could just bring whatever you like. I assume your coffee is better than mine, but I’ll bring some soft drinks and coffee just in case. Will you come?”

She hesitated for a moment and then said, “Call me Sonora; we’d be glad to come, and I’ll bring some cookies and coffee just in case.” She laughed a bit and he liked the sound it.

“Okay, can I pick you up about dark … say 7:00? It’ll take us about 30 minutes to get loaded and get up there so we’ll have about two hours before they start, if it happens tonight.”

“We’ll be ready about then. Thank you so much for understanding and inviting us. I hope we see some lights tonight. See you about seven, bye.”

Army had a silly smile plastered on his face when he hung up, but his heart rate was up, along with his spirits. It occurred to him to have a frank discussion with Charley about proper etiquette. He also thought that was something his wife could have handled better … unless Charley and Lucy were both playing Cupid.

Charley and his dad were ready to go about 6:30, but decided the half-mile trip to Lucy’s wouldn’t take 30 minutes, so it gave Army a chance to interrogate his son a bit, “So why did you ask Lucy and her mother along on our light viewing trip without asking me first, Hotdog?”

Charley looked like a deer in headlights, but managed, “Aren’t they going with us?”

“Yeah they’re going, but young man you gotta know it really embarrassed Mrs. Stottlemeyer when she found out I didn’t ask her and Lucy. It hurts people’s feelings when they get embarrassed like that.”

“I’m sorry dad, I just asked Lucy this morning and she never told me yes or no or anything. She must have asked her mom or something.”

“Remember what I said about playing Cupid? For your sake, I hope I’m not the brunt of the joke tonight.”

“I promise Dad, I only asked Lucy. She’s always talking about getting you and her mom together, so she may have invited her mom. I’ll ask her.”

“No, no, no, you don’t ask anything. If Lucy asked her mom she’ll let us know tonight, directly or indirectly. Just don’t say anything and see if you can polish your powers of observation while they talk in the car.”

Before they picked up Lucy and her mom, Army radioed Marlene and let her know he was taking his SUV into the canyon with three passengers about 7:00 p.m. for a ride to the lights. When he told Marlene the ID of the passengers she sounded a bit subdued, somehow.

The evening was crisp and clear. Stars were already out and there was a sliver of moon shining over the eastern hills as they drove toward the roundabout. Army definitely hoped there would be lights to see and talk about and not just personalities, occupations and kids. He thought that if Sonora asked his astrological sign he would have to leave her ass in the woods.

They arrived in the canyon, well after dark but there was not even a flicker of green lights. Army positioned the SUV so that Sonora and Lucy could have an unobstructed view if the lights blessed them with a showing. Sonora brought coffee and it actually was much better than Army’s. The kids had soft drinks and he hoped they would stay awake until there was something to see.

Several cars passed back and forth around the circle, and while they were watching the fifth or sixth car go by Army said, “I don’t understand why the county put in a roundabout at this intersection. There’s almost no traffic out of the lake road at night and very little from the cabin area up north in the canyon. I counted a total of eleven cars the other night when I was up here.”

It was quiet for a moment, and then Sonora responded, “I think I read that someone important thought there were too many accidents up here. Perhaps kids driving too fast and running the stop signs caused the reaction. Over the years maybe someone important or their child got killed and the county or state was forced to respond with a roundabout.”

Army said, “Why would there be accidents? I don’t understand it, cars approaching from the north know they have to stop or at least slow down to turn or they go into the lake, and there probably wasn’t a stop sign for the state route; I don’t get it!”

“Well, I haven’t heard of any accidents in the last two or three years except for this one the other night” and she waved her hand toward the general direction of the wreck site, now sufficiently cleansed and hidden by the washing and the penetrating darkness.

Charley added, “Dad, I heard that accidents always happen in threes. I hope there isn’t another one soon around here.”

Lucy offered, “Yeah, I heard that too.”

The small talk continued with essentially no discussions about the kids or his work or Sonora’s invitation. He made the mistake of asking about Sonora’s work and regretted it before it was out of his mouth. Still, she responded in an effortless and self-effacing manner, “I’m just a hairdresser. Maybe I’ll have my own shop someday; I’m saving for it, but right now I’m happy with where I work and the rest of the ladies are all nice, and I have nice clients … mostly.” She smiled in the dark, but Army saw it, and caught the inference.

“Well, being good at what you do, and happy with it, is about as good as it gets I guess. You have a great kid in Lucy and she’s extraordinarily smart as well. I think she’s helped Charley with his homework more than a few times. I’m sure they’ve had some of the same teachers since she’s two years ahead of him now.” He couldn’t believe he’d brought up another forbidden subject, released a penitent breath and lied, “I think I saw a flash of green.”

They watched, he looked at his watch, it was 9:30 p.m. but no lights could be seen. Then he realized he had to urinate … badly. He grabbed his flashlight and headed for the woods with Charley in tow. They found a nicely concealed place and did their business, Charley complaining he didn’t have to go, but Army knowing that if he didn’t he would have to go in an hour and they would both be in the cold again.

On the way back to the SUV Charley said, “Hey Dad, I think I saw a green flash up the hill a ways. Army stopped and waited; sure enough he saw it too, a faint streak of green attempting to climb the hill, seemingly going straight in front of them. Charley got pumped and said, “Cool, let’s hurry and tell the ladies about it, before they see it first!”

When they finished the quick, short walk to the SUV, they found the ladies were already talking about the lights with animated enthusiasm. From that point until about 1:00 a.m. all that could be heard in the SUV was exclamations about the lights and the intensity or shape or color. They had a lot of fun and even tried to take pictures. Everyone had a chance to peer through the night vision scope and thought to take pictures that way as well. When all agreed to head for home, they felt like they’d journeyed into another dimension, for they couldn’t settle on a suitable explanation for the lights, their origin, their intensity, or even their degree of realism.

It didn’t take long for the two in the back seat to quiet down on the trip back. When they arrived at the Stottlemeyer apartment, Lucy was out like a light with her head on Charley’s lap. Sonora asked Army if he would carry Lucy into the house, because she would be hard to wake and difficult to manage thereafter. He agreed and easily lifted her off Charley, who immediately lay down in the seat. He laid a shoeless, coatless Lucy in her bed, still fast asleep, and Sonora covered her daughter and kissed her forehead. She thanked Army for the “light entertainment” tongue-in-cheek, and he told her he enjoyed their company. She did likewise and Army entertained a little smile almost all the way home. In a fitting end to the evening, he had to carry his own child into the house and put him in bed like a baby as well.