Deep in the Valley Read Online Free PDF Page B

fifty-five minutes to go.”
    He was met with silence.
    “I’m not obligated to say anything to anybody about our time together, but that doesn’t mean I won’t want to.”
    Eye contact. Unhappy eyes.
    “For example, if I thought you could benefit from more counseling, I don’t have to say why, I just have to recommend. It could happen that way.”
    Unhappier eyes.
    “So, let’s talk. See where we are. Huh? At least tell me what it takes to get you to punch me out. What do I have to say to get slugged at the bus stop?”
    “Man…”
    “I’m patient. I get paid by the hour.”
    “Who pays for this hour?” Frank asked.
    “In this case, county funds provided to the school district. When a kid gets in trouble and the school wants counseling, there are two ways to pay. The parents’ medical policy, or the school. What’s up, Frank? What are you so mad about?”
    He squirmed a little, inhaled noisily through his nose like a bull and finally spoke. “How about if we make a deal? If I answer your questions for a half hour, you answer one question for me?”
    This was a remarkably unoriginal barter. Jerry had this proposed to him regularly. And he knew all the tricks. “Go,” he invited.
    Over the next thirty minutes he found out a lot about Gus’s binges, the beatings, the rages and the regular visits made by the police. Jerry found out how much Frank hated his father, how much he loved but disrespected his mother, how fragile he was with his own rage and how frustrated he felt over his complete inability to protect his mother and younger brothers. Jerry wished he were hearing this story for the first time, wished it didn’t happen this way so often. In the end he knew what he would do—try to get Frank to commit to an anger management workshop and a group for battered teens. But he’d have to tread slowly and carefully. And keep his part of the bargain.
    “So,” Frank asked, leaning forward in his chair. “What’s the inside of a spaceship like?”
    “Well, it looks like shiny metal, but it turns out to be something like glass,” Jerry began.

Four
    C hristina Baker was sixteen and pregnant. Married, too, which gave her one advantage over many a pregnant sixteen year old. She was also anemic, underweight and probably depressed.
    “Is the morning sickness over now?” June asked her.
    “Oh yes. I haven’t been sick in a long time.”
    “And you feel the baby move?”
    “Uh-huh. For a couple of months at least. Gary is so excited, he can’t stand himself.”
    But when she said that, she was unconvincing. Her blue eyes were flat.
    June didn’t really know Christina or her family. They came from down valley—another way of saying they were rural, lived off the beaten track. That could mean a farm, a shed, a collection of trailers, just about anything except mountains. That would be up valley. But it likely wasn’t a farm. The girl wasn’t in school and the handwriting on the new-patient paperwork belonged to Jessica. That wouldmean the girl couldn’t read. It was surprising this was her first child. But to give them credit, her young husband had accompanied her; he was in the waiting room. Maybe they’d do better by their kids than was done by them.
    “And Gary is helping you a little? Around the house and such? Because I’m worried about your weight and your anemia. It might be you’re working too hard.”
    “It’s not the house, it’s me gettin’ up at four in the morning to ride clear to Fort Seward with my mama and auntie to work at that flower hothouse up there. That’s what’s wearin’ me down, but I can’t do nothin’ about it. We need the money.”
    “And where does Gary work?” June asked.
    “He works timber…when he works. He’s off right now.”
    June frowned. Off? He must have gotten fired, because logging was good at the moment. It was during the rainy winter months that loggers, construction workers and fishermen had trouble staying employed. In spring, everybody