Chapter 37
The taxi chugged through the familiar streets of town, which today seemed bigger than ever. Kid sat in the back of the car, patting his foot against its floor, and he almost bit his tongue not to lash out, and urge the driver to hurry. He knew he had to stay calm, but he could not. He was too nervous, and could not wait to reach his destination. It was very early in the morning, and the town was barely awake, with just the sweepers cleaning the streets.
Despite his restlessness, Kid yawned. He had hardly slept during the three-day bus ride, which was the only fare he could afford. So he had just dozed on and off in the coach's uncomfortable, narrow seat. His body felt extra tired. His sleeplessness had been going on for a while now. He just could not sleep. How could he when he lived in complete, torturing ignorance?
His classes at university had started two weeks ago, but things were not as he thought they would be. Life at university was great, and he had settled in a nice apartment with two roommates near college. It was a better option for him than living on campus. He did not find it troublesome to adapt himself to his new environment, but there was a big problem that clouded everything else and shone with a clear name: Lou.
His summer in Europe had been more enjoyable than he could have bargained for. The tour scheduled by his parents had been a real dream, and despite missing Lou terribly, he had been able to find the serenity to appreciate his vacation. They had done and seen everything all through Europe: from the impressive Highlands in Scotland to the white cliffs of Dover; from the Russian steppe to the clear waters in Crete, from the canals in Amsterdam to the ones in Venice, from the Fjords in Norway to Cape Saint Vincent in Portugal. They had drunk tea in London, champagne in Paris, beer in Munich, eaten delightful pasta in Rome, and enjoyed rich chocolate in Belgium. Kid was glad of the chance to spend time with his parents. Having been so busy with school in the last few months Kid had not been able to enjoy his family, and it was true he would miss them when he lived away from them during his university years.
Things couldn't have been any better in Europe. He had even talked to Lou several times on the phone. Their conversations were brief, and about unimportant things, but all in all, Lou had sounded calm and her usual self. Nothing would have led Kid to think about what would happen next. It was in the last week of his vacation, almost a month ago, that things started to go wrong. Despite calling Lou every day to let her know when he would be arriving home, he had been unable to contact her. Instead of hearing her sweet voice, a recorded message kept answering his calls, informing him that the dialed number did not exist. Kid felt something was not right, but he tried to appease his own nerves, telling himself that it was just a problem with the telephone connection.
The day he and his parents were supposed to leave turned out to be a complete disaster. Their last destination was Madrid, and they were at Barajas Airport from where they would be flying straight to New York. Their plans, though, were ruined when at the check-in desk they were informed there was no record of their names either on the computer or on the list printed on paper. Thanks to great Spanish inefficiency, they could not board to go home that day or the following ones. It was the end of August, the end of summer vacations, and all planes flying to America were full. In the end, the airline got them three places on a plane flying to Nashville. Otherwise, they would have to be marooned for a bunch more days.
With this disruption in their plans, Kid was unable to go home and their parents convinced him they should continue their journey to California. His father returned home alone while Emma continued all the way to Nashville to help her son get settled. They had first stayed with a cousin of Emma's, and as soon as Kid got himself an apartment to share, she returned home. During this time he kept trying to contact Lou, but the result was the same as in the last days in Europe. Kid had tried to talk to his friends to see if they knew anything, but they were all gone to different parts of the country. Only Jimmy had stayed, but Kid had not been able to talk to him since whenever he called, his friend was out. And when Kid asked his mother about Lou, she never gave him a straight answer. And on top of it all, his email account had expired because of his inactivity during the summer, so if Lou had tried to contact him by email, he would never know.
After weeks of uncertainty, Kid could not stand it any longer. He really needed to know where Lou was or if something had happened to her. So without thinking about it twice, he bought a ticket for the bus and travelled thousands of miles to get home.
The taxi pulled over in front of his house. Kid paid for the fare and got out. Before heading for his parents' place, he threw a look at the house opposite his, where Lou lived. The place was quiet, which was not strange since it was too early, and everybody would be sleeping. Kid wished he could knock at her door right at that moment, and see her, but that would not be sensible. He would wait for a couple of hours, and then would go there. The wait, though, was going to be too long, but at least this torture would end and he would finally see her.
Opening his front door, he found his mother in her dressing gown, coming down the stairs. Surprise colored her features when she saw him. "Kid, what on earth are you doing here?"
He left his knapsack by the door on the floor and just said, "Hi, Mom."
"What are you doing here?" Emma repeated as she came to stand in front of her son.
Kid gave her a hug, and then he said, "I still haven't talked to Lou, and I need to find out what's going on."
"Oh that…" Emma let out in a soft voice.
"You know something, don't you, Mom?"
Emma stared at Kid for a few seconds and then added, "I'm still half asleep. Let me have a cup of coffee first, and then we'll talk."
Kid followed his mother to the kitchen, and patiently waited as she prepared her coffee. When a few minutes later she was sipping her hot drink, the young man could not keep quiet any longer. "Mom, what do you know about Lou?"
Emma sighed. "Mary Louise died while we were in Europe… about a month ago. I heard they had big debts, so the bank seized their house. The children naturally went with their father."
"And Lou?" Kid asked, knowing fully well that Lou would never accept to live with her father.
"I heard she returned to the city… New York was her home for a long time, and I imagine she knows people there."
"Whereabouts in New York?"
"I don't know, honey."
"But somebody must know," he said in a voice that expressed the turmoil he was going through. He was already on his feet and walking to the door. "She must have told somebody or left a message for me."
"Kid, where are you going?" Emma asked as she followed him out of the kitchen. "It's too early."
"I don't care!"
"Kid, why don't you rest for a while? You look as if you were about to fall at any moment."
Kid stopped at the door. "I can't, Mom. I can't rest until I find out where Lou is." He meant every word, and without wasting a more second, he left, hoping to at least hear Lou's voice at the end of the day.
His search proved to be barren so far. Nobody had been able to tell Kid anything about Lou other than what his mother had said. Kid managed to contact most of his friends, but none knew about Lou's whereabouts. It was true that she was not particularly close to anybody from their former school. Her fall-out with Emily and Kathleen was public knowledge, and the only girl Lou had hung out with in the last months was Jenny Tompkins, but the girl did not know anything since she was out of town, visiting her aunt like every summer, when everything had happened.
Kid had also tried to talk to Charlotte Rowan, a friend of Lou's mother. He knew where she worked but once there, unfortunately, Kid was informed that Charlotte had gotten married at the beginning of the summer, and moved to Florida with her new husband. Nobody there could tell him how to contact the woman, or at least that was what they said.
Kid was in a very low mood as he stood before the door of his best friend's house. How was it possible that nobody knew a thing? It made no sense. His last visit had been to Mrs. Dunne. The teacher confirmed him that Lou was in New York, but she did not have her address or phone number. Before leaving, Lou had gone to see Mrs. Dunne, and promised to call her. Yet, so far Lou had not contacted the teacher, but she told Kid she would let him know if she got news from Louise.
"Kid!" Jimmy exclaimed with obvious surprise when, on opening the door, he found his friend. "I thought you would be hobnobbing with all those university nerds in Stanford."
"I was," Kid replied without a pinch of humor in his voice. "Something urgent just came up."
At his words Jimmy let him in, and both friends got settled in the living room. "What's wrong, Kid?"
"What do you know about Lou?" Kid asked, getting directly to the point.
"She didn't have it easy when her mom passed away," Jimmy said. "She found herself all alone to face all the problems. Her father is living in Paris now… seemingly, he works for the government and he's been transferred to Europe. He tried to make Lou go, but you know what she thinks of him."
Kid shook his head. "I should have been here for her. She must have felt so lonely, and me frolicking in Europe!" Kid let out bitterly.
"You couldn't have known what was going to happen, Kid. Her mother was sick for a long time. She even hoped she would get better."
Kid nodded, somehow glad that at least his friend had some real information. "Where is she, Jimmy?"
"I… I'm sorry, Kid," Jimmy replied sullenly.
"You don't know either?" Kid added, disappointment falling on him again.
"Before going to New York, she came to say goodbye and told me she would let me know when she settled down. She'd be staying with some acquaintances for a while. She was worried you wouldn't find her when you came back."
"And?"
"So right to her promise, she called on me about ten days later."
"And she gave you her address…or maybe her phone number?" Kid asked hopefully. Jimmy remained silent and serious, and Kid insisted, "Jimmy?"
"She wrote down her number on a little card. Made me promise I would give it to you as soon as we talked. We chatted for a while… I told her you had to head for Stanford directly, but I didn't know where exactly you were living. She was in a hurry and left."
"Give me her phone number. I need to call her… I need to know she's fine."
"I'm sorry, Kid, but I don't have it."
"What?"
"I… I put her card in the breast pocket of my shirt. That day I went out for a while, had a couple of beers, and completely forgot about the card. I left the shirt in my room the next day and well… my mom did the laundry, and the shirt and the card went to the washing machine."
Kid's face fell. He kept thoughtful for a while and said, "But… but we can call information and ask for her number."
"I don't think so. It was a cell phone number, and it wasn't even hers. She told me to leave a message to somebody called Carla, Marla or… something like that, and then she'd call back."
"And her address?"
Jimmy shook his head. "She was still living with her acquaintances, but she planned to move somewhere else soon."
"What about her job?"
"She's working as a waitress."
"Where?"
"I don't know. She didn't say," Jimmy replied, and at Kid's frustrated expression she added, "I'm sorry, Kid. I really blundered it this time." Kid remained quiet. He was not angry with Jimmy, but he was the only one who had information about Lou, and had lost it. "Maybe Lou left that phone number with somebody else."
Kid shook his head. "Nobody knows anything."
"I'm sorry, my friend."
Kid nodded as he rose to his feet. "I'm sorry too." He paused, fidgeting and looking around nervously as if he had lost control of his own body. "I… I better go. I guess I'll take the bus back to California tomorrow."
Jimmy did not say a word, feeling totally irritated with himself. The door closed behind Kid with an ominous sound when he walked out. Why he have to spoil everything? Jimmy wondered. His two friends might get lost to each other because of his clumsiness. Why hadn't he tried to find out more about Lou? All Jimmy hoped was that Lou would call him when time passed and she did not hear from either him or Kid. She would surely call, and that time he would not blow it.
Emma was in the kitchen when she heard the front door open and close. "Kid?" she called as she turned off the faucet and dried her hands on a tea towel. Nobody answered her summon, and she then heard footsteps on the staircase.
"Kid?" Emma called again, walking gout of the kitchen and making her way up the stairs. She found her son in his bedroom, sitting despondently on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head on his hands.
"Kid?"
The young man looked up and Emma could see the bitterness in his eyes. "Mom, nobody knows where she is. I can't lose her, I just can't lose her."
Emma remained quiet as she watched her son despair. Her heart went out to him, and at the same time her mind filled with images of a visit she had received about ten days ago.
"Louise…" Emma gasped in surprise when she saw the girl before her.
"Mrs. Cain," the girl greeted the woman back in a respectful tone.
"I… I'm really sorry to hear your mom passed away."
"Thanks," Lou replied sadly.
Both women remained silent for a while and then Emma asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Lou nodded, looking at the woman nervously. "Could you… could you give Kid this?" she said stretching her hand and handing Emma a small scrap of paper. "There's my temporary address, and a phone number he can contact me at."
"And what for, Louise? You and my son broke up months ago."
"But he's my best friend. I can't lose his friendship. Please, Mrs. Cain, I know what you think of me, but I just want to keep him as my friend. I don't want anything else. I know he's far, and I don't want to do anything to spoil anything for him. Please."
Emma knew that Louise had not talked the truth. She could tell that there was more than friendship that the girl wanted however much he insisted that she was just wanted Kid as a friend. Her presence in Kid's life had proved to be totally negative, and now that her son was free from her, Emma did not want to have a repeat of this story again.
Lou did not stay long. Emma made up a clumsy excuse when the girl asked her where he could call or find Kid. The expression on Lou's face showed that she knew her visit had been useless and Emma would not tell her son about her whereabouts.
She was right. Emma had kept the paper with Lou's details in one drawer for days, but then one morning she just chucked it away. Yet, right now seeing her son look so low and desperate, Emma sincerely regretted her actions. She should not have got rid of the paper. It had been wrong of her. She had no call, and she started wondering if her judgment had been biased, and Louise was not as unfit as she had thought. However, there was no way back now, and even though she racked her brains, she could not remember a single line of that address she had read just once.
Emma sat down on the bed next to her son, and offered the only consolation she had. "Honey, you're an attractive, young man. This kind of experience is something we people have to go through. One day you'll find the right girl, and Louise will be just a memory."
"No, Mom. You're wrong. Lou isn't just a memory. She's the one, the only one… like Dad is for you, Lou is for me."
Emma smiled. "I know you feel strong for her, but just because you're young, and your feelings seem to multiply at your age. It's normal, but it will pass."
Kid shook his head again. "No, Mom. That's not it. She's the one I love and want. There are no doubts in my heart. And she won't be a memory. I'll find her. I don't know how or where. Mark my words. I'll find her."
The end
Note: This is the end of this story, which is not the end for Kid and Lou and the other characters. Tomorrow I'll start posting the sequel. Thanks to everybody who's followed the adventures of these characters. Thanks for your encouragement and the comments you've left.