Books and banter by W.H.Manke

Now he saw Deborah walking from the school building.  She was one of the first to come through the front door.  Hurriedly he left his vehicle.  It only took him a few seconds to reach her.  “Hi, Deborah,” he said smiling at her.  “Your Auntie Lois sent me to pick you up.  She wanted to be here herself, but got held up by her work.  She couldn’t make it on time.  So she asked me to fetch you and take you to her.  Wanna come along?  My car is right over there, see?”

Deborah hesitated for a moment.  Then she said, “I thought I was to take the school bus today?” 

“Your Auntie Lois sent me.  That’s all I know.  She wanted me to bring you to her, because she wanted to do a bit of shopping with you.”  He suddenly became frightened.  What do I do now, if she doesn’t believe me and won’t come, he thought.  I can’t very well grab her and run to the car.  It’ll draw a crowd.  My plan and I’ll be history.  “But suit yourself,” he continued.  “I have to hurry back to work.  I’ll tell her you had wanted to take the bus.”  He felt as if he had already drawn enough attention to himself and began to slowly walk away, even though he felt like running to his car.

Deborah suddenly ran after him.  His words had sounded genuine to her.  “All right,” she said catching up to him, “take me to Auntie Lois.  I love going shopping with her.  What’s your name, anyway?  Auntie Lois has never mentioned you.”

“I’ve only started to work there a couple weeks ago.  You can call me Jack.”  He breathed a silent sigh of relief.  Quickly, he opened the back door of his car and closed it again for her as soon as she had seated herself.  Then he got into the car and forced himself to pull away slowly.  He hoped not to draw more attention to his departure.

Once the car started to move Deborah asked, “Where are the seat belts?”

He chuckled looking into the rearview mirror.  “There aren’t any.  This car is older than seatbelts.  I guess you’re  not used to riding in old cars.”

“My dad has an old truck with no seatbelts,” she replied.  Deborah thought it was strange that her aunt would be working with a fellow with such an old car who dressed not at all in the way she had observed people who worked in offices dressed, but she remained silent for the moment.  She saw him take a small item and spray something in his mouth that smelled of mint.  “Have you been drinking?’ she asked innocently.

He turned around for a second and laughed at her.  “Now, aren’t you being nosy?  So what if I had a couple?”

“You could crash up and hurt us and somebody else.  My dad said it’s sad that some people hurt so much that they have to drink to forget their troubles, and when they drive after drinking they just heap more troubles on themselves and on others.  My dad and I and the boys and everybody in our family are hurting right now too, but we’re not going to start drinking.”

Jack was taken back for a moment by what she had said.  “How old are you anyway, seeing you know so much?”

“I’m a big girl now.  Now that my mommy has gone to heaven, I have to help look after my little brothers.  I’m seven.”

Jack was shocked.  He slowed the car down.  “Your mom went to heaven?” he asked softly.  “When did she do that?”

“She died just a little while ago.  I miss her a lot.  I’m just glad I have my dad, my Auntie Lois and my grandma and grandpa at home.  My little brothers help too.”

Jack choked back feelings of empathy that started to come over him.  “I’m sorry,” he said, drove on and thought, I can’t let this bother me.  I’ve come too far.

Deborah continued to talk to Jack as if he was a friend.  It was not until she noticed that they were driving away from where her aunt worked that she became alarmed.  “Hey, where are you going?” she asked loudly.  “This isn’t the way to where my auntie works.  You let me out right now, or I’ll jump out.”

He grinned.  Go ahead.  You’ll be able to do magic if you can open those back doors from the inside.”  He emphasized magic and began to whistle a tune.

Deborah argued and pleaded with him without stopping until they reached the cabin.  Jack had laughed and sometimes had come close to tears listening to her.  He was glad to reach the cabin where he hoped he would get some rest from her barrage of words.  He led her to the back room.  “Why are you putting me in here?” she asked with surprise.

“That’s so you won’t get any funny ideas and try to run away?”

“How can I run away?”  We’re in a place I don’t know and far away from where I live.  How can I run away?  You’re funny.  Besides, this place is a mess.  I can clean it up for you, if I can stay out here.”

He thought about what she said and knew she had figured it out right.  “All right, if you behave yourself and don’t drive me crazy with all your talk, I’ll let you come out and do some cleaning tomorrow morning.  It’ll be dark soon and you won’t see enough by the little oil lamp to clean up.”

But I have to change into my play clothes in the morning, and I don’t have them with me?  How can I wear this outfit all the time?”

Jack scratched his head.  He hadn’t thought far enough ahead to worry about her clothes.  “We’ll figure something out,” he said.  The kid’s bright; he thought and realized that he had already grown to like her.  As much as her continual chatter had annoyed him at first he knew he had missed talking and listening to others.  “I’ll bring you something to eat in a little while, and don’t be scared.  I won’t bite you.”

Deborah had noticed the decks of cards on the table.  “What are those?” she asked pointing to them.

“They’re playing cards.  I play with them to keep me company when I’m here alone.” 

“I feel sorry for you.  Everybody should have a mother and father and brothers and aunties and grandparents and friends like Brenda and Brittany and Carmen.  Carmen takes me horseback riding and my friends all play with me.  Want me to play a game or two with you?”

“What do you know about playing cards?”

“My grandpa taught me to play a card game called Dutch Blitz and Twenty-one.  We could play twenty-one.  I’m real good at Twenty-one.”

“How do you play that?”

“You know!  You get two cards and if they don’t add up to twenty-one you can ask for another one.  The person who gets twenty-one or is closest to it wins the game, but you lose if you go over twenty-one.  I’ll teach you, if you like.”

Her grandfather taught her a type of poker game, he thought grinning.  What else are grandfathers for?  He looked at Deborah and said silently, “What do I do with her?  I’ll have to get more food into the house, and I never thought about her clothes.  She’s a neat kid.  I hope I haven’t frightened her too much.”  Out loud he said, “All right we’ll play a few games, but don’t you feel bad if I win every game. I hate to lose, and I’ve played cards for a long time. Sometimes I’ve won a lot of money at playing cards.  And remember not to be scared.  I won’t hurt you.”

They played for half an hour and except for two hands she had beaten him every time.  He laughed.  “I should have you with me when I go on tour.  You’re a card shark.  But away you go.  Get ready to go to sleep.  I’ll make something to eat for us.”

The panic Douglas, Ruth and Henry felt was great when the school bus did not stop in front of their driveway to let Deborah get off the bus.  “I’ll call the school.  Henry you or Ruth please telephone Lois on your cell to see if she’s picked Debbie up,” he said anxiously.  His hand shook.

Lynn Bambridge, Joshua’s mother, looked at the man on the bed of their cheap motel room.  He had gambled well into the night and had lost again.  She had arrived from work only twenty minutes earlier and had not seen him come in during that time.  “He must have been back for some time,” she murmured.  She had not become aware that he was in the motel room until a few minutes earlier when she checked the bedroom.  She knew right away that he had lost a large amount of money.

Looking at him she could see that he had come back drunk, something he had done after each night of big losses.  There had been enough of those in the past month that the money from his winning streaks was nearly gone.  In every town that had a casino they had stayed until his luck had run out.  They had left Las Vegas, their first stop many weeks earlier.

She had always been lucky to pick up work as a waitress.  It had kept her occupied since she didn’t enjoy hanging around the gambling tables.  Jack had also wanted it that way.  Her income paid for their rooms and for their food.  The feelings she had had for the man when they had first met had slowly vanished with each of his losses.

Jack was not a bad sort when he wasn’t drunk.  In fact he had a soft heart, but he had become irritable and aggressive whenever his losses had carried on for more than a night or two.  Two weeks into his gambling spree she had told him that she wanted to go home to her boy.  He had forbidden her to call him from the outset.  “There’re some nasty people looking for me,” he had said.  They won’t be nice to me or to you, if they find us.  We can’t afford to leave a trail so don’t you dare call anyone.  I wouldn’t want to hurt you or your kid.”

Now, as she glanced at him, she despised him.  Shortly after she had left with him she had become terrified of him.  “I’ll kill you myself if you try to run out on me,” he had threatened several times. “I might even do it, if I find out you’ve called your kid.  We can’t leave a trail.”  She wanted to believe that he was only bluffing to keep her in line, but lately she had no longer been sure of this.

“I hate you,” she whispered watching him sprawled out across the bed.  He had managed only to get himself half undressed before he had passed out.  She was glad that he had come back before her shift at the diner had ended.  It had been a good shift.  She had received lots of tips and her paycheck too.  She had cashed it at the diner, and with that much money in her purse she had made a decision to take the first opportunity to get away from Jack.  Little had she realized at the time that the opportunity would come so quickly.  Now that it had suddenly arrived she felt  nervous.

Even though he had always made her give him the money she earned, she had managed to hide a little from each job.  She slowly reached over to him poking him lightly on the arm that dangled from the bed to see if he would wake up.  He only grunted and continued his snoring.  For another long moment she stood deep in thought.  Then she tiptoed to the desk, picked the telephone up and quietly called the bus depot.  She inquired what buses would take her to Regent City.

The ticket agent told her of a bus that would take her in the direction of Regent City, and that she would have to transfer only once were she to take it.  “Coach 467 will be leaving in less than an hour, Ma’am,” he said and told her the price of the ticket.

She hung up and whispered, “I’ll have to hurry.”  She changed quickly trying not to make any noise.  Silently she packed her suitcase, retrieved the money she had hidden under the bathroom sink, tiptoed across the room and carefully and slowly opened the door.  Casting a quick glance back she saw that Jack hadn’t moved.

The bus depot was only three blocks away, but she felt like it took an eternity to get there.  It wasn’t the most pleasant part of town to be walking along in the middle of the night with a suitcase, and she imagined any moment that Jack or some mugger would grab her from behind.  She had stashed most of her money into her undergarments.  “If anybody’s going to rob me, they’ll have to undress me, and I can holler with the best of them,” she said to herself trying to keep her courage up.

Only when clutching her bus ticket in one hand and standing in front of the driver did she breathe a sigh of relief.  She took one quick look back toward the motel she had left only minutes earlier.  Jack had not followed her.  “I hope he was only bluffing about coming after me,” she whispered.  “He won’t have any money for a few days to go far.”  She took a seat quickly and closed her eyes to try to get a little sleep.

I published this novel last summer.  I began to write the story in 2007.  It is a work of fiction and not based on any individual’s plight.  I had learned at that time of community members and neighbors who struggled with cancer.  It led me to wonder in general how individuals and the families could cope with the helplessness this terrible and dreaded disease brings with it.  For my main characters I chose a church minister and his family thinking that of all people such a family might cope best.  In the early months of 2011 I proofread the novel for the third time in preparation of trying to publish it.  It was during this time that I learned that my oldest daughter had been diagnosed with an incurable cancer.  My first reaction was to delete the manuscript in its entirety.  However, my daughter asked me not to do so but try to publish it.   During the next few weeks I plan to post excerpts from the novel that hopefully, will give readers a glimpse into the story.  The first excerpt involves several of the characters who have a prominent part in the story.  I chose this segment to introduce the reader to as many of the book’s characters in one excerpt as possible.  Please enjoy this first excerpt.

Danielle slowed down her breathing before she picked up the telephone and said, “Hello, this is Danielle.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Lois laughed.  “I didn’t wake you up, did I?  You used to be a night hawk before you got married.”

“Lois, where are you!”  We didn’t expect you until Saturday evening.”  Danielle sat down knowing that speaking to Lois would not be quick.

“I’m in London.  Got in last night, and was about to go for an early breakfast, but then thought I better call you first before it gets too late there.  I’m in this strange, big city and I just wanted to hear a friendly voice.  I was sure Mom and Dad would be sleeping already, but like I said you used to be a night hawk.  It’s early Thursday morning here, but you will still have Wednesday night there.”  She giggled and teased, “But then you always were slower than I was.”

“Not to speak of being able to talk a mile a minute.  Your friends called you Lois the lip, didn’t they?”

“I’ve changed.  But how are you?  And how is that handsome husband of yours and sweet baby Deborah?”

Danielle beamed when she spoke of Douglas and Deborah.  “That sweet baby will have her fourth birthday soon, but sometimes she thinks she’s thirteen.  If you weren’t gallivanting around on the far side of the world, you would know that.”  Danielle then told Lois of Douglas’ call from Midland.

At the mention of his name, Lois pictured him the way she had seen him the first time she had met him at her parents’ place where she had still lived at that time.  Her heart had suddenly done somersaults when he had shaken her hand and had smiled at her.  He had often been in her thoughts after that until Danielle’s wedding day.  She had been one of Danielle’s bridesmaids, put on a happy face, smiled and called him brother and had determined to banish him from her thoughts, but it had been an almost impossible thing to do.  He had remained in her thoughts since that day.  Now she wondered what her reaction will be when she saw him again.  She shook her head to get his image from her thoughts and said, “By the way, I also wanted to tell you the airlines made a mistake with my connecting flight.  I’ll be arriving Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday night.”  They exchanged information for another thirty minutes, laughed and joked, before they finally said goodbye.

Raindrops ran down the living room window.  Danielle looked out into the grey sky.  We picked a good day to sleep in, she thought.  For her it was the first day of the summer break.  Douglas had no obligations at the church for once and had decided to stay home since he could prepare at home for Sunday night’s special number in song that he would bring with Danielle accompanying him on the piano.  She heard him in the kitchen mixing pancake batter and humming a hymn.  He was making breakfast. Deborah was still asleep and Joshua was playing a game on the computer.  The grandfather clock striking nine made her turn from the living room window.  “I’ll go and see if our baby is awake,” she called softly to Douglas.

An hour later they had enjoyed the pancakes Douglas had made, and the canned peaches he had opened.  Throughout breakfast the four had teased each other and laughed a good deal.  They had made plans to go to the swimming pool in the afternoon, and they were in no hurry to clear the table and get at the waiting tasks of the morning.  The chime of the front door bell silenced them for a moment.

“You three have more peaches, and I’ll go and see who it is, and tell them there’s nobody home,” Douglas said getting up slowly.  When he opened the door a woman he had never seen stood before him.  He guessed her to be in her mid thirties.  Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail.  She was a pretty woman of average height and sad, blue eyes that looked nervously at him.  Worry marks were etched in her face.  He smiled at her.  “Please come in out of the rain.  Then you can tell me what I can do for you.”

She hesitated, but then slowly entered.  Danielle had come from the kitchen.  Her heart stopped for a moment when she saw the woman.  “You’re Lynn Banbridge, Joshua’s mother, aren’t you?” she said.

Lynn nodded.  “Is Josh here?”

Douglas introduced Danielle and himself.  “We were just eating breakfast.  There are pancakes and peaches left.  Come and join us.  Joshua will be thrilled to see you.”

“I don’t know.  I don’t want to be a bother.”  She looked from Douglas to Danielle who had recovered from the shock of realizing who the woman was.

Danielle took her by the hand and led her into the entryway.  “Let me take your coat.  Then we’ll go see Joshua.”  Danielle suddenly felt much compassion for the woman who seemed to struggle to keep her composure.

Joshua seated next to Deborah in the kitchen nook stopped in mid sentence from teasing Deborah.  He stared at his mother who was hanging on to Danielle’s hand.  “Mom!” he finally called out in a tone that conveyed surprise and joy.  He quickly climbed out of the nook, and in the next moment wrapped his arms around her.

His mother hugged him.  “I’m sorry I’ve been so long,” she whispered.  “I would have come last night, but it was late, too late to come and get you.  I wanted to clean the house up too before I got you.”  Tears trickled down her cheeks.

“You can’t have him!” Deborah suddenly blurted out staring at Joshua’s mother.

Danielle and Douglas chuckled.  “I’m afraid our daughter’s going to need some convincing that Joshua belongs to you.” Douglas smiled.