After spending the night in Artesia, I decided to show Rid around the town. There wasn't much to show. We drove around and saw the houses where I used to live and schools I used to attend. I also took him to Abo Elementary School, where he commented on it being a memorial to McCarthyism.
That took up the morning. I still really wanted to try to contact Chez. I figured we could drive up to Roswell and track her down, or at least leave a note for her. Anticipating that I wasn't going to catch her at the house, I wrote a letter and was going to ask whoever opened the door to please give it to her. Basically, the letter stated that I was sorry for what I put her through and that I still cared for her. I included my phone number and asked her to call collect.
On our way up to Roswell, Rid asked me what I was going to do if I found her. Was I going to take her with me to Denver? I told him I didn't know what to expect. If she wanted to come with me, I would take her. However, I was pretty certain she hated me, so that probably wasn't going to be an issue. We drove to her parents' house. I knocked on the door. There was no answer. That surprised me, because it seemed like her step-mother was always home during the daytime. I left the letter in a hole in the screen door where the doorknob used to be.
I went back out to the car and we started driving off. As I turned right out of the cul-de-sac and drove toward Allsup's, I saw a pregnant woman walking with a little boy. They were eating ice cream. I suddenly realized it was Chez' sister Kiz. I told Rid who it was. As I was slowly driving away, I looked in my rear-view mirror. She stopped walking and was staring at my car. (She had seen it several times before.) I knew that she recognized me and told Rid that we needed to go talk to her. I did a U-turn and drove up to her. We parked and got out of the car.
After quickly exchanging pleasantries, I asked her what happened to Chez. "Chez doesn't live with us anymore." "Yeah, I know. When did she move out?" "Yesterday."
YESTERDAY? "What time?" "Oh, it was around five o'clock." FIVE O'CLOCK? I couldn't believe it. If it hadn't been for Rid injuring himself so he could get out of work, we would have gotten there just in time. I asked her if she knew where Chez moved to. "I don't know, but she may have gone to school today."
She went to Roswell High School. It was going to let out in about a half hour. I figured that if we hung around the campus, we might run into her. I told Kiz that I left a letter for Chez, and if I didn't see Chez at the high school, I would appreciate it if she would make sure Chez got it. She said she'd give it to her if she ever came by the house.
Rid and I drove off to the high school. We parked in the lot. Students were starting to come out and get on the buses. I didn't see Chez anywhere. Rid decided to take matters into his own hands and started going up to random students and talking to them in a fake British accent. "Excuse me, do any of you happen to know a bird named Chez?" They just stared at him.
Suddenly, I heard someone call, "Heeeyy, Fayd!" It was her step-brother Perd. "What are you doing here?" "I'm looking for Chez." "Chez doesn't live with us anymore." "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm here." "Chez didn't come to school today."
Then I heard someone shouting behind me. "OH, MY GOD!" I turned around. It was her younger sister Pid. "Hi, Pid." "Chez don't live with us no more!" "YES, I KNOW!" Neither Perd nor Pid knew the address that Chez had moved to.
The only other place I knew to go look for Chez was at the mall. Rid and I drove over there, but we didn't see her. We just headed home.
All I could do was go back to Denver and wait for Chez to call me collect, IF she wanted to talk to me.
We still had plenty of excitement on our road trip. I'll wrap that up tomorrow. In the meantime, Rid never did get to meet Chez, but I found it kind of funny that he met all three of her siblings. They were rather taken aback by Rid's appearance. Just a few days earlier, his mother had cut his hair and trimmed his sideburns too high. Kiz, Perd and Pid all thought he had a mohawk. After hearing about that, we referred to that hairstyle as a "Roswell mohawk."
I also found out years later that after she had returned to the house, Kiz opened that letter and read it. Then she got a new envelope and wrote "To Chez From Fayd" on it. She didn't even try to copy my handwriting.
And Chez did call me collect a few days later. I will get to that tomorrow.
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