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“Franck?”
“He’s not here.”
“Where is he? I gotta talk to him.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Zeke. Where’s Franck.”
“Look Zeke, he’s not here,” said Bob. “Leave him alone till Monday. Good bye.”
“No wait, where is he? What’s his cell number?”
“No way, Jose. But you’ll be glad to know he’s off on your errand. He’s trying to get the papers signed. What kind of skunk are you, anyway?” Bob hung up on him.
Never hung up on anybody before, thought Bob. He sat for a moment to collect himself. He felt altogether too wound up.
He finished his breakfast. The language and images of the old letters from Moses and Lutetia haunted him. He thought of calling Julie to see if she had found out anything more. He turned on his cellphone to find her phone number but then thought to himself, I just spoke to her late last night, how much more is she going to know this morning? Calm down, boy, he said to himself. Maybe it’s time to go for a walk or take out the bike. Doesn’t look bad out, nice crisp fall day.
A little electronic cascading sound blurted from his cellphone. It was a text message from Franck. “Help” was all it said. Bob dialed Franck immediately.
The phone rang for a while. Franck’s voice came on. “Dees ees Franckenstein. You do not vant to talk to Stein if you know vat ees good for you. If you vant to talk to Franck, leave a message.”
Bob waited for the beep and said, “Hi Franck, this is Bob. Is everything okay? Call me.”
A few minutes later the Star Wars music on his phone went off. He answered. It was Franck.
“Hey, you’re waking me up, man," said Franck. "Sorry I couldn’t find my phone in time. I thought it was part of my dream.”
“Well how are you? What’s going on? What’s this ‘help’ message you sent me?”
“I found him. McIver is living right here at Rosa’s place. He cut right through my story, Bob. I was telling Rosa I took classes at Port Haven University—“
“There is no such thing.”
“That’s what he said. But it turned out okay, sort of. I think my ass is still grass when I get back. I don’t think any papers are getting signed for that guy Zeke. I don’t think I had the heart to push it anyway. The guy’s been through the mill.”
“Did you talk to Rosa or McIver about this Lutetia and this Moses and all?”
“Not really. I asked once but they changed the subject. McIver’s in trouble with his house and more trouble than I put him in. I think he’s coming back to Port Haven. Sounds like Rosa might even come up, and leave Lucy here.”
“Lucy?”
“Oh, yes. So much has happened. And I didn’t tell you about Dawn, either. I met this woman at the airport—“
“What about Lucy?”
“Oh. She asked for you.”
“She did?” Bob couldn’t believe the feelings that flooded into him at hearing this, feelings that had trickled in when he had talked to his mother about Rosa, and then started flowing in when he found himself telling Julie he hoped he’d find Lucy again. Now he felt a flood of emotions churning up old dry sediment like a spring rain swirling water into a dry river bed.
“Yeah, she came home late last night. She told me a little about getting married.”
“Oh,” said Bob, as if he’d been punched in the gut and his breath taken away.
“Lucy’s back home living with her mom for a little while, just to get over the whole divorce thing, I guess.”
“Oh?” said Bob, as if the stagelights had just come on for his entrance. He reached his hand out slowly, as if he were Billy in Carousel, about to sing “If I Loved You.”
“She asked for you,” said Franck. “Wondered how you’ve been all this time. Told me you guys had the best time together. How come you never told me about her? I told her you were married with five kids and three jobs.”
“Right. Thanks.”
“Just kidding.”
“I know you a little by now, Franck.” Bob’s mind reeled. He was not used to mood swings. An ache swelled in his chest, a feeling he could barely remember. It felt like he was about to cry.
“Tell her I’m coming down. I’ll look it up online, maybe in a few days I can get down there. I just want to say hello, that’s all. Tell her, Franck. What’s the phone number there, I don’t know where I put it.”
Franck gave him the number. “Okay, buddy, I’ll tell her. What are you going to do about work?”
It was unlike Bob not to have thought of that, and unlike him to dismiss the worry for later. “Well, right, no, I’ll work it out. I’ll call her later, you can tell her that. Maybe I’m crazy. Okay, I’ll talk to her first and then if it’s okay with her, I’ll come down when I can get away. But what about you? What are you going to do?”
“It’s all beyond me now. Robert’s coming back. I don’t think he’s going to sign anything. Sounds like he knows Zeke’s boss.”
“Oh Zeke called. Jerk. Wants to talk to you.”
“Yeah. I’m just going to have to come back and face the music. I have until tomorrow, though. I met this woman Dawn in the airport and we rode together on the plane. I’d like to find her again before I come back. Good luck calling Lucy. I’ll give her your number too.”
They got off the phone and Franck’s phone buzzed a reminder that he had a text. It was the one he’d got while talking to Robert and Rosa. From Dawn: “What is it?" Then another one from her, later: "Gotta go : ) pls call me AM”