Pursuit Of The Cygnus Thief

Chapter 12 - High Regard

Chapter 12

“High Regard” By Roseyone

         Together we faced east atop Scrub Peak while the sun, fallen from its zenith and nearly chastened, burnished our backs with the last rays of its orange glow. Freddy withdrew the binoculars from his eyes and shot a reproachful look my way before he spoke.

“Nowhere, Melia!”

          I’d told Freddy to go home, get his binoculars, meet me on Scrub Peak. From that vantage point I assured, we could get a panoramic view of the entire county, the desert floor and perhaps spot Freddy’s broken down car in the process. Freddy mulled it over, chided himself for not thinking of it before and was about to protest when I mentioned that he should shower while he was at it. He’d balked, horrified by his soiled condition after hours in the sun then Freddy agreed to meet me.

         I found myself alone, dry-eyed atop Scrub Peak a little while later. It would have felt good to cry then but the emotion within my grasp was anger and that was too big and unwieldy to fully examine. I’d gone to the eastern edge, lay down on my stomach, dangled my head and let my braids cascade over the side. I followed my thoughts over the days events, the novel pleasure of the morning was unreachable, frozen dry by the realization that someone had watched. The humiliation in Izzard’s seemed minuscule while everything about Mr. Abel loomed so large that I could scarcely recognize what it all meant.

         Mother. The word rose up. I said it aloud. I couldn’t remember her. I had lots of photographs, some of her possessions such as the wristwatch I wore. I knew a few stories from Mrs. Parrish and still fewer from my father. He only spoke about my mother after the rare fifth beer and then only fleetingly. On those occasions, my father would get a hold of himself, clasp a hand over his mouth, pretend to cough before he’d send me to bed. Oh!Janus close the gate! Go to your room Ami. He kept her portrait on the nightstand by his bed and another in his wallet. My tears came suddenly, trickled from my eyes down Scrub Peak and evaporated in the hot air long before the rocks below could claim them. I was dry-eyed again by the time Freddy joined me, refreshed and with a pair of binoculars slung around his neck.

“We’re losing the light. You should come back tomorrow morning and look west.” I replied.I could tell by the rigid set of his jaw, the angle of his head, the furrow in his brow what Freddy would say next.

“He stole it.”

“John Woodstock didn’t steal your car. I bet he’s on the way to Phoenix by now.”

“Phoenix? He tell you that?” Freddy said. “Hitchhiked! I could get a work truck from-” Freddy continued.

          I moved away from the eastern edge and made my way toward the northern descent marker. Freddy followed. I could feel his agitation escalate as we negotiated the downward climb easily following the steep jagged zig-zag path from long habit rather than sight. I hoped that John Woodstock was far away, that he hadn’t stopped at a motel overnight or at a diner or bar for a meal along the way out of Muncie County.

         We heard the rumble of a car engine and a radio commercial for Chanteuse Cigarettes just before the white convertible raced into view  from the around the southern end of Scrub Peak’s stony base. Slim was behind the wheel while three of Freddy’s other cousins filled out the red leather seats of the interior. They looked like fine young men dressed in chinos and checked short-sleeved shirts, they wore fresh bristling buzz cuts instead of greasy pompadours and had the type of faces that reminded older men of themselves at the same age. They caused trouble but were never in trouble because Freddy’s cousins were boys and everyone knew what boys couldn’t help being. A “shucks” or “golly” paired with a shrug then made into a menage a trois with the addition of a handful of cash was all Freddy’s cousins; Slim, Race, Buddy and Pete ever needed to get them out of a fix.

“You’re not going after him Fred.” I said.

“Get home.” Freddy replied.

         Slim brought his convertible to a hard halt and stirred up a cloud of dust in the process. The young men greeted Freddy with snide rapid-fire insults and playful ribbing as music began to play. I watched each of their faces as they laughed then picked up on the seriousness Freddy exuded. He walked over to the driver’s side of the car, planted his elbows on the door and began to chat with Slim who at first shook his big square head in acknowledgement. The other three abandoned their banter and leaned in to listen. Buddy, who sat in the front passenger seat cut off the radio. They already knew about the stranger John Woodstock of course but I could not get any sense of recent mischief from the conversation. Then Freddy mentioned his stolen car, the cooling desert air seemed to reverse itself and cook. It was clear, Freddy’s cousins hadn’t pulled a prank, they hadn’t watched us, they were each genuinely outraged that anyone would steal from one of them. My heart thumped as the expression on each of their faces transformed into something uniformly small, stingy, dangerous.

         Freddy turned around suddenly and faced me. His face didn’t soften when he motioned with one hand that I was to get lost. I was a still good girlafter all. Officially, I was not Freddy’s girl but someone he publicly protected and favored. Call me a name at school, give me a hard time on the school bus and Freddy would be there with a knuckle sandwich, cash on delivery. It had happened before when some new guy at school asked me if my hair was naturally red. It seemed innocent from my perspective, I hadn’t told anyone about it but Freddy had arrived at my school before the end of the day to fix the problem. We weren’t at the tavern and I wasn’t family, it was a sign of respect to Freddy that his cousins ignored me in his presence. I showed respect for both of us by not talking to him in front of them while Freddy showed high regard for himself by not doting on me in their presence. After the morning’s events, Freddy had the power to damn me and though I knew it was unlikely given our long friendship, I suddenly realized I had weakened my own position. Freddy gave me his back again, we had all esteemed one another, there was nothing left except for me to go home and see what fate awaited me there.