Black Water Creek (3 page)

“Mommy, I wanna go home,” Keegan said again.

“Honey, the car is broken. We have to wait for a guy to come fix it for us. Come on, you can come up here and wait with me.” She unlatched his car seat and Keegan crawled up and sat next to her. He put his thumb in his mouth and she leaned his head against her chest.

Ten minutes passed before a tow truck appeared coming in
opposite direction. The truck pulled over to the other side of the road and the driver hopped out. He was a skinny looking kid wearing grease stained blue overalls. Looked barely old enough to drive. Kelly rolled down the window as he sauntered over.

“How’s it
goin’? I take it you’re the lady the cops called in?”

“Yeah, it just died and it won’t start.”

He asked her to pop the hood and stuck his head under there for a minute. Kelly bit her lip and hoped for something simple like a hose or wire that fell off or something.

He slammed the hood
and returned to the window. “Timing belt snapped. How many times you try to start it after she died?”

“Just once.”

He nodded and looked down the road. “Well, you ain’t driving from here, that’s for sure. I’ll have to give you a tow to the shop. Standard rate for a hookup is fifty bucks. It’s only ‘bout five miles away so I can let the mileage slide.”

Kelly
’s heart sank. She knew whatever was wrong with the car wouldn’t be free or cheap but hearing it out loud was like a slap in the face. After the tow, all the money she had left in the world would be down to $10.59. She sighed and tried hard not to cry again. One step at a time. All she knew was that she couldn’t spend the night on the side of the road with her son in the middle of October.

She helped Keegan
into the cab of the truck and he watched with fascination as the kid winched the Corolla up the ramp and onto the back of the truck. He finished securing her car to the bed and they were off.

They passed a sign on the edge of town that read
Welcome to Black Water Creek.
It was your standard small town found in this part of the state. Average looking homes, several bars, a few churches. Next door to the Black Water Creek High School (home of the 1997 girls softball champs according to the sign out front), sat Ed’s Automotive Service.

Kelly
gathered Keegan’s car seat, her purse and diaper bag, and they went into the small office while her car was unloaded from the truck. A woman sporting a huge head of frizzy red hair greeted them from behind the counter.

“Hi-
ya Hon, looks like you two had to make an unscheduled stop, huh?” She wore a grey sweatshirt with the name Cheryl embroidered under the Ed’s logo.

Kelly
could tell Cheryl was looking at her bruised nose and hoped she wouldn’t ask about it. She blew the hair out of her face and shrugged. “Yeah, just my luck. I never had any problems with the car until today.”

“That always seems
to be the case, doesn’t it?” Cheryl walked around from behind the counter. She bent over and beamed at Keegan who was hiding behind Kelly’s leg. “Well, aren’t you just the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen?”

Keegan looked to the floor and
Kelly patted his head. “Can you say hi?” she asked. Keegan buried his face into her leg which made Cheryl laugh.

Kelly
asked if there was a restroom they could use. After changing Keegan and freshening up, they returned to the waiting room. Keegan ran to the two vending machines in the corner and pressed his face to the glass, fascinated by the rows of candy bars and bags of chips in front of him.

Her own stomach growled.
Kelly hadn’t eaten a thing all day and even a packet of little powdered donuts was looking pretty good. They were $1.25 for a packet of five. Maybe if she gave Keegan three…

Cheryl sidled up and quietly
whispered to Kelly, “I don’t know about you, but I try not to let my little one eat this kind of garbage. I’ve got a stash behind the counter of healthier stuff when I need to bring my daughter with me to work once and a while. You’re welcome to help yourself.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,”
Kelly said.

“No, don’t be silly,” Cheryl protested. “Do you want something to snack on sweetie?” she asked Keegan.

His shyness suddenly evaporating, Keegan answered with an enthusiast yes and took Cheryl’s hand while she guided him behind the counter. Ten minutes ago he wouldn’t even look at her but with the promise of food, they were suddenly best friends. Typical male, Kelly thought with a smile.

Cheryl handed him a juice
box and gave Kelly a couple of granola bars, two bags of crackers, and two bags of trail mix. “Help yourself to as much as you want. I usually stock up at the warehouse store over in Tillman once a month. I actually have too much of this stuff around the house. Drives my husband nuts.”

“Thanks so much. I’m
Kelly by the way, this is Keegan.”

“Nice to meet you two.” Cheryl pointed to the name on her sweatshirt and nodded. “I’m Cheryl in case you didn’t notice.
I talked to Eddie while you were in the bathroom. They’re taking a look at your car right now. He’ll come in and let you know what the plan is as soon as he can.”

Kelly
thanked her again and they sat down on the plastic chairs in the corner to wait. Keegan quickly tired of the snacks and ran about the room, poking at the tire displays and banging on the vending machine buttons. Kelly wished she’d taken a minute to grab some small toys or books before they left the house but she had nothing to keep him occupied. The only thing laying around in the waiting room were some out of date
Motor Trend
and
Field and Stream
magazines. Those bored her to tears, much less a toddler.

Finally, a heavy-set man in a blue uniform came through the shop
door and sat down with an exaggerated groan on one of the chairs. He put on a pair of reading glasses and looked over a grease-stained work order full of car diagrams and scribbled notes. “Well Miss, like I think Steve already mentioned, your timing belt broke.” He eyed her over his glasses and nodded.

“The bad news is, when it
breaks like that when you’re driving it can cause some damage before the engine seizes up and dies on you. If the valves hit the pistons we could be looking at some serious engine damage that I guarantee will cost more than what your car is worth. The only way we’ll know for sure is to put on a new belt and do a compression test. You’re looking about $375 parts and labor just for the belt. Plus the cost of the tow. ‘Course, it might turn out to be a waste if it gets into the thousands from engine damage. You get what I’m saying?”

Kelly
was speechless. She stared at the floor and envied Keegan, lying under one of the chairs and knocking on the bottom—not a care in the world. She finally looked up and stared at the man for a moment before muttering, “All I have is ten dollars after the tow.”

He cleared his throat and glanced
awkwardly down at the work order again. “I really wish it were something simple we could just patch up and get you on your way. You’re not from around here, are you?”

“I live a few hours away,”
Kelly said quietly. “We’re going to visit my aunt but her place is at least a couple of hours from here.”

“You don’t have any credit cards, or maybe somebody back home
that could wire you the money?”

Kelly
shook her head and looked at the floor.

He sighed and scratched the stubble on his chin before checking his watch. “We’re closing up in about fifteen minutes
anyway. Even if you could afford it, it wouldn’t do you much good tonight. Do you have someplace to go? Somebody that can pick you up?”

Keegan crawled out from under the chair and pulled on
Kelly’s pants leg. “Mommy, I’m hungry again.” He glanced over at Cheryl and her behind-the-counter-stash-of-plenty.

“I know baby, just hold on.” For what seemed like the millionth time that day,
Kelly tried really hard not to burst into tears.

“Tell
ya what,” the man said. “My wife and I have a guest room that’s been collecting dust for years. I wanted to turn it into a den but she insisted we needed a spare bed for visitors. Been years since anybody’s even set foot in there, much less spent the night.”

Kelly
looked up.

“’Course, we keep it clean and all. You and your boy are welcome to spend the night until we get everything sorted with your car. My wife would love to have some company for dinner besides me for a change.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” Kelly stammered. “I mean, I could never impose…”

“Go ahead, honey
,” Cheryl interrupted from behind the counter. “I’ve known Eddie since I was a little kid. He may be a big ugly son of a gun but he wouldn’t hurt a flea. You’ll be safe there. And his wife is a damn good cook.” She glanced at Keegan. “Darn good cook, I mean.”

“Well,”
Kelly stalled, rubbing Keegan’s head and feeling uncomfortable.

“It’s just down the street,” Ed said. “Just give me a few minutes to clean up and call the missus to let her know we’re having two more for dinner. What do you say?”

Kelly looked over at Cheryl who gave her a little smile and a nod.

“Okay, thank you very much.
” Kelly said. “You’re sure it’s no trouble?”

“Not at all,” Ed smiled and held out his hand. “Ed Sheridan’s the name.”

Kelly shook his beefy hand. “I’m Kelly Raney and this is my son Keegan.”

“Nice to meet you ma’am,” He held his
open palm out to Keegan. “Put ‘er there, champ.”

Keegan buried his face in
Kelly’s leg but had a big smile on his face.

Chapter
4

Ed’s wife met them at the door and greeted Kelly with such an enthusiastic hug she would have thought they’d known each other for years. She beamed at Keegan who hid behind his mother’s legs as usual. She introduced herself as Sue and took their jackets.

Ed and
Sue lived in an old Victorian style house a couple of blocks off the main road with a huge back yard bordered by the river. The house was warm, simply decorated, and very cozy. Compared to the sparse and run-down dump that she and Don rented with second hand furniture, it was down-right homey. Best of all, the house was filled with the delicious aroma of home cooking. Kelly realized she was ravenous the second she walked through the door.

“You poor dear
.” Sue guided them into the kitchen. “I can’t image how scary it is to break down away from home. Thank goodness you were able to pull over and not get in an accident.”

Before
Kelly could think of a response, Sue added more silverware to the table and continued. “I hope you like roasted chicken. I usually make enough food for Eddie to take leftovers for lunch so we have more than enough to share.”

“Well, I really appreciate it. Everybody is so nice here.”

Sue paused and smiled at her. “I like to think people are nice everywhere. Some folks just need a little nudge to let it out on more of a regular basis, don’t you think?” She tousled Keegan’s hair before whirling back to the stove. Sue was heavy-set like Ed, probably around the same age, pushing sixty if Kelly had to guess. She had long silver hair tied in a pony-tail and wore an ankle-length dress made from different patches of colored material, like a quilt.

Ed appeared in the kitchen door, changed from his work uniform into a pair of old jean
s and a flannel shirt. “It’s just what we need in this house. More people to eat some of the food Paula Deen over there whips up.” He patted his belly. “You don’t get this way from eating celery sticks and rice cakes.”

“Oh Eddie, stop
.” Sue set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. “I don’t hear you complaining while you’re shoveling it in your mouth like a caveman. Sit! Sit! Everybody take a seat.”

Kelly
helped Keegan into the chair next to her. Ed produced a few yellow pages books for him to sit on so he could reach the top of the table. Keegan, used to sitting on his booster seat with the built-in safety belt, found his little throne of phone books very amusing.

The feast laid out before
them was truly amazing. Kelly found it hard to believe Sue cooked such a great meal for just the two of them like this all the time. Roasted chicken with homemade stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, golden biscuits, an overflowing bowl of steaming sweet corn, and an huge salad loaded with fresh veggies.

She put together a plate for Keegan and he dug into plain mashed potatoes
, one of his favorites. Kelly usually just made the instant stuff from a box. With her son taken care of, she turned her attention to her own plate. Everything looked delicious.

“Is her car serious, Eddie?”
Sue passed the bowl of corn to her husband. The sudden mention of her car threatened to put a damper on Kelly’s appetite. She hoped for a second that maybe Ed’s diagnosis had changed and he’d wave it off with his hand and say it was no biggie.

“We won’t know for sure until tomorrow. I told
Kelly it might end up costing more than the car’s worth.”

Sue
hissed through her teeth. “Oh, you poor dear, what a shame. My daddy once told me to marry a doctor or a mechanic, and boy was he right. We’ve had our share of car trouble over the years and thank goodness Eddie could take care of it himself.” She patted Kelly on the hand before turning back to Ed. “There isn’t anything you could do to help her out?”

“Well,” he shifted in chair and looked down at his plate. “I could
give her a break on some of the labor, but you know parts cost what parts cost. The profit margin is so thin already and ever since the Walmart opened that auto center, business has really taken a hit.”

“You folks have already been
too generous,” Kelly protested. “I’ll figure out a way to pay every penny it costs to fix the car. I was thinking I could call my aunt tonight and ask to borrow the money from her.”

Ed seemed relieved and took a bit
e of his biscuit. They finished the rest of the meal, Sue and Ed asking questions about her life and Kelly answering with vague answers. She couldn’t help think of her cell phone in her purse and how many missed calls from Don would show up if she turned it on.

She learned Ed and
Sue were born and raised in Black Water Creek and married shortly after high school. They couldn’t have kids of their own so they took in several foster kids over the years. Sue was an art teacher at the middle school before retiring a few years ago. Ed worked as mechanic for the county in the motor pool and finally fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening Ed’s Auto Service ten years ago.

Keegan, full of mashed potatoes and bored with adult conversation, slipped off his phone books a
nd started exploring the house.

“Eddie, why don’t you find one of those cartoon channels on the
television for the little guy while Kelly and I clean up?” Sue said.

“Car-TOOOONS!” Keegan screamed and ran for the
den.

Kelly
brought some of the dirty dishes into the kitchen while Sue filled the sink with hot water. “You can’t go home again, can you dear?” she quietly asked.

Kelly
was caught off guard and almost dropped the dishes. “What?”

Sue
shut the water off and turned to her. “I can tell you’re a good mother to that boy. And good mothers don’t go on road trips with their toddler without packing at least an overnight bag for no good reason.” She gently took Kelly’s arm. “And don’t give me any stories about walking into doors, either. Don’t think I didn’t notice your nose.”

That was all it took.
The gravity of the entire day slammed into Kelly like a load of bricks and she burst into tears. Sue immediately grabbed her and pulled her close. Kelly hugged her back and cried into the bosom of a woman she had just met and didn’t care. Sue said nothing, she just stroked the back of Kelly’s hair and gently rocked side to side.

She finally got a hold of herself and
Sue handed her some tissues. “I’m sorry,” Kelly said and blew her nose.

“Nonsense,”
Sue scolded. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I’m proud of you.”

“What are you talking about
? I’m a mess.”

“It’s a brave thing you did. I’ve seen too many women in your shoes who were afraid to leave. Too many who forgive the bastards when they apologize the next day and swear they’ll never do it again.”

“I guess,” Kelly sniffled. “I don’t feel very brave. I’m scared to death.”

“A good night’s sleep wi
ll help you feel a lot better. It’s been a long day and I want you to get some rest. Let me show you the guest room.”

“But the dishes.”

“Oh, that was just an excuse to get you into the kitchen for a little girl talk. I’ll take care of them, come on.”

Sue
led Kelly past the den where Keegan sat on the floor, eyes glued to the TV. Ed was reclined in an easy chair, mouth open and snoring. “I swear, that cable bill is such a waste,” Sue said. “I hardly ever watch television and Eddie can never stay awake longer than five minutes to watch anything.”

Sue
opened the door and turned on the light of the guest room. A double bed sat between two night stands. It was small but cozy like the rest of the house. After the long day, the bed looked heavenly.

“The bathroom is right down the hall,”
said Sue. “I’ll get you some clean towels and you can borrow something of mine to sleep in.”

Kelly
carefully washed her face in spite of her sore nose and changed into a nightgown Sue placed on the bathroom counter. It was plaid flannel and made her look like an old lady but soft and ridiculously comfortable. She went back into the den where Keegan was still watching TV with heavy eyelids. She managed to pull him away without too much protesting, changed his diaper, and helped him into his side of the guest bed. She sat with him for a few minutes and stroked his hair while he sucked his thumb.

Once he was asleep, she quietly slipped off the bed and took her cell phone out of her purse. She held down the power button and waited for it to turn on. After a moment, it vibrated in her hand and the display lit up.

MISSED CALLS: 23

NEW MESSAGES:
9

She didn’t have to check the call log
to know who it was. Half of her wanted to delete the voicemails without listening but other half was curious. Was he screaming obscenities into the phone or apologizing and begging for her to come home?

LOW BATT the phone warned. “No,” she whispered to herself and held down the power button.