For Whom the Minivan Rolls: An Aaron Tucker Mystery - By Jeffrey Cohen Page 0,85
her right then. She was going to her job as a dance instructor and had to be there in an hour. I heaved an inward sigh of thanks, since I’d been going to enough people’s houses and refusing coffee lately. We agreed to a phone interview, and Marie asked that I “cut to the chase,” and only ask the things I hadn’t be able to find out elsewhere. Mrs. Rossi must have told her that she’d provided enough detail on Madlyn for a three-volume biography.
“I knew Maddie since grade school. She was my best friend until I went to college,” Marie said. “We kept in touch, you know. I think I was the only one in Westfield she ever spoke to after she had the falling out with her mom.”
“That was over the abortion.”
“Yeah. Maddie didn’t want to even tell her mom she was pregnant, but Gary insisted. And the two of them talked her into having the baby. But when push came to shove a couple of weeks later, she decided she was too young, and you know what? She was right. If she’d gone to delivery, Maddie would have resented that baby forever.”
“Did she resent her mom for making her feel guilty?”
Marie’s voice was changing into the dreamlike sing-song people use when they’re remembering fond friends. “No, that was the funny thing,” she said. “Maddie always felt bad about her mom, but she wasn’t mad at her, you know? The one she never forgave was Gary. If he hadn’t badgered her, she’d have had the abortion, and her mom never would have known. I don’t think things were ever good between Maddie and Gary again.”
“Well, they annulled the marriage not long after that.”
“That was Maddie,” Marie Aiello said. “She called me up right before, straight shooter, ya know? ‘I’m dumping him,’ she tells me. ‘Can’t take it anymore. He’s cute, but he’s a pain. I can do better.’ And she did.”
“She did? She got married again?”
Marie took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s where the story gets a little weird,” she said.
Here? Here’s where it starts getting weird? “I’m bracing myself,” I said in all seriousness, and she chuckled.
“Okay. Maddie annuls the marriage, but Gary Beckwirth keeps calling her, trying to get her to go out with him. Maybe they can patch it up, that kind of thing. Not exactly a stalker, but he doesn’t go away. Finally, after this goes on for, like, years, they’re still friends. And Gary marries this Rachel person.” The tone on that word spoke volumes. Had she lived in Midland Heights, Marie Aiello most definitely would not have cast her mayoral vote for Rachel Barlow.
“So that’s good, right? Now Maddie doesn’t have to worry about Gary anymore.” I’m now calling her “Maddie,” more from repetition than calculation.
“Well, you’d think so,” said Marie. “But they start double dating. Gary and his new wife, Rachel, and Maddie with this guy she’s really getting to like, this guy Martin.”
My throat was dry, and what I tried to say was “Martin Barlow?” But it came out “aaaaaaarfffilik?” Marie chuckled.
“That’s right. Martin Barlow. Maddie was nuts for him, like you never saw. Worshipped the ground he walked on—couldn’t get enough of him. I don’t think they left their bedroom even once in the next year. I barely heard from her that year. And eventually, she wore Martin down, and they got married.”
I’ve always enjoyed the expression, “his head was spinning.” For me, it conjures up images of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. I mean, your head isn’t really spinning.
My head was spinning.
“Martin Barlow and Madlyn Rossi were married?”
“Yeah, they were married about five years. Actually, depending on how you look at it, they were married close to thirteen years.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s pretend I’m a complete and total idiot who’s just learned the English language, and you’re going to explain this situation to me. In nice, small words that the average goat would understand.”
Marie laughed. “Mrs. Rossi was right, you are a nice man. Okay, let’s see if I can explain this.”
“I’ll bet you ten bucks you can’t.”
“Try me. Maybe twelve, thirteen years ago, Maddie and Martin Barlow are married. They’re trying to have a kid. Maddie says, at least, she wants one. Rachel and Gary are married, and they have a kid, but Rachel really hates being a mom, right? Because the boy gets more attention than she does.”
“Okay, so now you’re telling me that Rachel Barlow is actually Joel Beckwirth’s mother.”