The hitchhiker said nothing, but Monette saw for both of them.
I said, What happens now? and she said, I suppose Ill go to jail. And you know what? If shed started to cry then, I might have held her. Because after twenty-six years of marriage, things like that get to be a reflex. Even when most of the feelings gone. But she didnt cry, so I walked out. Just turned around and walked out. And when I came back, there was a note saying shed moved out. That was almost two weeks ago, and I havent seen her since. Talked to her on the phone a few times, thats all. Talked to a lawyer, too. Froze all our accounts, not that itll do any good once the legal wheels start turning. Which will be soon. The caca is going to clog the air-cooling system, if you take my meaning. Then I suppose Ill see her again. In court. Her and Cowboy Fucking Bob.
Now he could read the blue sign: PITTSFIELD REST AREA 2 MI.
Ah, shit! he cried. Watervilles fifteen miles back thataway, partner. And when the deaf-mute didnt stir (of course not), Monette realized he didnt know the guy had been going to the Ville anyway. Not for sure. In any case, it was time to get this straightened out. The rest area would do for that, but for a minute or two longer they would remain enclosed in this rolling confessional, and he felt he had one more thing to say.
Its true that I havent felt much for her in a very long time, he said. Sometimes love just runs out. And its also true that I havent been entirely faithfulIve taken a little road comfort from time to time. But does that warrant this? Does it justify a woman blowing up a life the way a kid would blow up a rotten apple with a firecracker?
He pulled into the rest area. There were maybe four cars in the lot, huddled up against the brown building with the vending machines in the front. To Monette the cars looked like cold children left out in the rain. He parked. The hitchhiker looked at him questioningly.
Where are you going? Monette asked, knowing it was hopeless.
The deaf-mute considered. He looked around and saw where they were. He looked back at Monette as if to say, Not here.
Monette pointed back south and raised his eyebrows. The deaf-mute shook his head, then pointed north. Opened and closed his fists, showing his fingers six times eight ten. Same as before, basically. But this time Monette got it. He thought life might have been simpler for this guy if someone had taught him the sideways figure-eight symbol that means infinity.
Youre basically just rambling, arent you? Monette asked.
The deaf-mute only looked at him.
Yeah you are, Monette said. Well, I tell you what. You listened to my storyeven though you didnt know you were listening to itand Ill get you as far as Derry. An idea struck him. In fact, Ill drop you at the Derry Shelter. You can get a hot and a cot, at least for one night. I have to take a leak. You need to take a leak?
The deaf-mute looked at him with patient blankness.
A leak, Monette said. A piss. He started to point at his crotch, realized where they were, and decided a road bum would think he was signing for a blowjob right here beside the Hav-A-Bite machines. He pointed toward the silhouettes on the side of the building insteadblack cutout man, black cutout woman. The man had his legs apart, the woman had hers together. Pretty much the story of the human race in sign language.
This his passenger got. He shook his head decisively, then made another thumb-and-forefinger circle for good measure. Which left Monette with a delicate problem: leave Mr. Silent Vagabond in the car while he did his business or turn him out into the rain to wait in which case the guy would almost certainly know why he was being put out.
Only it wasnt a problem at all, he decided. There was no money in the car, and his personal luggage was locked in the trunk. There were his sample cases in the backseat, but he somehow didnt think the guy was going to steal two seventy-pound cases and go trotting down the rest areas exit ramp with them. For one thing, how would he hold up his I AM MUTE! sign?
Ill be right back, Monette said, and when the hitchhiker only looked at him with those red-rimmed eyes, Monette pointed to himself, to the restroom icons, then back to himself. This time the hitchhiker nodded and made another thumb-and-forefinger circle.
Monette went to the toilet and pissed for what felt like twenty minutes. The relief was exquisite. He felt better than he had since Barb had dropped her bombshell. It occurred to him for the first time that he was going to get through this. And he would help Kelsie get through it. He remembered a quote from some old German (or maybe a Russian, it certainly sounded like the Russian view of life): Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.
He went back to his car, whistling. He even gave the coin-op lottery-ticket machine a comradely slap as he went by. At first he thought maybe he couldnt see his passenger because the guy was lying down in which case, Monette would have to shoo him upright again so he could get behind the wheel. But the hitchhiker wasnt lying down. The hitchhiker was gone. Had taken his pack and his sign and decamped.
Monette checked the backseat and saw his Wolfe & Sons cases undisturbed. Looked into the glove compartment and saw the paltry identification kept withinregistration, insurance card, AAA cardwas still there. All that was left of the bum was a lingering smell, not entirely unpleasant: sweat and faint pine, as if the guy had been sleeping rough.
He thought hed see the guy at the foot of the ramp, holding up his sign and patiently switching it from side to side so that potential Good Samaritans got the complete lowdown on his defects. If so, Monette would stop and pick him up again. The job didnt feel done, somehow. Delivering the guy to the Derry Shelterthat would make the job feel done. That would close the deal, and close the book. Whatever other failings he might have, he liked to finish things.
But the guy wasnt at the foot of the ramp; the guy was completely AWOL. And it wasnt until Monette was passing a sign reading DERRY 10 MI. that he looked up at the rearview mirror and saw that his St. Christophers medal, companion of all those millions of miles, was gone. The deaf-mute had stolen it. But not even that could break Monettes new optimism. Maybe the deaf-mute needed it more than he did. Monette hoped it would bring him good luck.
Two days laterby then he was selling the best fall list ever in Presque Islehe got a call from the Maine State Police. His wife and Bob Yandowsky had been beaten to death in the Grove Motel. The killer had used a piece of pipe wrapped in a motel towel.
11
My dear God! the priest breathed.
Yes, Monette agreed, thats pretty much what I thought.
Your daughter ?
Heartbroken, of course. Shes with me, at home. Well get through this, Father. Shes tougher than I thought. And of course, she doesnt know about the other. The embezzlement. With luck, she never will. Theres going to be a very large insurance payment, what they call double indemnity. Given everything that went on before, I think I would be in moderate to serious trouble with the police now if I didnt have a cast-iron alibi. And if there hadnt been developments. As it is, Ive been questioned several times.
Son, you didnt pay someone to
Ive been asked that, too. The answer is no. Ive thrown my bank accounts open to anyone who wants a look. Every penny is accounted for, both in my half of the wedded partnership and in Barbs. She was financially very responsible. At least in the sane part of her life.
Father, can you open up on your side? I want to show you something.
Instead of replying, the priest opened his door. Monette slipped the St. Christophers medal from around his neck, then reached around from his side. Their fingers touched briefly as the medal and its little pile of steel chain passed from hand to hand.
There was silence for five seconds as the priest considered it. Then he said, This was returned to you when? Was it at the motel where
No, Monette said. Not the motel. The house in Buxton. On the dresser in what used to be our bedroom. Next to our wedding picture, actually.