Note: If you have not read parts I or II yet, click the on them to the left and read them first.
The evening after Tom’s now infamous on-air chat, large flakes of snow drifted down and rested where they fell. The wind had slowed to what folks in other places call a steady breeze; what they call in the Dakotas simply: “no wind”.
Liv had been waitressing at Candy’s diner on routes 12 & 20 for longer than she could remember without thinking about it, and she didn’t want to think about it. The gray hairs were becoming too numerous to pluck out anymore. Body parts she didn’t know she had a couple of years ago were starting to hurt. She was no more tired than usual but that fact that it was Christmas Eve and tomorrow would be a long lonely day made it feel hard and dry. Not unlike the toast she was making to be drown in a sloppy ladle of creamed chipped beef and garnished with a wilting sprig of parsley.
She suppressed her urge to cough. If she started, it might not stop.
Her pink uniform was too short for her but too large as well. It hung high and short on her tall skinny frame without revealing any shape whatsoever. She could sense empty coffee cups at the tables.
It pissed her off.
Her only amusement was watching the sad case in booth #2. It was the guy that had been on the news last night, the guy who freaked out on television. He was sitting by himself looking at everyone that came in as if he were expecting someone he didn’t know.
Tom spent more time stirring his coffee than drinking it. He watched the snow fall outside. He was out of a job out a fiancé and it was Christmas Eve.
People had told him his broadcast was cut short before he had mentioned that he would be at this diner all evening, so he wasn’t really expecting anyone to show up with information about Moon and her family. He decided to come and sit anyway. The newspaper and the radio station were no help when he asked but he had to hope. Maybe, by word-of-mouth, some soul who could deliver that missing link would walk in, sit down with him and help him find out about Moon. Besides, with his parents both gone and his engagement broken there was no one waiting for him at home. He had nothing better to do.
He was loosing that hope though. Except for a few jeers from folks who recognized his face from his broadcast the day before and the national news it made that night, it was beginning to look as he suspected; no one was going to be joining him.
The only person in the place that was not snickering at him was a guy sitting at the counter from out of town.
“Lars Johnson’s the name. I’m from Minneapolis yah. Yep, got an emergency call yesterday.” He bragged to the skinny waitress. “I work in the television doncha know. I build the actual stations, the electronics and what-have-you. And I fix things when they go wrong too. At your station here,” he pointed outside in an arbitrary direction, “I guess this nut job was tellin’ his life story on the air instead of doing the news and the station manager—ornery little guy—went and tore down the antenna cable right smart to get the guy off the air.”
He dabbed a gray piece of meat loaf in a pool of gravy, stabbed a few not-so-green beans in the same fork load and stuffed the whole business in his mouth.
“Now Miss,” He continued to talk while chewing. “you’ll have to believe me that that’s just something you never want to do, it wreaks havoc, just wreaks havoc, and I told the guy there too. I just don’t know what he was thinking.
“Yessir, I’m going to be working all day tomorrow, Christmas day and all doncha know. Right now my partner’s driving back to get parts—special electronic parts. Boy, is that little guy going to be ornery when he gets the bill. You know, I just can’t believe I’m going to be out here working on Christmas day. So aah.. You have a family there little lady?”
Liv said nothing while refilling the guy’s coffee but looked at Tom and gave him a knowing smirk.
Tom was beginning to regret the whole thing. So what if Verna left him. He had a job, not the best job but a job that paid every week. He had lived most of his life now without Moon or knowing where she was. Was it so bad? It beat farming or shoveling grain at a co-op. Was his life so hard that he had to throw away his career across a burning bridge?
Under the feeling of panic of being unemployed for the first time in his life, just behind the pain of having been dumped by his long-time girlfriend, he felt the faint glimmer of possibility inspire him. Even though his heart was broken, in a way, he was glad to be free of Verna and her father, his boss… his former boss.
Eight O’clock. No one was going to be meeting him. He had heard the numbers of how many people were watching him the other morning but it would seem their interest died the same time the television signal did. Time to cut and run, time to give up, go home, get some rest get up and start a new life.
A new life born on Christmas day; why not?
He reached for his coat hanging at the end of the booth. He felt a chill of cold air as the door to the diner opened. A woman walked in and passed Tom’s booth. Tom had searched the eyes of so many before her that didn’t notice her scanning the restaurant for a man sitting alone or at least in expectation.
The others in the restaurant saw her sure enough as her gaze reached each of their own. She was attractive and slender wearing a trench coat and heeled boots.. Her reddish hair was done up but was gradually falling down in little strands. She was even wearing some makeup.
She was from the city.
Tom had already exited his booth and was headed for the door, pulling on his coat and hat when she turned around.
“Mr. Collins?”
He continued for the door and placed his hand on the handle.
“Mr.Collins!”
He turned back with the door half open. The guy at the counter complained about the cold air.
“Mr Collins, I’m Becky Hammond. I’m a research assist... a reporter with CBS News could I talk to you for a bit?”
A reporter. Tom did little to hide his disappointment. He gestured to the woman to join him as he returned to his booth. He removed his hat but not his coat.
“Hello,” she said with bright brown eyes “Whew, I’m glad I caught you.” She pulled her white gloves off her hands and folded them haphazardly on the table. “I’ve been driving from Chicago since early yesterday.”
The woman was beautiful to be sure. He wondered what Moon would look like grown up. She would be lovely he had no doubt but it had been so long it was hard to even remember what she looked like back then.
Becky took out a pad of paper and produced a pencil from somewhere in her hair.
“Thomas Collins,” she said aloud as she wrote his name at the top of the pad.
“It’s just Tom,” Tom corrected.
“I think we’d better go with Thomas. We don’t want to get a lot of mail about alcohol.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Your name, ‘Tom Collins’, the drink? Seltzer, lemon and gin? You don’t get that a lot?”
“Oh that. Yes I do get that from time-to-time.”
“Your parents must either have been teetotalers or had a sick sense of humor huh.”
“Um, Teetotalers. Listen, how did you know I’d be here? They KO’d my broadcast before I mentioned it on the air. They pulled out the darn antenna; smoke flames, it was a real mess.”
“Now that boys speaks the truth I’m telling ya,” Said Lars from the counter, “A real mess that was. I got a guy going back for parts.”
“I don’t know,” Becky said turning back from the man at the counter. “To be honest I didn’t see it. My producer gave me the info on where you’d be.” She flipped back a page in her note pad. He saw the address of the diner amidst a mass of doodles; horses, cartoon figures and abstract flower shapes. “In Chicago they were watching you on some sort of internal feed or something. It might be that antenna problem had any effect on what we were seeing.
“Of course! The reverse network feed I patched for them.”
“Maybe… probably.”
“Them feeds is on a whole different system.” Lars told Liv, hoping still to impress.
“So let me get this straight,” Tom said ignoring the man at the booth, “you’re here to do a story on my broadcast and you didn’t even see it?” Tom spoke a little lower to keep their conversation from reaching strangers’ ears.
“I’ll probably watch the tape when I return. This is a prelim, a fact finding mission, I’m not actually writing the story.”
“Kinda like the scout for the calvary?”
“Yeah kinda.”
“Still though, I would have thought you would have watched the broadcast, done your homework.”
“This was last minute and… Well, you’re a news guy, don’t tell me in this back water market that you don’t occasionally circle stories on the AP and read them verbatim on air,” she said, “Hmmm?”
“Yeah well, that’s hardly the same thing. Are you going interview me or what?”
Becky couldn’t believe her nerves. She was making an ass of herself. She couldn’t believe she was in the one place in the World she said she never go back to. It was making her crazy just being near where it happened. She felt fear and anger. The sadness of having to leave the best friend she’d ever had.
She never would have said yes to this fact finding job but she had to take advantage of the situation. All the copy writers turned down the assignment because they weren’t willing to leave there families on Christmas. She even had to convince them she, as a woman, would be okay traveling on her own. As a woman and only a researcher Becky didn’t catch a break often. She had to make it count.
Now she was here and she had a job to do. She had to get a handle on things, stop acting like an idiot.
“Listen, I’m sorry. I’ve been driving for two days, I’m tired, I don’t really like being here. You look like your not having the best day either.”
“It’s not a very good restaurant but it’s the only thing open.”
“No, I meant this area. I lived around here once and…”
He almost asked but he could see the pain in her eyes.
“I’m sorry too. Ask what you were going to ask?” He said. He extended his hand across the table not quite touching hers.
“Thank you. Let’s see… So, you have a news show, “Morning Farm Report?”
Tom knodded.
“Did you know you were going to commandeer the station before that morning?”
“I didn’t commandeer anything. I just told my own story. And no, it was completely impromptu.”
“Impromptu,” she repeated as she wrote.
“Was your crew in on it,” she said.
“There is no crew, it’s a one-man operation.”
“Really? Wow! So, briefly, if you can: why?”
“My fiancé had left me and there was someone I wanted to find. Someone I had lost years ago.”
“A girl?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. That’ll make for good copy.”
She circled something several times on her pad.
“Were you hoping to meet her here tonight?”
“No. Maybe just someone that knew her.”
“During your broadcast did you mention her specifically?”
“Yes and no. I can’t remember her name as such but she probably would have known I was talking about her if she’d seen the show.”
“You can’t remember her name? One of those huh?”
“It wasn’t like that. We were young.”
“…and foolish right?”
“I need to go.”
Tom slid to the edge of the booth.
“Please, just a few more questions,” Becky said.
“I can see the kind of story you want this to be, and it just isn’t like that.”
Tom got up from the booth and took his hat off the hook.
“But maybe I could help you find her,” she said.
Tom thought for a moment.
“No… You know, I’ve been looking for her for fifteen years and I’ve made a mess of my relationships, my career. I think I have to start looking for me.”
His hand disappeared inside his jacket. She heard car keys jingle.
“I hope I’m not too late.” He said as he turned to walk out the door.
“Fifteen years?” she said to herself. “Fifteen years?”
Tom pulled his hand from his pocket and gave her a small wave. He didn’t hear his keys hit the snow soaked floor mat.
Outside, when he reached his car his hand dug into an empty pocket. He grunted and trudged back to the diner entrance. He looked up to see Becky standing just outside the door as if something had frozen her in her tracks. She was looking down at the keys she held in her hand. He stopped several feet away. She was caressing the small die cast horse he kept on the chain. She looked up. Fresh tears were streaming down her face.
“Tommy?” she said weakly.
It couldn’t be.
“Moon?” He said as soft as the snow.
He was paralyzed by a million questions and feelings all at once.
“Moon?” was all he could manage.
A nod was all she could manage.
“But…” he said.
“My father was Indian. I had an English name: Rebecca, and an Indian name: ‘Cloud Hidden Moon’. When I was born, my father went outside. The full moon was half hidden behind the clouds. Everyone called me Moon.”
Tom walked towards her.
“You’ve been looking for me all this time?” She sniffled.
He knodded. She stepped towards him down the remaining steps from the diner and put her arms around him. Tom held her back. He felt dizzy, sick and better than he could remember ever feeling.
The couple embraced for along time letting the snow fall on them.
“My Dad…” she said between her tears. “My parent’s were a mixed couple, she was white he was Indian. We tried to keep it secret. My father was always away working anyhow, but someone found out. The wrong people found out and they got to him and…”
Tom rocked her gently, stroking her back.
“They left him for dead, but somehow he made it home. We left town that night. I barely had time to pack. I had to leave so many things behind.”
Tom heard his keys jingle in her hand.
“I had to leave you.” She said squeezing him harder. “We moved; Ohio, Indiana, New Hampshire, Maryland, Chicago… We were always scared, always hiding. Dad died a few years after. It killed him what they did, just not right away. My mom remarried and I took on my step Dad’s name: Hammond.”
“I always thought you had blond hair?”
“I did. After years of living in cloudy places and work that keeps me indoors it got darker.”
She loosened her embrace and stood back to look at him.
“Tommy, I can’t believe it’s you. You were looking for me, you broadcast it all over the Midwest and I didn’t even get up from desk long enough to look.”
Becky laughed through her tears. Tom handed her a handkerchief.
“Oh thanks,” she said. She blew her nose. “Oh lord, I must look a site.”
“The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Tom said.
Becky smiled.
“Why don’t we get you home. My folks are both gone. It’s all mine now. We’ll get you cleaned up, let you get some rest.”
Arm-in-arm Tommy and Moon walked to his old Dodge.
From inside the diner Liv watched the car disappear into the snow. She took a cigarette from a pack sitting next to the milk shake mixer and lit it.
She turned her back to Lars at the counter and took a drag.
“Diner’s closed tomorrow,” She said. “I live alone in a blue trailer half a mile West of here.” She spit some loose tobacco from her thin pale lips. “You can come for dinner when you get finished with all your electronics and such. Ya know, if you want.”
©2009 Joel T Johnson
Merry Christmas All!
