The King of Jam Sandwiches Page 12

  “A better question is, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in rehab.”

  Valerie giggled. What sort of a reaction was that?

  “Vance, this is my daughter,” she said. Her voice was rough and raspy.

  “Didn’t know you had any kids. You got more wear on the tires than I thought, Val.”

  He chuckled. Harmony’s mother looked hurt.

  Vance reached out to shake hands with Harmony. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Can’t say the same,” Harmony replied, ignoring his outstretched hand. She spoke directly to her mother. “You need to get back to rehab!”

  Vance grabbed Harmony’s mother by the arm and pulled her roughly to her seat beside him. “Val ain’t going noplace she don’t want to go. Sounds like somebody should have been taught some manners,” he snapped.

  “You’re too stupid to teach anybody anything except—”

  Vance jumped to his feet and took a few steps toward Harmony. I leaped forward, putting myself between him and Harmony. He took a couple more steps, and I brought my fists up, ready to defend myself. I felt a surge of anger. He wasn’t getting by me without a fight. He stopped. I was relieved and surprised all at once.

  Jeff appeared out of thin air and stepped between me and Vance.

  “Jeff, what are you doing here?” Vance asked, confused.

  “Just came to help Harmony find her mother,” he said. “How about you and I leave ’em alone to talk?”

  “This isn’t your bar. You can’t tell me nothing about nothing in here,” Vance said.

  “You’re right. I can’t tell you to leave, but I can still squash your head like a nut. Do you want me to do that right here?”

  Vance didn’t answer. He stood still and scowled.

  Was there going to be a fight?

  Then Vance lowered his eyes and started to shuffle away. He walked past Jeff—and then right out the door.

  “I’m going to make sure he goes far away,” Jeff said. He turned and followed Vance outside.

  Harmony sat down across from her mother. I stayed standing, giving them some space. Even from where I stood, I could smell the alcohol coming off her.

  “Don’t be mad at me, honey,” Valerie said. She was slurring her words, and her hair and makeup were messy.

  “Why would you think I’m mad at you?” Harmony asked.

  Her mother looked directly at me. “Who’s this?”

  “Robert is my friend, and he’s here because he cared enough not to let me search for you on my own. You know, that’s how responsible, caring people act.”

  Valerie started to cry.

  I sensed somebody behind me and spun around. It was Jeff. He gave a slight nod of his head.

  “You have no idea how hard it is,” Valerie said through her sniffles.

  “Harder than living with strangers in a friggin’ foster home?” Harmony asked.

  “I’m trying to get you back.”

  “What part of trying to get me back involves leaving rehab and going out and getting drunk?”

  “I’m not drunk.”

  “You’re so loaded they wouldn’t keep serving you at the bar.” Harmony looked over at Jeff. “Right?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s just Tim being careful. I’ve only had a couple of drinks…three at most.”

  “Don’t lie to me!” Harmony snapped. It sounded like Harmony was the parent and her mother was the child.

  “I’m sorry,” Valerie mumbled. “I love you.”

  “But not as much as you love getting drunk.”

  “Don’t say that. It’s just that I have a disease. Alcoholism is a disease.”

  “If you have a disease, you go for treatment. You don’t run away from the treatment center.”

  Harmony wasn’t giving an inch. She wasn’t letting her mother’s words or tears get in the way of what she wanted to say. How could anybody be that strong? I always just gave in to my father. I always thought, What’s the point in arguing? It never got me anything except more grief, so I just swallowed the anger. But maybe I needed to try harder to stand my ground.

  I realized Valerie’s tears had stopped as suddenly as they’d started. Was it all just an act?

  She grabbed a purse from the floor, opened it up and pulled out a package of cigarettes and some matches. She put a cigarette in her mouth and went to light it.

  Harmony reached across the table and snatched the matches out of her mother’s hand.

  “You can’t smoke in here. It’s against the law,” Harmony said.

  Valerie slowly removed the cigarette from her lips and put it back into the package. “They let me smoke at rehab.”

  “Then maybe you should go back.”

  “I was thinking of going back tomorrow.”

  “Why not right now?” Harmony asked.

  Her mother shrugged. “I have things to do and people to, you know, meet.”

  “Like that creep you were with?”

  “He’s not that bad.”

  “Actually, Val,” Jeff said, “he’s a very bad man. He’s mean even when he’s not drunk.”

  “That’s why Jeff came along. He wanted to protect us, protect me. I’m just a stranger to him. It’s not like I’m his daughter.”

  I could see her mother flinch. Another direct hit.

  “You need to go back to rehab right now,” Harmony said.

  “We could put you in a cab or an Uber,” Jeff suggested.

  “I haven’t got enough money for that.”

  “But you had enough money to keep drinking,” Harmony said.

  “I was drinking, but I wasn’t buying.” She hesitated. “Vance was buying.”

  “I’ll pay for the ride,” Jeff said.

  “You’d do that?” Valerie asked. “You’d just give me the money and let me pay you back later?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m putting the Uber on my account, and it’s not a loan—it’s an investment. I’m investing in you getting the help you need.”

  “That’s…that’s sweet.” She gave him a big smile.

  “Least I can do.”

  She got up on unsteady feet, circled the table and hugged him. He looked uncomfortable.

  “I guess I chose the wrong man in that bar,” she said.

  “My mother used to do that too, picking the wrong guy. Actually, I guess you’re about the same age as my mother,” Jeff said.

  “That can’t be right. She must have had you when she was a baby!” She ran her fingers through her hair like she was trying to straighten it.

  “She was only nineteen. She’s forty-two now.”

  “I’m not nearly that old!” Valerie protested. “It’s just that, well, my makeup and I’ve been up and—”

  “And you’ve been drinking. Alcohol makes people look older,” Harmony said.

  Jeff was fiddling with his phone. “There, I’ve ordered your ride. Let’s go out front and wait.”

  He turned and headed for the door. Harmony took her mother by the hand and followed. I trailed behind as we walked outside.

  “Thanks for doing this,” Harmony said to Jeff.

  “No problem.” Jeff walked over to the curb to look for the Uber, and I decided to stand closer to him and leave her and her mother alone.

  Jeff turned to me. “Putting yourself between Vance and Harmony takes big-time guts.”

  “Or small-time brains,” I said.

  Jeff laughed. “Guys like him are dangerous because they don’t care. He wouldn’t have thought twice about smacking you.”

  “Yeah, I figured.”

  “But you didn’t think twice about stepping in.”

  “I didn’t think at all or I probably wouldn’t have done it. I guess I owe you a thanks too.”

  “You don’t owe me nothing, kid. I just hope it works out,” he said, gesturing to Harmony and her mother.

  They were talking quietly, and Valerie was crying again. Harmony looked close to tears too.

/>   “Look, there it is, I think,” Jeff said, pointing up the street.

  He raised his hand, and a red sedan pulled up to the curb in front of us. The window opened, and Jeff confirmed that the ride was for Valerie.

  “You two better say goodbye. I have to get back to work. Time to go. Give the man the address,” Jeff said.

  Harmony and her mother exchanged a couple more words that I couldn’t hear, hugged and then Valerie got into the car. It drove off, and Jeff and I both stepped up beside Harmony and watched it disappear around the corner.

  “Do you think she’ll make it?” I asked Jeff.

  “We put her in the vehicle and she’s headed in the right direction.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Harmony said. “She might just have him drive her to another bar.”

  “She might. It’s up to her. Not me. Not you. Not the people at the rehab center. It’s all up to her. Remember that. Now, you two, where do you live?”

  “The West End,” I said. “St. Clair and Old Weston Road.”

  “I’m going to call another Uber for the two of you.”

  “We don’t have the money to pay for it,” I said.

  “This one’s on me too.”

  “We can take the subway,” I suggested.

  “Not if you want to get home before dark.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Harmony asked.

  “Maybe I’m just a nice guy.”

  “Is it because your mother was an alcoholic?” I asked.

  He smiled. “You’re not just gutsy but also smart.”

  “He’s the smartest person in our school,” Harmony said. “Well…is he right?”

  Jeff nodded. “At least half right. My mother is still an alcoholic. One who hasn’t had a drink in over seven years. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.”

  He turned directly to Harmony. “Some people make it. You have to have faith. Especially when it seems like there’s nothing else. And remember, it’s not on you. It’s up to her.”

  SIXTEEN

  We hardly said a word the whole ride home. The Uber driver filled in the silence by talking and talking and talking. I felt like we were trapped in his car. We had him stop and pull over a block from Harmony’s house. We couldn’t risk Mrs. Watson seeing us get out of an Uber or she’d know something was wrong and that we’d lied.

  Our timing worked out almost perfectly. We got to her place at about the time we would have if we’d really had supper at my place and studied for a while.

  “I want to thank you,” said Harmony.

  “I couldn’t let you go alone.”

  “You know that guy could have killed you. What were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking. I was just…just…well… I was just…”

  “Angry?” Harmony asked.

  I shook my head. “More than angry.”

  “Hard to keep that stuff inside all the time. Do you think your father is going to be there when you get home?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does matter. And if he isn’t there?” she asked.

  “I walk the dog, eat supper and wait.”

  “If he isn’t there, I want you to call me,” she said.

  “Sure, but either way, I’m okay.” One more night would pass. One more day was already over.

  “Either way, you should call. See you tomorrow.”

  “You too.”

  “And again, thanks for coming.”

  “Friends help friends. You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.”

  She laughed. “My grandmother used to say that. You know, you remind me of her.”

  “Great. Just what I always wanted to hear, that I remind a girl of her grandmother.”

  “I meant it as a compliment.”

  “How else could I take it? See you tomorrow.”

  I started to walk away.

  “Robert!”

  I stopped and turned, and she walked over to me.

  “Do you know why you can’t be my boyfriend?”

  “Because it would be strange to date somebody who reminds you of your grandmother?”

  “That’s one reason, but not the main reason. It’s just that I can’t risk it.”

  “So now it’s me who’s dangerous?”

  She laughed. “Hardly anybody knows how funny you are.”

  “Yet another reason not to date me.”

  “You’re not that funny. It’s just…have you ever seen a boy-and-girl thing that didn’t go bad?”

  “Some work.”

  “Almost all of them don’t. You’re too important to me to risk it.”

  She spun around and walked off, leaving me standing there watching as she went inside and the door closed behind her.

  Now I had to go home. I’d spent most of the day and all evening not thinking about my father. School had helped with that. Going off with Harmony had kept my mind elsewhere for almost the whole evening. Now there was nothing else to keep it occupied. I’d soon turn the corner and either his car would be there or it wouldn’t. I’d know in just a few more paces. I held my breath and my hopes and—there it was. His car was there.

  I stopped, exhaled and then took a deep breath. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. He was back. I wasn’t going to be alone tonight.

  I quietly crossed the porch and opened the door. Candy came running, barking to greet me. I bent down and took her head in my hands, scratching her behind her ears. I could hear the TV.

  “I’m home!” I called out.

  There was no answer. If he’d been up all last night and today, he might be asleep in front of the set. If that was the case, it might be better—and easier—to just let him sleep. I put down my pack and looked into the living room. He was awake and watching TV.

  “Hey,” I said softly.

  He looked over. “Hang on,” he said.

  I stood there and waited as he kept watching his TV show. It was a sitcom, and he was chuckling at some of the jokes. That was a good sign, although the show really wasn’t funny or important enough that I should have to stand there and wait. I felt something rising in the pit of my stomach. He’d been gone all night, and now he was back and wanted me to wait for him. Who did he think he was? I had to fight the urge to yell at him or go over and turn off the TV or—a commercial came on.

  “Where were you?” he asked.

  “I was out with a friend.”

  “Okay.”

  I waited for him to say more, but he just stared at the TV.

  “That must be one great commercial,” I said.

  He looked up at me.

  “Don’t you have anything else to say? Aren’t you even curious where I was?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer. His expression didn’t even change.

  “I’ve been out with Harmony since school ended. We went to the east end of the city.”

  “That explains why I had to peel potatoes.”

  That’s what I got. He didn’t care that I’d been on the other side of the city or why. Instead it was about how this had caused him to have to do something.

  “I had Sal let Candy out.”

  “I don’t like strangers in the house.”

  “He’s not a stranger. He’s my friend.”

  “I don’t like anybody in the house. Were you working?”

  “I just told you I was out with Harmony in the East End.”

  “Oh yeah.” The show was back on, and he stared at the TV again.

  “If I had been working, I wouldn’t be home until nine thirty. That’s when I come home when I’m working.”

  “I don’t keep track of everything you do.”

  “You don’t keep track of anything I do!” I snapped.

  “What’s your problem?”

  At least I’d gotten him to turn away from the TV. He was glaring at me.

  I shouldn’t have said that. I wanted to retreat, not provoke him. I wanted to look away or even apolo
gize. Harmony wouldn’t have done any of those things. She was too brave to back off.

  “My problem is you,” I said quietly.

  “What did you say?” he demanded.

  I’d had enough. “You’re my problem. Where were you last night?” I demanded.

  “Where I was is my business. I’m the parent and you’re the kid.”

  “Parents don’t just disappear overnight and leave a child alone.”

  “Excuse me for thinking you are more responsible than some child. I thought I’d raised you better than that.”

  “You’ve hardly raised me at all. It’s like I was brought up by wolves—no, that’s not right, because wolves probably take care of their young.”

  He jumped up from his chair. He brushed by me and walked toward the front door.

  I went after him. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going out.”

  I grabbed him by the arm. “Where are you going? When are you coming back?”

  “I guess you’ll see, won’t you?”

  I let go of his arm and walked to the door. I opened it up.

  “If you’re not back by eleven, I’m going to call Uncle Jack and Aunt Cora.”

  “And tell them what?”

  “Everything. I’m going to tell them everything. About the times you leave me alone.”

  “And what do you think that will do?” he asked.

  “I’m going to ask them to come and get me. I’m going to ask them if I can go and live with them.”

  He laughed. “Like that’s going to happen. Why would anybody want to care for you? You’re lucky I’m still around.”

  “Yeah, I’m really lucky!” I yelled.

  He looked at me long and hard, and then he smiled and chuckled. “Believe what you want. Believe your aunt and uncle will come and rescue you. Give it a try, and see who’s right.”

  “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they won’t come, but they’ll call the police instead. Maybe I’ll call the police. I’ll tell them that I’m alone and that you’ve done it before.”

  “Sure you will.”

  “I will. I’ll do it.”

  “Go ahead. You’ll end up in some foster home, and I’ll end up being rid of you. You don’t think my life would be better without you?”

  I felt that jab directly in my head. But I didn’t change my expression.