Page 87 of Jar of Hearts
Yes, it’s all a disaster. But what the hell did she think would happen?
She didn’t think, that was what. Years of her baby’s childhood,spent with parents who didn’t truly love him, or each other, as it turned out. A father who abandoned him. A mother with an alcoholic boyfriend who abused him. Indifferent relatives. Foster care. A biological mother who goes to prison for covering up a murder. A biological father who’s a serial killer.
And the best part is—the cherry on the sundae as Walter Shaw would say—that she hasn’t even had a chance yet to tell her son that his life is in grave danger.
Before exiting the bathroom, she glances out the small window to check if the police car is still parked at the curb. It is, and from the awkward angle of his neck, the officer appears to be sleeping. Nice. Way to protect and serve. She makes a mental note to complain to Kaiser.
On her way back to the staircase, she sees a figure in her bedroom. Dominic has ventured upstairs, and he’s sitting on the foot of her bed, looking through one of her old high school yearbooks. She pauses at the doorway, and at the sight of him, a wave of vertigo hits her.
Sitting there casually, not a care in the world, when her father’s not home. Just like Calvin.
He glances up, smiles, and it’s as if the horrible conversation they’d had downstairs three minutes earlier never happened. He pats the place beside him.
“Sit,” he says, as if he’s the parent and she’s the child. “This is cool. Your sophomore yearbook, I think. I couldn’t find your junior yearbook… which I suppose makes sense because you would have been pregnant with me.”
She takes a seat beside him on the bed. “Yes, I finished my year here at home.”
“This was her?” he says, pointing to a grainy black-and-white photo of Geo with Angela. It was taken after one of the Friday night football games, a candid shot of the two them laughing, ponytails swinging, white pompoms in hand, dressed in matching long-sleeved sweaters and tiny skirts with the Bulldogs emblem. “This was Angela?”
“Yes,” Geo says. She hasn’t seen that picture in decades, and it hurts to see it now.
“She was beautiful,” he says, and again, his voice contains no trace of judgment. “But so were you.”
“I didn’t think so back then.”
“I can see why,” he says, and she looks up at him. “And not because there was anything wrong with you. I counted at least ten pictures of her in this yearbook. Her star burned really bright, am I right? I can imagine it would make anything else—even another star—look pale in comparison.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.” She smiles. “And rather poetic.”
“How did you meet my father?”
Geo tells him the story of the 7-Eleven, how she was smitten from the moment she laid eyes on him.
“We spent a lot of time together,” she says. “My grades were slipping. I was staying out late. Sometimes he’d sneak in here, if my dad was home early and I couldn’t go out. But we never… he was a gentleman.”
“Up until he wasn’t.”
She nods.
“It’s the little things that have me curious,” Dominic says, closing the yearbook. “I’ve read a lot about the two of you. The case was reported pretty thoroughly in all the major newspapers here in the Northwest. It was easy to access that stuff from the Vancouver library, and when we moved back to Seattle, it got even easier. But there’s a lot the papers don’t say.”
“What do you want to know?”
He shrugs. “Like I said, little things. I remember reading a profile about him once, and it mentioned that he loved cinnamon hearts. Me, too.” He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a small pack. It’s already open, and half are gone. He offers her one, and once again, a wave of déjàvu hits her.
“No, thanks, I can’t stand them,” Geo whispers, and though it wasn’t intended as a joke, Dominic laughs. “Little things, let’s see… he always smelled good. He was good with cars. He lovedlive music, we went to a few concerts together. Soundgarden. Pearl Jam.”
“So he had good taste in bands, then.” Dominic nods his approval and pops a candy into his mouth. He puts the pack away. “So. Where do you think he is now?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Geo says, and just like that, it’s time to tell him. This is the moment. She takes a deep breath and turns so she’s facing him directly. “Dominic, obviously you know that Calvin escaped from prison five years ago, shortly after I went away. So the police have been looking for him.”
“I know.”
“But they’re not looking for him just because of the prison escape. He’s done some things.…” Geo takes another breath. “Calvin has committed four more murders. Two women… and their children.”
Dominic freezes.
“Hischildren,” Geo says, her voice cracking. “His flesh and blood. He’s hunting them down, and he’s killing them. And I’m afraid… I’m afraid he’s going to come after you. That’s why there’s a police car outside. It’s for my protection. And yours.”
