Little Boy Blues (8 page)

Alvin didn’t eat his fresh bread.

Small children raced up and down the stairs and past the adults calling “Uncle Allie watch me! No, watch me.”

They all looked so much alike, I doubted even their parents could tell them apart. The dog, Gussie, chased after them, barking. Every now and then someone shouted at Brianna, Ashley, Dylan, Cayla or Brittany, “Cut that out right now. Yes, you.” I resolved not to remember the children or their names.

Tracy spoke non-stop to Alvin, her small hands moving in a blur. Like his mother, Alvin stared without speaking out the window at the dark, wet street as if expecting Jimmy to appear from behind a shrub.

Vince didn’t say a word. No one else made eye contact with me. That was fine.

Someone pressed a plate of cinnamon buns towards Alvin. He didn’t seem to notice them. I ate a couple to be polite then stepped across the room to check out the cluster of First Communion pictures artfully arranged on the top of the upright piano.

I spotted Alvin before his ponytail and earring phase, a scrawny child with a face full of apprehension, wearing dress pants that stopped above his ankles. Frances Ann and Tracy looked like miniature versions of themselves in fluffy white veils, gleaming ankle-length dresses and tiny gloves. The others were recognizable too. Vince’s broad grin showed off his missing front teeth.

Jimmy’s picture sat in front of the others, a palm frond attached to its frame. A smiling priest stood with his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Every few minutes, someone’s eyes would light on that photo, then look away. Jimmy’s absence hung like a fog, draping everything in grey.

• • •

All I needed was a hotel with a nice shower and a meal without company. I managed to catch Mrs. Parnell’s eye and hiss in her ear. “Where are we staying? I need to shower and change.”

“Encountered some obstacles, Ms. MacPhee.”

“What do you mean?”

“A bit of a stumbling block in securing hotel accommodation.”

“What?”

“Didn’t want to dwell on it before we left, in case it slowed down our departure.”

“But you said you would make arrangements. We can’t sleep in the Buick again.”

“Best of intentions.”

“How hard can it be?”

No one paid any attention to me as I stepped into the hall. The Ferguson telephone was kept free for calls about Jimmy, so I used my cellphone and blew an hour working my way through the phone book. To hear the responses, they were stacking the tourists three deep in the hallways of every hotel, tourist home and B & B on the island.

Sometime during my search, Gussie, a large, shaggy dog of uncertain breed, had discovered me and laid his or her chin on my knee. That would have been heartwarming, except someone must have been feeding him or her beans.

Mrs. Parnell slipped up behind me. She’s the only person in the world who can be stealthy using two canes.

“It looks like we’re stuck with the Fergusons for a while,” I whispered.

“Step outside, Ms. MacPhee.”

I followed her out to the porch. Mrs. Parnell flashed her lighter and fired up a Benson and Hedges.

“Non-smoking household,” she said, her tone tinged with disapproval.

“I can think of worse things. Anyway, I’m glad we got him here.”

“If you say so.”

“He’s fine. Not curled in a ball and not hallucinating. Although I noticed a strange undercurrent with the brother.”

“Most disturbing.”

“The rest of them are obviously fond of him. They’re going to look after him.”

“Don’t count on it, Ms. MacPhee.”

“They seem like an exceptional family, even if they don’t pay for their own phone calls. Pretty cheap, considering they must have at least fourteen university degrees among them.”

“That’s not the point. Young Ferguson’s family is going through the same trauma he is. They’re not in any position to help him. Do you remember what I said about the source of his trouble?”

“I can’t believe it’s the family.”

“Regardless, Ms. MacPhee, we are the only comrades he can count on. United we stand. Divided we fall.”

I didn’t like the way this was going. My plan was to head back to Ottawa as soon as possible, and Mrs. Parnell was well aware of it.

I thought about Vince and his reaction to Alvin. Maybe Mrs. Parnell was right. Something was going on that we didn’t know about. I couldn’t abandon him.

“Okay, fine. Time for a plan.”

“I already have one,” Mrs. Parnell said.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Mock not, Ms. MacPhee.”

“I wouldn’t think of it. I’ll work on Jimmy’s disappearance.
And I’ll do my best to figure out how to help Alvin. The family won’t be the ideal place for unbiased information. But I’ll nose around. What’s your plan?”

“We’re of the same mind, then. I’ll get to know the neighbours,” she said, blowing a few fine smoke rings in their direction. “They look like they’re ready to talk.”

I glanced next door. “They’re ready to talk all right. That’s Donald Donnie MacDonald and Loretta. I’d better head over and say hello, if I know what’s good for me.”

• • •

Tracy picked that moment to beckon me into the kitchen. Mrs. Parnell stayed outside to finish her cigarette.

“Poor Allie,” Tracy said.

Vince leaned back against the fifties-style cream-painted kitchen cupboards and folded his arms across his chest.

“Yes. It’s good that’s he’s back here where you can all support each other,” I said to Vince.

Vince stared at his feet. Tracy bit her lip.

“It’s the worst thing that could have happened,” Vince said.

“I know it’s awful, and Alvin’s in rough shape, but he can help in the search. He’s very talented that way,” I said. “And we can help too.”

“Having Allie back is a disaster,” Vince said. “The only thing you could do to help is to keep him out of the way so the rest of us can get something done.”

“What?” I’m lucky I didn’t bruise my jaw when it dropped.

Vince curled his lip.

Tracy said, “Well, it wasn’t a good idea to bring Allie home. He’s never been too, what would you say, Vince, sensible?”

“Stable,” Vince said. “Or intelligent.”

Tracy’s hands kept moving. From her hair to her T-shirt to the chair and back to her hair. Sometimes they hovered like moths. “He’s especially unstable when it comes to Jimmy. He’ll flip out. He’ll get Ma in a state. Since you insisted on bringing him back without consulting us, now we have to deal with it.”

When I got my breath back I said, “What do you mean since I insisted on bringing him back?”

Vince cut me off. “You called from Ottawa to say you were bringing him home, you hung up, you called again from ten miles out of town and then you showed up with him. What do you call that if not bringing him back?”

“But he wanted to come home. Have you ever tried to stop Alvin from doing something he wanted to do?”

“Even so,” Tracy said, adjusting her flower earrings. “It’s the worst thing in the world for him.”

“It’s an unmitigated disaster,” Vince said. “He’ll go right over the edge when we need to keep our minds on Jimmy.”

“Hang on a minute. Let’s see if I understand. You called me and insisted that I find Alvin and tell him what had happened. I did that, and now it’s a disaster,.” I said.

“Well, we had to let him know. But he always flips out if it’s something with Jimmy, and that’s a problem for everyone,” Tracy said.

“Alvin has always been level-headed in his own peculiar way, right up until he heard Jimmy was missing. Mrs. Parnell and I think he’s been traumatized in some way. Sorry it’s not convenient for you to hear this. But you have not one but two younger brothers, and since you know Alvin goes over the edge, I have to ask if you ever got psychological help for him.”

“Bullshit,” Vince said. “He can get his act together like anybody else. We’re run off our feet looking for Jimmy, and we
don’t need to be babysitting him.”

Whatever that turkey did his doctorate in, I figured it wasn’t psychology.

Mrs. Parnell loomed into the doorway and cleared her throat. She gave me a look that said I told you so. By now, I’d figured she was right on the money. This whacko family had to be the source of Alvin’s problems.

• • •

Even though they couldn’t stand me, I could not be allowed to go to a hotel. Or a B & B. Or a guesthouse. Even if space had been available. No sir. You come to Sydney with a Ferguson, no matter how inconsiderate your visit, no matter how inappropriate your behaviour, no matter how unwelcome your presence, you will be staying in the Ferguson home. Black fog of resentment or not. They made that clear.

I blanched as this sank in. What if I ended up with Frances Ann and all those kids? Or one of the others who kept coming and going but whose names I couldn’t even remember. Tracy had a small apartment somewhere on George Street. But Tracy’s place was already full of volunteer searchers.

“Of course, you have to stay here with Ma and Alvin.”

I said, “You have enough on your plate with everything that’s going on.”

“Don’t be silly,” Frances Ann said. “Ma is glad to have you. Especially with Allie here.”

Considering the number of times I’d refused collect calls from her in the course of the past two years, I doubted Ma Ferguson was at all glad. But apparently, the entire Ferguson family had the same ability to withstand facts as Alvin did.

Vince laid down the law. “And it will be good for Allie.”

I hadn’t thought that things being good for Alvin would even interest Vince. “I wouldn’t be so sure. We’re not always on the same wavelength. But it would be good for him to have Mrs. Parnell here. She has a way with him.”

Mrs. Parnell chose that moment to teeter into the kitchen. She flashed me a poisonous look. Perhaps because she was passing right under a prominent No Smoking sign. Alvin loped behind her.

“Thank you very much, young man,” she said to Vince in tones reminiscent of McArthur in his finest hour. “But I wouldn’t think of being a burden.”

“You would not be a burden,” Vince said.

“No, you wouldn’t,” said Tracy. “We’d love to have you here.”

“We won’t hear of you going elsewhere,” Frances Ann said.

I thought smoke would pour out Mrs. Parnell’s ears, but Alvin spoke up. “Violet can’t handle the stairs here. She’d be better off next door with Loretta and Donald Donnie. You’ll like them, Violet. The three of you can sit up all night and smoke like forest fires.”

“Really?” said Mrs. Parnell. “That sounds most satisfactory.”

“Loretta and Donald Donnie? Ma won’t like that.” Tracy said.

“Have you lost your mind, Allie?” Frances Ann slapped a dish towel on the counter.

“I told you so,” Vince said.

I was proud of Alvin. He paid no attention. “And they have a spare bed on the main floor, so you won’t have stairs, Violet.”

Mrs. Parnell smiled fondly at Alvin.

“Plus, they keep the liquor cabinet full,” Alvin said.

“You’re always so thoughtful, dear boy.”

“Let’s go, Violet. I’ll introduce you.”

“Wait a minute. They’re
my
relatives.” I wanted to scream “Don’t leave me here with these people.” But the door had already slammed behind them as they thumped down the front steps. At the bottom, Alvin paused briefly to flick Mrs. P.’s lighter for her.

I watched them head next door, Mrs. Parnell lurching with her two canes and Alvin loping his lope. Only the set of Alvin’s shoulders gave a clue that things were not as they should be.

“See what I mean?” Vince said to Frances Ann.

“Typical,” she said.

I’d had enough. “Well, that’s great. I’m glad Mrs. Parnell will be among like-minded people. I’ll head over too.”

“No.” Mrs. Ferguson had a tightness around the mouth which I assumed resulted from the Donald Donnie and Loretta switcheroo. “You will stay here. No one can say Fergusons don’t do the right thing.”

I tried one last tactic. “Do you have enough room?”

“Seven kids grew up here. Only Vince and me now. And Jimmy, of course. You can take your choice of places to sleep.”

I know when I’m beaten.

Tracy chirped. “Take my old room. It has the best bed.”

I caved. I needed a bath and a snooze so badly at that point, I would have stepped cheerfully into the grizzly section of the zoo, which was a pretty good comparison. But I couldn’t see myself relaxing until I had a few answers. Creature comforts would have to wait. I knew where the answers would be.

Somehow after the tensions at the Château Ferguson, a wall of second-hand smoke would be a small price to pay to relax. Loretta and Donald Donnie didn’t have a swarm of family photos on every wall. But then they’d never had children, or even pets, and they were no beauties themselves. They were somewhere in the gray zone between seventy-five and eighty. Loretta had a few too many teeth and red hair that would be startling on a twenty-year old. It had a surprising tendency to rise straight up. Donald Donnie didn’t have any hair but kept his scalp nicely polished. They seemed to favour
TV Guide
over the current Giller winners and things that came out of packages instead of out of ovens. They sure liked company. Gussie followed me over, wagged his or her tail, and managed to get stuck in the door.

“Let Gussie in, though I have to tell you, that dog farts something awful,” Loretta said, slipping Gussie a few pretzels.

“We’ve been having the most interesting conversations,” Mrs. Parnell said, lighting up.

“I bet,” I said.

“Took her long enough to get over here, didn’t it, Dad?” Loretta said, giving me an arched red eyebrow.

“Indeed it did.”

“I would have preferred to be here earlier, trust me. What have you done with Alvin?”

“He’s tucked in upstairs, resting quietly,” Mrs. Parnell said. “We’ll let him be.”

“I suppose they had you in a headlock. Filling you full of their opinions about poor Allie. If you’d any brains, you’d of jumped out of the window and run for it.”

“She’s here now, Mum. So, girl. Feel like a slug of something before dinner?” Donald Donnie said.

“I’m okay, thanks. I need to be able to think straight.”