Chapter 27

Bobby pressed his lips together and finally said, "You-you've been gone a long time, Frank."

The shorter man nodded, and his expression lost some of its lustre. "Drugs'll do that," he said quietly. "Thank God for the Church."

Bobby reached back and scratched his head. "Uh, Mom, she's… she's got cancer, Frank. She's-she's in a hospital up in Carmel Ridge."

Frank's face filled with worry. "Cancer… Jesus, Bobby…"

"You know, she called you. I called you. You didn't check your phone?"

"My phone? Frank said. "No, I got into a thing with the phone company. If she left messages, I'm sure they have them, but they won't let me access them."

"Yeah… sure…" Bobby said, realizing again that his brother was probably homeless.

"So, how sick is she?"

"It's not good. I've been looking into experimental… She's not good. It's Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma… stage 4."

"Is she-?"

"She's, you know, she's fighting… but… Frank, they're only giving her months to live, even with the chemo."

"You should try prayer, Bobby. It works miracles."

The two men were becoming engrossed in their conversation. Alex gave Bobby the once-over, and decided he was holding up pretty well. She quietly stepped back to the car, retreating to its shelter from the icy wind.

Alex dug into her pocket and withdrew the keys. She started the engine, earning a glance from her partner. Satisfied she wasn't going anywhere, he turned back to Frank and they continued talking.

As the air in the car slowly warmed, she found herself replaying the information she'd just heard. Bobby had told her about Frank, at least some of it. She'd known he was an addict. She knew he was a scientist, that he'd gotten a Bachelor's in chemistry or something. She knew he'd never finished grad school.

She didn't know he was homeless. She didn't know he was so very different from Bobby. He wasn't tall or big like Bobby. Compared to his brother, he seemed kind of mousy, not at all what she'd expected. He was Bobby's "Big Brother," after all.

She could see that Bobby was starting to get excited about finding him. She looked at the state Frank was in, and touched the pendant at her neck. She hoped Bobby wouldn't put too much faith in his brother. She hoped he wasn't setting himself up for disappointment.

Frank turned and he and Bobby looked down the sidewalk for a moment. "That's my old lady over there," he said. She approached with a couple of coffees in a box. She stopped short when she saw Frank with the tall stranger. He laughed. "She's a little shy." Frank stared at the car. "That woman, is that your wife?"

Bobby chuckled, looking over at Alex, who was waiting patiently in the car. "That's my partner."

"So what are you waiting for?"

"No, it's not that kind of… partner." His emotions were churning up now, and he had to change the subject. "Look, I'm going to see Mom on Sunday. I'm thinking that maybe we could…go together and see her. You know? We could meet…here?"

"Yeah, I know it's her birthday, right?"

"Yeah."

Frank shook his head. "No, man, I don't think so. I got…" he looked down. The truth was he didn't want his mother to see him like this. "You know, I'm a little… short this month."

"Yeah, well, look, uh…"

"I don't think that…"

"No, it's all right. It's all right. It's okay, look here…" Bobby withdrew a wad of cash from his pocket. He started to count some, but then just tucked the whole wad into his brother's pocket. "Look, just take this, all right?"

"I'm gonna pay you back on Sunday, okay?" Frank said. "Huh?"

Bobby nodded, and just gave his brother a smile. He didn't care about the money. He cared about his brother.

"So meet me right here? The crack of noon?"

Bobby broke into a full smile and laughed. "I'll give you my coat." He slipped off his wool overcoat in one quick motion. His badge was still displayed on the lapel of his suit.

"No, I don't need that," Frank protested.

"Yeah, you're cold, man." Bobby draped it over his brother's shoulders.

"Sure you don't need it?"

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Nice, it's nice."

"Yeah. Good coat." Bobby reached for his binder, which he'd set on the ground minutes before. "So, uh, I'm gonna put my card," he said, opening the binder and extracting one of his business cards, "in your pocket here." After he tucked it into the coat pocket, he looked into his brother's eyes. "I want you to call me if you need anything…. You call me and ask, okay? But I'll see you here. Noon."

"I'll be here," Frank promised.

"All right."

"Thanks, Bro."

Bobby could feel the cold seeping through his clothes now. He nodded, and turned to step toward the car. "All right." He walked stiffly because of the cold, and turned back to see Frank greet his girlfriend. Then he grasped the door handle and dropped into the seat, closing the door as quickly as he'd opened it.

"You're cold," she said quietly.

"The heat feels good," Bobby replied, warming his hands against the vents.

"So that was Frank."

"Yeah. That was Frank."

Alex looked over at him. He continued to warm himself, looking out at the people on the busy street. She'd seen him handing over money and then his coat. She worried. That was enabling behavior, with someone who was an addict. Bobby knew that. He knew everything about psychology and relationships. She sighed. Frank was his brother. He loved him. That was the bottom line. It didn't really matter, everything else. He loved him, and he thought he should help him, and so he did.

She couldn't fault him for that. Alex pulled out into the traffic and they headed back to 1PP.

"He's gonna meet me here, Sunday. We'll go up together for Mom's birthday."

Alex felt goose bumps crawl over her flesh. She just knew this wouldn't pan out like he had planned. "That's good, Bobby," she said quietly, trying to be supportive.

"I mean, I know, he probably won't show up, but you know, it's Mom's birthday… and he said he's clean…"

Alex nodded, listening, but she just knew Bobby was going to be disappointed. "I hope he does show, Bobby. It would mean a lot to your Mom."

He nodded.

"We'll have to get you another coat."

"I'm all right for now. I'll pick one up later."