Mr. X. Peter Straub
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Mr. X - Peter Straub страница 30
Название: Mr. X
Автор: Peter Straub
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика
isbn: 9780007387977
isbn:
‘It wasn’t the pounds she put on, and it wasn’t the gray in her hair. She was scared. ‘You’re worried about something, plain as day,’ I said. The poor thing said she had to get some sleep before she could talk. “Okay, honey,” I said, “rest up on the davenport, and I’ll make up your old bed and get breakfast ready for when you want it.” She told me to take her address book from her bag and call you in New York. Of course, I had your number right in my kitchen.
‘I had a feeling you were already on the way, Neddie, but I didn’t know how close you were! After that, I did the coffee and went up to put clean sheets on the bed. When I came back down, she wasn’t on the davenport. I went into the kitchen. No Star. All of a sudden, I heard the front door open and close, and I rushed out, and there she was, walking back to the davenport. Told me she was feeling dizzy and thought fresh air would help.’
She turned her head from side to side in emphatic contradiction. ‘I didn’t believe it at the time, and I don’t believe it now, though I’m sorry to say it to her own son. She was looking for someone. Or she saw someone walk up.’
May said, ‘According to Joy –’
Nettie glanced at her sister before looking back at me. ‘I asked her, “What’s happening, sweetheart? You can tell me,” and she said, “Aunt Nettie, I’m afraid something bad is going to happen.” Then she asked if I called you. “Your boy’s on the way,” I said, and she closed her eyes and let herself go to sleep. I sat with her a while, and then I went back into the kitchen.’
Sensing an opening, Clark leaned forward again. ‘I come downstairs and see a woman holed up on my davenport! What in tarnation is this, I wonder, and come up slow and easy and bend over to get a good look. “Hello, Clark,” she said, and just like that she was out again.’
‘May came over, and I made all of us a nice breakfast. After a while, in she comes, putting on a nice smile. She told Clark, “I thought I saw your handsome face, Uncle Clark, but I thought I was dreaming.” She sat at the table, but wouldn’t take any nourishment.’
‘Those two took it for her,’ Clark said. ‘Eat like a couple of tobacco farmers.’
‘Not me,’ May said. ‘It’s all I can do to eat enough to stay alive.’
‘She looked better, but she didn’t look right. Her skin had a gray cast, and there wasn’t any shine to her eyes. The worst thing was, I could see she was so fearful.’
‘That girl was never afraid of anything,’ Clark announced. ‘She knew she was sick, that’s what you saw.’
‘She knew she was sick, but she was afraid for Neddie.’
‘For me?’ I said.
‘That’s right,’ May put in.
‘Clark heard her, too, but he paid no attention because it wasn’t about his handsome face.’
‘What did she say?’ I thought my mother had already given me a clue.
‘“A terrible thing could happen to my son, and I have to stop it.” That’s what she said.’
‘I ain’t deef,’ Clark said.
A few minutes later, I jumped into a brief, uncharacteristic lull to ask if my mother had said anything more about the terrible thing from which she wanted to protect me.
‘It wasn’t much,’ Nettie said. ‘I don’t suppose she could have explained.’
May said, ‘She asked how I was getting on without James. Star was here for his funeral, you know.’ A dark glance reminded me that I had been absent. ‘She didn’t seem lively and full of fun, the way she used to be. I remember she asked Nettie to get in touch with some of her old friends. Then she started toward the counter and made this funny surprised sound. That’s when she fell smack down on the floor. I swear, I thought she had left us. Lickety-split, Clark was on the phone.’
‘Superman never moved faster,’ Clark said.
I drew in a large breath and let it out. ‘This is going to sound funny, but did she mention anything about my father?’
May and Nettie stared at me, and Clark’s mouth dropped open, momentarily making him look witless.
‘I think she wants me to know who he was.’ An irresistible idea soared into my mind, and I hitched forward in my chair. ‘She wanted me to get here before it was too late. She didn’t want me to spend the rest of my life wondering about him.’
Clark seemed baffled. ‘Why in heaven would you wonder about that?’
‘Star never said a word about your father from the day you were born,’ Nettie said.
‘Probably she kept putting it off and putting it off until she realized that time was running out.’
The aunts exchanged a glance I could not interpret. ‘You must have felt that my mother brought shame on your family. You took her in, and you gave me a home. Aunt Nettie and Aunt May, I’m grateful for everything you did. But I’m not ashamed that Star wasn’t married when I was born.’
‘What the dickens are you talking about?’ Clark said.
Nettie said, ‘Star never brought shame on our family.’
‘At the time, you must have thought you had to conceal …’ The sentence trailed off before their absolute incomprehension.
May seemed to try to get me into better focus. ‘Neddie, Star was married when she had you.’
‘No, she wasn’t,’ I said. ‘This is exactly what I’m talking about.’
‘She most certainly was,’ Nettie insisted. ‘She took off, the way she did, and when she came back she was a married woman about a week before delivery. Her husband had left her, but I saw the papers.’
All three regarded me with varying degrees of disapproval, even indignation.
‘How come she never told me?’
‘Women don’t have to tell their children they were born on the right side of the blanket.’
A myriad of odd sensations, like the flares of tiny fireworks, sparkled through my chest. ‘Why did she give me her name instead of his?’
‘You were more a Dunstan than whatever he was. His name didn’t count for anything.’
‘Do you still have the papers?’
‘They’d be long gone, by now.’
I silently agreed. With the exception of her driver’s license, my mother’s attitude toward official documents tended toward a relaxation well past the point of carelessness.
‘Let me see if I have this right,’ СКАЧАТЬ