The hidden painting chapter 3

I go with my gut and pull into the nearest gas station to fill up the tank, check the tyres, and the oil, and the water. It’s the first real outing the car is getting since I bought it. So far, it’s only really taken me between the hospital and Mikes.

When I look at the clock, I realise it’s gone midnight. Theres a part of me that wants to stop by Mikes to collect a few of my belongings for the trip, but I know I’d just get the Spanish inquisition if I did. He’d start by shouting at me and quiz me as to where I’ve been. Then I’d get a grilling as to where I’m going and why. The hidden painting is my business! Something between me and my mother! He made it abundantly clear that he wanted to play no role in her passing when he chose to go golfing with his buddy’s instead of going to her funeral!  

‘Screw him!’ I say to myself. ‘Anything I need, I can pick up!’

Before pulling out of the gas station for the arduous five-hour journey to my father’s house, I put on an audiobook that I’ve been meaning to listen to for weeks now. I figure that will take my mind off the fact that I hadn’t been to the town of Wakerley in thirty odd years.

As the book starts, so does my journey. As I’m listening to it, I realise it’s a sequel to a paperback book I read last week. That makes listening to it even better because I’m already invested in the characters. I notice it starts off exactly where the last one ended before skipping ahead a year. I also notice that the author has changed the main characters point of view. Before it was all about Lily, in this book its main character is Atlas, a secondary character in the first book. This is something I am very excited about as I always wondered what had become of him!

As I’m on the freeway, using cruise control, I’m enthralled by the book! The reader has me hanging on his every word. Four hours into the journey, the book automatically puts itself on pause as the phone begins to ring, making me jump out of my skin. I look at the caller ID and see that its Mike. I roll my eyes and wonder what he’s bothering me for.

I answer the phone tentatively and as I say the word, ‘hello?’ the profanities start flying.

‘Where in gods name are you?’ he asks with distain. ‘I sure hope you’re in a hospital or dying somewhere in a ditch because otherwise you are in for it when you get home!’

‘Em, excuse me?’ I ask, my brow furrowed.

‘Where are you?’ he shouts down the phone.

‘I don’t think its any of your business as to where I am, and I don’t like the tone of voice you are talking to me with!’ I answer.

‘Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t coming home?’ he spits. ‘Is this what you do? Take money off men and then disappear without a trace?’

‘Mike, you know well that I would have done anything but take your money to cremate my mother if I had the means!’

‘You could have sold your car!’

‘You know as well as I do that had I done that I would have put myself in serious debt!’

‘But its ok for me to be out of pocket, is it?’

‘You offered me the money!’ I remind him. ‘Its not as though I asked for it!’

‘It sure is convenient that you are slipping away so soon after I had given it to you!’ he says with a hint of an accusation.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I ask not liking where this is going.

‘Well, we went out, and then you lost your job and got evicted with no savings to speak of but had a brand-new car! Maybe I’m just one in a long line of men that you have sponged off as your ‘mother’ has been ‘dying’ in the hospital, sitting in wait to see if they would fund the funeral and then take off in the middle of the night!’

‘How dare you!’ I shout. ‘My mother just died Mike! How can you be such an ignorant bastard to even suggest that I’m faking my situation!’

‘It is awful convenient that you haven’t slept with me since the day you moved in!’ he snipes. ‘Maybe its because you go out every night on the pull looking for the next punk that will believe your story!’

‘Every night I have been at my mothers bedside, trying to spend as much time with her as I could before she passed!’ I begin to cry.

‘And here come the waterworks! How convenient!’

‘Ok asshole, the reason I haven’t had sex with you since I moved in is because as I was moving in, I thought we would be cohabitating and then you put me in the smallest room in the house. You made it abundantly clear that you aren’t interested in me romantically by the attitude you have shown me since that first day you put my bags on the squeaky single bed!’

‘Why didn’t you say something?’ he shouts, ‘I wanted nothing more than to be in a relationship with you! I was giving you your own space because I didn’t want you to think I was presuming anything!’

‘You treat me like I’m an imposter when I try to make myself at home!’

‘Hold on a second there, missy! I have no problem with you making yourself at home! I just have a problem of you reading your precious books over looking for a job!’

‘First of all, how dare you call me missy like that! Secondly, you have no idea what I do in that house when you’re not there! I have applied for job after job and…’

‘…and yet you are still jobless!’ Mike buts in.

‘I had four interviews lined up for the week before last, but someone, meaning you, decided I’d look good with a massive bruise going down my face!’

The line goes silent for a second. I can hear him take a few deep breaths, and I do the same.

‘You know I’m sorry for hitting you. No one ever deserves to get hit, but I had drink on me and…’

‘…and nothing. There is never an excuse for any man to ever raise their hand to a woman! I don’t care if you were on crystal meth! It’s inexcusable!’

‘I agree!’ Mike admits sounding calmer. ‘I’m so sorry Cindy that I acted like an incredible dickhead! I regretted it the moment it happened! I hold my hands up and sincerely apologise!’

The line goes silent again.

‘So where are you?’ he asks, beginning to probe into my life even though in his mind, I’ve already shacked up with someone new.

 

‘I’m on my way to see my father if you must know!’ I find myself disclosing to the dirtbag and don’t know why!

‘You told me you don’t talk to your father, so where are you really?’ the prick probes further.

‘When did you become my keeper? I find myself saying, asking, ‘I’m a grown ass woman and I’ll go where I want to go when I want to go!’

‘So,’ he clears his throat, ‘what’s his name?’

‘Who’s name?’ I ask befuddled.

‘The next man you’re trying to scam thousands of dollars off!’

‘Screw you scumbag! I’m going to give you every cent of that money back when I have it. Hell, I’ll even pay it in instalments if it gets you off my back!’

‘So there is another man!’ he says with anger.

‘The only other man is my father! I’m on my way to his place as we speak!’ I answer.

‘I know you’re lying!’ he says, ‘and I don’t appreciate it! You pulled the wool over my eyes but I want to warn the next man who comes along that you are like a black widow, take what you came for and leave the bastard penniless!’

‘In my defence, you are anything but penniless! And…’

‘…so you admit that money is a perk to you in a man!’

‘I never said that!’ I’m becoming frustrated with this phone call. ‘You are the first man I ever accepted money from and had my mother died when I still had my job with Mr Godfree, I would have been more than able to raise the funds on my own terms! I apologise if it were selfish of her to die without anything to put towards her funeral!’

‘If I was your mother, I would have provided the funds to cremate me so I my daughter wouldn’t have to take it off the scumbag you think I am! And if it was my mother, I would have sold my god damned car and not relied on the man who apparently has no interest in me!’ his tone begins to get aggressive.

‘You say you want me to go to more interviews, but you’re not willing to hear why I don’t get them. In fact, now that I think about it, you don’t listen to me, period! You even had the Gaul to play golf instead of going to my mother’s funeral…my mother who died two days ago! You haven’t showed me an ounce of compassion over her death! You just did what you do to everything in your life…throw money at the situation to make it go away!’

‘Is that what you think of me?’ he asks.

‘Yes!’ I shout.

‘Well that’s the last cent you’re getting from me, and come to think of it, the electricity bill came and I’m adding your half to the $5,500 you owe me for the funeral!’

‘Please, do!’

‘Oh, I will. In fact, I’m thinking of adding on half the rent as well!’

‘Whatever makes you sleep at night!’ I snap.

The line goes silent once more.

‘Could you ever be convinced to come home and we make a proper go at it?’ he asks sounding sincere.

‘Hell no!’ I answer with certainty. ‘I’ve seen your nasty side now and it’s something that has put me off you completely! In fact, when I come back…if I come back, it will be to a motel until I can find myself somewhere to live that is as far away from you as possible, buddy! I’ve been burned by you too many times to even consider a fresh start being an option.’

‘Well you’re no peach either, Cindy! The only reason I can think of that has you still under my roof is because you know I won’t let you walk the streets. Come to think of it, maybe that’s what you’ve been doing every night since you moved in. You have said you were going to the hospital, but I’m even wondering now if your mother was ill at all. I think you’re funding your precious road trip with the money you earned turning tricks on a corner in…’

I hang up, tears beginning to stream down my face.

‘Who would make up that their mother was dying?’ I ask myself. ‘Sadistic bastard!’

As I wipe away my tears, I’m certain that I will never go back to Mikes again, with the exception of when I collect my belongings, a mission that I will not undertake on my own!

 

As the sun emerges from the horizon, I wipe away my tears and say to myself, ‘a new day, a new start!’

I blow my nose and decide that that is the last tear I am ever going to shed over that piece of shit!

I look to my left and there is a sign on a plaque on a big rock saying ‘Welcome to Wakerley’ on it. As I drive into the small town the first thing I see is a cluster of stores. I pull into the complex and put the snotty tissues into the bin. ‘That’s what I think of you Mike!’ I say as I do so.

I notice a store that would sell clothing and realise that because its 5:30 it hasn’t opened yet. I pull on the handle of a diner, expecting it to be closed also, but to my surprise, its open.

‘Hello dear!’ the waitress comes towards me with a grin on her face.

‘A table for one please!’

‘Oh, you must be an out of towner!’ she smiles, you see, in Wakerley, we sit at whatever booth or table is free!’ she continues to smile at me.

‘Thank you!’ I return the sentiment and sit at the booth by the window, watching, waiting, for the clothes store to open.

‘Now dear, what can I get you?’ the portly waitress with bushy brown hair asks me.

‘What’s good?’ I ask.

‘Well,’ she comes in close enough that I notice that she isn’t wearing deodorant, ‘everything is good really, but my favourite is the pancakes!’

I smile up at her, ‘pancakes it is!’

‘And would you like some coffee dear?’

‘That would be lovely!’ I answer, pleasantly surprised at the waitresses demeanour.

I look at my phone. Thankfully my new car charges it as you drive, so I have full battery. I put my hand in my pocket and retrieve the pair of Bluetooth earphones I have that have a cable that goes around your neck. They click together magnetically when they’re not being used, so there is no fear of me losing them!

I stick them in my ears and try to listen to my book to break the monotony of sitting here, drinking coffee for three hours, waiting for the other store to open. I begin to listen when I find the words to be nothing more but noise whizzing through my head. I give up on it and decide to just sit there, replaying the conversation with Mike over and over again in my head.

The lovely waitress, who’s name I learn to be Mindy asks, ‘what brings you out this neck of the woods?’ she asks as she refills my coffee cup for the fourth time.

I look up with what feel like sad eyes, and she sits down on the seat opposite me, placing the coffee jug in the middle of the table. She reaches across and takes my hands in hers. I look at them and my eyes run up her arms to her shoulder and finally her face. She is sporting a big grin and has a look of concern in her eyes. I smile back at her.

‘I used to live here! Just me, my mom, and my father!’ her head tilts to the side indicating that she’s listening. ‘My mom relocated us one night and left something in the old house that I promised to retrieve just before she passed a couple of days ago!’

‘Oh my,’ Mindy sighs and shakes her head.

‘So here I am,’ I shrug, ‘playing out my mothers final wish!’

‘I hope you find what you’re looking for!’ Mindy says, ‘what’s your family name dear? I might be able to help you find your dad!’

‘Well, my name is Spencer, but I think my fathers was Deveraux!’

‘Are you talking about Frank?’ she asks with a scowl.

‘Yea! Do you know him?’

‘I knew him, but only until he lost everything on the roulette table!’

My jaw drops.

‘Yea, he sold the big house and checked into rehab, but I haven’t heard anything about him since!’ I can see the cogs in Mindy’s head spinning like a carousel. ‘You wouldn’t be Cindy by any chance?’

My hand automatically pulls away from Mindy and I place it over my heart. ‘Yea, I’m Cindy!’ I say tentatively.

‘Would you believe that I used to babysit you when you were a baby!’

I can’t help but smile. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yeah,’ Mindy says swatting her free hand. ‘You were a dream to watch because you only ever woke up if you were hungry or wet! I loved minding you!’ I can see tears form in Mindy’s eyes. ‘I always wondered what had become of you!’ My smile grows bigger. ‘You young lady have earned yourself some pie…on the house!’

Mindy gets up, taking her coffee jug with her and returns seconds later with the biggest slice of apple pie I have ever set my eyes on.

‘I put the cream on a separate plate because, as my memory serves, you don’t eat food that touches other food!’ I beam up at her and dig into the best apple pie I have ever tasted.

When I’m finished, I can see the clothing stores doors are open. Mindy is starting to get an influx of patrons and I don’t want to keep a seat from anyone else, so I find her and give her a hug, thankful that she remembers me. I make sure to leave a generous tip and make a beeline for the clothes store. As I’m getting myself some fresh clothes, I find a duffle bag that might be suitable for the painting.

 

After I bought everything I might need for the next few days, I return to my car and notice that I’m running on fumes. I need not go far as there’s a gas station literally outside the complex as you’re going into the heart of the town. It cost me less to fill her up this time as the gas rate is lower here for some reason!

I have to look at my GPS to see exactly where the house is as I’ve no recollection whatsoever of the small town.

As I pull up to the house, my jaw drops at the pure magnitude of it. I get out of the car and straighten the new top I have on me, trying to look respectable for a man who beat my mother. I ring the doorbell and a handsome young man answers it.

‘Are you here about the job?’ he asks.

I don’t know what to say other than ‘yes!’