Chapter 22

Chapter 22

They had arranged the stage so that the audience faced the crater. Rows of folding chairs lined the ground for those wanting to get close to the action while others spread blankets out on the ground behind the seats. Unlike the theater crowds in LA, this seemed festive and blue collar with people wearing jeans, T-shirts, and baseball caps. Frank had overdressed by wearing his only suit.

At least it would help Anna spot him in the crowd. The first six rows were already occupied and the others were filling up fast. He decided on the eighth row right in the center. If she squinted hard enough she might be able to see him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Esther behind him. “Come on, I saved you a seat.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Why shouldn’t I come? She’s still my niece. Even if she doesn’t want to be.”

“Domestic squabble?”

“It’s your fault. I don’t suppose you read all of Vera’s journal?”

“I hadn’t got the chance. I thought Anna should have it since it belonged to her mother.”

“How chivalrous of you. If you had read the entire journal I’m not sure you’d think the same thing.”

“Why not?” They reached their seats in the front row at center stage. No chance Anna could miss them now. After they sat down, Esther reached under her chair and pulled out the journal.

“Read the last half-dozen entries. Those are the important ones.”

The noise of the gathering crowd dissipated as he read Vera’s trek from Savannah to Little Mesa, ending with the entry after Anna’s birth. “I don’t understand.”

“Which part?”

“Any of it.”

“You’re the one she’s always talking about. The man she planned to visit on the other side of the country. The man she thought she kept seeing.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would she come looking for me? She didn’t want to marry me. She left me.”

“I can’t believe you’re this dense. She always loved you. Those six years after she broke up with you, she didn’t go out with anyone else. When I graduated and got into college she figured the time was right to find you and apologize.”

“She could have called. Or written me a letter. Or why not take a plane?”

“You know Vera, she didn’t like to do things the sensible way. Driving probably seemed more romantic to her.” Esther shook her head and smiled. “In a strange way it sort of makes you Anna’s father.”

“What?”

“Well, if she hadn’t gone looking for you she wouldn’t have been in Savannah. If she hadn’t been missing you she wouldn’t have gotten drunk and had sex with some stranger. Without you Anna wouldn’t be here.”

Frank stared at the last page of the notebook. Why hadn’t Vera come to him anyway? He wouldn’t have cared if she was pregnant with someone else’s baby. He never would have turned her away. He loved her too much for that.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Frank. I think Vera always liked to think of herself as a martyr. She didn’t have to take care of my sisters and I, or leave you, or raise Anna alone, or even volunteer to help all those causes. She took it all on herself to bear all those crosses.”

Frank nodded, but couldn’t put all the blame on Vera. He could have taken some of the load from her. He could have stayed with her in Maine those six years. Instead he had been more concerned with himself and his own career plans. After his selfishness, no wonder she didn’t want to trust anyone to help raise her child.

The lights on stage and strung around the seating area dimmed to signal the start of the play. The makeshift curtain went up and revealed a bar almost identical to the one from Casablanca, though shrunken to fit on the stage. A teenaged boy dressed like a waiter came on stage to establish the setting. In a squeaky voice the boy said, “In the year 2041 a race of alien invaders has put most of Earth’s governments under its control. Even the once-proud United States has fallen.” The boy stopped and stood blankly on stage, as though flipping a page in his mind. “Those who want to escape the alien tyranny must undergo a perilous journey to Casa Verde along the border with Mexico. From there they can reach the last bastions of freedom in the southern hemisphere.” The boy paused again and cleared his throat before continuing. Frank wondered if he would pass out from nervousness. “But getting out of Casa Verde is not easy. The only way of escape is to get passage on a stealth ship and fly a dangerous route to avoid detection. Because there are so few seats and so many wanting to occupy them, more and more people come to Casa Verde every day to wait and hope.”

The lights went off as the players made their way to their positions. The crowd couldn’t help laughing when someone knocked over a chair. Frank did not laugh with the others; he closed the notebook and squeezed it in anticipation.

Anna did not appear in the first scene. Instead a boy in a tight-fitting suit discussed with a young man in a tuxedo how he had obtained tickets for the next flight. In the process of buying the tickets he had killed two alien security guards. He needed someone to hold on to the tickets while he hid from the alien authorities.

Frank hoped the next scene would feature Anna, but instead the young man in a tuxedo traded quips with a bumbling American customs inspector. Frank looked around the audience to see if they were as bored and jittery as he was. They had probably seen Anna in other performances, though. School plays and such. They knew what to expect from her.

“She’s in the next one,” Esther whispered into his ear. He tried to lean back in his chair and enjoy the show. The young man in the tuxedo did and admirable job as Ron the bar owner, but the inspector played his with too much buffoonery. The bartender missed two of his lines and looked ready to bolt at any second. Ron’s former girlfriend seemed more interested in showing her cleavage than performing her lines. Anna deserved a better cast than this for her big play.

Then she came on stage and he thought his heart would stop. She walked into the bar on the arm of a dark-skinned boy with blonde hair who couldn’t help smirking at his good fortune. The moment Anna came on stage she dominated the scene. Even sitting next to her husband she managed to portray just the right look of love and concern. The other actors kept looking at her and when she spoke, they listened as though her every word were the most important thing they’d ever heard. Enraptured, that would best describe it. The cast, the audience, and especially Frank were under her spell.

In her scenes with Ron, Frank saw something he had not allowed himself to see during the time he’d spent with Anna. Her posture, her expressions, and her voice all carried a woman’s sorrow at having to choose between a man she admired and a man she loved. He had always thought of her as Vera’s daughter. He thought she needed his protection and his guidance. He had never seen her as a mature young woman in need of something more. In need of love.

At intermission he didn’t move until Esther nudged him in the ribs. “She’s wonderful,” he said.

“Maybe. But do you realize how many ‘wonderful’ girls like her get on the bus for Hollywood every day? How many do you think come back that way?”

“She can make it. She just needs help.”

“You go ahead and help her then Frank. You already ruined Vera’s life, why not ruin her daughter’s too?”

Before Frank could say anything the lights dimmed for the play to continue. Right away things began to go wrong with the production. The sign for Ron’s Café fell down as the bartender spoke and he ran off the stage. The other actors tried to go on without him, but even the older boys started to stumble over lines. Only Anna remained unaffected and continued her dazzling performance.

Then as Anna kissed Ron, a string of firecrackers went off behind the stage. Even Anna froze at the sudden disruption. She looked offstage and then bolted to the wings. Ron stood there for one horrific moment before joining her.

When Anna came back to the stage he thought the play would continue, but instead she shouted, “We need a doctor! Someone call an ambulance.” Frank reached into his pocket and dialed for 911. He climbed onto the stage and used his free arm to corral Anna. “What’s going on?”

“I think Henry had a heart attack. Please, get someone here to help him.” He followed her offstage and found an old man lying on the floor, sweat covering his face. Frank explained the situation as best he could to the emergency dispatcher. She told him a paramedic team was already there for the festival and should reach the stage in about two minutes.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he told Anna. “Help is on the way.”

“I don’t know what happened. I guess those firecrackers must have scared him. He’s been working so hard on this play. The last few days he looked sick, but I didn’t think anything about it. It’s all my fault.” She said this not with panic and tears but with grim acceptance.

“Anna, it’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything to him.” The paramedics arrived, pushing aside the cast and crew to reach Henry. Frank took Anna’s hand and led her away from the scene. “Where’s the nearest hospital?”

“On Franklin, near the retirement home. Frank, I have to stay with him.”

“Right now the best thing is to let the paramedics do their job. We’ll take my car.” He put both hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I’m going to need your help. Are you with me?”

“I understand.” As Henry went by on a stretcher she reached out to squeeze his hand. Frank couldn’t tell, but he thought the old man smiled beneath the oxygen mask. Then Frank led Anna through the crowd and drove her to the hospital.

Along the way he tried to cheer her up by saying, “You did a great job. Maybe they’ll let you come back and finish.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said and turned away to look out the window.