High School.”
“Where is that?”
“New Lebanon. Up the road a few miles.”
“Why did she move?”
“I don’t see anything to be gained bringing up old memories like this.”
“Please. I’m looking for a line on where to find her. Anything.”
“How long has she been gone?”
“A couple of weeks. No one knows where she went.”
“I don’t even know if I remember much after all this time.”
“What was that about her father?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’s a long, sad story, but an all too common one. He ran off. Fathers do, even in this day and age.”
“Ran off where? With another woman, or …”
“No one knows. He vanished one day and that was that. As far as I know, no one ever heard from him again.”
“How did Ruby Jane feel about it?”
“I was her English teacher, not her confessor.”
“What was she like?”
“You’re not going to let up, are you?”
“It’s not my style, no.”
“I suppose I should tell you to go, and leave it at that.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
Her eyes go back to the painting, then jump to the mantle clock, almost as if she’s looking for help.
“She was a good student. Not a great student, but good. Most of her focus was on sports.”
“She was an athlete?”
“Basketball. Quite good too. College scouts were interested.”
“She has a hoop in her apartment, makes baskets from anywhere in the room.” Her field goal percentage is otherworldly. “But she never mentioned playing. I remember her saying she went to a small college.”
“She left Valley View before her senior year. To my knowledge she never played again.”
“Why? If she was that good?”
“It’s complicated. Her father, … he left ruin in his wake. Her mother went so far as to suggest Ruby had something to do with his disappearance. Can you believe that? A mother accusing her own child?”
I was a cop long enough that nothing surprises me.
“Then there was James.”
“I’ve met him.” I don’t mention he’s lying in a drawer in the San Francisco medical examiner’s office.
“When James left for college, her mother went off the deep end. There was a police investigation, which came to nothing of course. Men run off.”
“That must have been hard on Ruby Jane.”
“She coped through sports, I think. She played hard, but to her credit she worked in class too. She never tried to use her status as an athlete to curry favors from her teachers.”
“Why did she quit?”
“There was another girl—Mister Kadash, you have to understand that even on the same team, athletes are very competitive. And girls have their own issues as well. This other girl, she wanted to be the team’s focus. She didn’t like the attention Ruby drew. It all came to a head one day in the wake of a tragedy which was particularly hard on Ruby. She hit the other girl and broke her nose.”
I think of Clarice Moody, her nose pointing over the horizon.
“Naturally, discipline was swift and sure. Ruby was suspended for a week from school and for seven games the subsequent basketball season. A lot of people argued for leniency, including me. She’d never been in that kind of trouble before. I was worried about her scholarship prospects if she missed so many games, but Ruby said the punishment was fair. She withdrew into herself, spent a lot of time in the school library or out running. She did a lot of writing for me too. Thoughtful material, though impersonal. Then, at the end of the year she transferred to Dixie.”
“And that’s when you lost track of her.”
Her hands are a tangle in her lap. “Her mother moved away after she graduated, but she didn’t stay at home her senior year.”
“Where did she live?”
“As I recall, her mother sold the house when she left. I don’t even know who lives there now.”
Not what I asked. I’m getting close to matters she doesn’t want to share, and I wonder if Ruby Jane stayed here her senior year. Mrs. Parmelee
“Where is that?”
“New Lebanon. Up the road a few miles.”
“Why did she move?”
“I don’t see anything to be gained bringing up old memories like this.”
“Please. I’m looking for a line on where to find her. Anything.”
“How long has she been gone?”
“A couple of weeks. No one knows where she went.”
“I don’t even know if I remember much after all this time.”
“What was that about her father?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’s a long, sad story, but an all too common one. He ran off. Fathers do, even in this day and age.”
“Ran off where? With another woman, or …”
“No one knows. He vanished one day and that was that. As far as I know, no one ever heard from him again.”
“How did Ruby Jane feel about it?”
“I was her English teacher, not her confessor.”
“What was she like?”
“You’re not going to let up, are you?”
“It’s not my style, no.”
“I suppose I should tell you to go, and leave it at that.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
Her eyes go back to the painting, then jump to the mantle clock, almost as if she’s looking for help.
“She was a good student. Not a great student, but good. Most of her focus was on sports.”
“She was an athlete?”
“Basketball. Quite good too. College scouts were interested.”
“She has a hoop in her apartment, makes baskets from anywhere in the room.” Her field goal percentage is otherworldly. “But she never mentioned playing. I remember her saying she went to a small college.”
“She left Valley View before her senior year. To my knowledge she never played again.”
“Why? If she was that good?”
“It’s complicated. Her father, … he left ruin in his wake. Her mother went so far as to suggest Ruby had something to do with his disappearance. Can you believe that? A mother accusing her own child?”
I was a cop long enough that nothing surprises me.
“Then there was James.”
“I’ve met him.” I don’t mention he’s lying in a drawer in the San Francisco medical examiner’s office.
“When James left for college, her mother went off the deep end. There was a police investigation, which came to nothing of course. Men run off.”
“That must have been hard on Ruby Jane.”
“She coped through sports, I think. She played hard, but to her credit she worked in class too. She never tried to use her status as an athlete to curry favors from her teachers.”
“Why did she quit?”
“There was another girl—Mister Kadash, you have to understand that even on the same team, athletes are very competitive. And girls have their own issues as well. This other girl, she wanted to be the team’s focus. She didn’t like the attention Ruby drew. It all came to a head one day in the wake of a tragedy which was particularly hard on Ruby. She hit the other girl and broke her nose.”
I think of Clarice Moody, her nose pointing over the horizon.
“Naturally, discipline was swift and sure. Ruby was suspended for a week from school and for seven games the subsequent basketball season. A lot of people argued for leniency, including me. She’d never been in that kind of trouble before. I was worried about her scholarship prospects if she missed so many games, but Ruby said the punishment was fair. She withdrew into herself, spent a lot of time in the school library or out running. She did a lot of writing for me too. Thoughtful material, though impersonal. Then, at the end of the year she transferred to Dixie.”
“And that’s when you lost track of her.”
Her hands are a tangle in her lap. “Her mother moved away after she graduated, but she didn’t stay at home her senior year.”
“Where did she live?”
“As I recall, her mother sold the house when she left. I don’t even know who lives there now.”
Not what I asked. I’m getting close to matters she doesn’t want to share, and I wonder if Ruby Jane stayed here her senior year. Mrs. Parmelee
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