Read Online Turtleface and Beyond by Arthur Bradford - Free Book Online Page B

and her eyes met mine and she nodded. The baby was gone.
    They call it a miscarriage and it happens one time out of every five. That’s what I read. Oh, maybe it happens more, maybe when the parents are like me and Elsa it happens every time. I never even saw Elsa after that. I was fired from my job at the Riverwood Retreat and in return for my silence on the matter my record stated only that I was terminated for personal differences, or something like that.
    I’m a bit older now and I find myself wondering about the child that Elsa and I could have made. Children, I believe, can exceed the sum total of their parents. Perhaps in their little genes lie lessons learned from all of our past mistakes. We never could have raised that kid right, Elsa and I, but maybe she would still have grown up to be beautiful and strong.

 
    TRAVELS WITH PAUL
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    I had been fired from my job for a stupid indiscretion and needed to leave town. I packed up my belongings quickly and caught a ride with an acquaintance who was headed out West. I say “acquaintance” because I’d only met him once before. He was an Irish fellow named Paul O’Malley and he was the cousin of a woman I used to date, or maybe they were lovers, I don’t know. She had introduced him to me one night in a bar by saying, “This is my cousin Paul.”
    Paul was passing through town on his way to the West Coast and had announced that he would be gone in the morning. I saw him two weeks later though, right after I’d been fired from that job. He was wandering downtown, looking a little dazed and strung out.
    â€œI haven’t slept in three days,” he told me.
    â€œI thought you were going west,” I said.
    â€œI am.”
    â€œBut you said you were leaving two weeks ago.”
    â€œI got hung up. Wait, two weeks? It hasn’t been that long.”
    â€œYes, it has.”
    â€œOh.” Paul scratched his head. His hair was thinning at the top. He was a skinny guy with a long neck and an enormous Adam’s apple which bobbed up and down as he spoke. He needed a shave too, or maybe he was growing a beard. The stubble was at that awkward scruffy halfway point.
    â€œI got fired from my job,” I told Paul. “I’d like to leave town.”
    â€œYou want to ride with me? I’ll leave tomorrow.”
    This idea seemed to perk Paul up. He clapped his hands together and rubbed his fuzzy chin.
    â€œSure, yeah, okay,” I said.
    â€œWe’ll leave in the morning.”
    â€œGreat, fine.”
    We left two days later. Paul picked me up at my place, still looking tired and run-down.
    â€œI can’t sleep,” he said. “I can’t even shut my eyes.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with you?” I asked him.
    â€œNothing. Insomnia. I’m fine.”
    â€œYou don’t look fine.”
    â€œWell, I feel fine,” he said, “I just can’t sleep.”
    â€œListen,” I told him, “I don’t want any funny business. I just need a ride out of town.”
    â€œSure, right, I understand that,” he said.
    Paul’s car was a small Ford hatchback. It was already crammed full with his stuff, so I had to leave several of my belongings behind. I left them at the house of a friend with the understanding that I’d return for them later. I never did.
    Anyway, we hit the road and began our journey west. Paul’s car was equipped with a set of very worn-out seats. The one I was sitting in, the passenger seat, had something wrong with the backrest. If I leaned back it would slope off to one side and I’d twist around uncomfortably. I’d been hoping to get a little sleep while he drove, but I could see now that this wouldn’t be possible.
    After about three hours of driving Paul pulled off the highway and stopped in front of a pizza shop. He unbuckled his pants and pulled them down to his knees. Then he looked at me.
    â€œWhat are you