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Jane came in ten minutes later, Ally ten minutes after that.
Ten minutes after that, my cell rang and I flipped it open because it said,Eddie calling.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“You okay?” he asked.
Uh-oh.
“Should I not be?”
“With you,chiquita, it’s a crapshoot.”
Wonderful.
I strolled from behind the counter, letting Ally deal with the customer there so I could deal with Eddie. He took my full attention at the best of times.
I stood at the window, looking out.
“How’s your day?” Eddie asked.
“I hit the snooze button, like, ten times. Then Bobby introduced me to soccer and I got to work way late. Now, I’m at Fortnum’s. Tex asked for my blessing to date Mom, and then Daisy came in and gathered up Mom, Lottie and Tex to go to Smithie’s so she could teach Lottie how to strip. They’re swinging by to pick up Ada, just in case she wants to go.”
Silence.
“Smithie says Lottie’ll be driving a Porsche in a week,” I told him.
More silence.
I kept going. It was like I couldn’t stop, even if I tried.
“Smithie says if I make it a sister act, he’ll put me in his will.”
Now, there was Spanish.
This made me smile.
“What’s happening with you?” I asked, starting to feel funny and the smile died away.
This was a strange conversation because it was a normal conversation. This was the kind of conversation normal, average, everyday G-words had with their B-words, or worse, W-words had with their M-words.
He answered, but I didn’t hear him. I noticed a car braking funny in the middle of Broadway, directly across from where I was standing. The car didn’t come to a complete stop, but the back door opened and a body was flung out.
A body that looked like my dad’s body.
“Dad,” I whispered into the phone and watched as Dad tumbled, limbs jiggling uselessly, not trying to break or control his roll.
“Dad!” I shouted as I watched him roll.
The door to the car closed and the car sped away.
I had the cell away from my face. I flipped it shut and shoved it into my jeans, running outside.
“Get her!” Duke yelled, but I was gone, out the door, running into traffic, straight to my dad’s prone body.
Cars swerved and honked and I went down on my knees in the middle of the left lane, next to Dad’s body.
He was on his side and there was bloodeverywhere. On his clothes, in his hair, the blood was wet and dry, new and old.
