Chapter 155

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1965
Anderson’s Used Car Emporium was the place in Oklahoma City to buy your used car, and soon, he was thinking of expanding into the new car market, now that Elliott was making them all a pretty penny. Hardly a buyer came through the doors and left without buying a pricey used car, usually marked up way above market value, and they happily went out and told their friends to come by and ask for Elliott Sanderson. He was selling them almost as fast as they could get the cars onto the lot.
“There’s another customer waiting for you in the back,” Tanya said as Elliott walked passed reception, giving him a little smile and wiggling her cleavage at him.
“Thanks a lot, doll face,” he replied, winking at her, and heading over to where he saw his second best sales person, an older guy by the name of Virgil, talking to a couple with a small boy. For a moment, thoughts of his own boys flickered through his mind, but he pushed those images aside because he had a job to do. It had been almost two weeks since Nancy had let him see them. She and Peter had bought a large home outside of town as soon as the divorce was final. The other times recently when Elliott had driven down to Norman, she hadn’t been home, and he’d looked all over town and still came up empty handed. She was making it nearly impossible. He’d considered taking her to court, but most judges would side with the mother, even though he had a feeling he could persuade them otherwise. Half the town of Norman wondered about her story—that she’d walked in to see Elliott holding a knife over Wally’s bed—and he decided it wasn’t worth it to have that story brought up in court, so he’d left it alone, though his heart ached every time he saw a boy their age.
“Howdy folks,” he said, smiling widely as he came up to them. “How are y’all doin’ today? It’s a mighty good day to buy a fresh pair of wheels.”
The man, probably a little older than Elliott, with a neatly trimmed mustache, began to explain how the car they were looking at was just out of their price range when Elliott launched into his speech, the one that had every buyer signing paperwork within minutes, and it wasn’t any different this time. Once he had them thoroughly convinced that this was the car for them, he patted Virgil on the back and headed over to check on another sales person. He had to keep on his toes, making the rounds, making sure no one snuck passed him before he had a chance to make eye contact and tell them why this was the car for him. More sales meant more dough, and while he and Tanya weren’t doing so shabby, he had a few side businesses going now, ones that could be costly in other ways if he wasn’t constantly able to hand over the cash that was due, so he had to stay on his toes.
Tanya smiled at him, and he thought about how nice her ass was and how easy she was to talk into moving in with him. After Nancy had essentially cut him off when the boys were young, he’d been hungry for a woman who knew how to spread her legs, and Tanya was attracted to his money and likely would’ve given it up even if he hadn’t used his powers of persuasion. He hadn’t taken the chance, though.
He had just finished the transaction when Tanya rushed over, a scrap of paper in her hand. “Elliott, honey, your mom called. She said it’s important. She wants you to call her at this number.”
The number was foreign to him, but he took it, wondering what might be the matter now. He hadn’t spoken to his mom much at all since Jimmy died five years ago. She’d said a few accusatory things, sort of implying Elliott had let Jimmy down by not being there for him, to which Elliott had shouted that it wasn’t his damn job to keep raising his brother; he’d done enough of that when he was a child himself. They’d since patched things up, and he took his boys over to her house whenever Nancy would let him have them, but things weren’t the same as they were before.
He had a feeling he knew what had happened, though. His dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer the year Jimmy died, and while they’d done as much as they could, it had spread. Frank was a fighter, but he’d been recently moved to the hospital, and Elliott had a feeling this was his mom calling him to come and say goodbye. He went into the break room and dialed the number. A nurse answered, and he asked to speak to Peggy Smithstone. A few minutes later, the weary voice of his mother said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Mom. It’s me. How’s Dad?”
She was silent for several minutes. “He’s gone.”
It wasn’t exactly what Elliott had expected to hear. He’d known he was sick, obviously, but he didn’t know the situation was that dire. “Oh, God, Mom. I’m so sorry. When—when did he….”
“About an hour ago. He passed in his sleep.”
Elliott wished he’d have been there, but he knew making such a comment would probably have her agreeing that he should’ve been, and he didn’t need to hear that right now. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be down as soon as I can.”
“When? Like, two weeks ago when you said you’d come?” She didn’t sound angry so much as disappointed.
“Mom, please don’t. I would’ve, but when I got to Nancy’s house, and the boys weren’t there again, I didn’t know what to do.”
“You should have come here, Elliott. To your family.”
“I know, Mom. I know. I’m sorry. But I’ll be there, now, okay?”
She was silent, and he knew she was contemplating continuing to tell him how he’d managed to screw up again, but she didn’t. “Fine. I’ll see if they’ll leave him be until you get here. But leave that tramp of yours at home.”
He thought about reminding her that Tanya was his girlfriend, not a tramp, but he didn’t. There was no sense in arguing with the woman when she’d just lost the love of her life. “Okay.”
A little over an hour later, Elliott pulled into a parking spot outside of the hospital and hurried in. He was given a room number and entered quietly to see his mom holding his dad’s hand, stroking the back of it lovingly.
He’d known his father had changed in appearance quite rapidly over the last few years, but standing here, looking across the room at him, it was amazing just haw gaunt he was now. His cheeks were shallow, his skin pale, his hair all gone. He looked nothing like the man Elliott had first met as a twelve-year-old boy.
Peggy looked up, and when she met his eyes, tears began to stream down her face again. He wrapped her in his arms, wishing he could give her strength. It seemed like neither one of them could go more than a few years without losing someone they loved dearly. The idea that one of his kids could be next stabbed him in the heart, and he squeezed his mom tighter. They were all he had left now.
She released him and sat back down, and Elliott pulled a chair from against the wall next to her. “Was it peaceful?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, glad for it. At least someone was taken that way, without blood and carnage.
“He woke up for a little while, looked at me, told me he loved me, said to tell you he loved you, and that you made him proud. He said he’d be with Jimmy soon.” She teared up again, her voice breaking at the mention of her beloved son’s name. “He said not to cry, that that’s not what he wanted. We both knew that he’d be leaving this earth long before me, which is true. I just didn’t think it would be this soon.” She wiped at her eyes, and Elliott got up to pull a fresh tissue from a box on a table behind them. He handed it to her and sat back down.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. And you’re right. I should’ve been here.”
“It’s okay, honey,” she said quietly. “I know with everything Nancy’s put you through, it’s hard for you to do everything. It’s hard for you to go without seeing your boys. I know how much you love them. I miss them, too.”
He didn’t want to think about that. He had hoped that the older they got, the more they’d ask to see him, but now that Wally was ten and Michael was nine, it seemed like they spent more and more time with Peter. Nancy had made a point of letting him know they called Peter dad, too, and she’d even been encouraging them to call him Elliott, though neither boy did.
“The thing about this life you and I both have to get used to, Son, is that we will say a lot of hellos and a lot of goodbyes. Unlike humans who age together and die together, if things go according to plan, people like us don’t get that luxury unless we only surround ourselves with those who are the same as we are. Otherwise, you better get used to telling people goodbye.”
Elliott snickered; he couldn’t help it. “Seems like that’s about all I do, Mom. I mean—for the love of God, there aren’t too many people left alive that I care about. My kids and you. That’s pretty much it.”
“What about Tanya?”
He shrugged. “I think we both know I ain’t in love with Tanya.”
“Oh, thank God,” Peggy muttered. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve had a hard life, Elliott. I didn’t mean to imply that you hadn’t. And I’m sorry for what I said to you about, Jimmy, too. You took care of him for far longer than you should’ve had to. In fact, you should’ve never had to. Janette told me the living conditions she pulled you two out of. To think…. Well, it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done. And you should know, no matter what stupid comments come out of my mouth, I love you, Son. I always will. And as much as I know I’ll miss Frank every single day, at least I know I’ll always have you.”
Elliott leaned over and kissed his mother on the head. “I love you, too, Mom. Ain’t nothing going to change that.”
A nurse came in a few minutes later to let them know they’d need to move the body soon, and Elliott stood to tell his father goodbye for the last time. It seemed like all he ever did any more was say goodbye. He bent down and kissed Frank’s forehead and then walked to the door to wait for his mom, praying that this would be the last funeral for a while. He hoped the next one he went to was his own, but since he’d been told that was nearly impossible, he figured he’d better take his mother’s advice and get used to saying goodbye.