Did you know.........

Did you know……..
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<This story contains absolutely no sexual content.>

I was driving home from the cannibal café listening to the radio, Hank William Sr singing a song in which I can’t remember what it was now. When I spotted a brown Ford Pinto on the side of the road. A young woman was sitting on the hood with her head in her hands. So I pulled off the road and parked in front of her car. Out here in the country it is an unspoken rule that if you see someone stopped on the road you stop and ask if the need help.

I got out of the truck and started walking toward her. She still had her head in her hands. I said. “ Ma’am do you need help. Ma’am is there anything I can do for you.”

She startled out of whatever trance she was in and said. “What?”

“Ma’am are you broke down.”

“No, I am out of gas.”

As she looked up at me I noticed that she was absolutely filthy. I looked into the passenger seat of the car and saw a small child. I wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl. The child was equally filthy. The child looked to be about two or three years old. I noticed that the back of the car was loaded with clothing and other personal items. I said “Ma’am this is your lucky day. I always carry a five-gallon gas can for just this kind of situation. Let me go get it.”

I went to the truck and retrieved the can of gas and I was pouring it into her car.

She was walked up to me and said “My baby has not eaten in four days.”

I could see that she was shaking like a leaf.

She continued. “If y-you take us somewhere and get some food for my baby and get us a hotel room for the night you can do anything that you want with me.”

Now I understood why she was shaking like a leaf. She’s probably a drug addict. Immediately I was disgusted. I said “Ma’am, I don’t think that will be necessary.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out all the money that I had on me. Which was forty-five dollars. I angrily said. “You take this money and feed your baby. There’s a café about ten miles down the road.” I was pointing north. Back the way I came from. “Then I think it best your be on your way.”

She was just standing there. Her bottom lip was quivering and her hands were shaking even more now.

“Take it!” I yelled.

A tear ran down her face. She reached out and took the money and said. “ I’m, I’m sorry. My ba” She turned around and got into the Pinto. It took about five tries before it finally kicked over. Then she made a U-turn and the car sputtered off into the direction that I had pointed.

I started back to my truck and said. “ In all my years I had never heard of such a thing.”

I was almost home and I could not shake this feeling. I felt like I just ran over my best friend’s dog. I could not get the woman’s frightened look out of my mind. But hey, I did the woman a favor. I gave her money to feed her baby. She’ll probably use most of it for drugs or alcohol any way. Her face flashed in my mind again. I saw the tear run down her face.

“Shoot!” I yelled. I jammed on the breaks of my truck and made a U-turn.

I didn’t know if she would still be there or not. I had been almost an hour since I saw her drive away. I pulled into the cannibal café and I saw her car sitting in the far corner of the parking lot. I drove up and parked beside her. She looked up and as soon as she recognized me she turned the key over and was trying to start the car. In her haste she had flooded the car. I knocked on the window. She cracked the window just enough to talk through and said. “ As soon as I get my car started I will be on my way out of this town and you’ll never see me again”

I could see the dried tears streaked in the dirt on her face. I held out my cell phone and asked. “ Is they’re someone that you can call to help you? I don’t mind if it is long distance. Call anyone you like “

She gave me a defiant look and said. “ If it is any of your business no, there is no one I can call.”

“What about the baby’s father?”

Tears started to form in her eyes. She said. “ My husband has been dead for two months now. He got himself killed in a car accident. If you really have to know.”

Now I was really feeling bad. I had lost my Marilynn eighteen months ago. She was planting bulbs two falls ago and just keeled over. I said. “ Look, I have a mobile home on my property about forty minutes from here. My son and his wife moved into there own place a few months back. If you would like a place to stay a few days you can. You and your baby look like you could use the rest.”

“Mister you don’t owe me nothing. Cassandra and me will be fine.”

“Please, Ma’am I was a little harsh back there. You look like you could use a break.”

“Look sir I appreciate the offer but I am fine.”

“Ok Ma’am”

I got back into truck and drove to the gas station that shared the parking lot with the café. Filled up with diesel. I went inside and got a cup of coffee paid the cashier and walked outside. The woman was standing by my truck holding Cassandra.

“I can’t get my car started.” She started to cry again.

It was well after twelve midnight when we pulled into my driveway. I told her that the door of the mobile was open and she and the little girl went inside. I went into the house and got some sheets, soap, and some food.

“Ma’am I will be gone in the morning. I have some business over in Burlington and I won’t be back till around five. This should be enough food to last till then.”

“Kathy”

“ Excuse me?”

“ My name is Kathy.” She said with a defeated sound in her voice.

“Nice to meet you Kathy.” I looked down at the little girl and said. “ And you must be Cassandra.”

“Hal, Hal Johnson” I said. We shook hands and I could feel her shaking.

The next morning I drove to Burlington. I picked up some fence post and barb wire along with some hay and cattle feed. I also picked up some spark plugs, points, and a carburetor kit for Kathy’s Pinto. That car was not going to make it another ten miles in the shape it was in.

While I was driving home I started double guessing my decision to letting her stay. After her proposition last night, a woman like her may just bleed me dry and then steal me blind before she leaves. So I decided that I was going to keep my promise, she could stay two days and that’s it. I would fix her car and give her two hundred bucks, a tank full of gas, and kick her out the door.

When I got home I grabbed the groceries and walked up the front door to let myself in. There was a smell in the air, which I could not place. There stuffed in the screen door was a grubby piece of paper. I took it from the door and went inside. I put the groceries way. I turned to go to the restroom and my hand pushed the paper off the counter onto the floor. I picked it up and it was a note from Kathy.

Dear Mr. Johnson.
Thank you for all of you help. I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I have never done anything like that before. You are a good man and I have brought you shame. We will be leaving in the morning.

Kathy.

Since she was leaving I went to the truck, grabbed the car parts and got to work on her car. While I was working I felt this tug on my pant leg.

“Hey, Hey.” Said Cassandra.

I looked down and saw Cassandra with a hand full of wildflowers. I reached down and took them. “Are those for me?”

She got a big smile on her face and giggled.

“Why thank you.” I said.

“Don’t you be bothering Mr. Johnson , Cassandra.” Kathy said from the door of the mobile.

“Oh she’s not bothering me. I figured if you were leaving in the morning I would give your car a little tune up.”

“Mr. John….”

“Hal, call me Hal.”

“Hal you do not have to do that. You already done enough.”

“I already have bought the stuff and I don’t own a Pinto.”

“Thank you.”

She looked much different all cleaned up and all. She Had nut brown hair, brown eyes and her face was thin. Her complexion was about as white as a ghost. Her clothes were stained and little baggy. She looked tired and haggard. Her tennis shoes were stained green.

Then it hit me what the smell was. I looked around. The yard had been mowed. You have to understand my yard is a full five acres. All twenty-flower beds had been weeded. I hadn’t realized that I still had flowers. Since Marilynn had died I have not touched them. This woman had done in one day what used to take Marilynn at least three days to do. I tell you she put in a full mans day of work and then some.

“ Where are you from Kathy?”

“ Florida”

“Wow you’ve come a long way. Where ya headed?”

“ Denver. I always wanted to see the mountains.”

“ You’re a long way off the highway. I’d say at least forty miles. How did you end up here in Aroya?”

“ I was hopping to find a some melons or vegetables in a farmer’s field or maybe a stray chicken to eat. I guess this is the wrong time of the year for that.”

“ Yeah it’s a little early. Crops won’t be ready for about three months”

I turned to her and said. “Ma’am, can I ask you a personal question?”

“ Does anyone ever say no to that?”

I smiled sheepishly. “No I guess not. How did you come to find yourself in the predicament that you’re in?”

“My husband got drunk one night. He ran a stop sign and put his car under a semi trailer and cut the top of the car right off. You can use your imagination for the rest. Left me to raise Cassandra alone.” She had a little anger in her voice.

What do you say to that? I said the same dumb thing everyone else says. “I’m, sorry to hear that.”

“So am I, so am I.”

“ Last night you said that you had no one to call. Surely you have family that can help.”

“I never knew my father. My mother died when I was six of an overdose of heroin. I went from foster home to foster home until I turned eighteen.”

“What about your husband’s family.”

“Sam’s father never approved of me. Since I was raised in foster homes and my mother was a drug addict and a prostitute.”

“Even if he didn’t like you, you would think that he would want to take care of his grandchild.”

“ I was two months pregnant before we got married and he says that Cassandra is not Sam’s. I was about to be kicked out of my apartment so I called him asked for some money for rent. He told me that he didn’t want to here from me or my little ho…. Well he didn’t want to here from us again. Hang on a minute,.” She went to the back of the pinto, opened the hatchback and took out a framed picture. “ This was taken about a month before Sam died.”

I took the picture from her. It was a family portrait the kind that you get at Sears or Kmart. The portrait was of Kathy and Cassandra and a very handsome blonde hair blue eyed man I assumed was Sam.

“Look at her, she has his nose and mouth and blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.” Her chin started to wrinkle and her bottom lip started to quiver.

I looked at Sam and back to Cassandra a couple times and there is not doubt about it. I said. “ She is a spittin image of her father.” A tear rolled down her face and all I wanted to do was hug her and tell her that it was going to be all right. I took the carburetor kit and slid it back into the bag and then threaded the last spark plug into the block. I tightened the plug with my wrench and said. “ Go ahead and tun her over.”

“What?” She said.

“ Go ahead and start the car.”

“ Oh, Okay.” She jumped into the car and tried to start it. The car turned over after about three tries. It was still running rough. Then the car died and refused to start again. She slumped forward and hit her head on the steering wheel. I saw another tear land on her thigh.

I could clearly see that this girl was broken. I looked down at the carb kit in the bag and made my decision.“ Look Kathy. This car is not going to make it another ten miles. The carburetor is shot. I can rebuild it….” She cut me off.

“ I can’t pay you!” Her face was full of tears and her voice was high and shaky.

“ Yes you can” she started to speak again. I held my hand up. And said. “ Now listen. The man that owns the cannibal café is a good friend of mine. We’ve known each other from the time we were in diapers. His daughter is leaving for collage in the fall and has decided to take the summer off. Cannibal was telling me the other day that with Jackie not working he and his wife are having a hard time running the café without her. I will talk to him and he will give you a job.” She was sobbing softly now. Her shirt had risen up her back and I could see that her ribs were poking out through her skin. Nothing but skin and bones. “ You can give me the money when you get a paid and I will go into Burlington and order the kit. It will take a couple weeks for it to get in from Denver. That will give you a little time to save some money.”

“ What if he doesn’t like me? What if he don’t want to hire me?”

I knelt next to her by the car and put my hand on her shoulder. I could feel the bones in her back. “ He’ll hire you.”

“ How do you know?”

“ Because he’s my friend. And besides he needs the help and you need money. Okay?”

“Okay”

I called Cannibal and explained the necessary details. Not all to the details, just what I felt he needed to know. He was a little skeptical at first. But since I was a friend he agreed. She stayed in that old mobile for three years until the day she got married. When she asked me to give her away at her wedding it was one of the proudest days of my life. That girl never could cook, makes the worst apple pie I ever tasted.

“ Cassandra that’s how you and your mama came to live here in Aroya. Don’t you ever repeat these words to another living soul. Cept maybe your children when you have them.”

“ I won’t Grandpa” said Cassandra.

“ And don’t think any less of your mother. She only did what she thought she had to do.”

“Oh no Grandpa, I love mama.”

I Reached out my shaky hand and touched her golden hair and wiped a tear of her check with my thumb. “ You’re a beautiful little girl.”

“ I’m not a little girl anymore Grandpa. I’m sixteen now.”

“ Yeah well. You’ll always be my little pumpkin.”

She smiled and said. “ I love you Grandpa”

“ Love you more.”

“ No, I love you one hundred billion trillions more.” She stood up and leaned over and gave me a butterfly kiss and a big hug.”

“ Okay, Okay, you win. Now go get your mother I want to talk to her.”

Kathy came in and took hold of my hand. “ How are you feeling Hal?”

“ Well Kathy, I’ve had better days.”

“ Just what did you say to Cassandra anyway. She came out and gave me a big python hug, and kissed me on the cheek. She hasn’t done that since she was thirteen.”

“ You know kids, at first you can’t do no wrong, then you can do no right, somewhere along the way they learn to appreciate you.”

“ Yeah,…….right.” Tears formed in her eyes and she said. “ Hal did you know you save my life that day.”

“ Kathy, I just reached down and grabbed hold of your hand and you pulled your………”

She put her index finger to my lips and said. “ Shush now I want to tell you something. That day when I said what I did I was so ashamed of myself. I turned into something that I promised myself that I would never become. My mother, a prostitute.

I started to protest but she put her fingers to my lips again.

“ And I had brought shame onto you. I saw it in your eyes. I decided I was going to drive into Denver and drop Cassandra off at the nearest police station. Then I was going to drive into the mountains and drive my car off the side of a cliff. Then you spoiled my plans by telling me that my car would not make it to Denver. I decided to take you up on your offer until you fixed my car. Then I was going to kill myself like I planed. But you kept telling me that the carb kit had not gotten in yet. After a while I decide that I was going to leave Cassandra with Jason and Lisa. Your son and daughter in law did not think much of me in those days but I knew that they were good people and would take good care of her. You never did fix that old car. Far as I know you still have it parked around back of the barn.”

Tears were running down both of our faced by now.

She continued. “ Every time I tried to leave you always said wait until I fix your car or you need to save more money or something like that. You’d never let me leave. Then one day I was looking through the barn for a screwdriver and found the carburetor kit. I looked at the receipt. You had it all along. I figured if you were willing to help out a girl that brought you so much shame, I owed it to you to live and do what I could to make it up to you. Have I done that Hal? Have I taken away the shame?”

“ Kathy, you never brought shame to me….” She started to cut me off but I said. “ Now you listen. You and Cassandra have brought me some of the happiest times in my life. When you came into my life I was very down and depressed. I read somewhere that after a spouse dies that the other would join them within a year or two, and at the rate I was going I wouldn’t have been much longer before I was dead. You gave me fourteen more years. So yes, you’ve made it up to me and more.”

“ Thank you Hal. Now enough of the mushy stuff.” She said while drying her eyes with a tissue. “ You stop giving these doctors and nurses such a hard time and get out of here. You come home and I will make some of my apple pie you like so much.”

“ I look forward to it Kathy.”

“ Love you Hal.”

“ Love you t……cccccccccccccccchooo.”

“Hal, Hal! Nurse, nurse He’s choking! Nuuuurse!”

“ Miss he’s gone.”

“ No! I heard him choking! What are you doing! Help him!”

“ Miss that was the death rattle. He, he’s dead.”

“ Dead?” Kathy said now softly crying. “ Did you no he saved my life?”

“ Lisa can you take Kathy into the waiting room.” Said Jason.

“ Jason? Did you know your daddy saved my life?”

“ Come on Kathy” said Lisa.

“Lisa did I tell you he saved my life.” Said Kathy now crying heavily.

“ Mama come on.” Said Cassandra.

“ Sir, would you like a few moments with you father.” Said the nurse.

“ Yes Ma’am. I would”

“ Did you know he saved my life.” Kathy said while down the hall.