Page 70 of Cougar Point

She eyeballs me to see if she can trust me. Of course she doesn’t but makes up her mind to talk. Maybe tell us something useful, or just to defend a fellow traveler.

“He’s not here. Been gone a long time.”

She’s going to protect him. It’s okay with me. Loyalty is hard to come by and I admire anyone that shows it. I wait her out and Ronnie is silent also, although I can feel her impatience.

“You promise you ain’t gonna arrest him?” she asks.

Ronnie says, “He’s my uncle.”

Suddenly Hattie smiles. Her teeth are missing but it’s still a pretty smile. “Uncle Vinnie, huh? Ain’t that a hoot. I didn’t know he had a niece. You must be Vicki’s kid.”

“Two nieces,” Ronnie says.

“Two? He never told me.” Hattie examines Ronnie and seems satisfied that Ronnie’s niece material I suppose. “I can tell you he’s a looker. Must run in the family. I would have given him my number if I had a phone.”

Ronnie chuckles but I know Hattie’s serious.

I ask, “Does he talk about his sister, Vicki?”

She shakes her head. But she knew the name so she’s still in protection mode.

Ronnie says, “Hattie, did he go to see Vicki when he left? It’s important. We really need to find him.”

“I told you he doesn’t talk about her, but I know she’s good to him.”

Ronnie says, “Do you know where my uncle is or where he was going, Hattie?”

She shakes her head again. “I’m not under arrest, am I?”

“We’re not arresting anyone,” Ronnie assures her.

“Then I don’t have to tell you nothing, do I?”

“That’s right, Hattie,” I say. “But Vinnie is her uncle and she’s worried about him. She has some family information he needs to hear from her and she doesn’t want him to hear it on the news. Family is important.”

Her eyes fix on Ronnie and she says, “If family is important, how come he’s living on the street? How come I never heard him mention you? How come you don’t know where he is or even if he’s got a phone?”

Ronnie’s breath catches. The words hurt her. I’m getting pissed. “Hattie, you don’t have to talk to us but you have no right saying those things to Ronnie.” Hattie cringes like a dog that’s being abused, and I regret my tone. “I’m sorry. Ronnie is my friend. Like Vinnie is your friend. I’m helping her find her uncle because we’re friends. So if you won’t help us, we need to look somewhere else. But if Vinnie is hurt, it’s on you.”

Hattie nods. “I just have to check, don’t I? I don’t have many friends. Well, he’s not a friend really. But I don’t have many that treat me kind. And he’s that kind of man. Good to the core that one is. In another life I’d have…” Her words fade.

“Will you help us?” Ronnie asks.

“Okay. But you better not hurt him. He’s had a rough time of it. Worse than me, I think.”

I can’t imagine anyone being in a worse condition than this poor woman and my heart goes out to her. In another life, she said. I can relate. My life sucked until Karen Albright fixed me and Sheriff Gray found me. It was fate or luck or both that I was able to change. Hattie’s life will most likely never change for the better. She’s one of the forgotten, the easy to forget, the fell-through-the-cracks, abandoned by our government and society because she’s a reminder of what our own life could be. I wish I was a better person and could help her. I guess I’m being hypocritical. I’m not ready to take on anyone else’s burden.

“Do you know anything about his sister?” I ask.

“Yeah. A little. Vin likes her.” She looks Ronnie over. “We don’t talk personal-like here usually, but he told me some things about his sister. She’s married to a man that keeps her under his thumb and so Vinnie don’t get to see her much. But past is past. Now is now. He’s living with it. He don’t complain but you need to spend some time with him. You’d like your uncle a lot. He’s a great guy.”

Ronnie says, “I’d love to do that. I wasn’t aware I had an uncle until a few days ago.”

Hattie says something that reminds me again that there are still kind people in the world and I feel my eyes moistening.

“You poor girl. If you were mine, I’d take better care of you. You need to know Vinnie. You look a little like him, come to think of it. Same eyes. And I can tell you’re kind, like him.”

“My mom is missing. I’m afraid for her and I need his help finding her.”

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