Lucky(59)

Someone was shining a bright light in Lucky’s face. She opened her eyes with difficulty. Her head felt like it had been hit with a mallet. The bright light, she realized, was the sun. She had fallen asleep in one of Gloria’s deck chairs. She looked down and saw that she had dropped her wallet. Everything had spilled out across the deck. She picked up Reyes’s card, the fives from the grocery store cashier, a few of her ID cards. Then she got down on all fours, suddenly panicked, and started scrabbling around. Her lottery ticket. It was gone.

“Gloria?” she called out, standing. She checked inside her bra, turned out her pockets, but the ticket wasn’t there.

“Hello?” She knocked on Gloria’s door, but there was no answer. She tried the handle; it was unlocked. Inside, all was dim and quiet. It smelled like peach room spray. Gloria’s bed was unmade and empty. There were dirty dishes and wineglasses in the sink. A liquor bottle on the counter that said “100 proof” on the label.

Lucky ran to the office trailer, but it was empty, too. She picked up the phone and tried Gloria’s cell phone but it went straight to voicemail.

With a shaking hand, she dialed Reyes’s number.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“Hey, I’ve been trying to call you at the camp! I spoke to Gloria a few times, but she always said you were busy. Did she give you any of my messages?”

“No. She didn’t.”

“How are things going?”

“Not well,” Lucky managed. The room was spinning and she thought she might throw up. She gripped the counter.

“Listen, I’m actually only about two hours away. And I’ve got your dad with me. They let him out! I’ll explain everything soon. See you in a bit.”



* * *




Betty’s barking alerted Lucky to their arrival. She stood and left the office trailer, a little steadier on her feet now after drinking half the contents of Gloria’s water cooler.

Reyes got out of the SUV and Betty followed, bounding forward, delighted. Lucky leaned down and greeted her, feeling relief for a moment. But it didn’t last.

“Your dad’s fallen asleep. We’ve been on the road for days. He’s exhausted. Let’s let him rest. You can catch me up on how things are going here.”

“Come inside, then. I’m going to make coffee.”

Betty stayed by her side. Inside, Lucky found the Folgers tin and spooned coffee into a filter, turned the machine on, kept herself busy in the corner of the office, trying to figure out what to say to Reyes. When the coffee was ready, she poured two cups. “We don’t have milk or even sugar. Black okay?”

“Sure.”

They went outside and sat in rickety lawn chairs that had been abandoned in front of the office. Betty curled up at Lucky’s feet.

“So, tell me how things went with Gloria.”

“You tell me first, what happened with John?”

“It was so fast,” Reyes said. “I got a call right after I dropped you off. The court date was the next day.” Lucky shot a glance at Reyes’s SUV, where her father—no, not her father, where John Armstrong—was asleep in the front seat, his head tilted to one side, his mouth open. He looked like a very old man. Like a stranger. Which was what he was to her, now. “It was quickly determined he’d done his time for his actual crimes already, and the third-strike clause was waived. So, there he is.”

“Great,” Lucky said.

“You don’t sound all that happy. Are you okay?”

“I found out that he’s not my dad,” she said.

“What?”

The SUV’s door opened. Betty barked. John was awake, and had exited the car. He was looking around, bewildered. Reyes stood up. Voice low, she said to Lucky, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it might be best not to tell him what you just said to me right now. He’s really slipping, is confused a lot of the time. He needs to see a doctor, but he wanted to see you first.”

Reyes turned and jogged toward the car. “Hey, John! It’s all right. I’m right here. And look, I brought you to Lucky!”

His face lit up the moment he saw her. All the anger Lucky felt dissipated for a moment. She heard Cary’s voice in her mind now, telling her that when John finally did get out of prison he would be a different person, completely lost to her. But in this moment, with his eyes lit up like that, he was the man she remembered.

And then, he wasn’t. Because she knew the truth now. He was lost to her. And Gloria was gone, and so was the lottery ticket. She couldn’t handle it. She was finally broken. She had to choke back a sob.

Lucky got up from her chair and started to walk, fast, toward the river. Betty followed along.

“Lucky, wait up, it’s me, your old dad! They sprung me! You aren’t happy to see me? Why’re you running away? Are you crying?”

She kept walking until she was at the edge of the riverbank. Betty reached her side first, then John. “Lucky. It is you, right? I haven’t been myself lately. It is you? You’re acting like we’re strangers.”

“Do you realize where we are, John? Do you know what this place is?”

He turned in a slow circle, taking in his shabby surroundings. “Not… really?”