“No,” I said. “Well, not anything specific. Why?”
“While he was away in the war, she got pregnant.” She glanced at his home and then at me. “It wasn’t his,” she whispered. “She was having an affair.”
“Oh. My Gosh,” I gasped. “His wife got pregnant and it wasn’t his?”
“She was quite the trollop. They argued about it each time he came home. He was over there for years and years, you know? When Raymond was away, in Korea, we wrote letters back and forth. That was enough, but I loved Raymond with all my heart. I don’t think a woman can do those things if she truly loves a man, do you?”
Braxton’s lack of willingness to commit made a little more sense. “No,” I replied. “I don’t.”
She checked her watch and then looked up. “Did he tell you about his brother?”
He hadn’t mentioned any siblings. I shook my head. “I guess not.”
“When Mister Rourke was in his military training, his brother died. An overdose. I suppose no one will ever know for sure if it was an accident or intentional, but it sounds like it might have been intentional. I can’t imagine how he continued after losing his only sibling and then his wife. He was committed to protecting this nation, that’s for sure.” She brushed the dirt from her gloves and then looked up. “He’s got more war medals than my Raymond. They compared them one day after dinner.”
“Medals?”
“From the war,” she said. “Mister Rourke’s quite the decorated veteran. That’s what brought him and Raymond so close. Them both being veterans, and all. Raymond in Korea, and Braxton in the Middle East. That’s what they call it, isn’t it? The war in the Middle East?”
My opinion of Braxton hadn’t changed, but I couldn’t help but feel compassionate toward him for the losses he endured.
“I think so,” I replied.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asked.
“No, I don’t. Do you?”
“Two. Mary’s three years younger than me, and Mark is two years younger than Mary—according to him. It’s actually a little more than a year, but he says it’s two. Mary’s in Santa Monica, and Mark is down south, in Escondido. Raymond and I weren’t ever graced with children, though.” Her face grew long. “It wasn’t in our cards, I guess.”
It was sad to hear that she didn’t have children. To mask my sorrow for her not having children, I expressed tremendous joy in her siblings. “So, your brother and sister are in California? Or no?”
She laughed a little. “I forgot that you’re not from here. Escondido’s two hours south if there’s no traffic, and Santa Monica’s twenty minutes away, on the coast.”
“Oh. That’s nice that they’re close.”
“It is.” She checked her watch. “We don’t see each other as much as we should, but we talk often. When you get older, you’ll realize the value in having someone to talk to.”
“I realize it now,” I said. “Right now.”
“This is nice,” she said with a smile.
“Is it dinnertime?” I asked.
She brushed off the thighs of her pants. “It is.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Okay. Me, too.”
“You should write Braxton a note and fold it into a paper airplane.” She made a motion with her hand as if throwing something. “Throw it on his porch. You don’t want to get too close to him, he’s still coming and going like he’s on a mission.”
“I might do that,” I said.
“Let me know if you do,” she said with a smile. “In case you can’t tell, I’m kind of a gossip.”
“Whatever you’ve said stays with me,” I said. “I can assure you of that.”
She chuckled. “I wish I could say the same.”
Braxton
I paced the kitchen floor. “Well, how many do we have left?”
“Twenty-three,” Pratt replied. “Guy wants fifty. I can ship him the twenty-three, but I was thinking if we’re not going to be able to get any more, I might want to make a new ad and raise the price of the last bunch of ‘em. I could tell him we’re sold out, and then raise the price. What do you think?”
“Twenty-three?” I asked. “That’s all we’ve got left? I thought we had about eighty of them yesterday when I left.”
“Guy in New Jersey bought fifty last night,” he said. “He’s opening some kind of support shop, making masks for the hospitals up there. Setting up a production shop, basically.”
“Sell him the machines at the price on the ad. If they’re listed for that price, we’re already committed.”
In anticipation of a protective mask shortage—and the necessity to make an equivalent by hand—Pratt and I had purchased every inexpensive sewing machine we could get our hands on. We started with over 500 of them and were down to 23, in roughly two weeks. At $175 markup on each $90 machine, we’d made nearly $90,000 in profit.
“Get your ass over here when you can,” he said. “I need to get a couple of wooden crates made of some sort.”
“Ship the machines individually.”
“We’ll get a break on freight if they’re packaged together in a crate.”
“We figured individual shipping, just ship them separately. It’ll be less hassle to haul them to UPS.”
“Less hassle, but more in shipping costs,” he argued. “More shipping cost means less money in our pockets.”
“I’ve got to get down to San Diego, I don’t have time to run and meet you right now.”
“What’s in San Diego?”
“Hap. He’s of the opinion that he’s sick. This is the third time. His taste buds weren’t working. His equilibrium was off. Now, he says he feels flush. It’s a new symptom every day.”
“Why doesn’t he go get checked out?”
“He doesn’t want to go to the hospital if there’s nothing wrong. So far, there’s been nothing wrong. All I need to do is go have a beer with him and tell him he’s fine.”
“Were you there on Sunday?”
“Just like always.”
“Was he okay when you were there?” he asked.
“He was.”
“He just wants some company. He’s fine.”
Pratt was right but arguing with my father was impossible. I needed to see him, reassure him he was fine, and have lunch with him.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I said. “I need to satisfy him, though. Ship the machines individually.”
“Tell the old prick I said hi. Oh, and tell him he cost us about $500 in profit.”
“I’ll let him know.”
I turned the lock and pushed open the door. “What the fuck are you doing, Old Man?”
The living room was empty. I glanced toward the kitchen. “Where you at, Old Man?”
His Cadillac was beneath the awning when I pulled into the driveway, so I knew he hadn’t gone anywhere.