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Daddy to do
that," I told her. I looked at them. "Your parents
deserted you, too. They just did it more respectfully
or, what word did you use yesterday, Misty, civilly?
Something like that anyway," I said.
"Isn't that against the law?" Jade asked Doctor
Marlowe. "What her father did?"
"Well, Star's father would be what we call a
deadbeat dad and yes, what he's done is against the
law," she replied. "There's even a federal law against
that now."
"Did your mother have him arrested?" Jade
followed.
"She went down to welfare and reported her
situation so she could get some money, but it didn't
get put at the top of anyone's list. It wasn't exactly
what you would call a high priority," I said. "Men are creeps," Jade muttered.
"My momma ain't exactly an angel," I told her.
Her eyebrows lifted.
"What happened to her?"
"Why don't you give her a chance to tell it her
own way?" Misty asked Jade.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It just makes me. . .
mad." I widened my eyes.
"It doesn't exactly put joy in my heart either:' I
said.
Jade's lips stretched into a tight smile. Damned
if I didn't know whether I should hate her or like her. "Momma didn't realize Daddy was gone for
good that first night he walked out on us, of course.
She made us some supper and sat drinking her beer all
night and watching television. I put Rodney to bed.
He was groggy and tired from his ordeal, but he was
still in some pain. The paramedics had instructed us to
give him some Tylenol, which I did. I sang a little to
him and his eyes slowly closed.
"After he had fallen asleep, I went out and sat
with Momma and watched television awhile, hoping
Daddy would come home while I was still up, but he
didn't. Finally, exhausted myself, I went to sleep. "As soon as my eyes snapped open the next
morning, I hopped out of bed and looked in on
Momma and Daddy's bedroom, expecting to see his
long, lanky body stretched over the comforter, his arm
dangling over the side as usual. He usually ended up
on the cover instead of under it.
"Momma had fallen asleep with her clothes still
on and was spread-eagle, alone, breathing through her
mouth and looking like she had been put into a trance.
Rodney, who still slept next to them on his cot-bed,
was sitting up, playing quietly with one of his toys.
He looked happy when he saw me looking in on him "My heart felt like a Yo-Yo whose string had
broken. All night it had gone up and down with every
sound in the building that suggested Daddy's return.
Now, it was clear he hadn't come back and I was sick
with fear.
"I took Rodney into the living room and fixed
him some breakfast. Momma woke up looking dazed
and confused as usual after a night of drinking. She
was surprised to see Daddy hadn't returned, too. "'Where'd Daddy go?' I asked her
"'How would I know? Who cares?' she said, but
it bothered her when he didn't return the next day. She
got on the phone and complained to Granny and then
two days after that, she started to call some of Daddy's
friends and I guess she found out he had left Los
Angeles. That was when she went to welfare and cried
about our situation.
"For a long time, I expected Daddy would come
back, even after I saw him that last time and he
hurried away from me. I never told Momma I had
seen him. I knew it would just make her wild and
angry and after a while, I began to wonder if I had
really seen him or just imagined it out of hope.
Whenever the phone rang, I hoped it was him calling,
but it never was. Momma was so furious she would
swear she wasn't going to take him back if he did
show up, but I knew in my heart she would.
"Granny started to spend more time with us
soon after all that. She lives in Venice Beach so it was
a trip for her. When I would go to see her, I'd have to
ride the Big Blue Bus for nearly two hours to make
the right connections and you know the buses don't
run that often."
I glanced at them.
"Well, you girls probably don't know 'cause you
probably never been on a Big Blue Bus in Los
Angeles, have you?"
"I