A Coventry Wedding. Becky Cochrane
mother. Of course, then I really wanted to know everything about the Beatles, especially John Lennon. By that time, my mother had been married to my stepfather for a few years, and he’d adopted me. Stan’s an okay guy, but you know how kids are. If I was mad at my parents or got in trouble, I’d always think my real dad would come back and take me away. The two of us would bond over the Beatles. He’d think I was the perfect daughter.”
Do you have any idea how lame you sound? Pru asked.
“What about the Barbie dolls?” Sam prodded.
“All my Ken dolls were named after Beatles or Beatle friends, and all my Barbies were named after the women in their lives. That Pattie was a real vixen. Cynthia was long-suffering. Maureen was always reassuring Ringo that he was important, too. All Paul’s ex-girlfriends constantly conspired against Linda. It was very dramatic.”
Since she’d told Sam her name was Jandy, she couldn’t share the story of the day she asked her family to start calling her Jane instead of January. Even though her mother couldn’t have known the request was prompted by admiration for Paul’s one-time girlfriend Jane Asher, she was the only one who’d never gone along with the name change.
“I’d pretend all the Beatle Barbies traveled around together in a sort of perpetual Hard Day’s Night. I tricked out my Barbie Star Traveler like it was a rock and roll bus. I loved that thing. When I was twelve, I was in a thrift store with Aunt Ruby and hit the mother lode: an Around the World Japanese Barbie. She was several years old by then, but she was still in her original box and looked good, and I talked Aunt Ruby into buying her.”
Sam laughed and said, “She had no idea she was buying your Yoko, did she?”
“No. But just like with the real Yoko, everything went to hell after that. I had to go to camp, and when I came back, my mother had hired someone to build a shelf all the way around my bedroom about a foot from the ceiling to display the Beatle Barbies out of my reach. She didn’t dare get rid of them. I’d have had a tantrum, and Grandpa and my stepfather would have found out. When I complained to her, she said I was getting too old for dolls. Which I probably was, but that made me determined not to give them up. I just got sneakier about playing with them. I had my own stereo and bought used Beatles CDs. Me and John and Yoko had a lot of Saturday morning bed-ins. Of course, I gave peace a chance by wearing headphones.”
Sam was laughing again and said, “Do you still have the dolls?”
“All of them. I eventually moved them to Grandpa’s house, and from time to time he reminds me that they’re there. Even though I haven’t seen them for years, I still know who each one’s named after. I also still have all their clothes. I figure one day when I have a big enough place, I’ll display them.”
“Along with your Star Traveler rock and roll bus?”
“No, that’s gone. I guess my mother threw it away.” She blushed. “I sound so dorky. I don’t know why I told you all that. I’ve never told anyone else about my Beatle Barbies, not even Aunt Ruby or Grandpa.”
“Or your husband?”
She blinked at him, remembered her string of lies, and said, “No. Not him either.”
Being in Target with twelve thousand dollars in her purse was almost a religious experience. She couldn’t believe how inexpensive the clothes were, and she went back to the luggage section twice to get an incrementally larger suitcase. It would be crazy to buy one or two changes of clothes when the store had all kinds of cool shorts and cargo pants and jeans for almost nothing. And she had to have shirts to go with them. Then she needed a swimming suit, because she was sure there’d be a pool at any motels she stayed in. She also needed underwear, sneakers, sandals, and lounging pajamas.
She saw no reason to buy little travel sizes of toiletries when there were so many great oils and lotions and body washes and hair products. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a few snacks, because who knew where she’d have to stay in Coventry while Grandpa’s pickup was out of service?
She felt virtuous about not buying any jewelry, even though they had some good silver and turquoise pieces dirt cheap. She just added a couple of bandannas, a ball cap with a Beatles logo on it, and more hair clips, so she could continue to keep her long, heavy hair off her neck because of the heat.
After her binge of consumerism ended, her only buyer’s remorse was about the digital camera with its memory card, charger, and camera case. But who knew when she’d ever drive hundreds of miles and see new places again? She should document her trip. On her way back to California, she definitely wanted to stop and get pictures of the giant boulders. There could be lots of other things to photograph, too.
She lugged everything back to her motel room, congratulating herself on how she’d evaded detection by Sam and Sue. Tomorrow when she took the suitcase down, she’d tell Sam it had been in the locked toolbox of Grandpa’s pickup. If he wanted to put it back in the toolbox, they’d have a problem, because she didn’t have the key. She supposed she could pretend that she’d mislaid the key overnight. Sam would believe it. He already thought she was dumb, and she was sure her confession about her Beatle Barbies hadn’t changed his opinion.
She went by his room to take him a few other purchases she’d made. Sue now had a black leather collar and leash that matched her spots, a bag of dog food, two bowls, and some toys. When Sam tried to give her money, she told him to credit it against what she’d owe him for the tow.
She was about to back out of the door when he said, “If you’re interested, there’s a cartoon marathon on one of the channels we get. You can hang out and watch with me.”
“Enticing, but I just want to take a bath and crash.”
He nodded sadly and said, “I hope one day you’ll correct your glaring cultural deficiency. Unlike ballet or piano, it’s never too late to start cartoons.”
“I’m sure it takes a refined nature to appreciate a mouse dropping an anvil on a cat.”
His eyebrow slipped up again. “You’ve been cheating, haven’t you? What would your mother say?”
She just laughed and shut the door between them. Once she was back in her room, she plugged in her cell phone to charge it while she took her bath. She could take a shower and wash her hair later.
After soaking for half an hour in the aromatic salts and oils, she wrapped herself in a towel and cut tags off her new wardrobe, folding everything and packing her suitcase. Then with a glance at the clock, she called information, got the number for the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, and left a message for Grandpa to call her cell number.
She rested against the pillows with the TV on. Sam must have made up the cartoon marathon. The closest thing she could find was a silly network movie about rich teenagers living in Southern California, which was about as far from her adolescent reality as she could imagine.
The next thing she knew, she was jarred awake by a ringtone warning that “instant karma” would get her. She peered at the display and saw that it was an unknown number. Since Hud would call from his cell phone and her mother wouldn’t call at all, it had to be Grandpa.
“Hello?”
“Jane! You calling to get me to place a bet for you? I’m on a streak!”
“How much have you lost, Grandpa?”
“I think I just lost Ruby to some Chinese fellow,” he said and gave the wheezy little laugh that she loved.
“As long as you don’t bet the farm.”
“I know why you’re calling, worrywart. Ruby and I’ll be back before Friday night. She’s even bought two new outfits. One for the rehearsal dinner and one for the wedding. I told her she didn’t need new clothes. It’s not like anybody will be looking at her. There’s no fool like an old fool.”
She’d heard him say that about a zillion times in her life, and she said, “I don’t know, Grandpa, I’m not old, but I