Mazie Baby (20 page)

“Okay, Mom. I love you so much.
Call me when you’re near a pay phone, okay?”

“Of course I will. I love you and I
love Ariel. Now get on with your life. Maybe go to one of those countries where
they have some treaty or something and won’t send you back home.”

She ended the call, leaned her back
against the wall and slid down until her butt hit the carpet. She laid her head
on her knees and sobbed.

The door beside her clicked open.
“Mom?”

She looked up at her daughter.
Tears filled Ariel’s eyes. “Is it Grandma?”

She nodded. “The cancer has spread.
They can’t stop it.”

Ariel joined her on the floor,
rested her head on Mazie’s shoulder and wept.

~~~~~~~~

The sun streamed in through a crack
in the drapes and laid a slice of light across Mazie’s closed eyelids. She
blinked against the intrusion, groaned and rolled on her side to block it, and pulled
the covers over her head.

Another day of running. Of not
belonging anywhere. Of knowing that within weeks she would be an orphan of
sorts. Why did that suddenly matter? She’d hardly ever visited her mother, but
those weekly phone calls kept her grounded. Kept her sane while insanity
swirled around her. She never should have stopped calling. Maybe she would have
chosen a different path. Maybe just left him, without the violence. Without death.

She rolled onto her back and slid
the covers away, allowing the full force of morning in. The sliver of sunlight
was warm in the cool of the air-conditioned hotel room. It must be after nine.
They should be on the move.

The thought pinned her to the bed.

Ariel stirred and rolled, a snort
of sleep exploded from her nose. Mazie grinned. Just like her father.

She stood and pinched her thigh.
No, not like her father. Nothing like her father.

She set the coffee pot to brew and stared
at the stream of caffeine filling the cup. When the aroma hit her, she shut her
eyes, blocked Cullen from her mind, shut out any good thoughts of those few
years where good was their normal.

Fuck him. He didn’t deserve to be
remembered in a good light. 

She sat at the window, steam
curling in lazy swirls from the mug. She sipped the coffee and wrinkled her
nose.

Damn. Why was hotel coffee always
crap?

She pulled the dusty drape aside
and peered out the window. The city had a small town look about it. A small town
feel. Probably a small town mentality.

“What time is it?” Ariel sat up in
bed, her new short ‘do askew and matted from a good night’s sleep.

“I’m not sure. Mid-morning maybe.”

“Shouldn’t we get going?”

Mazie glanced out the window. “How
about we stick around here for a while?”

Ariel bounced out of bed and pulled
the drapes wide open. She stood, hands on hips, and surveyed the scene. “Kind
of small. This is the tallest building. Look, we can see all the rooftops.”

“Does size matter?” Mazie put her
coffee down and patted her lap.

Ariel sat on her mother’s knee and
put one arm around her shoulder.

Mazie breathed a deep inhale. Sweet
coconut sunscreen, a hint of morning breath, and the lingering pungency of
fresh hair dye.

“I suppose not.” Ariel scratched
her head. “It’s just different.”

“Everything will be different. We
have to find our new normal.”

Ariel nodded. “Just wish the new
normal included Polly.”

“I know. But you’ll make new
friends fast.” As soon as the words left her mouth she wished she could take
them back. New friends weren’t Polly. Everything revolved around Polly.

Ariel glared at her, slid off her
lap, disappeared into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

Mazie stared out the window. They
had to stop, had to put down roots, find some sense of normal. The money would
run out soon. She had to find a job. But how? All she had was her own government
identification. She’d be arrested in no time. Wouldn’t she? Did Canada have
some kind of criminal database that all new hires were checked against? Or
maybe they’d get her when she filed her taxes.

She was no criminal, had no
criminal mind, no diabolical thought process. She’d need a fake driver’s
license, fake social insurance card. How the hell do people get those things?

~~~~~~~~

The car crept along the narrow
streets. Businesses dotted the crumbling sidewalks. A bowling alley, a
pizzeria, a Laundromat. Did Calgary even have one of those? Mazie poked Ariel’s
side.

She flinched and pulled away.

“We should do some laundry. Let’s
go back after we eat.”

“Whatever.” Ariel stared out the
window. She’d barely spoken since Mazie suggested Polly was replaceable.

They continued down Riverside
Drive. “Look, a Wal-Mart!” Mazie pulled into the lot.

Ariel crossed her arms. “What do we
need here?”

“Well, a newspaper for one.”

“Why do you care about the news in
this stupid town?”

“I know you’re mad at me, but don’t
blame Timmins. I thought I’d look for a job. Maybe an apartment so we don’t
spend all our money on hotels.” She eased into a parking spot, put the car in
park, and took Ariel’s hand. “Come on, it’s an adventure, right?”

Ariel pulled her hand away and
glared at her. She exited the car and headed for the store.

Mazie sighed, gathered her purse, and
ran to catch up. A security camera above the entry was pointed right at her.
“Ariel,” she called out to her daughter’s back.

Ariel turned. “Don’t you mean
Clementine?”

Mazie grinned. “My darling Clementine,
it’s kind of chilly. Maybe put your hood up?” She pulled her own hood over her
hair and turned her back on the camera.

“Are you nuts? It’s warm out. And
we’re twenty feet from the door.” Ariel spun around and walked away, each step
punctuated her growing frustration. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her
hoodie and left the hood dangling down her back.

How could Mazie convince Ariel to
cover herself and avoid cameras without telling her the real reason they’d run
away? Not that anyone was looking for a blonde woman and a burgundy-haired girl
with a pixie cut.

They picked out a few groceries.
Mazie grabbed a box of tampons. She needed them for real this time, and wouldn’t
have to skulk into another store and return them just to squirrel away a few
dollars ever again.

At the end of a long aisle with house
wares on one side and toys and sporting goods on the other, they came to the
electronics department. Ariel made a beeline for the computers. “Mom, look!
Tablets are on sale. Can we get one, please?”

“What do you need that for?”

Ariel stared at her, her lower jaw
slack. That eyebrow she inherited from Cullen shot straight up. “Facebook.
Twitter. Skype. Any modern way to keep in touch with my friends.”

“You’re on all of those?”

“God, Mother. Of course I am.” She
rolled her eyes. “And we can get any map to anywhere anytime. Don’t need those
stupid old paper things that never fold up right.”

Mazie sauntered past the row of
tablet computers. She poked one price tag. “Is this a good price?”

Ariel peered at it. “It’s okay. How
about this one?” She pointed to a much smaller screen, not much bigger than the
disposable cell, for just under a hundred dollars.

“Kind of tiny.” Mazie continued
down the row. “Here, ten-inch screen, forty bucks off. Only a hundred thirty
nine.” She turned to her daughter. “Is that good?”

 “I don’t know the brand, but eight
gig of memory. And it’s got Ice Cream Sandwich.”

“It’s got what now?”

“It’s Android, Mom. It’s not bad at
all.” She grinned and shook her head. “Don’t you use the computer?”

She used to. Until Cullen started
reading her private emails and hitting her for sharing her feelings with what
few friends she had left. What was that, seven years ago? He started making
daily records of her search history, accusing her of cheating on him, all while
he frequented porn sites and wasted the money he begrudged her for groceries on
internet poker.

“Mostly to search for recipes.”

~~~~~~~~

Mazie slathered hot mustard on
whole grain bread and layered Black Forest ham with slices of Swiss cheese and
slivers of Granny Smith apple. “What I wouldn’t give for the panini press right
now. Would love to toast these and get the cheese all gooey.”

Ariel lay on her stomach on the bed
poking at the tablet screen. “Okay. I’m in.”

“In where?”

Ariel glanced up at her. “The
internet. Connected to Wi-Fi. Online.”

“How do you know how to do that?”

Her daughter rolled her eyes and looked
at her with that patented ‘duh’ look. “Everyone knows how to do that.” She tossed
a folded tent card across the bed toward Mazie. “Free Wi-Fi. There’s the
password. You want to see Google maps? See where we’ve been?”

Mazie handed her a sandwich on a
Kleenex and sat beside her on the bed. A blue squiggle snaked from the lower
left of the screen up to the right, twisted left, and trailed off near the top.

Ariel rested her index finger on
the screen. “That’s Grandma’s.” She moved it to the top. “This is us. Timmins.”

Mazie nodded.

“That’s just the past couple of
days. Check this out.” A few taps of her fingers across the screen and up
popped a map of most of Canada, a blue line meandering from Calgary eastward. “Thirty
five hundred, eighteen kilometres.”

“We’ve come a long way, baby.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Lame.”

“Yes I am.” Mazie took a bite of
her sandwich.

Ariel typed, her eyes skipping
across the screen. “Can I call Polly?”

“I don’t want to use up all the
minutes. In case Grandma calls.” Or Rachel has police updates.

“We can connect online, for free,
no minutes. It’s like a phone call but with video.” She pointed to a little
button on the screen. “Camera.” She scrambled to her knees, gathered pillows
against the headboard and leaned against them, the tablet resting against her
bent legs. She patted the bed beside her, beckoning Mazie to sit.

“We can call Rachel on the
computer?”

“Yup.”

Mazie swallowed. “Can anyone trace
it?” she whispered.

Ariel scrunched up her nose. “I
don’t know. Daddy sure wouldn’t know how.”

“Okay. How do we connect to them?”

She stabbed at the screen, typed in
a user name and password, scrolled down a list, and poked one more time. A tiny
picture of Polly’s freckled face popped up.

“Well I’ll be damned.”

“Look, she’s online.” Ariel poked ‘video
call.’ In two seconds, there was Polly, staring back at them.

“Ari? Is that you? Oh my God, what
did you do to your hair?”

“Cut and colour. You like?”

“Love.”

Mazie leaned her head next to Ariel’s.
“Hey, Polly.”

“Mrs. Reynolds? Holy crap, you’re
blonde!”

Mazie winced at the sound of that
name. “Honey, you can call me Mazie. Is your mother there?”

Polly twisted around in her chair.
“Mom, it’s Ariel and Mrs. Reynolds! I mean, Mazie.”

Rachel’s voice was tinny through
the tablet. “What are you talking about?” Her large shadow loomed behind Polly.
She bent down, her head over Polly’s shoulder, their faces squished together.
Mazie had never noticed before how much alike they were.

“Oh my God, Mazie, Ariel! Look at
you two!” She turned to look behind her. “George, they’re safe.” She spun back
around. “Where are you?” She held her palm out to the screen. “No! Don’t tell
me. I don’t want to know. Just tell me, are you all right?”

“We’re okay. Thought we might stay
where we are for a while.”

Polly leaned closer to her screen.
“Dude, what’s with the cops at your —”

“Polly!” Rachel barked her
daughter’s name and jabbed her arm with one finger. “Let me talk to Mazie.”

“Mom! It’s my Skype, my computer!”

Rachel forced herself into Polly’s
chair. Polly disappeared from the screen and a thud came through the speaker.
“Mom!”

“Just go. Get some ice cream or
something.” Rachel looked to her right. Polly mumbled and a door slammed.
Rachel turned back to the screen. “Ariel, honey, can you let me and your mom
talk in private?”

Ariel turned to her mother. “Mom,
what’s going on?”

“I just need to speak to Rachel. In
private.”

“What am I supposed to do, go
wander the streets alone?”

“Turn on the TV. I can take this
into the bathroom.”

“Fine. But don’t disconnect. I want
to talk to Polly.”