He flickered through the white pages more purposefully now, ran his finger down a column of fine type, and there it was. BOWDEN, VICTOR S. 403 Ridge Lane. Ed dialled the number and it rang several times at the other end. He was just about to hang up when an old man answered. ‘Hello?’
‘Hello, Mr Bowden. Ed French. From Santa Donate Junior High.’
‘Yes?’ Politeness, but no more. Certainly no recognition. Well, the old guy was four years further along (weren’t they all!) and things undoubtedly slipped his mind from time to time.
‘Do you remember me, sir?’
‘Should I?’ Bowden’s voice was cautious, and Ed smiled. The old man forgot things but he didn’t want anybody to know if he could help it His own old man had been that way when his hearing started to go.
‘I was your grandson Todd’s guidance counsellor at S.D J.H.S. I called to congratulate you. He sure tore up the pea-patch when he got to high school, didn’t he? And now he’s All-Conference to top it off. Wow!’
‘Todd!’ The old man said, his voice brightening immediately. ‘Yes, he certainly did a fine job, didn’t he? Second in his class! And the girl who was ahead of him took the business courses.’ A sniff of disdain in the old man’s voice. ‘My son called and offered to take me to Todd’s commencement, but I’m in a wheelchair now. I broke my hip last January. I didn’t want to go in a wheelchair. But I have his graduation picture right in the hall, you bet! Todd’s made his parents very proud. And me, of course.’
‘Yes, I guess we got him over the hump,’ Ed said. He was smiling as he said it, but his smile was a trifle puzzled -somehow Todd’s grandfather didn’t sound the same. But it had been a long time ago, of course.
‘Hump? What hump?’
“That little talk we had. When Todd was having problems with his course-work. Back in ninth.’
‘I’m not following you,’ the old man said slowly. ‘I would never presume to speak for Richard’s son. It would cause trouble… ho-ho, you don’t know how much trouble it would cause. You’ve made a mistake, young fellow.’
‘But—’
‘Some sort of mistake. Got me confused with another student and another grandfather, I imagine.’
Ed was moderately thunderstruck. For one of the few times in his life, he could not think of a single thing to say. If there was confusion, it sure wasn’t on his part.
‘Well,’ Bowden said doubtfully, ‘it was nice of you to call, Mr—’
Ed found his tongue. ‘I’m right here in town, Mr Bowden. It’s a convention. Guidance counsellors. I’ll be done around ten tomorrow morning, after the final paper is read. Could I come around to…’ He consulted the phone book again. ‘… to Ridge Lane and see you for a few minutes?’
‘What in the world for?’
‘Just curiosity, I guess. It’s all water over the dam now. But about four years ago, Todd got himself into a real crack with his grades. They were so bad I had to send a letter home with his report-card requesting a conference with a parent, or, ideally, with both of his parents. What I got was his grandfather, a very pleasant man named Victor Bowden.’
‘But I’ve already told you—’
‘Yes. I know. Just the same, I talked to somebody claiming to be Todd’s grandfather. It doesn’t matter much now, I suppose, but seeing is believing. I’d only take a few minutes of your time. It’s all I can take, because I’m expected home by suppertime.’
Time is all I have,’ Bowden said, a bit ruefully. ‘I’ll be here all day. You’re welcome to stop in.’
Ed thanked him, said goodbye, and hung up. He sat on the end of the bed, staring thoughtfully at the telephone. After a while he got up and took a pack of Phillies Cheroots from the sport coat hanging on the back of the desk chair. He ought to go; there was a workshop, and if he wasn’t there, he would be missed. He lit his Cheroot with a Holiday Inn match and dropped the burnt stub into a Holiday Inn ashtray. He went to the Holiday Inn window and looked blankly out into the Holiday Inn courtyard.