Authors: Suzanne Jenkins
Deborah came to the door to see what the ruckus was. “Oh lord, I was afraid something like this would happen,” she said, shaking her head.
Ashton looked up from Natalie’s hair, some of it stuck to his wet face. “Deb, I’m sorry, too. Can you ever forgive me?” Then down to Natalie again, “You’re going to have to wash your hair.”
Ben had been lingering off to the side, not wanting to interfere, but concerned that someone who’d shown himself to be unstable had walked from town in the dark and was now decompensating on the front lawn of a secluded cabin. After he unsnapped his holster, he quietly spoke into his phone, calling for a patrol car, just in case.
“Sure, Ashton, you’re forgiven,” Deborah said insincerely.
Ben mouthed for her to come over by him. “I called a car to drive by, just in case,” he said softly.
Deborah thought that might be overkill, but she simply nodded at him. Natalie was still talking to Ashton on the pathway when two sheriff’s vehicles pulled up, and officers jumped out. Natalie gasped when she saw them, not understanding why they were there, and Ashton took a step back.
“Put your hands above your head,” one of the officers shouted.
Ben leaped off the porch, and an unfamiliar sheriff’s deputy told him to stop.
“I’m the chief here,” he said, going for his badge, and the deputy shouted for him to stop and put his hands above his head, too. So Natalie, Ashton, Deborah and Ben all were standing with their hands above their heads when a local patrol car finally arrived, and the officer was able to clear the misunderstanding up before anyone was shot. In front of Ashton, he explained to the sheriff’s deputies that Chief Lawson called for a car, just in case. The sheriff’s deputies were in the area and heard the call come over their radios. Natalie looked at Ben, but he couldn’t decipher the look.
Ashton was furious. After the cars left, instead of Ben apologizing to him, he admonished him. “Maybe next time you’ll think about showing up unannounced, in the dark.”
Natalie gasped. “Ben! This is his house. There’s no law against showing up at your own house to apologize.” She was annoyed and upset for Ashton.
“Oh, right, I forgot that,” Ben said. “It doesn’t make any difference, however.”
“Nats, that’s okay. Andy of Mayberry doesn’t scare me,” Ashton said, chuckling.
“Haha, real funny,” Ben said. “Like I’ve never heard that one before.”
“Your next stop is a rent-a-cop agency,” Ashton shouted.
“Ash, pipe down,” Natalie said.
“Punk ass f----t,” Ben said. Silence magnified the word as it echoed around the cabin and out into the universe. It penetrated Natalie’s ears; the pain it caused, hearing it uttered by the mouth of a man she’d had such high hopes for, spread through her chest and arms.
Natalie looked at him and quietly spoke. “You’d better leave, Ben.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No,” she said. “I am not kidding. We obviously have different ideas. I could never be with someone who could use a slur like that.”
“Oh, my God. You aren’t kidding!” Ben said, astonished.
“Remember, its Ashton’s house,” Natalie said.
“That’s okay, Nats. Ben, stay,” Ashton said.
“Forget it. I’ll go.” Ben said. He had it on the tip of his tongue to say something scathing to Natalie, but thought better of it. The situation had already brought out the worst in him. Was he jealous of the pencil-necked Ashton?
“No, please stay,” Ashton said. He looked at Natalie, hoping she’d back him up.
“If he wants to go, let him go.” She was angry and embarrassed.
Ashton watched the drama of human relationships unfolding before his eyes, possibly unraveling because of him. “Now I feel guilty. Don’t go, Ben. Accept my apologies for disrupting your holiday.”
Ben had to hand it to the guy; he’d been insulted on his own property, called an insulting name, had the cops called on him, and was still apologizing.
“I’m sorry, too, Ashton,” Ben said, stepping forward with his arm outstretched. They shook hands. “I’m going to go, though. I’ve got work tomorrow.”
Natalie didn’t say anything to him; her disappointment in him was obvious.
“Can I call you later?” he asked Natalie.
“As you wish,” she said. Ashton and Deborah turned their heads to hide their smiles. She was not going to let him get away with anything.
“I guess I understand now why you’re alone,” he said softly to Natalie.
She looked stricken. How long had it taken him to throw it up in her face? The others, hearing, gasped, misinterpreting. But he meant she was alone because she had an annoying gay man for a friend who would occupy all of her free time, not because she wasn’t wonderful.
“Okay, well, goodnight, everyone.”
No one said anything as he walked down the path, disappearing into the dark.
“Great timing,” Deborah said. “Got to hand it to you.”
“Sorry,” Ashton replied, looking at Natalie. “Does anyone know where my husband is?”
“Ted’s at my apartment,” Natalie said, turning to him. “Did you think he was here?”
“No, not exactly. I was lonely and didn’t know where else to go.”
Natalie put her arm around him as they walked into the cabin together. “Well, you never need to be lonely again.”
Chapter 24
Pam and Brent closed Shore Pizza, again. They got home safely, said goodnight, and Pam fell into her bed, remembering to bring her cell phone in case Lisa needed her. The venom she was feeling toward her daughter earlier that night had disappeared. Being with Brent, hearing him talk about his goals, the excitement he had for his future acted as a salve to her soul. She’d forgive her daughter anything.
Brent felt guilty about referring to her as an
old lady
to Lisa and planned to drive to the Bronx in the morning and apologize to Lisa at that time. That was if Ed made it through the night. After he saw his mother to bed, he made the trip to the city. Nothing started happening there until after midnight. Pam thought she heard a car pulling out of the driveway but was too tired to investigate.
The next morning, she tiptoed back to the children’s wing, and he was there, sound asleep. If he’d gone out, he didn’t stay long. Lisa never called her, and she didn’t want to call over there in case Dan answered the phone. She would just wait. Someone was bound to get in touch with her eventually if there was any news about Ed. She put a straw hat on, got a grocery bag and headed out to do a little beachcombing before the crowds came. Thursday was the last day of school, and she expected the beach to be packed with sunbathers later that day. Early mornings at the beach were her favorite. She wasn’t a prayer and didn’t practice meditation, but being on the sand alone, listening to the sound of the birds calling and the waves hitting the sand were meditative enough. It was difficult to hold onto pride and anger when confronted with the expanse of water, and if she gazed to the horizon, the beautiful blue sky mingling with the ocean was often enough to help her move beyond whatever was bothering her.
How was she going to cope with Lisa and Dan’s relationship? It just transcended anything she had experienced thus far. It was worse than Jack and Marie, worse than AIDS. What made it so awful was that they might live out their relationship before her eyes. She wouldn’t be able to bury her head in the sand as everyone had accused her of doing in the past. Ed’s getting sick was timely because dealing with it took precedence over any affairs or betrayal his wife might be involved in. Pam couldn’t help herself; she chuckled at the thought. Poor Ed. He didn’t know what hit him when he got involved with Jack Smith’s daughter. Her phone rang, and she got it out of her pocket. It was Lisa’s house phone.
“Hi, Mom,” she said. “I wanted to let you know that Dan called his sisters about taking over the kitchen until Ed gets better.”
“Oh, I forgot all about breakfast! How’s Ed, anyway?”
“I haven’t heard anything since last night. He made it through surgery, but he’s in the intensive care, so I can’t see him yet. When the doctor called to say he was out of the OR, he said to stay home with Megan, and someone would call me when they get him settled. They were unable to close his skull because of swelling. Poor Ed. They had to put a plate over his brain before they closed the scalp wound.”
Pam could hear soft sounds of crying Lisa was trying unsuccessfully to cover up. Her heart went out to her daughter. No matter what, no wife wants her husband to suffer.
“I’m so sorry,” Pam said. “I hope he pulls through.”
“Me too,” Lisa said. “I feel especially sorry for Gladys and Big Ed.”
“How sad for them,” Pam replied. “Well, thank you for calling. Stay in touch.”
“I will, Mom, goodbye.”
They hung up. Pam thought of what it would be like for the Fords if their son died. It was unimaginable, losing a child. How would they go on without Ed? Their other children were busy with their own lives, but Ed needed them, and they were completely enmeshed his life. Pam couldn’t imagine the pain they must be going through, and then she saw a glint of something shimmering in the sand, catching the sunlight. She bent over and swept the sand away. It was a piece of glass. It looked almost like mercury glass, but that was unheard of. She put it in her bag. It was good luck finding something so unusual. She would accept that as a good omen on behalf of her son-in-law.
Thinking about Dan again, Pam never noticed him taking any special interest in Lisa when she was living at the beach. Of course, she was pregnant at the time. He simply pounced the moment she was available. Pam wondered if he would’ve made a move had she not told him to leave her house Monday. Then she remembered that she told Dan Lisa complained that Ed wasn’t making love to her. “Did I really tell him that?” she said, mortified.
Why wouldn’t I?
she thought.
I shared everything with him.
Maybe it titillated him, imagining being the one to save Lisa from her frustration. And poor Ed sick the whole time, a deadly brain tumor pressing on vital structures.
Pam remembered how difficult it had been to face the truth about her marriage after Jack died. Now, she had to face something darker than infidelity. Her earlier resolve to forgive Lisa anything, forgotten. Her daughter was spoiled, selfish and immoral.
And Pam had raised her.
The sun shining in his uncovered bedroom windows woke Brent up before he was ready. He’d gone back into the city last night to see some friends, and was shocked when he’d discovered it was a set up; Julie Hsu was there. It frightened the hell out him seeing Julie and he didn’t waste a minute getting away; he’d barely made it over the threshold when he spotted her and made a U-turn out before she saw him. He was back on the 59
th
Street Bridge when his cell rang; it was his so-called friend, Bobby Mason.
“Thanks a lot, Mason,” Brent said. “I can always count on you for an unnecessary trip into the city.”
“Hey, what’s the big deal? And why’d you leave? Julie just wants to see you.”
“I doubt if she
just wants to see me,
” Brent replied. “She’s furious with me. I was afraid when I saw her in the bar.” He chuckled at his reaction. Afraid was not the word for it. He was scared to death.
“Well then, you won’t mind if I ask her out. I could use a little excitement.”
“Be my guest, but don’t mention my name,” Brent replied, hanging up. He could just imagine what Julie had planned for him if he’d stuck around the bar. She was so angry. When he asked her to come to Pasadena, he had no idea living with her would be so tumultuous. She’d given him the ultimatum about getting married, and he thought their life would be like his mother and father’s. His mother cooked and cleaned and served his dad, and his dad did whatever he wanted. He never heard his parents raise their voices to each other, or his father criticize his mother or his mother whine or nag. The secret things his father did—sneaking from his aunt Marie’s room, and living away from the family during the week—transfixed a young Brent. The collection of pornography his father hid unsuccessfully, hypnotized Brent, soon hooking him.
During the time before he lived with Julie, depravity had saturated his life, and he was sure he’d reached the bottom. The next step was crystal meth and death. He’d watched it happen with friends of his. The few months they’d lived together didn’t help. Then, after she left him, something snapped. He didn’t want to die, and he certainly didn’t want to die alone.
Moving home with Mom
would provide a safe, healthy environment to help return to normalcy, but not completely. He still wanted to have fun. Looking for the balance between acceptable behavior and debauchery would be Brent’s modus operandi. He wanted to be just like Dad.
***
Virginia Adams had a nice meal ready for Sandra when she arrived home. She put her briefcase down and tried to refocus. For a few moments, she was able to put aside her unhappiness with life and concentrate on all the goodness around her. Little Miranda was so excited to see her, grabbing her hands to pull Sandra to her work area, page after page of construction paper covered with drawings.
“She’s ready for preschool,” Virginia said. “As much as I enjoy being with her, I don’t know how to teach her more than her numbers and letters.”
Sandra was thinking,
The child is only two. What more would there be at this age?
“Isn’t she a little young?” Sandra asked gently.
“Tommy says I need to do more with her,” Virginia said.
“Well, I think you’re doing just fine,” Sandra replied. “Look at this pile of work!” Then whispering to Virginia. “She’s not even completely potty-trained yet. I think preschool might be pushing it.”
Sandra was discovering that caring for a toddler was not all that it was cracked up to be. She’d never be able to do it if it weren’t for Virginia. Nelda was too busy lunching with the women in her retirement home to help with Miranda’s care. At the picnic on Monday, the main reason she and Tom braved shore traffic on a holiday was to give Marie’s family a chance to see Miranda. Nelda was barely interested, and the aunts couldn’t be bothered. Tom was furious.