THE DAWN PATROL

CHAPTER IX 1998

CHAPTER IX

1998

“Bev!” Auntie Win calls out as soon as the elevator doors close behind her. She half runs down the hall towards Mom. It takes her a moment before she realizes who Mom’s with, and she pulls up short, a hand going to her mouth in surprise as she turns to look at Uncle Ray limping behind her.

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Russell says, nudging me with his elbow; suddenly I feel like we’re kids again. I can’t help thinking he may be right. I look at Caroline watching Uncle Ray as he limps toward us.

He looks old—older than the last time I remember seeing him. He has liver spots on the back of his hands, and blue veins like thick corded knots as he clutches his cane. He’s wearing the same fedora I remember him wearing when we were kids and Mom would drive us over to visit Auntie Win. His face has sagged. His eyes are red-rimmed and milky with cataracts magnified behind the thick lenses of his black framed glasses.

“Hello Winifred,” Uncle Jack says, and I turn to see him pulling away from Mom and appearing formal—as if he’s meeting her for the first time.

“Jackson Arlington Porter,” she replies, just as formal. I look at Uncle Ray and he stops where he is and looks up at Uncle Jack.

“Jack?”

Uncle Jack looks at him over Auntie Win’s shoulder and then looks away. He turns to Mom and whispers something in her ear, kissing her cheeks and hugging her tight.

“C’mon boys,” he says as he picks up his cane. “We’re leaving.

“But we just got here,” Russell says, and Uncle Jack levels a look at Russell that tells him we’re leaving and there’s nothing more to discuss. Russell reaches into his pants to check for his keys.

“C’mon Danny,” Russell says. “I guess we’re going to your house. Hey, you got the extra room, not me,” he says when he sees the look of confusion on my face. “You’ve seen where I live.”

“But you just got here,” Caroline says to Uncle Jack, stepping in his way. Uncle Jack looks down at her, and then at Ronnie who moves toward Caroline and reaches out for her hand. She can’t remember having met Uncle Jack before, and his deep baritone voice, his handlebar moustache sweeping out to the sides, and his bald head more than make an impression on her. Uncle Jack has a way of impressing himself on people.

“Let him go honey,” Auntie Win says, putting a hand on Caroline’s arm. “We haven’t spoken in over thirty years—has it really been thirty years since Dad died?”

“Yes,” Uncle Jack say as he walks passed her. “So why start now?”

“Arlington?” Russell says to me as we fall in behind Uncle Jack. “Your middle name is Arlington?” he calls ahead to Uncle Jack.

“Daddy? Where are you going?” Ronnie calls out to me. Uncle Jack presses the button for the elevator as I turn around to talk to her.

“I have to take Uncle Jack home, Pun’kin,” I say as I bend to a knee and put my arms out for her. She comes and we hug, and then she kisses me on the cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. It’ll be the weekend before you know it and then we’ll do something special; go to Stanley Park, or maybe a movie.”

“Why not both?” she asks.

“We could do that,” I say with a laugh as I stand up. I look at Russell and Uncle Jack at the elevator.

“I have to go,” I say as the elevator door opens. I can see Russell holding the door, but he lets it go when I’m halfway there and then opens it again, laughing. Uncle Jack smacks him with his cane and I laugh as I step into the elevator.

“Some things never change, eh Russ?”

*

“So tell me, Uncle Jack,” Russell asks as we walk out of the hospital and into the parking lot. The light’s fading fast, with the sky a dark azure colour where cirrus clouds look as if they’re painted streamers hanging off the North Shore mountains. I look at the lights on the ski slopes and shake my head at Russell, but he ignores me.

“You want me to tell you something you already know is none of your business? Is that right?” Uncle Jack says.

Russell looks nonplussed for the moment, but quickly recovers as he nods, avoiding any eye contact with me.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Something like that?”  

“What happened between you and Uncle Ray?”

I can’t believe Russell just came right out and asked him. Uncle Jack isn’t one for sharing the intimate details of his life—we all know that. He lives up north for a reason, Dad always said. I’ve never thought to ask him why; I just accept it. No wife, no kids, no attachments except for when he comes down to the coast for a visit.

“What makes you think there’s something between us?” Uncle Jack asks as Russell reaches into his pocket to pull out his car keys; Uncle Jack pulls out a cigar.

“Oh, come on!” Russell says in such a way that Uncle Jack turns to look at him. “You and Dad both refuse to have anything to do with him. Everyone knows it, but no one knows why—no one says anything. Not even Auntie Win. And she’s your sister, man!” he says as he opens the car door.

“Is that supposed to mean something? And don’t call me ‘man’. I’m not one of your fuckin’ musician friends.” He smells the cigar through the cellophane. He’s not angry, and I’m wondering if maybe I’m wrong and Uncle Jack’s going to tell us what happened.

“Is it supposed to mean something? Of course, it’s supposed to mean something. When we were younger, Mom used to tell us how important family is. Because when it comes right down to it, you can’t count on anyone...except family. The only problem with that is that we had to sneak around behind Dad’s back to visit Auntie Win.”

Uncle Jack nods and begins to tear open his cigar, dropping the cellophane without a second thought.

“And you think because she tells you family matters, it must be true?” Uncle Jack asks.

“Something like that,” Russell says and nudges me. The car door is open and Russell’s leaning against the roof, holding the seat for me, but still in the way. I look at Uncle Jack and nod my head.

“Who are you supposed to be, Howdy fuckin’ Doody?”

I look at him as he lights the cigar.

“I thought you quit?” I remind him.

“I told you, quitting’s easy; I’ve done it a thousand times. It’s kind of funny how your mother’s always saying things like how family is so important, and yet, she’s never let your Aunt or Uncle set foot in her house. Listen, boys, you must’ve heard about this at some time over the course of your lives— ”

“Never,” Russell says before Uncle Jack can go any farther.

“Never? You mean your Old Man’s never told you why we don’t talk to Ray?”

Night’s falling fast and with it the cooler temperatures. A few of the brighter stars are visible through the trees, poking out from behind the buildings around us—planets I suppose—I never did know which was which, but I do know that it’s the time of the year when they appear. I can see my breath and push Russell to the side.

“Dad wouldn’t tell us anything about what happened,” Russell goes on saying, stepping out of the way so I can get into the back seat. “Refuses to even mention it!” he says before he gets in and closes the door.

Uncle Jack waits for Russell to unlock the door.

“It’s not locked!” Russell calls out.

“He’s pretty harsh when it comes to Uncle Ray,” I offer up, and Uncle Jack looks at me as if he’s surprised I can even talk.

“You’re back are you? Where’d you go?” he says as he sits down and closes the door.

“Go? I didn’t go anywhere,” I say with a shake of my head.

“You’re still thinking about that ex-wife of yours, aren’t you? Nosin’ after her like a bloodhound after a bitch in heat,” Uncle Jack says.
“I am not!”

“Ha!” Russell barks out a quick laugh as he starts the car. “He doesn’t see it like that, Uncle Jack; neither of them see what they’re doing.”

“Doing? To who?”

“Ronnie, for one. How many ex-wives do you know who insist on kissing their ex-husband whenever they see him? It doesn’t matter if it’s just the cheek,” he says before I can even start to defend myself. “They’re the only two I know of. Hell, most exes I’ve ever seen want to grab their disrespectful others by the throat and throttle them.”

“We do it for Ronnie’s sake.” But even as I say it, I know what he means. Most of our friends shake their heads in disbelief, asking us why we even bothered to get divorced in the first place. I don’t have the answers they want.

“For Ronnie?” Russell asks, and I look at his eyes in the rear view mirror.

“How old is that kid?” Uncle Jack asks.

“Ten.”

“How long you two been divorced?”

“Almost two years.”

“Two years?”

“It’ll be two years next April.”

“April? This is goddamned October; April is six months from now.”

“We weren’t talking about me and Caroline. We were asking you about Uncle Ray.”

“You weren’t asking me anything. You were telling me to explain myself — as if it’s something I should clear up for the two of you before we all die.”

“And?” Russell asks as he puts the car in gear and we drive out of the parking lot.

Uncle Jack rolls the window down to let the smoke out and Russell cracks his open to get a good draft going through the car. It reminds me of driving with Mom and Dad. I wouldn’t let Uncle Jack smoke his cigar in my car, but I guess Russell thinks it’ll help cover the smell of pot in his, so why not?

“What happened when Grandpa died?” I ask.

“Grandpa? This goes back farther than that,” Uncle Jack laughs. “This goes all the way to the beginning.”

“The beginning?” Russell asks. “I thought Grandpa’s dying was the beginning?”

“Ray and your dad were on a troopship together when it went down in the mid Atlantic.”

“How come we don’t know about that?” Russell asks me. “You’d think he would’ve at least told us that much.”

“Why tell you anything? That’d just lead to more questions. It’s better that you don’t know.”

“Better for who?” I ask.

“We don’t even know what you did in the war,” Russell adds.

“OSS.”

“What’s that?”

“He was a spy,” I say, sitting back and looking at Uncle Jack in a whole new light.

“I wasn’t what you’d call a spy. I went across to France and did recon missions. I’d parachute in, do whatever I had to, and then get picked up by a sub.”

“A sub?” Russell asks. “And how did you meet the sub?”

“I almost had to swim the channel once—but I only had to do that once — ”

“You swam the English Channel?”

“Not the whole thing. Just a couple of miles. It was the closest I’ve ever come to dying. The most frightened I’ve ever been. Swimming at night until you can’t see the shore? As a rule I’d row out in a small life raft and be met. I’d be in and out before you could say ‘Bob’s you Uncle’. I made sure after that night I never had to swim again.”

“Somehow, I don’t think it was as easy as you make it sound,” I said with a grin.

“Easy?” Uncle Jack laughed.