Authors: Marianne Spitzer
This seemed to appease Daniel’s fears for
a moment.
“Yeah, you’re probably
right but remember I told you that Garret thought someone messed with his brakes. They were new. There’s no way he should’ve skidded off the highway because of brake trouble. We discussed all the possibilities we could think of. All we could come up with was spirits.”
“Since when does Garret believe in your spirits? He used to tease you about it.”
“It’s not my spirits he’s afraid of. It’s yours.”
“Mine?” she practically screamed. “Are you nuts?”
“Calm down. Garret said my spirits never bothered anyone except me. Nothing bad ever happened until you put that Gypsy curse on me. He thinks your spirits are after all of us and killed Ben.”
“What, so now it’s my fault Ben’s dead?” Jumping up, she took several angry steps away from him before she continued, “Daniel Logan, you have talked about spirits for so long your ridiculousness has rubbed off on Garret. Did it ever dawn on you whatever Garret is into may have caught up with him? The entire town knows he’s a crook, and bound to be caught at some point. Maybe he’s made someone angry enough to come after him.”
“Okay, but Garret said…”
“I don’t care what he said. Someone killed Ben instead of Garret. This has nothing to do with spirits. It was a murder gone wrong. The sooner you talk to the sheriff and explain that the safer we’ll all be,” she pleaded.
“I won’t call.”
“Who knows who they are or where they are? What if they come after us trying to get to Garret? Two of them attacked me at work. There may be more. I’m calling the sheriff.”
Daniel grabbed her arm and said, “You may be right, but either way we’re not safe, even if the sheriff knows.”
Annamarie dropped back down on the sofa. She couldn’t take any more of this. Now, Garret and Daniel were trying to blame her for Ben’s death.
Gazing at Daniel, she said in a strangely calm voice, “If I have a spirit protecting me, then you and Garret better watch how you treat me. You might be next if you’re so certain my spirit killed Ben.”
She couldn’t believe she said it. Daniel looked completely
shocked but hurriedly agreed he and Garret must be mistaken because her spirit was the strongest. If her spirit had killed Ben, they’d all be dead by now.
Annamarie realized no matter what approach she used, Daniel would believe what he wanted about spirits.
She’d had enough. Tired, frustrated and dejected, she picked up the phone and dialed George’s number. Daniel tried to grab the phone, but she quickly backed away from him.
“Hello, Daniel’s home. He’s in trouble and you need to come here immediately.”
Annamarie knew calling George was the right thing to do, but she may have lost Daniel’s trust. More worried about his sanity than his trust, she wasn’t going to be blamed for any of this.
“I’m not talking to my father on the phone. I don’t want to talk to him at all,” Daniel growled.
George said, “I’m on my way.”
“Your dad did everything he could to try and get me out of jail including telling the sheriff he would see he wasn’t reelected. He’ll help you,
too if you let him. Daniel, the two of us, can’t cope with this alone.”
***
Enraged, he paced up and down until they heard his father’s car. George refused to wait for Maureen to dress. He dragged her, still in her bathrobe and curlers, hurriedly into the house. Daniel could tell his father was beyond angry.
Annamarie invited them to have a seat in the living room offering them coffee, but all George wanted to do was get Daniel to answer the questions he was asking. George posed so many questions in rapid-fire succession Annamarie had a hard time keeping up. Daniel sat there exhausted, looking dazed.
George finally stood up declaring, “I’ve had enough of whatever you’re up to, boy. I’m going to end it now whether you like it or not. Maybe you’ll finally get the help you need at the hospital in Oaklin.”
“What are you going to do?” said Maureen, her voice shaky.
“What I should’ve done a long time ago. Call Dr. Norse and have him committed tonight.”
“Oh no, you won’t!” Daniel yelled, springing to his feet to face his father eye to eye.
“Don’t argue with me, boy.”
“I won’t. You have no say in this. Annamarie is my wife and closest legal relative. Only she can have me committed,” Daniel answered defiantly.
George knew Daniel was right. He glared directly at Annamarie. “Pick up the phone, call the doctor, and get him some help.”
Annamarie regretted calling George, her mistake all too clear. She knew the time had come when she had to stand her ground against him. She was afraid of the outcome.
All she could do was shake her head. Annamarie could see George’s anger grow, and he began shouting at Daniel and Annamarie.
All of a sudden,
newfound courage surged through her. “Please leave my home now,” speaking directly to George.
George hollered.
“Your home? Maureen and I purchased this home, missy. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” she fired back, “but Daniel and my names are on the deed. We own this home, so please leave now.”
George’s face turned bright red, and she thought he would have a stroke, but he headed for the door. Maureen followed behind him without saying a word.
***
Daniel locked the door behind them, turned around and said, “Baby where did that come from?”
“I’ve no idea. I’m shocked. I don’t talk to adults that way.”
She was barely nineteen and didn’t stand up to adults. She was used to listening to them. She had done it twice in two days. She wasn’t sure if she was growing up or hitting a late phase of rebellion.
“Maybe it’s spirit power.”
“Daniel,” she said.
“Oh, okay. No more.”
She smiled. “You’re home again. I think I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t even think about leaving again.”
He promised.
Sitting down they wondered what George might do next, and decided they had more than George to worry about. Tomorrow would be difficult. Ben’s visitation would begin at four in the afternoon. If they were going to get through the day, especially the afternoon, they needed sleep. Snuggled in each other’s arms, they both fell into dreamless sleep.
Sleeping in late, they spent a lazy day at home before it was time to get ready for Ben’s visitation. Annamarie was surprised neither George nor the sheriff had called. George must still be angry, but not angry enough to tell the sheriff Daniel had returned home.
“I’m supposed to call the sheriff the minute you come home,” she explained. They decided if the sheriff asked, they would tell him Daniel arrived home early that afternoon.
“We can always say we thought it was more important to go to the visitation, and I could talk to the sheriff later,” Daniel suggested. Once they had their stories straight, they left for the church.
***
Holding hands, they walked toward the front doors of St. Therese Church. Annamarie was uncomfortable in the black dress her mom insisted she buy during a shopping trip a few months earlier. She could still hear her mom’s words. “Every woman should have a nice black dress Annamarie. You never know when you’ll need it.” She wished she didn’t need it now.
Entering the church, she saw many people from town. The closed bronze casket sat amid numerous floral arrangements at the front of the church.
She stopped suddenly and began to cry. “I can’t do this. I want to go home.”
Daniel put his arm around her and whispered, “I’ll stay by your side and be your strength every minute. Lean on me and remember I love you.”
Even though they’d been fighting and she didn’t know what Daniel was up to, she loved him more at that moment than she ever thought possible.
Daniel kept his word and stayed by her side when they talked to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, and when they walked up to the casket to say a prayer for Ben. Daniel’s arm tightened around her, but she had a feeling it was more for his benefit than hers. She had never seen a deceased person before, and part of her was relieved the casket was closed. She knew this wasn’t the time to break down, and mustered all the courage she had. She could do this with Daniel at her side.
They stood there for a few minutes after saying their prayers before finding a place to sit in an empty pew near the back.
Most of their friends from school were there along with their parents. Grandpa Logan came in and walked past George and Maureen to sit down next to Annamarie. He looked stricken. Gazing up at him, she took his hand.
“I’ll be okay. I’m more concerned for Ben’s family,” grandpa said.
Eyes watchful, Daniel kept waiting for Bulk, but he never came. Annamarie didn’t think Garret would show up which was probably the best thing. Sheriff Richardson stood at the back of the church watching everyone as if he expected something to happen. Annamarie was afraid he would walk over and arrest Daniel for some trumped-up reason, but he never moved. Her parents saw them and sat next to her and Grandpa Logan.
The time passed by somehow until finally Father Mueller took his place in front to say a prayer and talk a bit about Ben. Annamarie began to cry again and even Daniel’s arm could not stop her tears this time. She didn’t remember anything that was said and before she knew it, people were standing to leave. Annamarie and Daniel walked up to Ben’s coffin for a final goodbye. She felt her knees buckle.
Daniel caught her murmuring, “It’s time to leave.”
She hated leaving Ben there alone. Her mind knew his soul was in heaven, but her heart wanted to stay with her friend. Grief is an extraordinarily strange state of mind. At that moment, Annamarie believed grief was a thin line somewhere between insanity and hell.
When Daniel and Annamarie walked to the back of the church, she noticed the sheriff was gone, and mentioned it to Daniel. Daniel was sure he would be waiting outside. He was right. They barely made it down the stairs when the sheriff approached them, and said Daniel needed to accompany him to his office.
Annamarie’s new found courage kicked in, and she told the sheriff if Daniel was going, then she was, too. The sheriff tried to convince her she couldn’t go when she poured all her grief out onto him.
“We have just been through the worst experience of our lives, and it’s not over. There’s no way you’re going to hassle my husband when he’s in this state of mind. If you pursue the idea he has to go with you, I’m going to scream loud enough to attract both George and Mr. Townsend. You still won’t get Daniel into your office, but you’ll end up with a major headache,” she glared at him.
Both the sheriff and Daniel stared at her, as if she was some sort of alien life form.
Relenting, the sheriff said, “Okay, Daniel can come to the office after the funeral tomorrow.”
Daniel thanked
him and said he would be there.
Whispering to her, “I think I married a tiger,” he took her hand.
***
Morning brought more anxiety than the previous night. Daniel and Annamarie knew what they had to face, and neither were ready. Dressing in silence, they left earlier than needed. They wanted to be there for the
Hansons. Mr. Hanson came up to them as soon as they entered the church.
“Daniel, I wanted to ask you last night, but I forgot,” began Mr. Hanson. “Would you be one of Ben’s
pallbearers?”
“Of course, I’d be honored. Ben was my best friend.”
Mr. Hanson gave Daniel a big hug. Annamarie had never seen him hug anyone, even Mrs. Hanson, but then she had never seen him cry before either.
He continued, “I’ll be one of the
pallbearers along with two of Ben’s cousins, Steve Dunley and Tim from the dairy.”
With that settled, Daniel and Mr. Hanson went to sit in the front pew reserved for the pallbearers. Annamarie was proud Daniel could be there for the
Hansons, even though she was anxious sitting alone. Suddenly Grandpa Logan was at her side, and she saw her parents. They walked up to her and Annamarie was surrounded by family and friends that attended the night before.
She wanted to be alone hiding in the back, but her dad took her hand, and she knew she’d be okay. After all, she’d been to Mass more times than she could remember, but she wasn’t ready for the eulogies and music.
Father Mueller spoke about when Ben was an altar boy and how he brightened everyone’s day. Two of Ben’s relatives from out of town related stories from his childhood. Their high school principal read the “Twenty-Third Psalm.” The choir sang a hymn in Latin she didn’t know, and then the service closed with a blessing from Father Mueller. The choir began to sing “Amazing Grace” when Ben’s casket was carried from the church.
That song made her cry when she was happy and it was more than she could handle. She began to sob. Her mom and dad sat with her for a few minutes, giving her a chance to compose herself before they left for the cemetery. When they walked out there weren’t many people left, and that’s when she saw Bulk and his brother in the last pew. She wondered if Daniel had seen him.