Page 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

We backtracked to leave Gracie at my house. Not a popular move with her. She perked up some when I promised Murphy would be over later.

Clara’s approach in going to the post office proved prescient.

Mamie came in from making deliveries as we arrived at the flower shop and before we could ring the bell to summon someone. If we’d come here first, as I’d advocated, we’d have been waiting around.

Her face was pale, making her delicate features appear to be made of porcelain, suitable for a heritage doll. But the craftsman messed up around her eyes, making them red and puffy.

“Oh, oh. You’re here. You’re both here. Are you—? Will you—?”

“Yes,” Clara said firmly.

“Oh, thank you.”

Clara wasn’t done. “That’s why we need to talk to you more. Maybe we could go in back...”

Mamie looked toward the open doorway beside a compact flower cooler, revealing a slice of a workroom behind this area.

Proving her grandfather had been listening — and intended to keep listening — he appeared at the doorway with a stalk of white carnations in one hand. “I’m working back here. You stay up front. If a customer comes in...”

The unspoken message was clear. We were to shut up about murder and not scare off customers. We might also have to step outside, because of the tight quarters.

“Of course, Gramps.” Mamie reached past us to hand him a tablet and keys. “Everything’s there.” Turning back to us, she added, “Never thought Gramps would go high tech, but we upgraded with a delivery app to optimize the route and record deliveries.”

I’d wager Gramps’ motive for the new technology included knowing where his granddaughter was at all times.

“Mamie,” I said, “I know you told Clara about the hospice calling this morning, but tell me what happened so I hear it directly from you.”

I was proud of that tact. It should elicit details, without revealing what Clara missed because of Mamie’s sobs.

“It was awful.” She sniffled.

Loudly.

Was I about to experience the interfering sobs firsthand?

I rapidly backpedaled to safe territory.

“When did you get to Robbie’s house?”

“Oh, it was early. We were going out for breakfast — we like to do that during school because of our schedules the rest of the day. With it being the holidays, we were going to hang out until I came here to make deliveries.” She glanced toward the doorway.

“I probably got there about seven-thirty.” Her voice went up at the end, adding doubt to the probably .

“Robbie was getting his jacket — I hadn’t taken mine off, because we were going right to the restaurant, you know that place that specializes in breakfast, over by Stringer. The phone rang—”

“Robbie’s phone?”

“No.” She was certain of that. “A landline. I didn’t know they had one.

Robbie uses his phone and Dova uses hers.

But then this phone rang and it wasn’t either of theirs.

When Robbie answered, I could tell right away something was weird.

I guess they asked if he was the son of — you know, his father — and he said yeah, but kind of slow and suspicious.

But then they said something else and he said, Tell me now .

And they wouldn’t. I couldn’t hear what they said, but he kept saying, Tell me , so obviously, they didn’t.

And then he said, We’ll be right there .

And, You’ve called her? Or maybe he said that earlier.

He headed for the door and I followed, because I didn’t know what happened, but I knew he was upset.

“It wasn’t until we were in the car that he even told me it was the hospice that called and they said the family should get there right away.”

“They didn’t say his father was murdered or dead?” I asked.

“No, no. I’m sure they didn’t. Because after we got there, that’s when they were telling us — telling Robbie — that his father died and the authorities had been called.

Then Dova got there and everything started.

Besides, he would have told me on our way there.

Or he would have told Dova for sure, on the phone when he called her from the car. ”

“Tell me about that call.”

“Robbie said he had to talk to his mom. But he was really upset and driving and all, so I made it, through the car. And before he could even say much, Dova started saying, Go home. Go home and I’ll take care of everything.”

“She was upset?”

“Not at first. She was real calm. She is that way in general and she was then, too. Except Robbie said, no, he was going to the hospice place, he was going to see his father — only he calls him Derrick. The more he said that, the more upset Dova got. I’ve never heard them like that before, sharp and almost angry.

They’re real close and usually get along.

It’s one of the things I liked about him from the start.

A lot of kids our age can be snarky about their parents, but when you don’t have any and your grandfather tries so hard to make—Anyway, I liked that Robbie wasn’t that way about his mom.

And that was way, way before I knew about, you know, what happened with his parents. ”

Interesting. Dova was Robbie’s mom , while Derrick and Jaylynn were his parents to Mamie, likely based on Robbie’s view.

“So, it was unusual for Robbie not to do what Dova told him?”

She nodded emphatically, then seemed to think better of it, stopping mid-motion.

“Not that she bosses him around a lot. It’s that he wants to do what she wants, because it’s always been the two of them together.

And doing what Dova wants usually makes sense.

It’s not just telling him to do things because . ”

“But this time, Robbie didn’t do what she said?”

“No,” she said. “We were so close to Kentucky Manor by then and he said... he said he had to know.”

Addressing the concerned crease between the girl’s brows, Clara said, “That makes sense. It was his father and at some level, Robbie probably knew what the hospice calling meant.”

At least about Derrick being dead. Not about him being murdered.

Not unless—

That suspicious caveat, which I knew neither of the other two would accept, was cut off before my mind completed it because Clara spoke again.

“Even knowing his father was in hospice, it’s natural it would be difficult for Robbie to accept that he’d actually died.”

Clara’s words didn’t ease the crease between Mamie’s brows. Instead, it deepened.

“It wasn’t like that for Robbie. His father had been out of his life so long it was like he was already dead.

He’d said that before this hospice stuff — that his father cut him out of his life and that’s how things were.

But the way he said it this morning...

It was different. When he’d talked about it other times, I thought.

.. I really thought he was okay with his father not wanting to see him, with it being just him and Dova. But...”

Clara touched her shoulder. “He probably didn’t know how he felt. At a time like that, you’re feeling every which way.”

My response was more practical. “So, you got to the hospice and what happened?”

“Robbie rushed inside the building. I had a hard time keeping up with him and he didn’t stop even when this woman who said she was the administrator started yelling at him. But a nurse was there, at the room, pushing Robbie back and closing the door to keep him out.”

“What room was he in?”

“Room One-Twenty-Seven. I kept looking at the number when he was trying to get past her. Then she locked it and stood in front of it.

“The administrator was telling him to respect the other patients and keep his voice down. Robbie kept saying he needed to go in, to see his father. But he wasn’t shouting, just insisting, to the woman blocking the door, along with two or three others in the same kind of uniforms.

“Then, we heard Dova calling his name from way down the hall. And that was loud, too. A few people were looking out doors. Not like the patients, but family, I guess, because they were wearing regular clothes. And the woman kept saying to calm down — that was the woman saying she was in charge, not the woman blocking the door. The woman blocking the door didn’t say anything, except No and No one’s going in .

“By then, Dova was there, too. She yelled for them to leave Robbie alone. They were all trying to calm her down, except the one in front of the door. And then the woman who said she was in charge said we should all go to her office and wait for law enforcement. Dova spun around on her with a face like I’ve never seen and said what right did she have to bring law enforcement in.

Robbie had told me how they both felt about that — law enforcement — but I hadn’t seen it before.

But I understand,” she said quickly, “because of what the deputies and judges and everybody did to them.”

She sucked in several deep breaths, seeming to calm herself while replenishing her oxygen.

I urged her on. “What happened next?”

“That woman in front of the door said something about there being no choice about involving the authorities when the death wasn’t natural.”

I jumped in. “How did everyone react to that?”

“Everybody gasped. Me, too.”

“Did anyone say anything specific?”

“Only that woman in charge, who said the one by the door should shut up. And like I said, Dova was upset at them for calling Robbie and she was telling him she’d take care of everything and he should leave. And then he was.”

After a beat of silence, Clara and I glanced at each other. She said what we were both thinking. “He was what?”

“Calm. And leaving. I had to run after him, because I didn’t realize right away that he was leaving.

But I sure didn’t want to stay there without him.

And then we were back in the car and I was crying and I didn’t know what to say to him or what to do except be with him.

But he was completely calm then. Drove right back to his house and went inside.

I thought... I don’t know what I thought.

I waited a couple minutes, then followed him and here he was, coming out.

He said I should go home, but no way was I leaving him.

I had to run to get back in the car in time.

He didn’t say anything and it felt like he didn’t even know I was there, so I kept quiet. ”

She gave a loud sniffle. The pause that followed lengthened to the point it seemed she was done talking.

“And then?”

Clara’s question restarted her. “He drove and drove.”

“Where to?”

“It didn’t seem like he meant to go anywhere at first. And he wouldn’t talk. Eventually, he pulled into the park, the one they call the Cliffs, and he practically ran — like he was being chased—”

He might have felt that way, too. Chased by circumstances of his life completely out of his control. Poor kid.

“—and I went after him. But I couldn’t keep up.

I was scared I wouldn’t find him. But finally, there he was.

” Another loud sniffle, then a gulp. But what followed was prosaic.

“After a while, he went back to the car and drove to his house. Dova was there by then and I was supposed to be here to help Gramps. Plus, Dova came right out and asked me to leave them alone.” She chewed on her lip between words.

“It was... It was so strange . Robbie wasn’t like himself and she wasn’t, either, and I’d never seen the two of them so.

.. silent.” She looked away. “I guess I could have stayed. To be with Robbie. But he didn’t say anything, so I. .. I just left.”

“You did what Dova asked you to, Mamie,” Clara assured her. “What did you do then?”

“I went to Shep’s. To get something to eat, because I hadn’t had anything and maybe it’s wrong but I was so hungry. Plus, I needed to bring Gramps something for his lunch. And then I saw you and I remembered when that yoga teacher was killed how smart you both were.”

In a gush, her eyes filled with tears and spilled over.

“And I asked you. And then I came here. To tell Gramps and... and...”

Alan appeared as a shadow in the doorway. “I put her to work,” he said. “To keep her hands busy.”

She tried to smile without great success.

“Have you seen Robbie?” I asked, generally, so either could answer.

Alan gave no response. She shook her head.

“Talked to him?”

Headshake two.

“Message or—?”

A third headshake covered alternative means of communication, as well.

Clara and I exchanged a look that confirmed we were on the same wavelength. The look extended to Alan as he stepped into the light. He met it, giving no indication he opposed what we all knew came next.

“Mamie,” Clara said, “I’m sure you’re concerned about Robbie. Let’s go see him together. See how he’s doing.”

Without turning around, Mamie said, “Gramps?”

“Go. I’ll message you if I need you.”