Frank argued with himself until he was exhausted. Thank goodness tomorrow is Saturday. I can sleep in.
He kept telling himself it was just a dream, only a dream, it had Absolutely Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Reality.
He was worried.
It was a long time before he found sleep again.
******
A couple days later, Frank met his best friend Josh for lunch.
As they chitchatted, getting caught up on their lives, Frank became increasingly more nervous. Finally, he just blurted out what was on his mind. “I think Faith might be having an affair.”
“What?” Josh clearly wasn’t certain whether this was a joke or not. “No way.” Then, seeing Frank was worried, he frowned. “What makes you say that?”
Frank explained about Faith’s new nighttime gab.
When he was done, Josh laughed. “Get a grip, man. Faith would never cheat on you.”
“I know,” said Frank glumly, not at all certain that was true.
Josh tried to reassure him, “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, dude. Dreams are harmless. Haven’t you ever dreamed you were with someone other than Faith?”
Frank replied honestly, “I never remember my dreams.”
“Well, I do!” Josh snickered. “And take it from me, dreams aren’t reality. After I first saw Lost in Translation, I dreamed about Scarlett Johansson for a solid week.”
Frank chuckled. “You’re not serious.”
“Hell, yes, I’m serious. I’ve had all kinds of celebrities show up in my dreams. I had a dream about a month ago where I was in a car accident and instead of going to a hospital I went to the 4077th M.A.S.H. to be operated on by Hawkeye Pierce!”
“Donald Sutherland or Alan Alda?”
“Alan Alda.” Josh laughed and Frank joined him.
Josh said, “Dreams are Weirdness Incarnate, buddy. Don’t sweat it. Faith is about as likely to have an affair as I am to go to Korea.”
Frank felt much better after talking to his friend.
******
Later, when Frank was awakened in the middle of the night, a ringing preceded his wife’s voice. He rolled over to face her as Faith said, “What’s wrong?”
Incredibly sleepy, he mimicked this, asking his wife, “What’s wrong?”
Faith turned on the light on her nightstand. Frank opened bleary eyes and saw she was on the phone. She pulled the phone away from her mouth and told Frank, “It’s Annie.”
Frank still wanted to know, “What’s wrong?”
Faith whispered, “She’s upset.” She put the phone back to her mouth and said, “Hang on a minute, Annie. I don’t want to keep Frank up. I’m going to switch phones.” As she handed Frank the receiver, she said, “I’m sorry, honey. I’ll take this in the living room. Hang up the phone for me when I tell you, okay?”
“‘K.” He took the phone from her as she got out of bed. He watched as Faith put on her robe, turned off the light, then exited their bedroom.
Frank was exhausted. He’d lost a lot of sleep the last few nights and it was catching up with him. He could barely keep his eyes open. He put the phone to his ear and waited. When Faith finally said, “Okay, honey. You can hang up now,” it startled him out of a doze.
He hung up the phone.
Only then did Frank snap fully awake, thinking, What if it’s not Annie on the phone? What if it’s Faith’s lover?
Telling himself that was crazy, he tried to sleep. While his body was bone weary, his brain didn’t want to shut down. He tossed and turned, unable to stop wondering who was really on the phone.
Finally, exasperated, Frank did something he’d never done before. He picked up the phone to eavesdrop on his wife’s conversation. Putting the receiver to his head, he heard Faith saying, “—don’t see how that would do any good! You need to go—” Faith obviously heard him pick up the phone because she stopped what she’s saying in mid-sentence. “Frank?”
Busted, he thought. He muttered, “Is, um, everything all right?”
“Yes, honey.” Faith did sound a little snappish as she said, “Go back to sleep. I’ll be coming back to bed soon.”
He waited two seconds, then four to see if the other person on the line was going to say something. They didn’t.
Frank hung up.
Dammit! He wasn’t happy. For all he knew it could be a man that Faith was talking to. He never heard Annie’s voice.
He fretted for a while longer but then his exhaustion won out. Screw it, he thought. Go ahead and cheat on me, Faith. See if I care. I need sleep.
Sleep he got.
******
The next morning, still on edge, Frank asked Faith, “So what was up with Annie last night?”
Faith sighed. “She’s having a really tough time lately.”
Frank waited for more and when no more was forthcoming, he was forced to ask, “Could you be a little more specific?”
Faith sighed again. “I really don’t know what’s wrong with her and she doesn’t either. She went to the doctor and he didn’t find much. I’ve been trying to get her to go to a psychiatrist but she won’t do it.”
Frank frowned. He didn’t believe in shrinks. He thought people should work out their own problems.
“She’s really stubborn.” Faith bit her bottom lip.
Frank thought, She’s worried. The only time she bites her lip like that is when she’s worried.
He still hadn’t gotten any details yet. “What are her symptoms?”
“Loss of sleep, loss of appetite, irritability, bad dreams. She called me last night because she had a nightmare that scared her to death.”
It unsettled Frank hearing Faith talk about dreams. He didn’t care what Annie was dreaming. He was a lot more concerned about what was going on in his wife’s head at night.
Faith’s shoulders were slumped, her eyes lowered. “I don’t know what’s going on but I have a theory.”
Again he was forced to ask, “What?”
“I don’t know. . . . Sometimes I think she might have been assaulted, maybe even raped. Her nightmares are caused by something. It’s almost like she’s consciously repressing the memory of something awful.”
“Wow,” Frank said, feeling sheepish and ashamed. He didn’t for an instant think Faith was lying. Annie was her best friend. He knew how close they were. He felt bad that he had suspected Faith was lying to him about who called last night.
He now knew it really was Annie.
Faith looked at him with a puzzled expression and he added, “That really sucks.”
Faith got up from the table. “Just like a man!” He had made her angry. “I tell you Annie might have experienced something so traumatic she won’t even allow herself to remember it and all you can say is, ‘Wow. That really sucks.’”
He got up from the table and went to her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.” He certainly couldn’t tell Faith he was slow to feel compassion because he thought she might be lying to him. “What’s Stan say about all this?” Stan was Annie’s husband.
Frank tried to hug Faith but she pushed him away. “Stan is totally worthless. He doesn’t give a damn about Annie!”
In his mind, Frank found himself defending Stan Katzenberg. You said the same thing about me the other night, darling.
Knowing he couldn’t verbalize what he was thinking, Frank didn’t know what to say.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Faith picked up her purse. “Just leave me alone!” Grabbing her car keys, she stormed out of the house.
******
All day at work, Frank was obsessed, wondering, Where did she go?
He wanted to believe Faith went to see Annie.
He was worried she went to see her secret lover.
When he called her cell phone, it was turned off. That frustrated him but wasn’t surprising. Faith wasn’t a fan of cell phones anyway, especially not since her sister had a car accident while talking on hers. A lot of the time, Faith didn’
t even bother to take her cell phone with her.
When Frank called their home, he kept getting voice mail and he kept hanging up.
Finally, late in the afternoon, he couldn’t take it anymore. He picked up the phone and called the Katzenberg residence. After four rings, Annie picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, Annie. It’s Frank.”
“Oh, hi, Frank. Faith just left.”
Really? He wondered. Or did Faith put you up to saying that? He stammered, “Oh . . . well . . . okay. Actually, that was why I was calling. I haven’t been able to get a hold of her all day and—”
Annie interrupted, “That’s my fault. I’m so sorry! She’s been with me. I’m kind of—” There was a pause, and then Annie laughed. Her laugh sounded strained to Frank, completely without humor. “Well, let’s just say I’ve got way too much happening in my little world right now.”
Frank didn’t care. He had his own worries. Like whether or not you’re telling me the truth, Annie. Oh, I believe you’re going through The Change early or maybe having a nervous breakdown. I do believe you’re the one who called last night. But has Faith been with you all day? Or, after our fight this morning, are you sure she didn’t go to see her lover first, before she came over to your house? Flatly, he asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
Annie laughed again, this time sounding more like her old self. “You could send Faith and I on a Caribbean cruise!”
What? So she can actually be with Him again? “I don’t think so,” he said, and then added, “If Faith is going on a cruise with anyone, it’s going to be with me.”
Now it was Annie’s voice that sounded flat as she said, “She’s so lucky to have you, Frank.”
Frank matched her tone. “She’s lucky to have you too, Annie.”
He ended the conversation by thanking Annie and telling her, “Get to feeling better.”
They said their goodbyes. Frank hung up and then immediately called home.
In his mind, he heard himself shouting, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN ALL DAY?
But when Faith actually answered the telephone, what he said instead was, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Look, I’m really sorry about all this. I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“Actually, I was. I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”
“I’m sorry. When I left this morning, I never intended to be gone so long. If I’d known it would take all day, I would have taken my cell phone with me.”
“If you’d known what would take all day?”
Faith sighed. “I finally got Annie in to see a psychiatrist today.”
Frank winced. He wondered why Annie didn’t mention that on the phone but then he thought she was probably too embarrassed. He found himself asking, “Was that really necessary?”
A flash of anger radiated through the phone. “Yes. It was absolutely necessary. I know how you feel about psychiatrists, Frank, so let’s just drop it, okay?”
“Fine.”
“Annie has major problems right now and I’d appreciate it if you’d show a little compassion! Right now, she needs me.”
Really? Frank was getting angry. Does she really need you that bad, darling, or is all this just a smoke screen so you can be with some guy?
“Fine,” he said again.
Faith still wasn’t ready to drop the subject. “This is serious. It’s not hormonal and it’s not just some ‘woman’s problem.’ I’m not going to get into the details because I know you won’t believe it but, I swear, Frank, if you don’t…”
Frank was startled when his wife started to cry. Hearing her weeping melted his heart, immediately vanquishing his anger and suspicion. Gently, he asked, “What, honey?”
After sobbing softly for about a minute, Faith admitted, “I’m just really worried about her, okay?”
“Okay.” Sincerely, he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just honestly don’t understand what’s going on.”
Sharply, Faith said, “You’re right. You don’t understand. So let’s just drop it, okay?”
“Okay.”
And this time, they did drop it.
******
Three nights later, Frank awoke to the sound of his wife screaming. In an instant, he was shocked from being peacefully asleep to alarmed consciousness.
Faith’s scream was followed by her shouting, “NO, NO, NO!”
Frank found Faith lying on her back, completely limp. In a little girl voice, she whined, “Please don’t hurt me!”
Frank didn’t even consider riding this nightmare out. He grabbed Faith’s shoulders and shook her. “Honey, wake up! Wake up, Faith!”
She moaned with fear.
Frank shook her harder. “Wake up, Faith! Wake up!”
From their doorway, Frank heard Bobby’s frightened voice, “Daddy?”
“It’s all right, son,” he said, thinking it was not all right at all. “Mommy is just having a bad dream.”
Faith whined, “He isn’t human!”
“FAITH!” Frank bellowed, “WAKE UP!”
His wife opened her eyes.
Frank realized he was squeezing her shoulders very tight and let them go. Behind him, he heard Bobby crying.
Faith asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Frank rolled out of bed. “You were having a nightmare.”
“Nightmare?” Faith said in a disbelieving tone.
Frank went to Bobby and picked up his young son. “It’s all right, buddy. Everything’s fine. Mommy was just having a bad dream.”
“Bobby?” Faith now sounded concerned. She sat up and turned on her light.
At the same time, the hallway outside the master bedroom lit up. Still holding Bobby, Frank stepped out into the hall. Blake approached, rubbing his eyes, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Faith came over and took Bobby from Frank, saying, “I’m sorry, honey. Did I scare you?”
Frank told Blake, “Mom had a nightmare. Everything’s fine now. Go back to bed.”
Bobby nodded in his mother’s arms, and then sniffed. He told Faith, “You were screaming, Mommy.”
Frank shot his wife an ‘I told you so’ glance.
Seeing Frank’s glare and ignoring it, Faith apologized again to Bobby, “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Blake asked, “You all right, Mom?”
She looked over her younger son’s towhead to smile wanly at her older son. “Yeah. I’m fine, sweetie. Go back to bed.”
With a yawn, Blake did as he was told, turning off the light in the hall.
Frank wanted to know what Faith was dreaming about. Surely she wasn’t dreaming about me! Surely she wasn’t!
Faith asked Bobby, “You want to sleep with us tonight?”
Of course, Bobby did.
Frank wasn’t happy. His son hadn’t slept with them in months. Bobby used to have his own nightmares and only recently outgrew them.
Sighing, Frank realized these were special circumstances. It wasn’t every night a kid was awakened by his mother’s screams.
Frank resigned himself to getting no answers tonight.
Bobby snuggled in between his parents in their king-sized bed.
Faith fell asleep about the same time Bobby did.
Disturbed, Frank lay awake.
******
The next day, Faith claimed she couldn’t remember what her nightmare was about.
Frank wasn’t surprised.
The shriek that woke him up was awful but even more unsettling was the terror in Faith’s voice when she said, “He isn’t human.”
As hard as it was to figure out why his wife secretly hated him, it was even harder for him to contemplate her being afraid of him.
******
The next evening, Frank couldn’t keep his eyes open. He went to bed two hours earlier than normal, leaving Faith still up.
Hours later, he was awakened by her voice. She was not talking very loudly this time but h
e still snapped awake the moment she said, “I don’t believe that.”
Frank sighed as he rolled over to face her, thinking, I didn’t even hear her come to bed. He was tired, not just physically tired but also emotionally tired. He was sick of being jarred out of sleep like this.
Tonight his wife was facing away from him. By the green glow of the alarm clock, he found himself staring at the back of her head.
Faith said, “That’s not the problem! It’s not!”
Frank rubbed his eyes. Oh, just shut up!
“He’s the problem. I can’t stand him. I want him to die. The only time I feel whole is when I’m with you.”
Frank didn’t want to hear this. Even though he knew she probably wouldn’t wake up, he grabbed her shoulder and shook her, saying loudly, “Wake up, Faith!”
She did wake up, jumping as if startled. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Angry but trying to bottle it, he told her, “You woke me up again. You were talking in your sleep.”
She rolled over to face him, saying, “I’m sorry.” He was glad, at least, that she no longer denied she talked in her sleep.
Frank was too curious not to ask, “What were you dreaming about?”
“I don’t know.” She thought about it and added, “Annie, I think.”
Annie. Frank didn’t believe her. Yeah. Right.
He jumped when she reached out to touch him. “What did I say this time?”
Frank lied with absolutely no guilt, “Nothing I could understand.”
In a small voice, Faith said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” he said, thinking, There is nothing right about any of this. He rolled away from her. “Go back to sleep.”
After a while, they both did.
******
When Frank arrived home from work two nights later, he was stunned to find Faith sitting with Blake in the living room, watching the nightly news. Faith and Blake never watched television together. Faith was generally tuned to Lifetime, A&E, or The Food Network. Blake lived for ESPN, MTV, and the WB.
Neither of them ever watched the news.
Frank turned his attention to the television just in time to see some fuzzy videos of light-streaks against a night sky. Blake saw him and said, “Check it out, dad.”
Fishing in Brains for an Eye with Teeth (Thirteen Tales of Terror) Page 21
