Whistling In The Dark Part 11

"But, Ethel . . ."

"Just hush up for one minute." I was so jumpy mad that I tried to get up off the swing, but Ethel grabbed me by the arm and reeled me back down. "The reason Mr. Rasmussen was lookin' at Miss Junie like he loved her was cuz he did. He was Miss Junie's uncle. I thought you knew that."

"Excuse me?" I asked, because I was sure I'd heard her wrong.

Ethel said slowly, p.r.o.nouncing each word very carefully, "Junie was Mr. Rasmussen's little niece. His sister Betsy's girl."

I just couldn't believe it. This man was the evilest thing walking around on two feet.

Rasmussen had murdered and molested his own niece!

I couldn't talk for a minute because suddenly I didn't trust Ethel, which made me feel really deep down slimy. "Poor Dave. Little Miss Junie was the apple of his eye." She stopped rocking us and said, "For land's sake, why'd you go and think he'd murdered her? Why, Mr. Rasmussen, he can't even murder one of G.o.d's worst ideas, that's what a good man he is."

"I'm sorry to have to say this, but you are so wrong, Ethel. Rasmussen did murder Junie and he murdered Sara Marie, too." My mind felt like the inside of a beehive. "And he's got a picture of me in his wallet so that means he's coming after me next."

Ethel let out a little surprised whoop. "Oh, wait 'til I tell Ray Buck." And then she really broke out laughing hard, maybe because she was tired or maybe to make me feel better because she knew how much I loved to hear that laugh that sounded like a million bucks, deeply rich and no end to it. "I always tol' you that imagination of yours was goin' to get you into trouble someday and today is that day, Sally."

Even though she was laughing I could tell she was a little upset with me because she had forgotten to call me Miss Sally. I leaned into her when she put her warm arm around me and said, "I promise you this. Mr. Rasmussen, he's the best man around here. A true gentleman. He wouldn't never hurt n.o.body and somehow you just gotta make yourself stop thinkin' like that."

The smell of Rasmussen's roses was getting mixed in with that smell of chocolate chip cookies and they made a wave of sweetness that I wanted to do a swan dive into. It woulda been so nice to believe Ethel. To think that somehow I had gotten the idea about Rasmussen being a murderer and molester into my head the same way I'd thought Mr. Kenfield was a spy and that Butchy was the devil in a dog disguise. Seeing Rasmussen look at Junie over at the park when they were flying that kite and thinkin' he was up to something, and how he was always so nice but looked sad sometimes when you'd walk past his house, and how he never got married and all those other things I'd been thinking . . . it was all my imagination?

"Maybe it's because your mother is sick. The worry of that can make a body's brain think somethin' that might not be right," Ethel said. "And your daddy dyin' not that long ago. I seen this happen before. Folks can go off their head for a bit because they's so upset 'bout somethin'."

Rocking with her in the moonlight that made everything seem like it was really just a dream, with edges wispy and soft, I couldn't tell where things started and where they ended. Maybe I had gone off of my head just like she said. But then I realized that if Ethel was right and Rasmussen wasn't trying to murder and molest me . . . somebody else was. Somebody had chased me down that alley. Somebody had pushed me down in the Fazios' backyard during red light, green light. You could even ask Nana Fazio.

"You feelin' an ant's worth better, Miss Sally?" Ethel said from far away.

I wanted to say, "Yes, Ethel, I feel fine. Everything's going to be okay. I see now that what you said about Rasmussen is the honest to G.o.d's truth. That he's not the murderer and molester." But I just couldn't do that. I loved Ethel to bits and I never lied to her.

"You just go ahead and sleep, sugar. Best thing for you. Ethel's gonna go ahead and say 'nother little prayer for you." Soft and clear in her sweet voice that hung over that garden of goodness, she said, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Last thing I thought before I drifted off was that I'd need to have a little chat with Ethel tomorrow about her prayer selection.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.

I woke up in Ethel's bed the next morning, thinking about last night and what she'd told me about Rasmussen and how he was a good man, a true gentleman. A nice loving uncle to Junie. Definitely not a murderer and molester. That was so hard for me to believe. Impossible, really. I would have to have a case of amnesia to believe something like that.

Ethel peeked her head through the bedroom door and said, "Time to get your tail a-shakin'." She had some toast on a see-through plate and a cup of milk with Ovaltine in it that she'd bought just for our Wednesday visits because we just adored Ovaltine. Ethel had grown to just adore it, too. Who wouldn't? She set my breakfast down on the small bedside table right next to her Bible and a Sears and Roe-buck catalog that had some folded-over pages.

Ethel went over to the bedroom window and pulled up the yellowed shade that looked right into Rasmussen's garden. I already knew he was out there and that Troo was with him because I heard their voices coming through the screen window. I saw that Troo had on a big starched shirt that was probably Mr. Gary's because it looked like a dress on her. I could tell she'd had a bath from the way her hair looked all fresh with the gold jumping around in it like Mother's.

"How you feelin' this morning?" Ethel sat down on the edge of the bed and I rolled her way.

"I'm feelin' fine this morning, Ethel. Thank you for asking. Did you tell him?" I nodded toward the window.

"No, I most certainly did not. I 'spect that might hurt Mr. Rasmussen's feelings, tellin' him you think he's a murderer and molester, don't you?" She was out of her nightie and into her Sunday clothes even though it was Tuesday. "I happen to know that Mr. Rasmussen thinks very highly of you, Miss Sally, so you gotta train your mind, get it to stop thinkin' the way it's been thinkin' about him."

I would have to work very, very hard to train my mind not to think the way it'd been thinking about him. But if Ethel was right, that's what I had to do. Because if it wasn't Rasmussen, I hadda start keepin' an eye out for whoever else it was that was trying to do away with me.

"What time is it?" I asked her. I took a bite out of the toast and it was so good with those strawberry preserves spread on top of it. "Troo and I have that funeral to go to today. I promised Henry Fitzpatrick."

"It's just after seven." Ethel got up off the bed. "I already gave Troo a bath and you're next. I'm gonna go run the water. You finish up your toast, includin' the crusts."

I rolled onto my other side and watched Troo throw the ball for the little collie dog, who looked like it was having so much fun running around Troo's legs with its tongue hangin' out. Rasmussen was bent over at his waist, laughing at the two of them.

I could hear Ethel start up the bathwater on the other side of the wall. Before Mother got sick, I didn't care much for baths and would complain the whole time, but now the idea of getting clean in that tub sounded just heavenly to me. Ethel would put bubble bath in it because that was what she always did for Mrs. Galecki. Bubble bath that came in a little yellow Avon bottle and made the whole house smell like vanilla ice cream. So I stuck the rest of the toast in my mouth, includin' crusts, and got up to see if Mrs. Galecki was around. I thought I could read her a quick story or something for lettin' me and Troo stay overnight at her house.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Mr. Gary was sitting at the kitchen table with his mother. He was dressed in a nice white shirt and shorts. Mr. Gary almost always wore white clothes. He took such pride in his appearance.

Mrs. Galecki said, "Good morning, Sally."

"Morning," I said to her smiling face. She absolutely adored her son and talked about him all the time when he wasn't here, told me little stories about him. Like how Mr. Gary was something called a late bloomer. And how he used to get picked on at school by bad boys who called him a ninety-eight-pound weakling. But how her Gary was doing so well after such a rocky start and she was so proud of him. So, of course, Mrs. Galecki musta been just Christmas-morning excited that Mr. Gary was sitting next to her at the round wooden breakfast table with cups of tea and toast and even some grapes.

"Come join us," Mrs. Galecki said, and waved at me with her little gnarled-up hand.

"Just for a minute would be okay cuz I really gotta take a bath." I could barely stand to be around myself, that's how bad I had begun to smell, and sitting in Rasmussen's green bean tepee in the dirt last night had not helped one bit.

I sat down next to Mrs. Galecki, who had a lot of lines on her face, especially around her mouth. But she had pretty eyes of a brown color that I had never seen before. Like the water down at the lagoon. Light muddy colored.

Mr. Gary was reading the newspaper to his mother. His ears didn't look quite as bad as they had in that high school graduation picture in the hidey-hole. They still stuck out but his face had grown wider. "Today is the funeral of that little girl they found in the park. Did you know her, Sally?"

"Not really," I said, popping a grape in my mouth. "Sara was younger than me and Troo. A third-grader."

Mrs. Galecki shook her wobbly head back and forth and said, "How sad for her mother. You remember Cathy Miller, don't you, Gary? She married Frankie Heinemann. Sara was Cathy and Frankie's little girl."

Mr. Gary shook his paper and said, "Of course, I remember Cathy Miller. Prettiest girl in school. Lovely, lovely girl."

"I think the whole world is heading to you know where in a handbasket, don't you?" Mrs. Galecki said. "What kind of monster would hurt poor defenseless children?"

Yesterday I woulda thought right away that Rasmussen would, but I was trying not to think like that anymore. Just as a favor for Ethel. But I was pretty sure this mind training would take some time. Like learning a new card trick.

I was getting ready to ask Mr. Gary about Mother and what kind of girl she was in high school and were her and him friends when Ethel called, "Miss Sally . . . bath is ready!"

"Thank you for lettin' Troo and me stay over." I pushed my chair back and said, "We appreciate it so much."

Mr. Gary set his paper down on the table and said in that soft, light voice of his, "What nice manners you have, Sally."

I must have blushed because he added, "And such wonderful coloring. You know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"You have green eyes and blond hair and skin with the nicest bit of peach tone," Mr. Gary said. "That's called your coloring." He picked up his paper and said from behind it, "You're a beautiful girl."

"Miss Saaallly, get your behind in here 'fore this water gets cooled down," Ethel called.

Then Mr. Gary said something behind his hand to Mrs. Galecki. I caught the words "Troo" and "coloring," and they had a little laugh about that.

I went to the bathroom door and there was Ethel sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for me. "Just take off them clothes. I'll wash 'em for you."

"But what'll I put on then?" I handed her my shirt and shorts and undies. Granny woulda said those clothes looked like something the cat dragged in.

"I called Nell. She'll be here in a shake of a lamb's tail with some clean clothes for you and Troo. She'll be takin' you to the funeral in Eddie's car and givin' me a ride, too." So that's why Ethel was in her Sunday clothes. She was going with us to the funeral, which shouldn'ta surprised me because Ethel never missed a funeral. She said it was important for the dead person's family to know how many people were gonna miss 'em.

I slipped my leg into the tub and it felt so good, that warm water and those bubbles. Ethel put a brand-new cake of Ivory soap on the side of the tub and I stretched out and floated a bit. "Behind the ears, too," she said. "And wash your hair." After Ethel closed the door, I thought about Nell and her bubblehead. Even though Nell was doing such a bad job taking care of Troo and me, before Mother got sick Nell really was only about the third worst sister in the world. I would keep that to myself, though, because I knew Troo thought Nell was the number-one worst sister. Even when she was a baby, Troo didn't like Nell one bit. Except as somebody she liked to bite when she got her teeth. And there was no reason for it. It was just Troo being ornery. And maybe just a little green-eyed jealous of Nell.

There was a shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits knock. "Sorry to bother you," Mr. Gary said through the bathroom door. "I need to get an aspirin out of the medicine cabinet for Mother. May I come in?"

I sunk down deep into the bubbles and said, "Sure," even though I didn't want him to. It was his house, after all, and woulda been poor manners to say no.

Mr. Gary came in and got the pill bottle and then snapped the medicine cabinet shut and looked at me through the mirror. "Bet that feels good, huh, Sally? I just love the water. Back home in California I live at the beach and every morning I go for a swim." He came to sit on the side of the tub down on the end where my feet were. I checked again to make sure all of me was under the bubbles. "It's a wonderful way to start the day. Always makes me feel good and clean and just born again." He gave me a little splash.

I thought about that and said, "Yeah. You're right, Mr. Gary," but I wished he'd leave or at least stop smiling because he had this one eye that crossed over a little and made him look a little off. His "coloring" was sort of like mine. Tan skin with blond hair, but instead of green eyes he had eyes the same color as his mother's, lagoon brown. And his blond hair was so blond, it looked, like Nell would say, out of a bottle. And she should know because she was in her second week now up at Yvonne's School of Beauty on North Avenue.

Ethel came back and found Mr. Gary and me talking. She gave him a little push toward the door and said to me, "Did you wash your hair?"

I slipped below the water but I could hear Ethel say something to Mr. Gary and when I came up he was gone.

Ethel knelt down next to the tub and picked up the bar of Ivory and ran it between her big brown hands until there was a lather. My head was kinda under the water and I didn't really hear her, just saw her lips moving. Ethel had wonderful lips. On the larger side. And she always wore this bright red lipstick called Fire Engine Number 5. I bet that would be what Mary Lane wore when she got older.

She pulled me up out of the water by the back of my neck and worked the lather into my hair, kneading my scalp like it was bread dough giving her a hard time. "I said what was Mr. Gary sayin' to you?"

"He said how much he loved water and how it made him feel like he was just born again."

Ethel rolled her eyes and said, out of patience, "That boy has some fanciful ideas and I don't want him gettin' your imagination all worked up again." She sc.r.a.ped the soap off her hands and arms and shook it into the tub. "Dunk yourself and get out."

I didn't want to get out. I wanted to stay in there and float forever and feel like Mr. Gary said, just born again, but Ethel flapped a fluffy fresh towel at me and said, "Time's a-wastin'." I got out and let her wrap me up. "Go on into my room now and close the door behind you. Nell should be here any minute."

I crawled back underneath Ethel's covers, towel and all, and just stayed there like Ethel said, watching Troo out the window helping Rasmussen pick green beans and put them in a silver bowl. Rasmussen looked down at his watch and his lips moved. Then he looked over my way and waved. I pretended I didn't see him and rolled over onto my other side and prayed Nell would hurry up and get here, because even though it was such a warm day, seeing Troo and Rasmussen together like that, so chummy, I got the shimmy shimmy shakes.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

After Troo and me got dressed in the faded navy blue church dresses and shiny shoes with cleats that Nell brought over, we went looking for Mr. Gary so we could say good-bye to him. We found him out on the front stoop, smoking a cigarette.

I said, "Mr. Gary, we gotta go to a funeral now, but we promise we'll try to come back soon and play some old maid."

Mr. Gary took a long draw and said, "You better make it sooner rather than later, Sally. I'm heading back to California in a few days."

Troo said, "The land of milk and honey."

Remembering this morning's bath, I said, "And water." A specific ocean of it.

Mr. Gary stood up and took a step back so he could get a good look at the two of us. "How pretty and fresh you girls look in your dress-up clothes," he said in his light-as-a-b.u.t.terfly voice. He flicked his cigarette into the gra.s.s, gave us each a peck on the cheek and hopped down the stairs with a cheery, "I told Mother I'd cut some flowers for her. Hope to see ya later, alligators." Even after he took the turn into the backyard, I could still smell his baby powder.

Ethel and Nell were already sitting in Eddie's car, waiting for us. I told Troo to go ahead, and then I yelled, "Just a minute," and went back into the house to thank Mrs. Galecki one more time for letting us stay with her. She was asleep in her kitchen chair, so I just wrote down a little note on a napkin that said, "Thanks a million!" I signed it, "The O'Malley Sisters!" and propped it up on her gla.s.s of prune juice.

When I tiptoed out the front door and turned around, there he was waiting for me on the porch steps.

"Morning, Sally."

I jumped halfway out of my skin. This man was very good at creeping up on people. Rasmussen was all dressed up in a fancy black suit, looking very sharp. He also had on shiny black shoes. Not the spongy kind. "Can I give you a ride over to the funeral?"

"No, that's okay." I moved down Mrs. Galecki's front walk, far enough away from him so he couldn't grab me. "I got a ride."

Because no matter what Ethel said about him, I was still mostly suspicious of Rasmussen. And then I don't know what came over me. I felt real bold with the sun shining and the little dog Lizzie barking at a squirrel that she'd chased up the big oak tree, so I squinted at him and said, "Why do you have a picture of me in your wallet?"

That rattled his cage.

He yelled down to Nell and Eddie to wait a minute and then knelt down next to me. "There's a lot of things going on right now that you won't understand for a while. But I promise you, everything is going to be okay. You need to trust me a little. Can you do that?" He tried to put his hands on my shoulders, but I yanked back so hard that he lost his balance and fell forward onto his hands and knees. He got up and brushed his pants off and said strongly, "I think you need to ride over to church with me this morning. We need to talk." He waved good-bye to Nell and Eddie and off they went with Ethel and Troo, who was smiling at me out the back window of the '57 Chevy because she thought that was funny, me being left behind with Rasmussen.

"Let me put Lizzie in the house," Rasmussen said. "And then we've got to hurry over to church. I'm one of the pall-bearers."

He had such a nice house. Picturesque, I'd call it. It was red brick and had some ivy growing up the side of it and white shutters on the windows with red and white geraniums coming out of the window boxes.

After he got the puppy squared away he called to me from the porch, "I'm going to go get the car. Wait for me at the curb."

I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. Since I was gonna get married to Henry Fitzpatrick I had to get to that funeral even though it would be that devil Rasmussen taking me. So I walked down his steps and tried not to think about Junie's picture hanging in his dining room, telling myself over and over again that I was going to be okay because even Rasmussen wouldn't do something like murder and molest me on the way to a funeral. n.o.body could be that bad, could they?

He pulled up and got out of his dark brown Ford and ran around the back fender, coming right for me. I managed to get back up on the sidewalk, and was halfway up Mrs. Galecki's steps before he caught me by the arm. I screamed and screamed so loud that Mr. Gary came running out from the backyard with a bouquet of pink flowers in his hand. He yelled, "Everything okay, Dave?"

Rasmussen just nodded at him.

"Sally Elizabeth O'Malley, what is wrong with you? I was just coming over to open your car door." Rasmussen let go of my arm and walked back over to his side of the car.

I remembered then how Daddy used to do that for Mother. Opened her car door and bent at the waist and said, "Your chariot awaits you, madam." I hadn't seen anybody do something that mannerly in a long time except for Mr. Cary Grant in the movies. So maybe just like Ethel said, Rasmussen was a true gentleman. Or maybe he was just a very, very good actor.

We drove for two blocks without talking and the silence was real loud until Rasmussen said, "You know that your mother and I are friends, right?"

I stared out the car window and let the breeze of the chocolate chip cookies ruffle my bangs.

"I went to see Helen yesterday." Rasmussen put on his blinker to turn onto Lisbon Avenue.

"Is she okay?"

Rasmussen didn't take his eyes off the road. "Yes, she is."

I wanted to ask him so many questions about Mother, just beg him to tell me every little detail-like if she'd asked about me and when she might come home and did she need anything like her gold hairbrush. But I wasn't a hundred percent sure he was telling the truth, and even if he was, I just couldn't bring myself to let him know that I wanted something from him.