Chapter 15
"WE'LL get married," Pat told her, after his second cup of coffee. "And then we're going to start raising a family. I'll be able to take fine arts on the side, try and make a name for myself. Meanwhile, though, I'm going into commercial art. I'm picking up some pointers here, and I've got a darned decent assignment as soon as I get out of school. Matter of a couple of months. All right, it won't be a fortune, but we can make it. And raise children, darling. I'll want about a dozen."
Now was the time. Deedee gripped her napkin. "We have a start on that, you know."
Pat put down his coffee cup. "What?"
"That's right. We have a daughter. Your little girl, and mine." Dear God, let him accept Maria, their child.
He jumped to his feet. "Oh Lord, honey! You went through with it! You saved my baby for me! Where is she? Can we see her? Today? Oh, Deedee, Deedee, I don't know hoiv you did it, but thank God you did!"
Deedee had momentarily forgotten just how she had done it. In the spell of his enthusiasm she could only think how many bad things were rolling out of her life. "She's in town, silly. I have a friend taking care of her. But we can see her sometime today. When are your classes?"
"Class. I have just one. It's at ten."
"My important stuff is in the morning, too. All right, Papa. We'll go take a look at your daughter right after noon. I'll meet you at the Student Union for lunch."
"And I'll walk you to your first class. Hand in hand. My God, Deedee. I didn't know there was this much happiness in the world. Thank God I found you again.
Here, don't you do that. Let me wash those dishes!"
"Don't start off giving me bad habits, lover!"
Pat and Deedee drove to the University together, and walked hand in hand from the .parking area to her first class. They tried to catch up on so much of their missed years, they succeeded in catching up on almost none of them. Pat waved to several people as they walked, and Deedee was proud that he appeared so popular. At the entrance hall, he gave her hand a last squeeze.
"Noon," he said.
"Noon," Deedee responded. "At the Student Union."
"Then we'll see our baby, and make our plans. Right?"
She reached over and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "Right." She reached the first of her classes in a sort of a glow. By the third, it was a rosy glow.
Shortly before noon, Deedee walked into the busy Student Union cafeteria, got a cup of coffee and took a seat near the door to wait for her Pat.
She left the room, shortly after two o'clock, puzzled, worried, and a bit angry. She thought there might be a message for her at home, but there was nothing. Something had happened, but she would have heard about it if it was bad news. She decided to call Maria and have her bring her daughter to the apartment. Pat had been held up unavoidably. But he'd be sure to come here as soon as he was free, and she'd have his daughter waiting to see him. That was what she must do. Call Maria, then sit back and wait. Be calm, and wait for Pat.
At his art class that same morning, Pat was greeted by a fellow student, a transfer from Blue Harbour, named Ben Carters. Pat nodded genially when Ben came over. "I see you've met Deedee Ryan already," Ben said. "Quite a girl, isn't she?"
Pat looked at him curiously. "Yes," he said slowly. "She's quite a girl."
"Known her very long?"
Aniel shrugged. "Depends on how long 'long' is."
"Yeah," Carters chuckled. "I don't guess it's very 'long' in this case. I knew her at Blue Harbour. Before she got bounced."
"Deedee? Expelled? But why?"
Carters shrugged. "Why else? Selling it, man. Selling it. No less than twenty bucks a copy. Frankly, I didn't think it was worth it, but a helluva lot of the other guys did I hear she knows all the cute little tricks, man! Knows them good!"
Pat snarled, "You filthy bastard!" and swung at the older, bigger man. Carters slipped the blow, grinned thinly and slapped Pat open-handed, contemptuously.
"What's the matter with you, boy?" he was saying as other students moved in to break up the fracas. "Don't tell me you're hung up on her? Not on a whore!"
Pat turned and ran from the room, the echo of the other's mocking laughter ringing stridently in his ears. His first impulse was to go straight to Deedee and confront her with the ugly statement. It had to be a lie, and she should know about it.
He got in his car and drove into Hollywood. There, he went into a garish, but comfortably strange cocktail lounge. I need some time to think, he told himself. Over his first drink, he formed mental images of other men possessing her body, of Deedee acting like an animal with them, and he made himself violently ill. He drank a second, to subdue the nausea, then a third to sharpen his thinking. As he drank more and more the whiskey became fuel to his anger and disgust. She knew all the cute little tricks! He remembered that statement, had a few more drinks while he thought about it. In the course of the afternoon he got quietly, then belligerently drunk. Finally he was escorted out of the lounge by its bored bartender. He was told to stay out.
Fine, he thought. That's just fine with me. Now I can do what I should have done this afternoon. Blearily, he started his car and drove to Deedee's place, parking across the street. With great cunning, he decided to wait there and see who came in and out. He'd find out what kind of tricks Deedee knew! He peered owlishly at his wrist watch. Seven o'clock. The sun was about to go down. He lit a cigarette and prepared for a long vigil.
Shortly before eight a girl came out of the building, holding a little girl by her hand. He peered intently, making out her features. She was Mexican. Maria had been named for Deedee's Mexican friend, and Maria should be just about the age of this little girl. It was them. It had to be them. He watched as she climbed into a car and drove out into the street. If nothing else, Pat decided, Mr. Aniel was going to see his daughter tonight. He pulled away from the curb, following them.
He followed the other car for some twenty minutes. He was still intoxicated, but sober enough to keep it in view until it parked on a quiet, middle-class residential street of unpretentious apartment buildings. Getting out of his car, he followed the Mexican girl and the child into one of the apartment buildings. She was starting up a flight of stairs when he opened the lobby door and called softly.
She turned, looking at him without expression. Finally, she nodded,' indicating that he was to follow her. She unlocked the door to her apartment, motioned him in, carried the now-sleeping child to the sofa and laying her gently down. She turned to face Pat.
"You know who I am?" he asked.
She nodded. "Si. You are Maria's father. The resemblance is noticeable, but also I have heard much about you from her mother. But, why are you here? Why did you not meet Diedre today, as you had promised?"
He bit his lip. Something about this calm, warm, lovely Mexican woman pushed its way through his still-alcoholic daze. "I-I heard something today. At school. Something very bad."
"About Deidrecita?"
"Yes. About Deedee."
"You are very borracho-drunk, I think?"
He flushed. "A little, perhaps. Not very."
"Yes. But still, not a good time to make judgment."
"Judgment? You will make me laugh." He chuckled mirthlessly, as if to prove his words. "I judge not. But I heard today that Deedee was a-a-"
"A puta, perhaps? That she has sold her body for money? Yes. I can see that this is what you have heard. You think it's true, yes? And, if it is true, what will you do? Will you call the authorities, perhaps? Try to take the child away from her?"
He looked down at the sleeping child. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think."
"You love her?"
"Yes, but-My God, she had no right to sell herself!"
"But what else, senor? You were not around to pay for the birth of your child, to buy her food, clothes, medicine."
He sank into a chair, held his head in his hands. "But she could have gotten a job. To sell her body for a few miserable dollars-oh, God!"
She indicated the little girl. "It takes many dollars to feed and clothe a little one. And other dollars to pay someone to watch them while you work-someone who doesn't even love them. It takes still more dollars to acquire an education, so that the little one may be properly cared for as she grows. Your Diedre did what she had to do. She found it ugly. She was ashamed. But she did not kill the child before it was born, as you would have had her do. You call her bad because she sinned. She sinned for a reason. What, senor-" and the older Maria's eyes filled with flame-"what reason did you have for wanting to murder?" She began to pace the small room. "I do not think it is for you to judge, unless you are, by now, ready to be judged."
"I don't know what to do." He shook his head in hurt bafflement. "I just don't know what to do."
"Perhaps, you should ask Diedre if she can forgive you. If so, then would be the time to find out if your heart is so good as hers."
"Tonight?"
"No, Patrick. She may not wish to see you tonight. She was hurt and a little bitter when I left her."
"You're right. Besides, as you said, I am borracho. But I will go to her in the morning. She'll be all right until then?"
"She'll be all right. She will be sad. She will wonder once more why she loves you when you have failed her so much. But she will be all right."
"I promise you, Maria, I'll never fail her again."
"You love her so much? Enough?"
"Enough, indeed." He stooped over, kissed his daughter's silken-soft cheek. Straightening, he went to the door. "Good night, Maria," he said gently. "And thank you very much. Thank God Deedee found a friend like you. Thank you for letting me in, for letting me see my little girl, for helping me to understand. Muchissimo gracias."
"Por nada" Maria said to his retreating figure. She sighed, and crossed herself as the door closed behind him.
Pat drove straight back to Hollywood, found a still-opened jeweler and bought a wedding set.
Deedee was still dressing for school when he rang her bell the next morning. She opened the door a cautious crack, gasped in amazement and tried to close it in his face. He pushed his way in, put a finger over her lips, and spoke cheerfully.
"Before you tell my beads about yesterday, let me explain everything." And he pulled her head back to force acceptance of his kiss of greeting. He grinned at her resistance.
"Where have you been, Pat Aniel?" she demanded.
"Off making a damned fool out of myself. Not a new line for me, as you know only too well. I think the only solution is to get married and have my wife keep me straightened out. How about it? Want to take the chance with a real, first-class jerk? We'll leave for Las Vegas right now!"
"Oh, Pat-darling! You know how much I want to, but when you didn't show yesterday-well, I had a lot of time to think. And now I just don't know. You see, there's a lot about me that you don't know. A lot-"
He put a protecting finger over her lips again. "Hush, girl. I know all about you-all I need to know. I've finally discovered just how much I do love you. We're going to have a fine life, a lot of children, and live to a ripe old age. Hell, we'll have so many kids we won't have to work after we hit forty. They can take care of us."
He picked her up and kissed her firmly. He smacked her on the bottom. "Now," he ordered sternly, "you get! Put something pretty on, and we're off for a honeymoon! "
"Don't you want some breakfast first?"
"No, I don't want some breakfast first," he mocked her. "We'll eat on the way. Come on, honey, we've waited far too long. Let's get started!"
They sat side by side, closely, as the miles hummed away beneath the car. Suddenly, she clapped a hand to her mouth. "Good Lord, Pat. Maria! We didn't even call her."
"We'll call from the next town."
"I hope she isn't worried. Last night when she-"
"Don't get all shook. She knows I was coming to claim you this morning." He removed his left hand from the steering wheel, fished in his pocket. "Here," he held out the velvet jeweler's box. "See how you like it."
"Oh, Pat, darling, it's beautiful!" In her excitement over the rings Deedee forgot her confusion about Maria.
"I'll slip the engagement ring on in the next town. But you'll have to wait for Vegas to get the wedding band. Hey, why are you crossing your fingers?"
"Just hoping that nothing happens this time! Or, if I'm dreaming, that I'll never wake up."
"It won't, and you aren't. This is for real, and for keeps."
They pulled into a little town on the California-Nevada border, and Deedee called Maria. But not before Pat slipped the solitaire onto her finger. "What do you know?" he exclaimed in honest amazement. "It fits."
She laughed, tears of gladness springing quickly to her eyes.
They ate a leisurely breakfast. Over the second cup of coffee, Deedee grinned at Pat. "About that honeymoon," she started.
"What about it?"
"I hope you won't mind if it waits a little while. I've got finals coming up, and I want to stay at the top of my class. Don't forget, I graduate in a few weeks. So, we'll just have to start our honeymoon on campus."
He chuckled. "Man, we're not even married yet, and she's taking over as boss already. Do I feel hen-pecked? And, I might ask, my soon-to-be-bride, what are you going to do with all that education? I plan on keeping you barefoot and pregnant for the next ten years at least!"
She got to her feet, planted a kiss on his nose. "I'll find something to do with it, husband-soon-to-be. I worked hard enough for the damned thing. Come on, we've got a long trip ahead of us."
"You know it, darling. And we've got a whole lifetime to make it in!"
Laughing, they walked hand-in-hand to the car. Deedee never looked back.