Полина Саймонс – Tully (страница 14)

It was nearly seven in the evening when they hit 45th Street again. The sun was hiding behind the hills. The trees, the barns, and oblong grain silos were dusky silhouettes along the road. Robin and Tully had been driving for about ten minutes on 45th when a car coming the opposite way passed them and all of a sudden something hard and black bounced off the other car, and then the Corvette smashed it with its right fender, and the black thing bounced off and fell with a thump to the ground.

‘Robin!’ exclaimed Tully. Both cars stopped. Two young men in plaid shirts came out of the other car, and all four of them carefully stepped to the middle of the road to see a Doberman, prone on its side still breathing but unable to move any part of itself.

‘Oh, God,’ said Tully.

‘Hey, where did he come from?’ said one of the plaid-shirted men excitedly. ‘I was driving, didn’t see nothing, and then all of a sudden this thing just jumps out in front of my car, poor bastard.’

‘And I hit him,’ said Robin, shaking his head.

‘Nah, he bounced off my car, man, there was nothing you could do. I feel bad, though, he must be a guard dog for one of them barns over there. His owners are gonna be pretty sad when they find him.’

‘My God,’ said Tully. ‘He’s not even dead.’

And it wasn’t. The Doberman was trying in vain to lift its head, but all the while its black eyes were open, staring mutely at Tully and at Robin. They looked at each other, and then at the road. A car was coming. ‘We gotta move him,’ said Tully.

‘Nah, he’ll be better off if a car puts him out. Look at him, he is suffering,’ said the guy.

‘We gotta move him!’ said Tully louder, looking at Robin.

All four of them had to move out of the road. The car slowed down but didn’t stop as it went barreling past them and over the Doberman, flinging the animal a little closer to the shoulder, but not close enough, because seconds later another car went by, and this one didn’t even slow down as it ran over the Doberman. The dog remained in the road, no longer trying to move its head. Amazingly, it was not dead. Its mouth was open as it slowly gulped some air, its black eyes still open, and still watching. The four of them stood motionless. The only sound in the air was the dog’s belabored, difficult breathing. Tully wrung her hands and moved toward the three men. ‘Guys, please! Just move him, move him, don’t let him be hit again, please! Robin!’

Robin stepped over to the dog. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you,’ said the plaid-shirted driver. ‘You don’t know how that thing’s gonna react, man. It’s a Doberman, for God’s sake. He may just get crazy right then and there, rip into you or something. I wouldn’t do it. Just let him be. He’ll die soon enough.’

Robin stopped. ‘He is right, Tully,’ he said.

‘God!’ Tully screamed. ‘The dog is in the middle of the road! Hasn’t he been run over by enough cars? Goddamn it,’ she said, walking over towards the animal, ‘you’d move it if it was your mother lying in the road, wouldn’t you?’

Tully grabbed the Doberman’s hind legs, and with great effort dragged it ten feet, all the way into the grass. The three men watched her, and the driver of the other car leaned over to Robin and whispered, ‘She is crazy, man, crazy. That thing goes for her and she’ll be in bad shape. Crazy, I tell you.’

Tully wiped her hands on the grass and said to Robin. ‘Let’s go.’ She did not look back at the dog.

‘Well, it sure is pretty eventful being with you, Tully,’ said Robin, parked in front of Jennifer’s house on Sunset Court.

‘What do you mean, with me? Nothing ever happened to me until I started being with you,’ said Tully.

‘Somehow,’ said Robin, ‘I find that pretty hard to believe.’ And Tully smiled.

‘I’d like to see you again,’ Robin said.

She stared at her feet. ‘It will be a little difficult,’ she said at last.

‘That’s all right.’

‘I can’t get out much.’

‘Still, though.’

‘I can’t stay out.’

‘Well, there you go,’ said Robin.

‘Aren’t you going out with Gail?’ Tully asked him.

‘We’re not serious.’

‘You are not serious,’ she corrected him.

Robin smiled. ‘I’ll talk to her. I really want to see you.’

‘When?’ asked Tully.

Robin breathed out. ‘I work every day,’ he said, and tried not to show his pleasure. ‘Uh, except Sundays. How about next Sunday?’

‘Sunday is okay,’ she answered. ‘Same deal? In the afternoon? ’Cause I usually go to church on Sunday mornings.’

‘You go to church, Tully?’ said Robin with surprise.

‘Well, you know,’ said Tully. ‘Just to keep Jen company.’

‘That’s fine. Next Sunday, I’ll take you to lunch. Somewhere nice.

‘Okay,’ she said, leaning over and kissing him on the lips. It was a long time before Robin stopped seeing her serious gray eyes and smelling the coffee and meringue on her breath.

Jennifer and Julie were waiting for Tully in Jennifer’s kitchen.

‘Well,’ said Julie. ‘Do tell all!’

‘Not much to tell,’ replied Tully, sitting down and taking a sip from Jennifer’s Coke. Jennifer got up and got herself another one.

‘Where did he take you?’ asked Julie.

‘For a drive. Jennifer, you should’ve told me his father has lung cancer.’

Jennifer stared at Tully. ‘I didn’t think it was my place,’ she replied. ‘Did you want me to tell him stuff about you?’

Tully rolled her eyes. ‘Can you tell me if he is nice, Jen?’

‘Of course he is, very nice, but what do you think?’

‘He is very good-looking,’ Julie put in. ‘And drives such a good-looking car! What does he do?’

Tully said, ‘He manages his father’s ritzy-glitzy men’s fine clothing store,’ adding, ‘And he is good-looking. He knows it, too.’

‘This bothers you?’ Julie smiled. ‘But what does a handsome, well-off, grown-up guy like him want from you?’ She poked Tully in the ribs.

Tully was unperturbed. ‘The same thing,’ she said, ‘that an ugly, poor, young guy wants from me.’

The girls drank their Cokes.

‘Are you going to see him again?’ asked Julie.

‘Next Sunday, if Jen’s willing.’ Tully patted Jennifer on the head and turned back to Julie. ‘Are you going to see Tom again?’

‘Tully!’

‘Yes, yes, of course. You looove him!’ Smiling, Tully turned to Jennifer, who sat there, spaced out. ‘Jennifer? Has he called?’

Jennifer looked at Tully and Julie as if she couldn’t be sure which one spoke to her.

‘Jennifer, has he called?’ repeated Tully.

Jennifer got up. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘He hasn’t called!’ Tully and Julie chimed in unison.

‘You both are so silly and immature,’ said Jennifer.

‘I agree,’ said Tully. ‘But Julie, have you ever seen a guy who wears tighter Levi’s?’

‘Never,’ said Julie. ‘But I hear it’s a sign of maturity –’

‘To lust after someone with tight Levi’s? Absolutely,’ finished Tully.

‘Girls,’ said Jennifer, ‘I really think it’s time for you to be driven home.’

She ran into Jack on Monday.

He walked over to her locker and said, ‘Hi, Jen, great party, thanks for inviting us, hope we didn’t all trash the place, hope you can make it to the Homecoming game in a couple of weeks.’ Hope this hope that thanks for this thanks for that, blah, blah, blah.