two-year school, and half an hour away. We can live right here with your mother! I’ll reopen Dad’s radio shop and that’ll pay the tuition. For I know I’m meant to stay in Clarion, Charlotte. This all came to me; it’s what I have to do. Don’t you see?”
All I saw was the view from his window: a cross-section of Alberta’s house with flowered wallpaper, copper pipes writhing toward the sky, and a medicine cabinet wide open and empty. It was very clear: they were tearing down the rest of the world completely. They were leaving no place standing but my mother’s. They were keeping me here forever, all the long, slow days of my life.
9
We drove through an endless afternoon, passing scenery that appeared to have wilted. Crumbling sheds and unpainted houses, bony cattle drooping over fences. “Whereabouts
is
this?” I finally asked.
“Georgia,” said Jake.
“Georgia!”
I sat up straighter and looked around me. I had never imagined finding myself in Georgia. But still there wasn’t much to see. “Well,” I said, “I tell you what. I think I’ll go in the back and take a nap.”
“No,” said Jake.
“Why not?”
“I ain’t going to have you slipping away from me. You would open that door and slip right away.”
“Well, for goodness sake,” I said. I felt insulted. “Whywould I do that? All I want is a little sleep.
Lock
the door, if you like.”
“No way of doing that.”
“Get another chain from somewhere.”
“What, and lock myself in too?”
“You could keep a key. Find one of those—”
“Lay off of me, Charlotte.”
I was quiet for a while. I studied snuff adds. Then I said, “You really ought to get over this thing about locks, you know.”
“Lay off, I said.”
I looked for a radio, but there wasn’t one. I opened the glove compartment to check the insides: road maps, a flashlight, cigarettes, boring things like that. I slammed it shut. I said, “Jake.”
“Hmm.”
“Where’re we going, anyway?”
He glanced over at me.
“Now
you ask,” he said. “I was starting to think you had something missing.”
“Missing?”
“Some nut or bolt or something. Not to wonder before now where we was headed.”
“Well, I had no idea we were heading to some
point,”
I said.
“You thought I was doing all this driving for the fun of it.”
“Where are we going, Jake?”
“Perth, Florida,” said Jake.
“Perth?”
“That’s where Oliver lives. My friend from training school.”
“Oh, Oliver.”
“See, his mother moved him to Florida to get him out of trouble. Opened her a motel there. A widow lady. She neverdid think much of me, moved Oliver clean away from me. Now we’re going to look him up, with a stop-off first in Linex, Georgia.”
“What’s in Linex?” I asked.
He started rummaging through his pockets. First his jacket, then his trouser pockets. Finally he came up with a piece of notebook paper. He held it out to me. “What’s this?” I said.
“Read it.”
I unfolded it and smoothed the creases. The writing had been done with a hard lead pencil—one of those that leaves the other side of the paper embossed. All the i’s were dotted with fat hearts.
Dear Jake,
Honey please come get me soon! Its like a prison here. I had been expecting you long ago. Didn’t you get my letter? I called your home but your mother said she didn’t know where you were. Do you want for your son to be born in a prison?
Love and xxx!
Mindy
I read it twice. Then I looked at Jake.
“Now, that I couldn’t abide,” said Jake.
“What’s that?”
“My son to be born in a prison.”
“What’s she in prison for?”
“She ain’t in prison, she’s in a home for unwed mothers.”
“Oh, I see,” I said.
“Her mother is this devil, real devil. Sent her off to this home her church runs, never let me hear word one about it till Mindy was packed and gone. Mindy is a minor,” he said.
I was slow:
All I saw was the view from his window: a cross-section of Alberta’s house with flowered wallpaper, copper pipes writhing toward the sky, and a medicine cabinet wide open and empty. It was very clear: they were tearing down the rest of the world completely. They were leaving no place standing but my mother’s. They were keeping me here forever, all the long, slow days of my life.
9
We drove through an endless afternoon, passing scenery that appeared to have wilted. Crumbling sheds and unpainted houses, bony cattle drooping over fences. “Whereabouts
is
this?” I finally asked.
“Georgia,” said Jake.
“Georgia!”
I sat up straighter and looked around me. I had never imagined finding myself in Georgia. But still there wasn’t much to see. “Well,” I said, “I tell you what. I think I’ll go in the back and take a nap.”
“No,” said Jake.
“Why not?”
“I ain’t going to have you slipping away from me. You would open that door and slip right away.”
“Well, for goodness sake,” I said. I felt insulted. “Whywould I do that? All I want is a little sleep.
Lock
the door, if you like.”
“No way of doing that.”
“Get another chain from somewhere.”
“What, and lock myself in too?”
“You could keep a key. Find one of those—”
“Lay off of me, Charlotte.”
I was quiet for a while. I studied snuff adds. Then I said, “You really ought to get over this thing about locks, you know.”
“Lay off, I said.”
I looked for a radio, but there wasn’t one. I opened the glove compartment to check the insides: road maps, a flashlight, cigarettes, boring things like that. I slammed it shut. I said, “Jake.”
“Hmm.”
“Where’re we going, anyway?”
He glanced over at me.
“Now
you ask,” he said. “I was starting to think you had something missing.”
“Missing?”
“Some nut or bolt or something. Not to wonder before now where we was headed.”
“Well, I had no idea we were heading to some
point,”
I said.
“You thought I was doing all this driving for the fun of it.”
“Where are we going, Jake?”
“Perth, Florida,” said Jake.
“Perth?”
“That’s where Oliver lives. My friend from training school.”
“Oh, Oliver.”
“See, his mother moved him to Florida to get him out of trouble. Opened her a motel there. A widow lady. She neverdid think much of me, moved Oliver clean away from me. Now we’re going to look him up, with a stop-off first in Linex, Georgia.”
“What’s in Linex?” I asked.
He started rummaging through his pockets. First his jacket, then his trouser pockets. Finally he came up with a piece of notebook paper. He held it out to me. “What’s this?” I said.
“Read it.”
I unfolded it and smoothed the creases. The writing had been done with a hard lead pencil—one of those that leaves the other side of the paper embossed. All the i’s were dotted with fat hearts.
Dear Jake,
Honey please come get me soon! Its like a prison here. I had been expecting you long ago. Didn’t you get my letter? I called your home but your mother said she didn’t know where you were. Do you want for your son to be born in a prison?
Love and xxx!
Mindy
I read it twice. Then I looked at Jake.
“Now, that I couldn’t abide,” said Jake.
“What’s that?”
“My son to be born in a prison.”
“What’s she in prison for?”
“She ain’t in prison, she’s in a home for unwed mothers.”
“Oh, I see,” I said.
“Her mother is this devil, real devil. Sent her off to this home her church runs, never let me hear word one about it till Mindy was packed and gone. Mindy is a minor,” he said.
I was slow:
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