Forever

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  The fighting seemed to go on for minutes, but in actuality, it probably only lasted thirty seconds before Noah, me and our gasoline jug guy had the other three men running up the alley.

  With a huffing noise, the man said, “Why, thank you, young men. Those boys you helped run off are nothing but trouble.”

  Noah shook his head and then spit a wad of blood from his mouth. Blood trickled down his nose, and I cringed thinking about what Rose would say when she saw the condition I brought her husband home in.

  “No, sir, we should be thanking you for your willingness to stand up to those men for us,” Noah said.

  “Sir. Why, I don’t believe I’ve been called that before.” The big man laughed and went on to say, “This isn’t a good neighborhood to have car problems. I was hoping to get you out of here before anyone was the wiser.”

  This time I didn’t hesitate when I hit the numbers on the phone.

  Startled, the man said, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m not taking any more chances—I’m calling the cops.”

  “Wish you wouldn’t do that—will only make matters worse for me when you’re gone. But if you must, I’ll be on my way.” He handed me the jug and added, “Just leave it on the stoop at this house when you’re done with it.”

  When the man had disappeared into the darkened house, Noah and I returned to the truck. We waited a few minutes for the two officers to show up and then told them our story before they drove us to the gas station themselves. Once we had gas in the tank and the jug on the stoop, the shorter officer with the mustache asked us again if we wanted to be checked out at the hospital or file a complaint, but we both shook our heads no.

  Noah climbed into the passenger seat, and I didn’t argue with him. Following the officer’s directions, I headed out of the seedy neighborhood and breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw the bright lights of the highway come into view.

  After several minutes, Noah finally broke the silence. “That was awful. How can anyone live in such a place?”

  When I glanced over, Noah was staring at me. His face was milk-white and there was dried blood below his nose and on his cheek.

  I reached into the console and pulled out some tissues. “Here, wipe your face and get yourself together, bro.”

  Noah took the tissue and said, “Your English world is horrible.”

  “That was completely random.” I glanced back to reassure him, but he was facing the window. In a more determined tone, I said, “Really, that sort of thing never happens in the real world. We were just incredibly unlucky tonight. You need to buck up and stop referring to your new life as my world—because it’s yours now.”

  “I’ve made a mistake bringing my family here.” Noah sounded completely depressed.

  “No, you haven’t. Just be careful when you’re driving to not get off at the wrong exit,” I teased him, but he didn’t smile at me in return.

  “What have I done, Sam?”

  I stared out at the passing cars, not able to find an answer for him.

  Maybe he’d been right a long time ago when he’d insisted on raising his family in the Amish community.

  But it was too late for that now.

  “You have no choice—you have to make it work.”

  Noah nodded and said, “I will, but it won’t be easy.”

  “Nothing ever is, bro.”

  48

  Rose

  Staring out the window at the drizzle falling around the street lamp, I felt the twinge of loneliness. Thank goodness, Noah would be home soon. When he left for work each afternoon, I’d cry for a few minutes until I finally pulled myself together. My shift at the animal clinic was in the morning, giving me very little time to spend with Noah before he left for work. Summer was too far away to hang out with, and Amanda and Britney had all but abandoned me when I’d begun looking like a pregnant girl. Sure, I understood where they were coming from. I didn’t even enjoy spending time with me lately. I was uncomfortable and cranky most days, and my emotions were like thin ice.

  Besides hormones, lack of sleep was probably to blame for my moodiness. Nightmares about Sarah’s death had plagued me for weeks now. Images of a black, churning tornado descending on to the Millers’ farmhouse like a hungry monster rose up whenever I closed my eyes to sleep.

  In the dreams, Sarah was always standing in the window, looking out. She was clearly visible, wearing a lavender dress and a white cap, and her body had an unnatural glow around it, making her shine brightly against the darkness of the raging storm around her. Strangely, instead of a look of terror on her face, she smiled back at me.

  I didn’t know what to make of her happy face, being more obsessed with the really unsettling part of the dream—the baby in her arms. Who was it, and why was it even there? The first time the nightmare had struck, I thought it was just a way I was grieving over losing my friend. After all, Noah and I had been married soon after she’d died, and we hadn’t had the proper amount of time to digest the fact that she was really gone forever. But after the same dream persisted each night, I began thinking more and more about the baby she held, and anxiety grew within me. Maybe it was her unborn niece or nephew she cradled in her arms, and if so, what kind of ominous sign was it?

  I might not have taken the dreams so seriously if I hadn’t been plagued by nightmares during Mom’s illness. Even before her body had distorted and the shine had disappeared from her eyes, I’d seen her clearly in her diseased and dying state while I’d slept.

  Maybe it was just an overactive imagination, but I was becoming increasingly more worried with each passing day that something bad was going to happen to my baby. What if Dad was right, and I was one of those unfortunate teenagers whose pregnancy ended tragically?

  Glancing at my phone again, I sighed. Noah was the one person who could soothe my troubled mind and make me forget the dreams. Only when he returned from work and put his arms around me was I calm and safe again.

  The last few minutes always took the longest to go by. There was nothing else to do except wait. I’d already vacuumed and tidied the small house to perfection. Heck, I was sure that even an Amish woman wouldn’t be able to find a speck of dust or grease in this home.

  I knew that Ruth would be proud of me.

  The soft rap at the door caused my heart to skip and I forgot about everything else. Noah would have just walked in, so I knew it wasn’t him. If Amanda had reconsidered about the visit, she’d definitely have texted me, and besides, she wouldn’t come over at nearly eleven o’clock at night.

  The knocks on the door sounded again, a bit louder, and I reluctantly got up and made my way to the door. Noah had given me direct orders to never answer the door unless I was expecting someone. He’d been worried about my safety ever since he’d had some strange experience out driving with Sam that he wouldn’t tell me about. I’d agreed wholeheartedly with him on the matter. Our neighbors to either side were not exactly upstanding types of citizens.

  I was convinced that the young couple to the right was dealing something illegal, if the constant stream of late-night, short visits were any indication. The old man who lived to the left frowned constantly, and when he did occasionally say something, his voice sounded more like a growl than a person talking.

  Taking no chances, I looked out the small glass window in the middle of the door. Seeing no one, I became confused, until the knocking started up again.

  Getting on my tiptoes, I craned my neck until I glimpsed blond hair. Immediately, I opened the door.

  The little girl belonged to the couple next door, and I’d heard her called Lucy. I’d seen her many times playing between the houses with her brother. I guessed she was about five, and at the moment she was barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and pajama pants. It was a usual late October evening in Ohio and must have been pushi
ng thirty degrees outside.

  When she looked up at me with saucer-sized eyes, I wasted no time reaching down and guiding her into the warmth. I kept the door open a crack, though, still wondering what the heck what was going on.

  Bending down to the child’s level, I asked, “Lucy, what are you doing here?”

  She sniffed and said, “Mommy and Daddy are fighting.”

  My heart sank. I wasn’t surprised in the least. Her parents went at it several times a week. They weren’t shy about screaming, slamming doors and peeling away in anger from the curb with their dented Saturn, either.

  For a second I was at a complete loss about what I should do, but then I moved closer to the doorway and strained to listen. Sure enough, I could hear angry words and the occasional explosion of something hitting the wall.

  “Is your daddy hurting your mommy?” I said, turning to the child and thinking about some of the crime shows I’d watched in the past.

  “They’re hurting each other, and my little brother is crying ’cause he can’t sleep. Neither can I— I want them to stop.”

  When the voices rose again, I picked up my phone and dialed 911. I had a very uneasy feeling about getting the cops involved, but what else could I do? Taking the child back to the crazy people wasn’t an option for me personally. The man was taller than Noah, with tattoos of swords, barbed wire and strange symbols on his arms and neck. His head was shaved, and his eyes were always bloodshot. His wife wasn’t much gentler to look at either, with her dyed jet-black hair, anorexic skinny body and a cigarette always hanging from her lips.

  It was impossible to believe that people like that could have spawned a sweet child like the one looking up at me.

  I whispered, “Don’t worry, Lucy. I’ll take care of everything. Why don’t you go over to the refrigerator—I think there’s a piece of peanut-butter pie with your name on it.”

  She grinned and headed that way, reminding me of the resiliency of children.

  After I got off the phone, my heart began pounding harder. The dispatcher had told me to keep Lucy at my house until the officer arrived, but I worried that her parents would suddenly realize they were missing a kid and come looking for her. I could only imagine the hostility they’d direct at me if they thought I was poking my nose into their business.

  I was so distracted when Lucy spoke that it took me a second to realize it.

  “When’s your baby going to be born?”

  “It’s due in a couple of months—in December.”

  Lucy forked another piece of the pie into her mouth and then, between chewing, said, “Is it a girl?”

  The child’s eager face told me that she hoped it was, and I couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm.

  “Actually, I decided that I wanted to be surprised when the baby is born. I told the doctor not to tell me when she did the ultrasound.”

  “Really? I’d want to know. How else are you going to buy baby clothes and stuff?”

  Her little voice had taken on a more adult twang to it, and I wondered about how many babies she’d been around to be so interested in mine. Her question was legitimate, though, and I took a few seconds to think before I answered.

  “Well, you see, I spent some time with a group of people who normally don’t want to know the sex of their babies until after they’re born. It makes it more exciting, you see. You can always have the basics in neutral colors for the birth and shop for the rest later.”

  She rolled her eyes and said, “Maybe, but I’d want to know if it was me.”

  I laughed. “Hopefully, you won’t have to worry about it for twenty years or so.”

  It was probably only a few minutes, but the time I spent making small talk with the child at the kitchen table seemed to last an hour before the flashing lights shone in through the front windows.

  Taking Lucy’s hand, I quickly went to the front door and opened it. I felt instant relief when I saw the officer was already walking up the steps.

  It didn’t take long to explain to him what was going on, and he thanked me for taking the child in and contacting authorities. His name was Drew Prescott, and with his round face and rosy cheeks, he didn’t appear that much older than me.

  “I’ve been to that residence on a number of occasions for both domestic violence and narcotics.” He leveled a hard stare at me, suddenly looking older, when he added, “You should step lightly when dealing with them, Mrs. Miller. They aren’t the kind of people to mess around with.”

  His words sent a shiver up my neck. I asked, “Will you take Lucy back to them?”

  The little girl was standing between the two of us and looking up expectantly at Officer Prescott. If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t want to go back.

  “I’m calling social services this time. Don’t worry about Lucy. She’ll be fine.”

  He patted her head and then took up her hand.

  Lucy glanced back at me as she walked down the steps and said, “Thanks, Mrs. Rose—I’ll bring your hoodie back tomorrow and we can hang out again.”

  Her face was so bright with hope that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I probably wouldn’t be seeing her again for a long while.

  “You just keep it. I have another one that fits me better, anyway.”

  She smiled and nodded vigorously before turning away with Officer Prescott.

  The bus stopped across the street, and Noah wasted no time getting off and hurrying across the road. As he passed them on the walkway, he greeted the officer at the same time he looked anxiously at me.

  “What’s going on?” Noah said when he reached me on the porch.

  I took his hand and pulled him into the house, closing the door behind me with my body as I leaned against it. Finally, I exhaled.

  “The little neighbor girl came over here while her parents were fighting.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell her to go back?”

  The look on Noah’s face immediately put me on the defensive.

  “I couldn’t make her go back to them. She was afraid. You know, they do this all the time. It’s not healthy for a child. Besides, they’re into other stuff, too, that’s not good for Lucy to be around.”

  Noah shook his head and moved forward to pull me into a hug.

  On the top of my head, he muttered, “I know you wanted to help the little girl, but you should have thought about the consequences.”

  “What are you saying?”

  He sighed and said, “Our neighbors aren’t going to be happy with us for this. They’ll probably be downright angry. Now we’ll have enemies living a stone’s throw away.”

  My own anger swelled inside of me, and I blurted out, “I tried to help Lucy, and I wouldn’t do a thing different. Sometimes, you have to take a risk in life and do the right thing.”

  “Not everyone would agree what the right thing to do in a situation like this is. But I won’t argue with you about it anymore. I just hope the authorities use discretion when mentioning your involvement. The last thing we need is a neighbor with a serious grudge. Trust me, I know how that can go.”

  I relaxed against him and said, “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stand the thought of her going back to those insane people.”

  He brushed my hair down with his fingers and whispered, “We’ve got to get out of here, Rose. I’m afraid to leave you here when I go to work. The job is bad enough, but worrying about my pregnant wife for hours is even worse.”

  I shrugged and muttered, “Not much we can do about it now.”

  Noah leaned back, and his face instantly brightened. “Actually, there is.”

  I raised my brow questioningly, and he continued, “My department manager gave me the weekend off. I was thinking that it’s the perfect time to head to Meadowview for a visit.”

  I suddenly f
elt lighter and exclaimed, “Are you serious—can we go back? I didn’t think they’d see us so soon. You said they were still upset about your decision.”

  He nodded his head. “I talked to Mother this morning while you were working. They still believe I’ve made a huge mistake, but they love us, anyway. She’s anxious to see you—says she’d made a quilt for our baby. It’s the perfect time, really. Jacob and Katie had their little boy last week, and I’d like to see my nephew.”

  “Oh, it would be wonderful. Will there be enough time to visit our friends? I miss Summer and Suzanna so much.”

  “Of course—we’ll make the time. It will do us good to get away from this place of pavement and problems and smell the fresh air again.” Noah paused and stared down at me for a second before saying, “Does this make you happy?”

  I nodded as the tears developed in my eyes.

  “I know you’ve been depressed lately. The testing time of our lives is still with us, but it won’t last forever. I promise you that.”

  As he hugged me tightly and my swollen belly rubbed between us, I almost believed him.

  But I couldn’t help glancing around his arm out the window at the flashing lights. Another car had arrived, and I could just make out Lucy’s parents talking to Officer Prescott and another, older man in the light rain.

  The scene caused my heart to begin pounding faster again.

  Yes, it was a very good thing to get out of town.

  I just wished that we never had to return.

  49

  Noah

  As we walked through the mowed field between our families’ properties, I glanced down at Rose. Amazingly, her belly seemed to have popped out more overnight. Even with the wool jacket she wore partially concealing the middle part of her body, it was apparent that she was pregnant.

  I hid a smile at her waddling stride and slowed even more to accommodate her inability to move any faster. She was such a good sport to be hiking the distance to the farm. Without me having to explain my feelings, she’d understood.