Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela (9 page)

gay, he‘d get more pussy than—‖

Logan missed the rest of Tish‘s salty observation under the roar

of blood rushing past his ears. Involuntarily, his head snapped over in

Nick‘s direction, and he stared in consternation at the oblivious man.

What the fuck? He’s… that way? And letting everyone know—letting

these girls blab it all over creation? What the hell is wrong with him?

Called back to reality by Norah asking if she should be the one to

top off the car‘s oil, Logan wrenched his attention back to his students.

With monumental effort, he taught the rest of the class with a

reasonable show of composure.

Norah had volunteered to take the other women back to ACC,

leaving Logan and Nick alone to clean up. Logan barely heard Nick

talking about what they should do to get started on the car, as he was

wondering if he should broach the subject of Tish‘s bombshell. Finally,

as they were leaving, he cleared his throat and ventured, ―That girl,

Tish, she was saying….‖ The words died in his throat, so he cleared

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

49

them out and tried again. ―She said right out in the open that you‘re….‖

His eyes darted back and forth between the open door and Nick‘s face.

Nick‘s frown seemed to indicate he had an inkling of the subject

matter; his belligerent tone was confirmation. ―That I‘m what? Gay?

So?‖

Logan squinted at him and forced out, ―You should be more

careful ‘bout that.‖

―Careful?‖ A quick step by Nick bridged half the distance

between them. ―Are you
threatening
me?‖

―Threatening? No! Fuck, I‘m just saying…. A fella can get….

Some folks out there would hurt a guy bad. Even
just thinkin’
he was…

like you.‖ Logan closed his eyes briefly to find, burning there, an image

of a bloodied body lying on a floor very much like the one he stood on.

He hurriedly opened them, noting that Nick‘s frown was now more

puzzled than pissed. Needing to fill the yawning chasm he‘d cleaved

between the two of them, Logan added, ―It happened… a while back in

Elco.‖

Nick took a deep breath before saying, ―Yeah, it happens. But

Pittsburgh ain‘t Elco, and I can take care of myself. Been doing it a

long, long time.‖

Unconvinced but out of ammunition, Logan surrendered the

battle. ―Didn‘t mean no harm.‖

―Okay.‖ Nick‘s throat muscles moved, obviously swallowing

anything more on the matter. He hooked a thumb into his pocket,

asking, ―You still wanta help with the car?‖

―Sure. I ain‘t one to….‖ Logan lost that train of thought in a

memory before firmly stating, ―I don‘t care.‖

―Good. That‘s all we really want, you know.‖

Logan didn‘t know, but it seemed he was going to find out.

FRIDAY night, Logan parked in front of his landlady‘s house, dog-tired

and glad of it. He had pulled four hours of overtime at work, which he

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Felicia Watson

had spent moving all of the sapling trees from the nursery section to the

front of the garden center, where they would be displayed as clearance

merchandise for the next two weeks. From the passenger seat, he

grabbed the paper sack containing a small box of fried chicken and a

six-pack of beer—both obtained at the corner store—and slowly headed

for the steps leading down to his basement apartment. His plans for the

evening were: shower, dinner, TV, and not thinking at all about the

events of the previous night. Especially not anything related to Nick

Zales.

Logan‘s plan didn‘t even make it to the front door, since his path

was blocked by a tiny grey and navy figure perched on his top step. The

person closed a small leatherbound book and jumped up at his

approach, revealing to Logan that it was none other than Sister Ciera.

She was one of the Sisters of St. Francis Millvale, a convent with a

thriving prison ministry, who had offered her help while he was still

navigating the labyrinth of the legal system.

Despite her cheerful assistance, Logan had never really felt

comfortable around the woman, maybe because of her propensity for

rapid-fire speech colored with her slight Philippine accent, maybe

because she didn‘t dress like that flying nun or the ones in the movies,

or maybe because she didn‘t preach at him and talk about God all the

time. Not that he wanted that—not by a long shot—but it would have at

least fit his idea of what a nun should be. When she greeted him with

an exuberant shout while dusting off her ordinary cotton trousers, he

wondered if she fit a
nybody’s
idea of what a nun should be.

―Logan, I hope you don‘t mind me dropping in on you.‖ Without

waiting for a reply, she continued, ―You‘ve been on my mind so much

and you‘ve never called or checked in with me—you still have my

card, don‘t you?—so I thought I‘d check in with you.‖

―Umm, yeah, I still have that card somewhere….‖ Not sure that

was really true, Logan decided to change the subject by asking her in.

Ciera eagerly agreed, following him into the one-room apartment.

―I can see, and smell—smells good by the way—that you have your

dinner there, so I won‘t stay long at all. But tell me, how are you

making out? How is the counseling going?‖

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

51

Logan placed the paper bag on the kitchen counter before turning

and answering, ―Uh… it‘s goin‘… fine.‖ He wondered why she was

bothering him about this instead of just going directly to his counselor.

―Don‘t you see Dr. Gerard at that center sometimes?‖

―Of course, but I wanted to hear if it‘s working
for you
. Is it? I

hope so, I think the world of Trudy; she‘s a very compassionate woman

and not at all judgmental towards men in your situation.‖

If Logan were inclined to be completely honest, he would have

told Sr. Ciera that no, the counseling wasn‘t doing him a damn bit of

good, and that judgmental was exactly the word he would have used to

describe Trudy. But Logan was a ―better the devil you know‖ kind of

guy and shuddered to think what alternative to Dr. Gerard the active

little nun might propose. ―Like I said, it‘s goin‘ pretty good.‖ To throw

her off the trail, he added, ―I‘m even volunteering—teachin‘ car repair

to some of them… to some girls.‖

―Yes, Nick Zales told me.‖

Wiping a rivulet of unease from the back of his neck, Logan

asked, ―Told you what?‖

―Told me about the class. And how is that going? Do you like

volunteering? I understand Tish is one of your students. She‘s a

handful, isn‘t she? But no harm in her at all, really. I helped her get her

GED, and she was so proud and grateful, the way she hugged me. And

you have Norah, too. She‘s such a dear. Did you know….‖

Logan had learned soon after meeting Sister Ciera that if you

simply kept quiet, she would eventually answer most of her own

questions, so he just let her ramble on, supplying mainly nods and

agreeable-sounding grunts. She finally veered onto a topic that required

his actual participation. ―And how is your family? Are you seeing your

wife and daughters now?‖

―Seein‘ my daughters some, every other Saturday. But not my

wife. Not yet.‖

―Oh that‘s too bad.‖ She patted his arm in an unsuccessful gesture

of comfort. ―She‘ll come around. I‘m sure when she comes to consider

all of the hard work you‘re doing, she‘ll find the Lord‘s forgiveness in

her heart.‖ Logan didn‘t point out that he was hoping more for Linda

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Felicia Watson

forgetting than forgiving, but Ciera had moved on again anyway. ―But

it must be a comfort for you to see your little girls.‖

―Sure is, they‘re good girls—‖

―Oh,‖ Ciera interrupted, ―I just had a brilliant idea! We should

have your girls come along on this year‘s Kennywood trip.‖

Logan and Linda had talked just last year about taking the girls to

the huge amusement park not far from North Braddock, but of course,

like everything else since March, those plans had been put on hold.

―What trip is that?‖

―ACC sponsors a trip every summer for some of the children at

the center; Nick is actually the one who does all the planning, but I‘m

always one of the chaperones. I could—‖

―My girls ain‘t at that center,‖ Logan cut in tersely. ―They‘re

livin‘ with their mom.‖

―Yes, I know that, dear, but the trip would be open to any children

who‘ve been through… what your girls have. I can make the

arrangements with your wife, I‘m sure she‘ll be agreeable. All of the

kids always have such a good time.‖

As much to shut the woman up as for his daughters‘ sake, Logan

agreed to the suggestion and was relieved to see Ciera start to make her

way to the door. She shook his hand, promising once again to clear

things with Linda, and tripped gaily up the steps.

Logan figured he was home free until she turned around on the

third step. ―I hope you don‘t mind—I know you‘re not a religious man,

but I am praying for you, Logan. It can‘t hurt, right?‖

―Nope, can‘t hurt.‖ He squinted up into the glare of the sun

setting behind her. ―Can‘t see that it‘s helped much either.‖

―Oh, I‘m sure it has. In some way we can‘t even see yet. God‘s

mercy is often hard to recognize at first. Mysterious ways and all that.‖

And finally she was gone, leaving Logan to wonder about those

mysterious ways. He concluded that if God was trying to hide a recent

act of mercy, He was doing a bang-up job of it.

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

53

Chapter 5:

Half Reveal and Half Conceal

Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

—Alfred, Lord Tennyson

THAT Sunday, Nick was feeling in desperate need of his planned

diversion. With Agnes having had two good days in a row, Nick felt

relatively secure in leaving her alone for a short while. He dashed over

to Adam‘s place, wondering if his assessment of his mom‘s condition

was more blind hope than reality. He shrugged that concern off,

figuring that if Agnes got worried or confused, she‘d just ring his cell

phone. Of all the things his mom habitually forgot, his number was

never one of them—a fact that was equal parts blessing and curse.

When forty-five minutes of energetic sex didn‘t entirely quiet his

restless mind, and with his cell phone resolutely silent, Nick gladly

accepted Adam‘s invitation to cap off their afternoon with a beer at

Sully‘s, Adam‘s favorite sports bar. An hour later, his gambit for

distraction proved worthless. Nick was staring into his beer mug, his

mind running over Norah‘s last session while the room around him

exploded with joy.

Adam punched him in the arm, exclaiming, ―Hey, what the fuck!

Wake up, dude. Doumit just hit a triple. The Pirates might actually win

a game, and you‘re missin‘ it!‖

Nick glanced up at the score flashing on the screen. ―Wow, when

did they grab the lead?‖

―Last inning, where the hell were you?‖

With a guilty shrug, Nick admitted, ―A million miles away.‖

―Why?‖ Adam settled back onto his barstool. ―Is it somethin‘

with your mom?‖

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Felicia Watson

―Not really. It‘s work.‖ He shifted to face Adam directly, saying,

―See, I‘m worried about how I‘m handling something with Norah.‖

―Your boss?‖ Adam asked distractedly, his attention back on the

TV where the Pirate hitter was striking out to end the inning. ―Fuck!

Sure could‘a used ‘nother insurance run—the Reds have the top of the

order coming up.‖ As the players trotted off the field, he refocused on

Nick. ―Sorry, you were sayin‘ somethin about your boss….‖

―No, you idiot,‖ Nick laughed fondly. ―
Trudy
is my boss. Norah

is a client of mine. The one I picked up—‖

Polishing his beer off with total unconcern, Adam wiped his

mouth on on the side of his hand before interrupting, ―Trudy, Norah….

Chick names all sound the same to me.‖ He signaled the bartender to

bring two more beers before saying, ―Come on, don‘t waste a great

afternoon worryin‘ ‘bout work. Lighten up. You just had a seriously

good fuck.‖ He paused to look in Nick‘s eyes as he murmured, ―It was

good, wasn‘t it?‖

―You know it, ‖ Nick confirmed.

―Of course,‖ Adam crowed. ―Though if you were still ‗itchy‘,‖ he

drawled, elbowing Nick slightly and nodding towards the very end of

the bar, ―I could recommend some time with that guy.‖

Nick studied the muscular black man Adam had discreetly