Yes, I Know the Monkey Man Read online

  “T.J.,” Sam said, touching my arm. “You’re crying!”

  “I am not,” I said. But when I blinked, my vision blurred. I touched my finger to my cheek and realized it was wet. I was crying and I didn’t even realize it.

  Luckily no one on the other side of the room had noticed. I wiped my cheeks and blinked a few times. What was the matter with me? Sam reached into her purse and pulled out a small package of tissues, but I shook my head.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “You don’t look fine. In fact, you didn’t look fine when we got back from the hairdresser’s. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” I went over to the sink and checked my reflection in the mirror above it. Sam was right; I looked terrible. Pull it together, T.J. Pull it together! I turned on the cold water and splashed some on my face.

  Sam followed me. I could feel her standing there behind me. “Even though this is ‘the happiest day of our mother’s life,’ it’s kind of a sad day, too,” she said as she yanked a couple of paper towels out of the dispenser and handed them to me. “For us, I mean.”

  I took the paper towels and dried my face in them as she went on. “I know our parents are never going to get back together, but there was still a small part of me that hoped maybe they would. You know, after they both got over what Joe did.”

  Would they ever get over that? “Our parents should never have gotten together in the first place,” I said as I tossed the paper towel into the trash.

  “No. Probably not,” Sam agreed. “Do you want me to put some makeup on your face, so it’s not so obvious you’ve been crying?”

  Normally I would’ve said no. I’d never worn makeup before and saw no reason to start now. But wasn’t that what other girls did before their mom got married? Put on makeup?

  A lot of people had come to see Suzanne and Bob get married. When we lined up to walk down the aisle, the main part of the church was mostly full. It was really quiet in there, except for the piano that was playing classical music. But people were talking softly out where we were.

  Bob’s mother and Grandma Sperling strolled up and down the line of bridesmaids, tugging on dresses and adjusting bouquets.

  Grandma Sperling stopped when she got to me. “You look nice with a little makeup on your face.” She even smiled a little.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Sam did it.”

  Bob’s brother Rick walked over to us. He looked kind of stiff in that black tux with the white flower pinned to the jacket. “Are the mothers ready to be seated?” he asked in a low voice.

  “I think we are,” Bob’s mother said as she and Grandma Sperling made their way to the front of the line. Rick would escort Bob’s mother to one of the front row seats and Grandma Sperling to the other. Then the wedding would start.

  I took a deep breath and held my bouquet out in front of me so everyone would think I was into this. I was not a girl who was worried about her dad and her grandma; I was a bridesmaid in my mom’s wedding. I was happy. I kept repeating that word to myself inside my head: happy, happy, happy.

  All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my arm. I turned and Suzanne gently pulled Sam and me out of the line. She grabbed both our hands and even through the veil I could tell she was trying really hard not to cry, too.

  “I just want you both to know how happy I am today,” she said, choking on the words. “Bob’s a good man, and we’re going to have a good life with him.”

  “I know,” Sam said, throwing her arms around her mother.

  I just looked down at the floor, because I wasn’t part of the “we” she was talking about. But when Suzanne reached out to hug me with her other arm, I let her. Because it was her wedding day.

  “Hurry up, Suzanne,” one of the other bridesmaids whispered. “Your mom’s sitting down.”

  We all rushed back to our places: Sam and me at the front of the line, Suzanne at the back. And when the violins began to play, Sam and I started down the aisle.

  It was a beautiful wedding. Everyone said so. But when it was over, all I could think was, I have to get out of here. Not just out of this church, but out of this town. I couldn’t wait until next week. I had to go home. Now. I had to find Joe.

  But how was I going to do that in the middle of this big wedding celebration?

  After everyone in the whole church hugged Suzanne and Bob and shook hands with me and Sam and the other bridesmaids, we all got into cars and drove to some fancy country club for the dinner and dance. I decided I’d hang around for the dinner. It would be too hard to slip out unnoticed when I was supposed to sit at the big table with Suzanne and Bob and everyone else who’d been in the wedding. But once the lights went down and people started dancing, I wasn’t going to hang around.

  All I had to do was get to the bus station. In Cedar Rapids. Which was at least thirty miles away. But if I could get there, I could get a bus back home. And once I was home it would be a lot easier to find out what happened to Joe.

  Of course, first I had to get back to Suzanne’s house so I could get Sherlock. I wasn’t going to leave him here. But once I got him, how was I going to get us to Cedar Rapids?

  I could call a cab. It would probably take me to Cedar Rapids, but considering how much it had cost me to take a cab to the bus station back home, I might not have enough left for the bus ticket. If I could get Suzanne’s purse, I could probably just take the money I needed. But I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to steal from her.

  Maybe Sherlock and I could go out to that highway and hitch a ride to Cedar Rapids. But that didn’t seem like a great idea, either. I bet even in Iowa bad stuff happened to people who hitchhiked.

  While I was wracking my brain for another idea, the band started warming up. Bob slipped off his tux jacket and hung it over the back of his chair, then stood up and reached for Suzanne’s hand. As the two of them walked hand in hand to the dance floor, a lightbulb went on inside my head.

  I knew exactly how I was going to get to Cedar Rapids.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I’d seen Bob drop his keys into his inside jacket pocket when we got to the country club. So while everyone else was busy watching Suzanne and Bob glide across the dance floor, I slid over two seats, reached into his inside pocket, and pulled out the keys. I wasn’t entirely sure Bob had a key to Suzanne’s house, but now that the two of them were married, I thought the odds were pretty good.

  My plan was to drive Bob’s car to Suzanne’s house, pick up my dog and my stuff, and then drive myself to the Cedar Rapids bus station and leave Bob’s car there. Assuming I could find the bus station. There would probably be signs, though. If I was lucky, there would be a bus heading north tonight and I could still get on it, even if I had to switch to another bus in some other town to get all the way to the Twin Cities. If I was really lucky, I’d be out of Clearwater before Suzanne even realized I was gone.

  “What are you doing way over there?” Sam asked, sliding over to me.

  I tucked the hand with Bob’s keys underneath the skirt of my dress. I wasn’t sure whether she’d seen me grab them or not. “I couldn’t see from over there,” I said quickly. Which wasn’t exactly a lie. The dance floor was at the opposite end of the room from where we were, so most of the rest of the wedding party had gotten up and moved closer to the dance floor. Sam and I were the only ones left at our table.

  Sam scooted her chair back. “Well, why don’t we move closer then?”

  “Okay,” I said. This was actually a time when having a purse would have come in handy. Sam had a little silver purse that she’d borrowed from Suzanne, but I’d told them I didn’t need one. And now I had no place to hide the keys.

  As Sam and I stood at the edge of the crowd in our matching hot pink, I folded my arms across my chest and hid Bob’s keys between my elbow and my side. By now Grandma and Grandpa Sperling had joined Suzanne and Bob on the dance floor, and one of Bob’s brothers was leading their mother onto the floor.

  “You guys can go out and
dance, too, you know,” Paula said when she noticed Sam and me standing there. “Anyone in the immediate family can go out.”

  “Really?” Sam said. She looked at me hopefully. “Do you want to?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a slow song. Don’t you think it would be weird to dance with each other to a slow song?”

  Sam’s face fell. “Yeah. I guess.”

  “How about dancing with me?” one of Bob’s brothers asked. He slapped another groomsman on the arm with the back of his hand. “And I’ll bet Dan would be willing to dance, too.”

  Dan turned around. “Sure. Which one of you lovely ladies would like to dance with me?” He held out his hand to both of us.

  “You go ahead,” I told Sam. “I just want to watch.”

  Sam looked disappointed. “You’re not going to come?”

  “Not right now,” I said, squeezing Bob’s keys.

  I stayed where I was and watched them all for a few seconds. Sam and Dan swayed back and forth to the music. So did Grandma and Grandpa Sperling and Bob’s brother and mother. But Suzanne and Bob danced like they actually knew what they were doing. Suzanne had the train of her dress pinned up behind her and they seemed to be dancing real dance steps. They looked so … elegant moving around the floor together. So perfect.

  When the slow song ended, the band launched into a faster song with a pounding beat and a bunch of people went out to join them on the dance floor. I waited to make sure Sam was going to stay where she was. She caught me looking at her and motioned for me to come over and dance with her, but I shook my head. I’m not sure she even saw because right at that second Dan started spinning her faster and faster around the floor. She laughed as the skirt of her dress billowed out around her.

  Everybody in the room was either dancing, watching people who were dancing, or talking amongst themselves.

  I slowly made my way to the door, trying not to draw attention to myself. But even if anyone saw me, they probably thought I was just going to the bathroom. I paused at the door long enough to glance over at Sam one more time. For about three seconds I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Sam and I were just starting to get to know each other and now I was going to leave?

  But I had to. I had to find Joe.

  I would write Suzanne and Sam a note when I picked up Sherlock, so they wouldn’t worry. I’d tell them my grandma had a stroke and was in the hospital and that was why I had to go home. They’d understand. It wasn’t like anyone actually needed me here. It was Suzanne’s wedding night.

  Clutching Bob’s keys, I hurried through the lobby, out the door, and across the parking lot. It wasn’t easy to run in a bridesmaid’s dress and fancy shoes. When I got to Bob’s car, I tried the door. Locked. Just like I would have expected. There was no automatic door opener on Bob’s key ring, so I sure hoped one of these keys would unlock his car. I started sticking random keys into the lock until one finally turned. As I lifted the door handle to get in, I heard a voice call across the parking lot, “T.J.! What are you doing?”

  It was Sam, and she was coming toward me.

  I quick got in Bob’s car, slammed the door closed, and wiggled the key into the ignition. But my hand was shaking so bad I couldn’t get the car started.

  She pounded on the window. “What are you doing? You can’t take Bob’s car!” she yelled as the motor turned over.

  Yes, I can. I put the car in reverse and started to back up, but Sam ran around behind the car.

  “Jeez Louise!” I cried, slamming my foot on the brake. I put the car back in park and rolled down my window. I could still hear the dance music from out here. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I asked, sticking my head out the window.

  “Are you?” she shot back. “You can’t drive!”

  “I already told you I can. Now get out of my way.”

  “No!” She pressed herself up against the back end of the car as though she could somehow physically prevent the car from moving. “Where are you going, anyway?”

  I did not have time for this. “I can’t tell you.”

  “You can’t tell me, but wherever it is, it’s important enough to steal a car to get there?”

  “I’m not stealing it,” I said. “I’m borrowing it. Bob will get it back when I’m done. Now will you please move? And whatever you do, don’t tell your mom about this!”

  “Why not?” she asked in the most determined voice I’d ever heard from her. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell her.”

  “Because sisters don’t tattle on each other,” I said. I thought that would get her. She was the one who was all excited about us being sisters.

  “Sisters also don’t keep secrets from each other,” Sam countered. “Didn’t we promise that we would always tell each other the truth about everything?”

  Technically, yes. But I had crossed my fingers when we made that promise.

  “Can I come with you?” she asked.

  “What? No!” Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t take her with me. Not to Cedar Rapids. Certainly not to the Twin Cities.

  “Then tell me what’s going on.”

  It was obvious I wasn’t getting out of here until I did. So I motioned for her to come over to my window.

  She narrowed her eyes. “How do I know you won’t just whip out of this parking lot if I move away from the back of the car?”

  I had to admit the thought had crossed my mind. But I knew if I did that, she’d just run right inside and tell her mom and I wouldn’t even make it back to her house, much less all the way to Cedar Rapids.

  I had to tell her something.

  “I promise I’m not going to leave,” I said. “I just don’t want to keep shouting, okay? So please, come over here.”

  She looked like she wasn’t sure she could trust me, but she came over. I saw she had a big dirt smudge on the front of her dress. “Okay,” she said, leaning her elbows on my open window. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going home.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You’re going to drive Bob’s car all the way to Minnesota?”

  “No. I’m just driving to the bus station in Cedar Rapids. I’ll take a bus the rest of the way.”

  “But why do you have to go home now? I thought you liked us.”

  “I do,” I said, lowering my eyes. “But my grandma’s sick. She had another stroke and she’s in the hospital. She might not make it. That’s why I have to go.” The best lies have an element of truth to them.

  “Well, why is that such a big secret? If you tell my mom, she’ll drive you to the bus station. In fact, she and Bob might even drive you all the way home.”

  “I don’t want them to. Not tonight. It’s their wedding night. I’ll leave her a note. At your house. I have to go there to pick up my stuff anyway. But I really have to go.”

  I could see she was working that over in her brain, but I couldn’t tell whether she believed me or not.

  “Okay,” she said, backing away from the car. “Then … I guess this is good-bye.”

  “Yeah,” I said as a hollow spot opened in my chest.

  “Please don’t tell them you saw me leave,” I said. “Not yet.”

  She didn’t answer. She just turned around and slowly started walking toward the country club.

  Part of me wanted to call her back and say, Wait! I changed my mind. I want you to come with me. But that would have been crazy. And part of me wanted to forget about Joe and go back inside with Sam. But I hardly knew these people. They weren’t my family. Joe was my family and I had to find out what was going on. I put the car in reverse, checked behind me, and slowly backed out.

  I was pretty sure I remembered the way to Suzanne’s house. It wasn’t far. The sun was just starting to go down, so I turned on the headlights. I drove very carefully, making sure to obey every traffic law and keeping my speed five miles below the limit.

  As I turned onto Suzanne’s street, I heard a police siren.

  I checked my rearview mirror.
Crap. A police car with flashing lights was right on my tail. He signaled for me to pull over, so I did.

  Crap, crap, crap! I was less than two blocks from Suzanne’s house. Had I really done something wrong … or had Sam gone back inside and given me away?

  I rolled down my window when the police officer came over to my car. “License and registration, please,” he said.

  “Uh … I don’t have them with me,” I replied, gripping the steering wheel.

  “You’re supposed to carry your driver’s license and vehicle registration with you at all times,” the officer informed me. He stared at me over the tops of his glasses. “Do you even have a driver’s license?”

  “Of course.” I laughed a little.

  The officer pulled out a notepad and pen. “I’ll need your name, with spelling, and your address, so I can look it up.”

  He could look it up? “Well, okay. Technically I don’t have a driver’s license,” I admitted. “But I’m a very good driver.” Joe always said I was. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t break any laws, so why’d you pull me over?” Joe also said the police couldn’t pull you over unless you actually did something wrong.

  “It’s against the law to drive without a license. It’s also against the law to take someone else’s vehicle without their permission. Do you have permission to be driving this vehicle right now?”

  “Well—”

  Just then, another vehicle pulled up behind the police car. A woman in a bride’s dress and a man in a tux got out of the backseat and barreled over to us. Suzanne and Bob.

  “We’ll take it from here, Ken,” Bob said. “Thanks.”

  I slid down in my seat. I was dead.

  Bob stayed with Ken while Suzanne marched over to me. She yanked open my door. “Slide over,” she said coolly. She was MAD.

  I lifted myself over the parking brake that separated the two front seats. As I did, my heel caught on the bottom of my dress and I felt the dress rip as I fell into the passenger seat. Great. Just great.

  “Let me guess,” I muttered as Suzanne buckled herself up. “Sam told on me.”

  Suzanne didn’t answer. She put on the blinker and pulled away from the curb. I turned around in my seat. Suzanne had left her brand new husband standing there in the street, talking to Ken, the police officer.