Suzie’s House 225 : To the Capital Rotunda

“Gene? Gene!” Fran held her arms out wide for a hug. She imagined him falling into her embrace, crying with the joy of having found his long lost mother.

No such luck. He took a step back, then stuck out his hand. She wasn’t sure from the angle of his hand if he intended to shake her hand or just hold her off. She grabbed him as if to shake but intended to drag him into a hug. Would have worked, too, except the girl next to him got in the way, grabbing her hand and shaking hit so hard it made Fran’s head wobble.

“So you’re Gene’s mother? So I was right to post your pictures, Gene, no matter what you and Mrs. H said. If I hadn’t, she’d have never found you. Right?” The girl kept shaking as she talked.

“Tracy,” Gene said in a low voice, not quite a mumble, but not intended for Fran’s ears.

“And best of all, she can tell us who K.C. is!”

“What?” No way Fran was going to do that! If they knew who K.C. was, they’d never give her the guitar. They might not even let her buy it from them. As if she’d pay for what should be hers to begin with.

“That was the whole point of the thing on Facebook, right? To find out who carved their initials into the guitar Gene bought. Oh, hey, we should hurry to the rotunda.” Still holding Fran’s hand, Tracy headed for the door.

“But…” Fran said. She intended to say there was no reason to go to the rotunda now, since they’d already found one another.

“Come on.” Tracy wrapped her free hand around Gene’s elbow and dragged them both along.

Gene smiled apologetically over the girl’s head, like it couldn’t be helped.

“I hate this building,” Tracy said. “It’s so stuffy and full of itself, isn’t it? All these marble floors and halls. All the fancy curlicue stuff. All the suits.”

Fran had to admit the suits made her uncomfortable. If it had been up to her, they’d have met at one of the little restaurants on State Street. In the email, Gene had said the rotunda was the best choice because of the central location and great views. Fran looked at him now and wondered. Gene didn’t seem all that impressed by the building. Maybe he liked high places?

“You think they’d get mad if I mooned someone?” Tracy looked at them as if the convince them to do it with her.

“No! Don’t do it,” Gene said panic struck.

Would the girl really do something so stupid? How fast would she draw the cops? Fran had too much experience with cops already. The last thing she needed was to draw that kind of attention.

“You wouldn’t really…”

“Oh come on! If we do it from that railing at the top no one could catch us.” She pointed straight up to the dome, or rather the rail running around the top floor just under the mural on the dome.

“I’ll race you!” Tracy broke away.

“Wait!” Gene chased her.

How was Fran going to penetrate such strong defenses? She couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. “Wait for me,” she called to his back just as he disappeared around a corner. Fran broke into a run.

“Oh, there you are,” someone up ahead said. “I thought you two much have gotten lost.” The voice was not a girl’s voice, though feminine. Did the kids know a secretary here or something.

Fran came around a banister and popped into a hall in time to see Tracy attach herself to one arm of a woman, and Gene move to the woman’s other side. The woman wore a simple skirt and blouse, but not the kind someone in government would wear. Too flowery for that. She wasn’t nearly as tall as Gene, and didn’t have his dark coloring. But she wrapped her arm around Gene and gave him a quick squeeze just like a mother.

So unlucky. If Fran intended to get that guitar, she was facing one hll of an adversary.

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