Mama Stalks the Past by Nora Deloach

Author:Nora Deloach
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307794932
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-10T22:00:00+00:00

We found a soft drink machine. Standing at the machine with his back to us, Daddy pulled wildly at the levers. “I can’t get this damn thing to work,” he muttered.

“I’ll do it,” Cliff said, taking the dollar from Daddy’s hand and turning George Washington’s face the proper way. “Diet Coke?” he asked.

Daddy reached into his inside coat pocket and fished out a pack of chewing gum. “I don’t drink or eat anything diet,” he said.

I couldn’t bear to wait any longer. “Tell me what happened.”

Daddy cleared his throat. His eyes were bleary. “Simone, honey, I’m not sure of what happened. This is what I do know. Around five o’clock Candi called me from her office. She told me she had to stop by the hospital before she could get home for supper. Somebody had reported that a child had been taken to the hospital. The child had signs of abuse.”

I glanced up and down the hallway. Being here like this made me feel strange, nauseated and dizzy as if I hadn’t eaten all day.

“Go on, Mr. James,” Cliff encouraged.

“Candi is the Case Manager who’s on twenty-four-hour duty this week, so she was the one who had to investigate.” Daddy faltered.

My skin tightened. I searched Daddy’s face for something that made sense of what had happened.

Daddy shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “When Candi got here at the hospital, there was confusion. Nobody knew anything about an abused child. Candi telephoned me again. She told me to put the baked beans with beef casserole into the oven because she was coming home. Simone, that was the last time I spoke to your mother.” He hesitated. “The rest is what I got from Gertrude. She talked to the people here at the hospital for me.”

He continued. “Martha Furman, the admission clerk, told Gertrude that Candi came in around five-fifteen saying that the agency had gotten a report that an abused child had been brought into the hospital. Martha made a few phone calls but she couldn’t find anybody who knew anything about the child. Martha told Candi that there was no report of an incident. Your mother seemed satisfied. Martha saw Candi leave the hospital. An hour later, Candi returned. She told Martha that she was convinced that an abused child was in the hospital and that she wasn’t going to leave until she found the child.”

“Sounds like my determined mother,” I said.

Daddy nodded. “Bowie Thomas, an orderly, told Gertrude that he saw Candi in the hospital parking lot around five-thirty. He remembers because he’d gone out there for a cigarette break. Bowie told Gertrude that Candi was talking to a woman.”

My heart quickened. “What woman?” I asked.

“Bowie said he didn’t recognize the woman. She was wearing a coat, and had on a hat. He does remember that she had on white shoes, so he thought maybe she worked here at the hospital.”

Daddy took another shuddery breath. He pointed toward the corridor that led to the Emergency Room.

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