Laura Ray (Ray Series) (8 page)

Coach pulled Bobby and Danny into his office. “Okay, boys, are you having problems with each other again?”

Danny shook his head, “Not me, Coach. Honest.”

Bobby sat there sullen.

Coach looked at Bobby, “What about you, Bobby? Has Danny been bothering you?”

Finally Bobby shook his head.

“Okay, Danny, you can get your gear together and go home.”

Coach Bradford sat down and said, “If Danny didn’t bother you in any way, you sure took it out on him. What’s going on?”

By the time the interview was over, Coach Bradford learned that since Bobby’s parents had divorced, his mother had deserted Bobby to move to Chicago. Bobby had to move in with his drunken father. They weren’t getting along too well.

Danny came home walking like he was sore and stiff. He dropped his books and bag on the floor and plopped down on the couch.

“What’s wrong, Danny?” Laura asked concerned. “Did you have a really rough football practice?”

“Yes,” he leaned his head on the back of the couch and shut his eyes.

She asked, “What happened?” She felt of his forehead. He didn’t have a fever.

He rolled his head to the side to face her, “It was Bobby. He kept running into me really hard and knocking me down. I hurt all over.”

“Was Bobby mad at you or something? Did Coach Bradford put a stop to it?”

“Coach called both of us into his office. He asked both of us if
we were angry at the other. Both of us said ‘No’. Coach sent me home and kept Bobby in to talk to him some more.”

Danny straightened up on the couch and turned to her, “It seemed like he was
super powered. He didn’t seem to even focus on me. At first I thought he was mad at me, but then I thought he was mad at something else. He wasn’t even seeing me.”

“I have an idea, what do you think about you inviting him and Aaron over here for a slumber party Saturday night?” Laura suggested.

“Really, Mom? I’ve never had a slumber party before.” Danny exclaimed excitedly,

Laura laughed,
“First, how about a hot bath for those sore muscles?”

For the slumber party Laura made sandwiches, popcorn and cupcakes with all the sodas in the refrigerator that they could want. She let them hang out in the living room to play games and watch TV. She went to bed and hoped the house didn’t burn down or something. The next morning she found one them wrapped in a blanket
sleeping on the couch in the living room and the other two sleeping in Danny’s bedroom.

Laura stayed very quiet and found a book to read to let the boys sleep as long as they wanted.

After Bobby woke up he wrapped the blanket around him, “Thank you Mrs. Ray for letting Danny invite me to his slumber party. I really had a good time. He looked for the clock on the wall in the kitchen. He acted nervous and said that he needed to go.”

“Sure, Bobby.
I’m glad you came. Come back and visit any time you can,” she invited. “Would you like some breakfast before you go?”

“No, but thank you for offering.”

Bobby quickly got his things together and left, glancing at the clock as he went out the door.

Two hours later, Danny and Aaron groggily walked out of the bedroom and slumped on the kitchen chairs.

“Are you two ready for some breakfast?” Laura asked cheerfully.

They looked up with blood shot eyes and shook their heads.

“I think I will fix you some hot cocoa to drink anyway,” she said as she busily pulled out the pot out of the cabinet.

After Danny got a few sips of hot cocoa, he thought of something, “Mom, Bobby had bad bruises on his back. I asked him what happened. He said it was nothing. He got it playing football.”

Aaron took up the story, “He wouldn’t get bruises like that playing football. None of us do.”

“Do you know what would cause them?” Danny asked earnestly.

“It’s hard to say, but I will talk to Coach Bradford,” she promised. “You were smart to not say anything to Bobby. It might have embarrassed him.”

She wouldn’t have a chance to talk to the Coach until after she got off work on Monday.
She called Mary and asked her to talk to Coach for her. Mary said she would. Aaron had talked to her too. One thing she could do was call Donald Littlefield, Jeremy’s father.

Donald answered the phone, “Hello.”

“Hi, Donald, I’m calling you as a friend not as a client. I hope you don’t mind. I’m a little upset.”

“Sure, Laura, what has happened?”

“Last night, Danny invited Aaron and Bobby Jackson to a slumber party. They had a really good time, but after Bobby left this morning Aaron and Danny confided in me that Bobby’s back was badly bruised.”

“Did he say what caused them?”

“Yes, he told them that the bruises were caused by playing football.”

“What did they say?” Donald wanted to know.

“They told me that they didn’t say anything but they didn’t believe him either,” she answered.

“What I do know is that his parents got a divorce and the wife split for Chicago. The father is almost a public drunk now. I expect both of them are hurting pretty badly, but that never gives the right for
a man to beat his son. It sounds like both of them need help.”

“Is there anything that I can do to help Bobby?” Laura asked.

“Probably not much, except be kind to him. Documenting his injuries by taking pictures is one thing, but at his age he could give excuses for them and they wouldn’t hold up either. The best thing you could do was just what you did when you invited him to the slumber party.”

“Thank you, Donald. I felt like somebody needed to know about this,” Laura reiterated. “It makes me hurt to see something like this.”

“I agree with you totally,” Donald said. “I’ll try to send some help from my way.”

Art arrived at the last football game of the season
and saw Mary, Harold and Laura sitting in the stands shivering under heavy blankets. He climbed the bleachers to sit with them. They invited him to share their blankets. He was delighted to sit very close to Laura and share their blankets.

He knew that the weather had chilled to near freezing. He dreaded all day his decision to go to the football game to be near Laura, but he decided to put on his warmest coat
and confront the cold. Now He felt that he had made the right decision. The ball game didn’t go well for either team. Their hands were so cold that there were a lot of fumbles and few points. When it ended it appeared that the players and fans were equally glad the season was finally over.

They waited around until Danny and Aaron met up with them before heading to their cars. Art brought out his surprise when he said, “How about all of us taking these boys out bowling Friday night to celebrate the end of the season?”

Immediately both of the boys began begging to go bowling, like Art knew they would. He stood by innocently smiling while the boys secured another night with Laura.

Laura stood by feeling out of place. She had never been to the bowling alley and felt embarrassed by her lack of expertise. She tried to follow everybody else’s example. Danny did just fine
following along with Aaron. Art caught on that she had no idea what to do so he walked her through it.

She tried to be a good sport about it but the balls were so heavy. Keeping the balls from going down the gutter required more practice than she had time for right now. She hated embarrassing herself like this, but tried to show a
n upbeat, self-deprecatory manner, if such a thing were possible.

By the time they left the bowling alley, she felt totally exhausted. After sitting all day bouncing in her chair swinging pieces of material down to slide into the machine at work all day, her arms were already worn out. Then to roll those heavy bowling balls down the lane without going in the gutters made her hurt in more places than she could count.

Art asked, “Would you like to go to Pat’s Café? I’m sure Danny would be happy to visit with Aaron for a while.”

“I’m sorry. Not tonight
,” Laura begged off. “I’m way too tired.”

“What about tomorrow night?” Art smiled hopefully.

Laura thought a minute and decided, “No, I don’t think so. I need to rest.”

Art stopped and shook his head with an unfulfilled laugh, “I’m trying here, Laura. If you don’t want anything to do with me, just
say so.”

“It’s not that, I apologize if I sound ungrateful
.” Laura said remorsefully, “Could I make it up to you if I cooked Sunday dinner?”

He let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. Willing to take anything she offered at the moment, he said, “I’ll be there by noon.”

Chapter Nine

Laura felt rested and recharged by Sunday morning. She baked a ham, set some yams in a casserole dish to bake, opened a can of corn, and
stirred up some brownies. That’s an easy meal to fix for company but that’s what is, she decided.

She was almost embarrassed by her lack of effort when Art showed up with a bouquet of fresh flowers from Samantha’s Flower Shop.
Nobody had brought her flowers since Nora brought her flowers from the yard or flower garden. She gasped at the beautiful spring bouquet. The pleasure showed all over her face as she took them to the kitchen and put them on the table.

Art thanked his lucky stars that he had followed his sudden impulse yesterday on the way home from work to swing by Samantha’s. Finally he had done something right.

“Thank you so much,” she turned to him with a smile after she had placed them on the table. “I am so ready for spring, aren’t you? I feel that we have been in a drought this winter.”

A curious thing to say, Art thought considering it wasn’t Christmas yet.

“Hi, Danny,” Art said as Danny came into the kitchen, he supposed from his bedroom.

“Hi, Uncle Art,” Danny chimed ready for dinner. Danny went to the cabinet and began getting the dinnerware for the table.

“Would you like a glass of tea while I set the table?” Danny asked.

“No, thank you,” Art responded. “I’ll wait.” Art enjoyed watching Laura and Danny interact as they sat the table and prepared the food. Apparently, they followed a routine that they habitually completed. He appreciated that Danny never complained or asked questions but knew exactly what needed done.

After the meal, Laura prepared the leftovers for the refrigerator and Danny set the dishes in the sink and asked to be excused from the table to watch TV. “Sure, Laura responded.

Laura sat back down at the table across from Art and smiled over at him.

Art said, “I’m curious, Laura. Do you like your job?”

Laura looked at him strangely, “I’m not sure what you’re asking me. I’m making more now than I ever thought I would. I have been able to build my savings again some since I have been meeting quota. I don’t worry about paying my bills now so yes, I guess I’m satisfied with my job.”

“What are your hobbies that you do at home that make you happy?”

“I read books, like novels. Sometimes I crochet but not very often.” Fr
owning she asked, “What is this, in inquisition?”

Art smiled, “I don’t mean to upset you, Laura. I’m just trying to find out what makes you tick, so to speak. What makes you happy
?”

“Are you happy, Laura?” Art asked again. “It sounds like you are
existing, but not living.”

How dare him come in my house and talk to me like this
! Indignantly she stated, “I am raising my son! That’s the most important thing a mother can do.”

“I agree,” Art admitted calmly. “But, Laura, what makes you happy?”

Changing the subject, Laura requested, “Tell me about yourself, Art. What have you done in the last few years?”

“I was born in Kansas as the fifth child and Mary was the sixth. The older children were considerably older than us, so we were best buddies until we started school. We always tried to have the other ones back. When I graduated High School, I joined the Navy. I learned to fly airplanes and flew some for World War II and some in the Korean War.
I’ve traveled to ten countries and all over the United States. I’ve seen lots of the world. After twenty years I yearned to come home and live near Mary and enjoy my nephew Aaron.”

“Sounds like you’ve done a lot of things and been to a lot of places. What about family? Have you been married?” Laura asked.

“Yes, I was blessed to enjoy my lovely wife for eleven years before she died of cancer. She’s been gone for eight years now.” Art swallowed and smiled at her. “It can still be raw when I think about it too much.”

He reached over and touched her hand, “I really do know some of what you have been going through. I reached a bad bout of depression for a while until I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t dead. I still had a life to live and enjoy. That’s when I began to heal.”

“You never had children?”

“No, we tried for years but her cancer was uterine. When we discovered that we understood why she was never able to conceive.”