Читать книгу Little Green - Loretta Stinson - Страница 11

Shelter from the Storm

STELLA SAT ON A STOOL NEAR THE DOOR, OCCASIONALLY checking a college boy’s ID but mostly scanning the crowd to make sure nobody got out of hand. It had been a good night, quiet for a Friday. Stella thought they might be able to close a little early for a change. That would be fine with him.

In 1968, Stella returned to his hometown of San Francisco fresh from two tours as a medic in Vietnam. He’d joined the Navy Reserves out of high school to escape the infantry. He wanted to be a doctor, and money for medical school would be available when he got out. At the time, so many corpsmen were being killed that reserves went immediately on active duty. The kicker was he’d been assigned to the infantry anyway. A firefight near Marble Mountain northeast of Da Nang put an end to his desire for college or a medical career. Stella quit making plans for the future and concentrated on survival.

The club was Ernie’s idea. They’d been friends from the old neighborhood and ended up in the same company during Stella’s second tour. Back in the world, stateside, they’d met again by chance at a bar in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. During a late round of drinks one night, they decided to pool their money and buy a bar. It didn’t matter to Stella what he did. Get out of the city, buy a bar, hire some dancers, make some money. Just like that. Now he was happy just to think about closing early and going home to his bed alone.

Stella yawned and straightened his back. He could almost feel the cool cotton of his sheets. The doors next to him creaked. Stella stood up to give whoever it was a hand.

Standing under the neon Hamm’s sign was the dancer who’d quit the night before. It took a few seconds for her name to surface – Janie, that was it. Her face was so bloody and swollen that if Stella hadn’t seen her recently he wouldn’t have recognized her. He grabbed her elbow as she started to sink to the ground. He didn’t want to take her through the club. “Let’s go around to the back door.”

Janie wobbled and shook. Stella held her up and walked with his arm looped around her, half carrying her to the office. Flipping on the light, Stella looked her over. Head traumas bled a lot, but more was wrong than just her face. Blood stained her jeans. Her shirt was torn; bruises marked the pale skin of her throat. He needed to take a look at her mouth and eyes. He hoped the injuries were superficial. He eased her into the office chair and grabbed a roll of paper towels, tearing off a trail of them and blotting at her face. He kept up a patter of reassurances. “You’re going to be okay. That’s good. Let’s take a look now.” She was going to need stitches. Her nose was broken, but they wouldn’t do anything about that tonight. It might heal straight. You could never tell with a nose. “I’m going to get my car and take you to the hospital.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Look, you need a doctor.”

“No doctor.”

“This isn’t anything to play around with, Janie. You need stitches.”

“No doctor.”

The door opened and Ernie stepped in. “Holy shit! What happened to you? We better get you to a doctor.”

Janie started rocking. “No doctor. Promise.”

Stella looked at Ernie. “I don’t think she wants the police in this.”

Janie nodded.

Ernie shook his head. “Can you take care of her?”

“Man, I don’t know. I haven’t stitched anybody up in a long time. It’s not like I have my kit anymore.”

Ernie leaned against the door. “How about Doc? I bet he’ll take care of her or set you up with what you need.”

Stella squatted in front of Janie’s good eye. “There’s this doctor we know. Doesn’t ask questions or file reports. I was a medic a long time ago but – ”

“You help me, Stella.”

Looking at her, he couldn’t say no, even though his hands had begun to sweat and tingle. “I’ll try.” Stella patted her leg and stood up. “Ernie, ask Dee if she has any downers on her. Get a bag of ice too. And a blanket. She could use a blanket.” Now that he’d decided, all his training came back. Stella called Doc and gave him a list of what he thought he’d need. Then he rummaged in the office cupboards for some clean rags and a metal bowl he filled with water from the bathroom. He was sponging away the blood from her face when Delores came in with a blanket, a couple of Quaaludes, and a plastic bag of ice.

Delores stared at Janie. “I knew something like this would – ”

“Dee. Shut up.” Stella took the blanket, pills, and ice from her and pushed her out of the office, closing the door in her face. He looked at Janie. “You’re going to be fine. Let’s get you out of here before we have more sightseers.”

On the way to the car Janie started to shake so hard Stella couldn’t keep the blanket around her. He carried her to his car, surprised by how light she felt. He helped her into the front seat and tucked the blanket around her. Her skin was cold. He needed to get her hydrated and warm. He’d ice her face later to get the swelling down, but right then she was shaking so badly he didn’t want to risk it. He kept up a constant patter, calm and neutral – no questions, nothing she needed to respond to, just a voice in the dark for her to focus on. He drove to Doc’s place in town and left the car running while he got a shopping bag full of medical supplies. Stella didn’t stop to think about what he was doing. If he thought too hard about it, he’d be dropping this girl at the hospital emergency entrance and driving away.

As they pulled up in front of Stella’s gated driveway, China, his big black and tan dog, came running out to greet him. He got out of the car, unlocked the padlock, and swung the gate open.

“Settle down, China. We’ve got company.” Since he’d moved here six years ago, he could count on one hand the people who’d been to his home. Now he had this girl – an underaged white girl no less – sitting in his car in front of his house about to spend the night. Stella shook his head to clear it, got back in the car, drove through the gate and re-locked it. He parked in front of the house and helped Janie out of the car. She wasn’t shaking so much anymore. She hadn’t cried or carried on like most people would have given whatever had been done to her. He guessed that besides the beating she’d been raped. What to do about that was beyond the medical training he’d received at Lejeune.

China shimmied her back end around, wagging her tail hard and butting her head against Janie’s legs. Stella held Janie’s arm and stopped as she held out her hand. China sniffed the girl all around.

Stella smiled. “She likes you.”

In the kitchen Stella seated Janie at the table and unpacked the shopping bag. He gave her more pain medication and a glass of warm water to sip while he rinsed off her split forehead with lidocaine and began to stitch her up. She didn’t flinch, and Stella was glad for that. He was having a hard time keeping his hands steady and his stomach from flipping. It had been another life the last time he’d sewn flesh. He hummed under his breath to steady himself. He made them both some chamomile tea, cooling hers to lukewarm with cream and honey, putting a straw in the mug so she could sip it. China sat at the girl’s feet, resting her head on Janie’s lap.

“You feel like taking a bath?”

Janie nodded.

“You won’t slip or fall, will you?”

Janie shook her head.

Stella left her with China and ran a tub. He looked in the closet for something Cookie might have left behind the last time she’d visited. Cookie Novella was the woman he loved, but she lived in Oregon and not with him because she disapproved of the club. He found Cookie’s clean sweatshirt and longjohn bottoms, gathered a couple towels from the hall closet, and carried it all to the kitchen. The girl sat slumped over, holding China’s head on her lap. For a minute he thought she’d passed out until he saw her back shake with a sob. Stella stood in the doorway wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. Then he helped her to the tub.

Tomorrow he’d find some clothes for her. She’d need stuff girls needed. He’d have to do his best to remember what that stuff might be. He’d call Cookie once Janie fell asleep. He’d ask her what to do. He’d already decided. Janie would be staying, no matter what her staying might mean later.