The Railroad Read Free

was doing. He thinks everyone is like him.”
    “So where are you going to go?”
    “Anywhere. I’m not going to let this happen again. I have to protect my child.”
    I stared into my drink; here was a situation needing a solution and I couldn’t think of one and that bothered me. “Can’t you get a lawyer?”
    “Of course I can get one. And Gary can get a better one. He has more money and he can hire a piranha. They can make me look like I’m crazy. He even accused me of molesting Maria. He can tie the system in knots.”
    “Don’t you have medical records of…what he’s done to her?”
    “I tried that. Maria’s pediatrician told me the same thing over and over. There’s some evidence of abnormality but it’s not conclusive. And he’s not going to risk a suit from Gary. Or worse yet, losing all his patients when they find out that he turned him in to the police.”
    “But they have their own kids! Are you telling me they wouldn’t care if they knew?”
    She began wringing her hands. I looked over at Maria who seemed oblivious to all of it. We were whispering as best as we could, but I had the feeling she’d heard all this and no longer felt she could do anything about it.
    “Do you want another coke, Maria?” I asked.
    She looked toward her mother for approval. Elena nodded and I ordered another coke, along with bourbon for myself; it promised to be a bad afternoon.
    Elena drummed the table with her fingers, something I’d found endearing years ago. “No one cares because no one wants to know. They have their own little orbit in the suburbs. If they admitted that Gary was…what he is, they’d have to admit it happens and then they’d have to decide what to do with Gary. That would be…difficult. They’d have to ignore him or, worse yet, take a stand. This is easier.”
    “So they wouldn’t care if it were their kids?”
    “It’s not their kids. That’s the point. No one wants to believe this. And so I become insane.”
    I was reaching, trying to find an answer. “What if you subpoenaed that doctor’s records?”
    “A good lawyer could argue that whatever was found was due to another cause. Without the doctor’s testimony on the specifics….” She let the thought hang. We both sat in miserable silence.
    “Do you have somewhere to go,” I asked finally. “You don’t have to tell me where it is. Just that you have somewhere to go.”
    “There’re a network of people who can help. I’m trying to get in touch with them.”
    “Are they a government agency?”
    She smiled, sadly. “No. They’re a group. An illegal group. They call it The Railroad . They move you from place to place until they can find you a permanent home.”
    I’d heard of it, but it was always third hand references and the occasional news story.
     “And you’re sure they can help you?”
    “No, I’m not. I’m taking a chance. It’s the only way I can protect Maria. I have a way to get in touch with them, but I need to go now, so I can get away from Gary. That’s why I need the money. I wouldn’t have called you otherwise. I know I was a bitch years ago, and that I don’t deserve anything.”
    “Stop. Okay, you were a bitch but you were young and full of yourself. And I was a sensitive boy. I probably enjoyed the tragedy of your dumping me. That has nothing to do with this.”
    “You know it’s odd. I’d rather think that you still had some feelings for me. That giving me money won’t be just charity. I know that’s silly.”
    I smiled. “I’ve never forgotten you. And I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I’d chased you west when you went with that guy.”
    I immediately regretted what I’d just said. I’d spent a year feeling vulnerable and stripped bare when it came to Elena. My heart had been broken and she hadn’t given a shit. After all those years I was surprised to find that it still hurt.
    I pushed the thoughts away. There were parts of my past that were better left