Chapter 13
Gloom hovered over the Jamison household like a heavy log. Spud moped around. He knew he should stop Donna Overstreet from going through with her 'F' Club meeting, if he could. But Donna was determined and stubborn. With all the talk going around about Donna, about a possible raid, and about old Rankin's wife getting laid, it seemed wise to Spud to forego certain pleasures for the moment.
Spud's mom wept all the time, and his pop stayed mad. Breakfast that morning was like a funeral.
"If you're not going to school any more, Gilbert," his mom said finally, choking off her sobs, "you'd better get out and find yourself a job."
"You damned right!" his pop added. "Goddamn it!" Spud swore. "Just goddamn it!"
"Gilbert, you stop that evil talk!" his mom scolded.
"The law's gonna take care of some of you smart-alecks," his pop warned.
After an eternity, the meal was over.
Spud's pop got up and went to work.
Spud's mom untied her apron.
"You going out, mom?" Spud asked hopefully.
"Just to the store, Gilbert. I won't be gone long."
She'd be gone long enough for Spud to get on the phone and call up a few people before they headed for school.
As soon as his mom left, he made about a dozen calls. Most of the kids refused to discuss Donna's club over the phone. Maybe they'd been sworn to silence, Spud thought. Or maybe their folks were listening. He rang up Mike Jennings, who was one of Donna's more steady customers, along with Kirk Myers.
"Listen, Spud, I'm in a hurry," Mike growled. "This is a hell of a time to call anybody -" Mike was about to hang up, so Spud hurried. "It's important, Mike! It's about Donna's 'F' Club."
"Shut up, Spud! You want the operator to hear?"
"Shell hear plenty, along with everybody else, if you don't listen to me!"
Mike calmed down a little. "Okay, but make it speedy!" Spud leaned closer to the mouthpiece and spoke in a whisper. "You're hoping for a scholarship, right?"
"What's that got to do with it? What's this all about?"
"Mike, Donna's only seventeen -" "So what? She knows the score! You gettin' moral, or something?" Mike hung up.
The morning sun slammed through the window and hit Spud in the face. The day promised to be rather warm and uncomfortable - warm and uncomfortable in a couple of ways. Of course, most of those messed up with Donna's club assumed that too many prominent people were involved for things to get out of hand. But Spud wasn't so sure. Take men like old Mill house. When he started pushing a matter, he carried it as far as he could.
But there was no use to try to talk to anybody. No one would listen. Spud moseyed outside am found himself wandering aimlessly down the street, not knowing or caring where his feet were taking him.
An old car pulled up to the curb. Coach called to him.
Something about the way Coach looked made Spud's skin crawl. He looked debauched and made Spud recall the incident in the shower. If Coach was wanting somebody s lollipop to suck on, to hell with him! Spud turned away, unable to offer the most elementary civilities.
Coach called, "Spud -" "Shit on you! Leave me alone!"
Coach's voice was soft. "Spud, please don't -" Furious enough to take a swing at Coach, Spud stopped and turned. "Coach, I don't like you worth a good goddamn!" he hurled. "How can a married man with a nice wife do the things you do, you prick-lickin' son-of-a -" Coach didn't let him finish.
"It takes two to tango, ole buddy!" he butted in. He stared at Spud sardonically a moment or two, then gave a short laugh.
"What's so funny?" Spud demanded, feeling sick.
Coach continued smiling at him.
Spud walked away and just wandered around. What Coach had said got into him and made him feel guilty. "It takes two to tango." Well, he guessed he'd tangoed, and he wondered what would happen next.
It was Friday, he recalled, and there would be a ball game that night. Donna's club would meet afterwards.
Maybe Coach had wanted him to play in the game. But he wouldn't be at the game. He wouldn't be at Donna's old club meeting, either!
He was out of everything!
He went into the drugstore and bought a comic book. Then he ordered a Coke and carried it and the book to a booth. He read the comic book but didn't find anything in it funny.
It was evening, and the sky was dark when he started home. He took a short cut, and when he came to his street, he noticed that his house was dark. He remembered it was the night his mom and pop would go to their bridge game.
The Rankin house was dark, too. Old Rankin, of course, would be up at the ball game. He figured Hazel would sneak off to Donna's club, but to hell with her, he thought with bitter frustration. Spud's head ached, and he had a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
When he entered the dark and empty house, the living room forlornly echoed his footsteps. He glanced at his watch. The ball game had started. Now, it wouldn't be too long until Donna's club members would start gathering at her house.
He thought about turning on TV and watching the game. Outside, the lightning flashed, and there were distant rumbles of thunder. Spud switched on TV, but got nothing but static.
Sure as hell, there was going to be a downpour.
The house was too quiet. He felt terribly alone as he wiped his sleeve across his eyes and cursed the TV set.
The phone rang.
He cursed again as he went to answer the phone.
But when he heard Frani's excited voice, he became frightened.
"What is it, Frani?" he asked. "Where are you? What's wrong?"
Twice, she tried to tell him, but her sobs choked off her words.
Unsteady with his own mounting fright, Spud begged, "Please, Frani, stop crying. Tell me what's the matter."
"Spud - I know it's late, and everything -" "It's okay. Just tell me where you are. What's wrong!"
He could hear her choke back her sobs. "I'm at Coach's house," she managed.
"So -?"
He heard Frani sob. "Is it Coach's wife?" he asked quickly, remembering. "Frani, do - do you want me?"
"Spud, there's nobody else. My folks are gone. If you could come - right away -" "Sure, Frani."
Spud's heart pounded fast as he rushed up to his parents' bedroom. Somewhere in there, his pop had hidden his car keys. He went through dresser drawers until he found them.
It took him a long time to get his old car started. It coughed and died on him, then coughed and died again. It must have been half an hour from the time Frani called until he reached Coach's house.
Frani met him at the door. She seemed calmer now than she'd sounded over the phone. "If this is just a false alarm, Spud, you won't be mad, will you?" she asked, looking a little sheepish.
"Is - is Mrs. Nichols having her baby?" Spud gulped.
A scared look came over Frani's face. "I don't know -" Spud grabbed her and tried to kiss the scared look away.
She pushed him back. "Mrs. Nichols is awfully sick. She said not to call the doctor. But, Spud, I - I don't think she's getting any better."
"Is she in labor?" Spud asked, the terrible thought paralyzing him. When he could get his voice, he added, "I'd better go get Coach."
"Mrs. Nichols says not to. When I wanted to call the school, she wouldn't let me. She says she can't be in labor, that the baby isn't due for a week."
"Babies get in a hurry sometimes. Sometimes they come early."
Over Mrs. Nichols' protests from the bedroom, Spud hurried to the phone and called the school. Old Rankin answered and said the ball game was over and that Coach wasn't around.
"Maybe he's on his way home," Spud said.
"He said something about going to town," Mrs. Nichols groaned. "He may be late getting home."
"Town, shit!" Spud said under his breath. He started to tell Frani where Coach would be, then decided not to. He said, "At least, we'd better call the doctor."
"No," Mrs. Nichols protested from her bed. "I've had these pains before. They'll go away.
They're not labor pains.
Spud hurried into the bedroom ready to argue.
Coach's wife lay on the white sheets, her eyes closed. As Spud glanced down, he was poignantly aware of her swollen body, the hollowness of her face, the dark circles under her closed eyes.
She opened her eyes and smiled up weakly. "Hello, Gilbert," she said.
Suddenly, she started writhing and biting her lips. Another pain had hit her. It passed, and she turned frightened eyes up to Spud.
Her eyes filled with tears, and Spud didn't know if they were the result of her recent pains, or from not knowing where Coach was. He figured she was in labor.
"I'm going to get Coach!" he said, his voice quavering.
"Don't leave me alone here," Frani begged, holding on to him.
Another pain convulsed Mrs. Nichols, and when it passed, she told Frani to call the doctor. She was sort of holding her breath, as if expecting another pain to stab her.
When fright glued Frani to the floor, Spud moved to the phone. He'd already noticed the slip of paper with the doctor's number on it, and the doctor's name. As he dialed, Frani again begged him not to leave her.
"But I've got to get Coach!" he croaked, as scared now as Frani was.
He'd received no answer. He dialed again.
Behind him, Frani was crying. "Spud," she sobbed, "I don't know what to do."
"Me, either!" Spud answered. "I've never been around a woman having a baby."
He'd watched a cow have her calf once, and she'd had no trouble. She'd been grazing with the other cows. Then she went off to he down by herself, and in a few minutes, the calf was coming. It was all over in less than no time, and she was up and licking her newborn calf.
He'd heard it was sometimes different with women.
Mrs. Nichols screamed.
Both Spud and Frani rushed to her. A pain, sharper and fiercer than the others, had cramped her. It eased away slowly, but it left her face pinched and white. When she could move, she leaned clumsily on one elbow and looked at the clock. "I must start checking the intervals between pains," she told them.
"You're having your baby?" Spud choked.
Mrs. Nichols lay back on the pillows before she answered. "Don't be scared. There's plenty of time yet. Just keep trying to get the doctor."
While Spud tried the phone again, Frani got warm, damp cloths and bathed Mrs. Nichols' face. Fright stiffened Spud. He hoped he could get through to the doctor before the baby came.
He'd never realized that having babies was anything like this. It made him terribly sober.
He dialed the doctor's number.
No answer.
He heard Mrs. Nichols gasp for breath.
"I'm going for Coach!" he said, replacing the receiver. "Frani, you keep trying to get the doc."
"No," Mrs. Nichols begged, "I want to spare him the gory details."
Spud thought: if this were Frani having my baby, I'd want to be right by her side. Frani was dialing. There was an interval of silence, then she talked to somebody. After she hung up, she turned and said, "I got Doctor Rogers. He's sending an ambulance and says he'll be waiting in the labor room."
Spud saw Mrs. Nichols bite her lips. Another pain crushed her. If the baby came before the ambulance arrived, he didn't know what Frani and he would do.
He couldn't think. He couldn't move for a time. Fright had paralyzed him.
Mrs. Nichols began thrashing her arms and legs about on the bed. Frani started crying. When her pain left, Mrs. Nichols was crying, too. It was all Spud could do not to join them.
Then Mrs. Nichols wiped her eyes with her hand and smiled wanly.
She got out of bed and started walking around. "I remember now, the doctor said I should walk," she told Spud and Frani.
Her stomach was terribly swollen. Another pain caught her while she was on her feet and she would have fallen if Spud hadn't caught her.
"Oh, God, help me! Help me!" she screamed.
Her screams grew louder and seemed to tear her throat. They curdled Spud's blood. "Keep bathing her face," he told Frani. "I've got to go after Coach!"
He ran out to his car parked on the driveway. When he tried to start it up, it wouldn't spark off.
He tried again. Nothing happened.
He jumped out and started running wildly. He came to a phone booth and dialed Donna Overstreet's number. Some clown answered the phone and refused to call Donna. The bastard wouldn't even say if Coach was there, or not.
Spud tried Hazel Rankin's number and let the phone ring six times.
No answer.
He tried City Hall, thinking Coach might be down there with Jake. Somebody told him it was Jake's night off.
He ran back to the house.
Mrs. Nichols was lying on the bedroom floor, amid a pool of water, having convulsions. Frani was hysterical. When Mrs. Nichols began to scream, Spud thought she would never stop. He wanted to get her back on the bed, but he was afraid to move her.
When she rolled back, Spud saw that the roundness of her belly had slipped down. He saw the baby's head there between her legs, trying to expel itself from her tortured body.
An ambulance screamed to a halt outside. Frani ran to the door to let two white-clad young men in. One of them carried a folded stretcher, the other a bag. The one with the bag bent over Mrs. Nichols, then opened the bag and gave her an injection in the arm.
Looking up at Frani, he asked, "Why wasn't a doctor notified?"
Frani was able to tell him about calling Doctor Rogers, who had ordered the ambulance.
"There's no cause for a woman to suffer like this," he said.
The other man unfolded the stretcher, and they put Mrs. Nichols on it and carried her to the ambulance. The shot must have knocked her out immediately, for she was quiet, like she was asleep.
As the ambulance drove away, Frani fell, exhausted, into Spud's arms. He held her for a long time, feeling a hundred years old -and very, very wise. He'd begun to see women in an entirely different light. They were not creatures to be played with and manipulated any more!
And sex took on a different meaning.
He hugged Frani to him, but he didn't go all hot for her. He wondered then, if Hazel could have had the baby she wanted, would she have been a different woman than she was?
And Donna - poor Donna - with the mother she had, the poor girl didn't stand a chance!
As the hot fire in Spud died, pity took over. It was like a soothing balm. He felt no desire for a promiscuous fucking party and wondered if he ever would again. Seeing Mrs. Nichols in the throes of childbirth, seeing a baby's head coming out of the place that had so often given him a kind of joy, he wondered if he'd ever want to bang some broad's pussy again.
The whole dreadful experience had made him a man!
When he could speak again, he told Frani, "There's nothing to worry about now. You stay here. I'm going to get Coach!"
He ran all the way to Donna's house.