Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (22 page)

Fact:
Sandy lived with Andy until she was three years old. Patty
convinced Andy that she was too feeble to care for her precocious
daughter. Andy’s estate paid Patty a handsome monthly fee for
Sandy’s care. A few years later, Patty told Andy that Sandy had
died as a result of a car accident. The story was that Sandy had
been hospitalized for an extended period of time. Of course, Andy’s
estate continues to make large monthly payments to pay down Sandy’s
fictitious medical bills.

Fact:
Patty never married the monster. That’s why you never found a
record of their divorce or child support documents. Patty told me
today (on tape) that she found the monster through a
friend.

Fact:
Patty hates Andy. Actually, hate isn’t a strong enough word.
Despise? Loathe? You wouldn’t believe the venom she spews about
Andy (on tape). She used Sandy to exact her revenge on Andy for
being beautiful, joyful, lovely and… amazing. Seth, Andy is
amazing.

Why didn’t I tell you? I’m sure that’s the
fact you want to know most of all.

Reasons:

1) Sandy is finally stable and safe. Between
Andy and I, we can pay cash for the condo she wants.

2) Andy begged me not to tell anyone. She is
convinced that Patty or one of Patty’s ‘horrible friends’ will kill
Sandy if Andy stops paying.

3) You’re finally sober. This mess is sticky
and sobriety breaking.

4) I won’t live out the week. I can tell by
the look on your face that you know it as much as I do. Sandy too.
I guess I’m too chicken to die without you both. I’m afraid this
would tear it. I hope when you read this letter, you’ll
understand.

You’ll find everything you need to prosecute
Patty in Andy’s storage locker. (Patty didn’t know I was taping
her, so the tape might not be admissible.) And don’t worry. Andy
was tougher than she looked. She had a lot of years to prepare for
justice for herself and Sandy. She’ll get it in death.

I’ve known you longer than any other human
being. We’ve seen hell and happiness together. Love you man.

Spinning in place, Seth began to play the
piano. His fingers moved across the keys, tears rained down from
his eyes, and sorrow filled his heart. When the tears eased, the
sorrow drifted into a low ache. Slowly, his fingers played their
last note.

Spent, he closed his eyes to rest.

~~~~~~~~

Friday evening—7:00 P.M. PDT

“
What are you doing?” Ava
asked as she came in from her run.

His shoulders shaking with silent sobs,
Schmidty sat against the wall of the hallway. His head was tucked
against his knees. Clara ran to the young man and nudged his head.
His face a mask of grief, he glanced at Ava. Clara licked the tears
on his face. He gestured toward the room that Seth had gone into.
He put his fingers to his lips and nodded toward the digital audio
recorder in his hand.

Ava tipped her head to listen. Unbidden, the
music invaded every crevice of her soul. She fell against the wall.
Unable to stop her own overwhelming sadness, she slid down the wall
to sit next to Schmidty. Clara climbed onto her lap. Ava dropped
her head to cry.

~~~~~~~~
Friday evening—8:45 P.M. MDT (7:45 P.M. PDT)

Jacob rolled over to look at Jill. On the
early shift at Lipson, he and Katy had an early night. He’d been
asleep for hours.

“
How’s Sandy?” Jacob’s
voice was slow and filled with sleep. “You can turn the light
on.”

Jill turned on her bedside lamp. Hearing
something on Katy’s baby monitor, Jill stopped to listen. Katy
giggled in her sleep. Jill smiled. Katy and Paddie were giggling
about something all afternoon. Katy must still find it funny. Jill
went in her closet to change.

“
How’s Sandy?” Jacob
repeated.

“
Sandy? She’s sad, scared,
mad,” Wearing only her bra and underwear, Jill poked her head out
of the closet. “Lots of things all mixed up together.”

She ducked back into the closet to grab her
pajamas.

“
I thought I heard you
come in a while ago,” he said when she came out.

“
I wanted to finish the
interior design for the Jefferson Park home,” Jill said. “I have
the colors picked out but I’m not happy with the overall
theme.”

“
Our final plan meeting is
tomorrow afternoon,” Jacob said.

Nodding, she went into their bathroom to
brush her teeth.

“
Did you finish?” he
yelled into the bathroom.

Shaking her head, Jill came out brushing her
teeth.

“
Should we reschedule?” he
asked.

She held up a finger for him to wait. She
went back into the bathroom.

“
I’m close,” Jill said
from the bathroom. “I was hoping some sleep might help me pull it
all together.”

“
I hope it works,” he
said.

“
Me too,” Jill came out of
the bathroom.

“
Did you hear about
Blane?”

“
Blane?” Jill asked. “No.
Heather called but we just talked about Sandy.”

“
Blane’s liver crashed
again,” Jacob said. “The doctor thinks only a transplant will save
him. He and Heather spent the night going over their options –
burial, cremation, stuff like that. He wants me to take care of
Mack when he dies.”

“
Of course, you said yes.”
Jill sat down on his side of the bed.

“
I said yes,” Jacob
said.

“
Listen, I need to…,” Jill
said at the same time Jacob said, “I haven’t known how
to…”

They stopped talking. Jacob raised his
eyebrows to indicate that Jill should speak.

“
You remember when
everyone was tested to see if they were the same genetics as
Blane?” Jill asked.

“
Tissue type?” Jacob
asked.

“
Right,” Jill said. “I
always get that confused because they used genetics to tell them
apart. But you’re right, they were looking for matching tissue
type.”

“
No one matched,” Jacob
said. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“
Oh?” Jill
asked.

“
I had to dig it out of
him,” Jacob said. “I knew someone matched but Blane…”

“
Wouldn’t tell you?” Jill
asked. “Heather did the same thing.”

“
Did you read her mind?”
Jacob asked.

“
No,” Jill said. “She told
me. What did Blane tell you?”

“
Katy is the only match,”
Jacob said. “When I confronted him about it, he said they decided
not to go through with it.”

“
That’s what Heather
said,” Jill said. “Katy told her that it would work out. Heather
thought that meant they wouldn’t need a transplant. She must be
devastated.”

“
Something needs to
happen,” Jacob said. “He’s still fighting but…”

“
God, poor Blane,” Jill
said.

“
Poor Heather,” Jacob
said. “What do you want to do?”

“
I don’t understand why
Katy’s a match but we aren’t,” Jill said.

“
We need to call Blane’s
doctor and find out,” Jacob said.

“
I’ll call tomorrow,” Jill
nodded. “I wondered why they were moving forward to have another
baby. Heather was vague about it.”

“
Blane’s?”

Jill nodded.

“
Can they do that with his
AIDS?” Jacob asked.

“
Some washing something
something.”

“
Something
something?”

“
I can’t keep this medical
stuff straight.”

He smiled. She leaned forward to kiss him.
He hugged her to him.

“
How are my boys?” Jacob
put his hands on her belly.

“
Good,” Jill said.
“Active.”

“
And you?”

“
Tired,” Jill said. “The
boys are more active than Katy was.”

“
When does your school
start again?” Jacob asked.

“
Couple weeks.”

Jill kissed him and went to her side of the
bed. He held out his arm and she tucked up against him.

“
What do you want to do
about Katy?” Jacob asked.

“
I have this strong
feeling that something else is going to work out,” Jill
said.

“
But I have a feeling they
need to look at us again too,” Jacob said.

“
I wonder if something
changed because I’m pregnant or…”

Jill fell silent. Jacob tilted his head up.
She was asleep. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night—9:45 P.M. MDT

“
How are you?” Aden asked
when Sandy came out of the bathroom.

Sandy held out her arms and he gave Rachel
to her. Sandy kissed her cheek and set her into her bassinette
beside the bed.

“
How are you?” Aden
repeated.

“
Not great,” Sandy said.
“Can we talk about something else?”

“
Sure,” Aden said. “Did
Charlie ask you why life wasn’t fair?”

Nodding, Sandy laughed. Hearing her mother’s
laugh, Rachel made a tiny sound. Sandy picked her up.

“
What did you say?” Aden
asked.

“
What did
you
say?”

Aden smiled. Sandy did this when she was
overwhelmed and upset. Everything felt risky. She couldn’t afford
the risk of sharing her thoughts before he did. Hoping to encourage
her to talk, he answered her question.

“
I told him that I thought
life just was – not fair or unfair,” Aden said. “Like the mountains
or the sky or…”

“
Sounds like you,” Sandy
smiled.

“
What did you say?” Aden
asked.

“
I told him I was glad he
was asking people,” Sandy said. “I told him I was proud of him and
that I love him.”

“
He kept asking until you
told him?”

Smiling, Sandy nodded.

“
And?”

“
I told him that fairness
is a kind of currency, a kind of money,” Sandy said. “For a lot of
people, the amount of fairness is evaluated in every exchange. They
feel like they behave fairly; they expect to be treated fairly. Our
Mom is like this. If she feels slighted by someone, even a little
bit, she make sure she gets what’s ‘owed to her,’ like a
debt.”

“
That’s what you mean by
saying fairness is like money,” Aden said.

“
Exactly,” Sandy said. “I
think Mom’s weirdness around fairness is why Charlie is so
confused.”

“
Makes sense,” Aden
said.

“
I told him that fairness
is not the currency of my life,” Sandy said. “I don’t really know
if life is fair or unfair. My life currency is love. I love people
and they love me back. Sometimes, I sit back and check to see if
the love in my relationships is balanced.”

“
Is it?”

“
Mostly, yes,” Sandy said.
“When I feel like I give too much, I change those relationships.
And mostly, I receive so much love. From Rachel.”

She caressed her baby’s head.

“
You.”

She touched his shoulder. He leaned forward
to kiss her.

“
Like tonight,” Sandy
said. “Sissy and I worked most of the afternoon getting ready for
Noelle’s birthday. When Noelle arrived, she was so excited about
her day with Mike, she didn’t really notice.”

“
I know,” Aden
said.

“
Mom would say that wasn’t
fair. Why should she work so hard and get so little appreciation?”
Sandy shook her head. “She’d want Noelle to notice every tiny gift,
every decoration, everything.”

“
And you?”

“
I’m delighted she’s so
happy,” Sandy said. “A year ago, I’d just met her. I can tell you,
she wasn’t this happy. My love for her had me ask for Mike’s help.
Mike’s love for Jill allowed him to easily say yes. Charlie, Nash,
and Teddy’s love for Noelle allowed them to take up some of her
payments so she can go.”

“
Love is the currency,”
Aden said.

“
And the only thing that
really matters to me.”

Aden smiled.

“
Seth said that I lived
with Andy until I was three,” Sandy said. “He thinks that’s why I’m
not like Mom, I mean Patty. Andy was very loving and so am I. I
hope we can make up for it with Sissy and Charlie.”

“
What did Charlie say to
your answer?”

“
He hugged me and said he
loved me,” Sandy smiled. “He’s a really great person.”

“
You lived with them for
most of their lives,” Aden said. “They’ve had you to love and care
for them. Your love has made a difference.

“
I hope so,” Sandy
said.

“
That’s all we can do –
love and hope,” Aden said. “Do you want to talk about
Andy?”

“
Tomorrow,” Sandy said. “I
need some time to think.”

He leaned over to kiss her. He told her he
loved her and lay down. She snuggled with Rachel for a few more
moments and set her down. Lying down, Sandy sighed.

“
What’s the sigh for?”
Aden asked.

“
It’s amazing to be so
loved.”