Free Eureka Man: A Novel by Patrick Middleton Page B

Her jet-black hair,
always meticulously coiffed, was hanging in greasy strands. Her
eyes were sunken and the skin on her face sagged like dough. At
some point she had tried to put on lipstick but had gone wide of
the mark. Her face resembled a sad clown. Oliver sat on the side of
the bed and held her hand while Skip left the room to call their
aunt Harriet, who came right away along with the rescue squad.
Oliver and Skip watched helplessly as the attendants loaded her
into the ambulance and drove her away to a sanitarium in Baltimore.
Ninety-three days later when she returned looking like Maggie in
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Oliver was there to greet her. It was the
happiest day of his life.
    Pleased once again that he had witnessed her
sobriety from the day she came home from that sanitarium all the
way up to the day he had broken her antique chair over Ernie Boy
the Second's back and fled to Pennsylvania, Oliver finally fell
asleep. But he did not have the dream he wanted.
     
    IN THE MORNING he kicked off the rugs he called a
quilt and hurled his head in the pillow to keep the sunlight out of
his eyes and the man from Youngstown out of his mind. When he
finally got out of bed to stare at the icy waters of the Ohio
River, the pass-runner showed up at his door.
    “Priddy, let me hold the horseshoe you got up
your ass,” the runner said.
    “Freddie, my man. What's up?”
    “Here. You got another visitor. That's three
this month. What a lucky dude.”
    Oliver took the pass and saw the word family
written at the bottom. “I hope that cocksucker's not trying to
shock me again.”
    “Say what?”
    “My biological father. He came to see me
yesterday for the first time in sixteen years.”
    “Did you know he was coming?”
    “Hell, no! I didn't even know he was
alive.”
    “How'd it go?”
    “You don't even want to know.” He grabbed his
shower kit and towel and opened the cell door.
    “Well, just be glad somebody's thinking about
you, Priddy. Some of us in here don't have a soul in the
world.”
    “Yeah, you're right, Freddie. Thanks for the
pass. I'm going to get a shower. Whoever it is can wait.”
    By the time he finished showering and left
his cell for the visiting room, Oliver had changed his mood twenty
times. Should I have it out with him, or let it go? Should I ask
the motherfucker why he never called or came around, or let it all
be hunky dory? He couldn't decide. When he walked into the visiting
room and saw his brother Skip looking out the window his
countenance changed again. “Good God, Almighty! If it isn't my
brother, Skip!” His voice was full of excitement.
    Skip turned around, saw Oliver moving toward
him and smiled. “Hey, Oliver.”
    They shook hands, embraced and patted each
other on the back. “How have you been?”
    “All right. And you?”
    “I'm doing well, Ollie. It's good to see
you.”
    Oliver fingered the sleeve of Skip's leather
Washington Redskins jacket, which prompted Skip to say, “I guess
you're a Steelers fan now, huh?”
    “Are you kidding? I'm not a turncoat.” Then,
as though he noticed something missing, he asked, “Where's
everybody else?”
    “Anna couldn't make her mind up and Ernie Boy
the Second wouldn't let Huck come 'cause they have a house full of
company. And Momma, well, you're not going to believe me when I
tell you, Oliver.”
    “What? Did something happen to her? Is she
okay?”
    “Couldn't be better. She just got married
again.”
    “To who?”
    “A television executive. Real nice guy.
You'll like him. He treats her like a queen.”
    “When did this all happen?”
    “Two weeks ago. They're in Stowe, Vermont,
right now. They're coming to see you after the holidays.”
    “Man, she sure is resilient,” Oliver said.
“Good for her.”
    Skip smiled at Oliver and said teasingly,
“Tell me about this girlfriend of yours.”
    “How'd you know?”
    “Momma. Who else?”
    Oliver nodded. “Well, she's real nice,” he
said. “Her name's Penelope. She goes