The Noon God Read Online Free PDF Page A

from behind the bathroom door. The next day, though, she had gone for good and I understood what I had done. It was too bad my moment of personal growth came too late to help Helen. I often wondered what became of her. I wished I could call her, tell her how sorry I was.
    Some bridges are forever burned.

FOUR
     
    I had some time to kill before Lucy’s train would arrive so I began a second reading of Millennium Girl. The story opened with the birth of the child. The descriptive passages made it clear she was like her father in looks and temperament. Her mother played a passive role in her upbringing. From early in the story there was a dark undercurrent as the mother’s addiction to painkillers and alcohol became apparent.
    Meanwhile the father had his own vices. Like many great men he took advantage of the trappings of power. He divided his time between his wife and home and a handful of mistresses who fluttered in and out of his life. Despite his infidelities he was devoted to his daughter.
    By Chapter Three the mother was dead. Unable to face another day in a loveless marriage she ended her life. The official cause of death was listed as ‘accidental overdose’, but the father knew the truth. He knew if he had loved his wife the way she had loved him she would still be alive. Instead he had despised her weakness and pushed her into despair. His feelings of guilt will follow him throughout the balance of his life, shaping his actions as he matures into his later years.
    I put the manuscript down and looked at the clock. Another wave of nausea threatened me and I remembered I hadn’t eaten. Lucy would arrive at 8:00 and would probably be hungry for dinner, so I grabbed a couple of crackers to eat on the way to the station.
    Her train rolled in at 7:59 pm. By that time the sun had dipped low behind the downtown buildings but the heat was still oppressive. I was thankful for the air-conditioning at Union Station.
    I tucked the manuscript into my shoulder bag behind the leather fanny pack that lay there like a guilty reminder. I should have taken the pack straight to the ‘lost and found’ office. It never paid to procrastinate.
    My stomach growled. I spotted Lucy making her way ponderously up the platform. She was carrying too much baggage. She struggled to hold her things. I ran forward to help.
    At two hundred and fifty pounds, my sixteen-year-old sister had enough trouble carrying herself without the extra weight of suitcases. Time and again I reminded her to travel light, but I think she enjoyed the act of packing. Packing meant travel and travel could lead to adventure, something that was sorely lacking in Lucy’s life. This adventure, though, was one she would have rather missed.
    “ Monie!” she cried. She dropped her bags and threw her arms around my neck. “What happened to Daddy?”
    “ It’ll be OK, Lucy.” I stroked her hair. “Let’s get these things to the car. I’ll fill you in on the way to the restaurant.”
    “ I can’t eat!” It was a bluff. Lucy could eat her way through any crisis, big or small. She needed me to believe her appetite was failing, so I played along.
    “ I know. I feel the same way. But I haven’t eaten all day. I need something before I faint.”
    “ You need to eat,” she agreed. I picked up the bulk of the luggage and together we wove our way through the station and to my car. I piled the cases into the trunk and we made our way to the Danforth. It was out of the way, but Lucy loved Greek food and I didn’t want to have to think.
    On the way I shared the horrible news our father had been shot in the head by an unknown assailant. I told her about my visit to 52 Division and about her appointment with Detective Manor for Saturday morning.
    “ But Mona, if you knew he was missing on Wednesday, why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come right home.”
    “ I should have called you. But you know Daddy and his lady friends. What if he was just spending some time with