by Mary May
“Honey, this is supposed to be a very happy occasion! Why are you crying?” David looked at her with concern.
Klara sniffled then laughed at his perplexed expression. “I’m fine, just being a bigger baby than Josh right now is all. I can’t believe that he is a year old already. Where did the time go? It scares me to think that he will be grown and gone before I turn around twice. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet!” she blubbered.
David pulled her out into the hall to look into the kitchen where Josh was sitting on the floor playing with his new birthday toys. “What do you see, Klara?”
She looked at him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
He pointed then asked again. “What do you see?”
She shrugged, “I see Josh playing with his toys?”
He smiled “How old is he today?”
Shaking her head she looked at him like he was crazy. “Umm, he is a year old?” He chucked her under her chin and winked, “Exactly.” Then he went into the kitchen to play with the birthday boy. She stood there for a few minutes silently thanking God for one of the biggest blessings he had given her. David always knew just the right thing to say to calm her down and make her see reason. Of course, he always knew the right thing to say to make her see red, too, but today he had calmed her fears and quieted her troubled heart.
David was so good with Joshua she marveled that he was such a nurturing soul. She had always thought the mothers did the nurturing and the daddy’s were the tough disciplinarians. Not that her own father wasn’t loving. He was very affectionate, but when it came to heart to heart moments or talks about feelings, he always sent her to her mother.
David took care of whatever needed to be taken care of from scratched knees to hurt feelings. Joshua would just as often go to his daddy for a good cuddle as he would her. That meant the world to her.
Klara stopped jogging. She couldn’t take the pain in her heart and the pain in her side at the same time. She leaned against a tall pine and drew in a ragged breath, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the flow of tears. It had been so long since she allowed herself to remember. Sweet memories filled her mind and heart. She wished she could dwell on them without the pain.
“It won’t always hurt so bad, my dear.” A voice spoke from right behind her. Klara whirled around and there was an old woman standing behind her with a kind smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” she asked.
The woman nodded. “Yes, I was. I could tell that you have been hurt terribly…so terribly. I just wanted to tell you that no matter what it is, it won’t last forever.”
Klara nodded wondering who this woman was. “Time heals all wounds,” she offered.
The woman shook her head then scoffed, “No, that’s a load of rubbish; time just lets the hurt scab over… God heals the wound. Only God can truly mend a shattered heart. Do you know why?”
Klara smiled and shook her head in confusion.
The woman toddled over and patted her cheek. “He can find all the pieces. So you just give all your pieces to him, honey; don’t keep any back for yourself, now you hear me? He can’t make you whole again if you don’t trust Him with all of them.” The woman smiled one more time at Klara then walked on down the path humming.
“Who in the world was that?” Klara asked herself. She slowly jogged on down the path thinking about what the woman had said. Had she truly even given God a chance to help her heal? She knew the answer to that question. She had cut Him out of her life along with anyone that tried to make her turn to Him. She was so angry. He was God; she was his child. How could He let something so terrible happen to her? To David and Josh? Josh was just a baby! The angrier her thoughts became, the faster and harder her feet pounded the pavement. She flew past the corner where she needed to turn to go home and she ran on and on until she came to the river. Stumbling to a stop, she leaned over with her hands braced on her knees, dragging in deep breaths one after another.
“Why, God? If you can give me the reason why, then I’ll let You have all my pieces!” she shouted out. She listened with all her heart and all she heard was the sound of the Black River as it washed over the large boulders…
Alec sighed as he finally pushed the large stack of legal papers across the desk. It didn’t seem to matter how important they were; he couldn’t concentrate on them. All he could see was the shattered look in Klara’s eyes when the police officer took Matthew from her. He knew it was for the best. They needed to do everything by the book to protect the child, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He also didn’t tell Klara that with her recent suicide attempt the courts would find her too emotionally unstable to raise a child even temporarily. He doubted that he could even get custody with the nasty divorce he was currently going though. That thought stopped him. Would he take the child if he could? he asked himself. He liked kids well enough; he even wanted some of his own one day. Maybe he should try to get custody. He had to laugh at that idea. What did he have to offer that child? A broken marriage and an empty high-rise apartment? Of course, he wouldn’t ever abuse the boy, and he would make sure that he didn’t ever go hungry or without. But was he capable of giving the child what he truly needed… a loving home? He picked up the desk phone and asked Tammy to find out which hospital they took Matthew to. He wanted to see how he was doing. Within twenty minutes he was on his way to Bayside Memorial.
Chapter 10
Klara walked up the stairs to her apartment instead of taking the elevator. She wanted to cool down from her jog a little. She finally made it to the third landing and pushed open the door only to quickly pull it back closed again. Matthew’s dad was pounding on every door in the hall! Why wasn’t he arrested? Did he make bail? Feeling panic rise up in her heart, she grabbed her phone and once more dialed Alec’s number. She danced from one foot to the other as she counted the rings until he answered. She was about to give up when he picked up.
“Alec, it’s Klara, did the police not arrest Marcus? He is standing in the hall pounding on every door asking where his son is!” She listened for a moment. “I’m in the stair well. I took the stairs up… No, he doesn’t know I’m here. Do you think I should call the police or just watch him?” She nodded her head a few times. “Ok, I’ll stay here and watch and listen for the cops. No, I’ll be careful!” She hung up the phone and slipped it back in her side case.
She carefully opened the door just a crack. She couldn’t see Marcus but she could hear him. He was shouting that someone knew something and they had better start talking. Oh, this isn’t good…What if he got violent with someone? She finally saw him head toward the elevator. Oh, no, he was leaving! She had to stop him. The police should be here any time; she just needed to stall him. Before she had time to come to her senses, she opened the door…
Marcus stopped and turned when he heard the door open. He walked quickly to where she stood and he towered over her, looking at her with angry bloodshot eyes. “Where’s my boy? I know you got him hid from me somewhere! Where is he?” With every word he stepped closer to Klara until her back hit the wall.
“Marcus, right now Matthew is at the hospital getting treatment for his injuries…I’m sorry I…I didn’t know how to reach you.” She stammered as she lied.
His frown deepened. “Injuries? What injuries?” He asked her.
Klara eased out around him so she wasn’t trapped against the wall. “He had a black eye and a busted lip. I’m not sure if there were more or not. Didn’t you know he was hurt?”
Shaking his head he stalked her again. “No, he was fine when I left. He must have opened the door again for someone. Maybe he opened it for you?”
Klara walked backwards down the hallway not letting herself get trapped against any walls and trying to stay out of arms’ reach. “No, I tried to get him to open the door this morning. I brought him some breakfast, but he wouldn’t open it. Finally I just sat the food down by the door and waited. When he opened the door, I could see his face wa
s bruised. I just got him some help.”
She could see that Marcus was definitely under the influence of something. His eyes would glaze over and get a very unfocused look in them every minute or so. She tried to imagine being Matthew and having something the size of Marcus coming at you. Poor baby!
She finally heard the sounds of the police sirens in the distance and she could feel relief flood her body, but she relaxed too soon!
“You call the cops on me?” He lunged and grabbed her, his steely fingers digging into her upper arms. He shook her hard! “Where is my boy? I’ll kill you if don’t tell me what you did with him, I swear to God!”
Klara struggled to get free from his grasp. “Marcus, you need to let me go. The cops will be here in a second!”
He swore and pushed her into the wall before he turned and ran for the elevator. Klara got to her feet and ran to the stairs, running quickly down them, skipping two and three at a time in her haste to make it down to the ground floor as quickly as possible. She made it to the bottom and shoved open the door just in time to see two officers drag Marcus to the ground and cuff him.
She sagged against the doorframe in relief to see that he was in custody. The same male officer that was there that morning was there again. “Mrs. Martin, thank you for calling this in. We went to his place of employment, but his employer told us he hasn’t been to work in three weeks. He didn’t know where he was.”
The officers pulled Marcus to his feet, and as they walked him past her he glared at her with hate-filled eyes. “You haven’t seen the last of me, sweetheart…you can count on it!” Then he winked at her as they jerked him back toward the door. Klara stared at him in shock.
The officer walked her to the back of the lobby so she couldn’t see outside. “I wouldn’t be too concerned. He is just blowing off steam and he is seriously inebriated right now.”
Klara crossed her arms over her chest. “I hope you’re right.”
Just moments after the squad car pulled away with a still-raging Marcus Kelley inside, Alec walked in the lobby, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on Klara. “Are you ok?” he asked as his eyes searched her face and body for any injuries.
The officer turned to Alec. “We were able to apprehend Mr. Kelley thanks to Mrs. Martin slowing him down; not many people would have put themselves in harm’s way for a child they barely know.” He frowned at Klara. “Just what did you do? I told you to stay hidden in the stair well.” Klara shrugged “He was leaving! The cops would have not have gotten here in time. I had to stop him to give them time to get here! It’s no big deal. I’m fine.”
Alec reached and ran his fingers softly over the bruises that were already visible on her bare arms. “What happened?” he asked quietly. Klara looked down at her arms and rubbed her hand over the bruises partly to cover them from Alec’s gaze and partly because now they were starting to hurt.
“He grabbed me when we heard the sirens, but that was it. I’m fine. Poor Matthew suffered a lot worse than I did.”
“Mr. Adams, I’m sure this nothing to be worried about; however, I do want you to be aware that a threat was made by Mr. Kelley toward Mrs. Martin.”
Klara watched as Alec went very still, and his eyes narrowed on the officer. “What exactly did he say? I need it verbatim, please.” The officer repeated what Marcus had said to her and she stifled the urge to shiver. The cop could say not to worry if he wanted but those hate-filled eyes were not aimed at him! Klara had every intention of taking it seriously and being careful. She had no intention of becoming a Lifetime movie of the week.
“I want it put in the statement that Mr. Kelley made a threat to Mrs. Martin. I don’t want this to fall through the cracks. Do you understand me, officer? Klara, I will take you downtown and you can give the officers your official statement, ok?”
She looked at him, frowning. “He was standing right here when it was said. Why do I have to go to the police station? Can’t I sign something here?”
Alec turned to the officer. “Do you have what you need here onsite for her to give her statement?”
The officer went to go check and came back shaking his head. “I don’t have the official statement document here. She will need to come in to the station.”
Klara nodded. “Ok I’ll do whatever needs to be done. Just let me go change clothes, ok?”
Twenty minutes later she was sitting in Alec’s sedan on her way to the police station. They rode in silence for a few minutes until Alec mentioned he had gone to see Matthew. Klara turned to face him. “You did? How is he? What did the doctors say? Do you think I can see him, too?”
Alec smiled at her then raised his hand. “Whoa, slow down…one at a time! The doctors said he would be fine, that his injuries were all superficial, but he did find old scars to indicate that the abuse has been ongoing for a while. Matthew seemed ok. He was sleeping when I looked in on him. The nurse that was watching him said he was really quiet. She couldn’t get much out of him.”
Klara sagged down in her seat. “Poor baby, I just can’t imagine being taken from the only home you know and put in a hospital with a bunch of strangers. He must be terrified.”
Alec nodded in agreement. “I’m sure it is hard on him. I hope he understands we are doing this for his own good.” Alec navigated the sedan through the heavy downtown traffic, keeping one eye on the review mirror. He hadn’t seen the black car that was following him the other day in a while, but he knew he was back there. Most likely he had already reported to Clarissa about Klara being in his car. He slipped his hand in his jacket and thumbed off his cell phone. He was not dealing with her and her neurosis today.
Pulling into the parking space, he turned to Klara putting his hand on her arm when she reached for the door. “Klara, I’m going to put this as delicately as I can, alright? I wanted to bring it to your attention earlier but I couldn’t find the right words. I still haven’t, but this is something you need to be aware of.” She frowned at him then slowly nodded sitting back in the seat. She had a feeling what he was going to say would not bode well for her.
Alec sat back in his own seat with a sigh, rubbing his face roughly. “Klara, I have no doubt that you are an excellent mother, and that you would take very good care of Matthew.” There he paused.
Klara raised an eyebrow at him. “But?” she prompted. “But the courts may not see it that way because of your recent suicide attempt.” The silence was heavy after he had finished. He watched her. She had her head down, studying her hands very intently, twisting her wedding ring.
Finally she looked up at him. “I can understand their concerns. In their place I would feel the same way.” He wished he could say something to make her feel better, but unfortunately there wasn’t much he could say. The courts would never grant her custody. He knew they were jumping the gun here anyway. Chances were high that the boy would have family elsewhere to live with or even the remote chance that the mother would come forward. He just needed to make sure that Klara knew what the courts would be looking at. “He probably has family that would take him anyway, don’t you think?” she asked.
Alec nodded as they stared out the front windshield of his car. “I would say it was a strong possibility. Very seldom does it turn out that a child doesn’t have any family suitable for placement.”
Klara looked sharply at him. “Suitable for placement? You make him sound like a stray dog or something. He is a scared little boy that needs a stable home with someone to love him and take care of him. He needs a home, Alec, not “suitable placement.”
Alec winced at his poor choice of words. “I’m sorry. That was my legal mind speaking, not the man. I have a habit of doing that, I’m afraid.”
Putting her hands in the air she turned in her seat to face him. “That’s what I’m afraid of! That a bunch of legal eagles with walls of degrees will forget what is really at stake here! A little boy’s life! I swear there must not be room in your bodies for all that legal knowledge and a heart.”
/> Taking considerable exception to her broadcasted insult, he leaned in toward her. “Do not talk about me like you know me, Klara.” he warned her.
Looking into his dark eyes that were made even darker in his anger, she realized he was right to be angry. “I’m sorry, Alec…you’re right. I don’t know you very well, but what I do know of you has been good. I’m just lashing out, I guess. But I still stand by my statement, present company excluded, of course. I know that Matthew’s case will be handled by someone who doesn’t know him; he will just be a case number on a file. They won’t see his heart or his wounds; they won’t really care what happens to him. They won’t take the time to make sure he is not only taken care of in his new home but that he is loved and happy. He requires more than food, clothing and shelter. I am terrified of what will happened to him, Alec!” She fell back in her seat, exhausted by her outburst, swiping at the angry tears that slipped down her face.
He wished he could say she was wrong, but he couldn’t. Most likely it would happen exactly like she described it. Matthew would be assigned a caseworker that was overworked and underpaid and just wanted the file completed and off the desk. He knew the only way that Matthew would have a fighting chance in this legal hell would be if he had someone on his side that actually had the legal chops and his best interest at heart. “I’ll do it.”
Sniffling and rummaging in her purse for a tissue, Klara asked, “Do what?”
Reaching to turn her face to him, he answered, “I’ll represent Matthew. I’ll take his case.”
Klara looked at him with wide eyes. “Seriously? You will handle his case? Personally? You won’t hand it off to someone else?”
Shaking his head and smiling ruefully at her total lack of faith in him, Alec raised his right hand. “I swear to handle Matthew’s case personally. I will cover every aspect of this myself with my own two hands and will not let anyone else near it. How’s that?”
Her eyes shining in gratitude Klara’s smile was huge as she threw her arms around Alec’s shoulders in a tight hug. “Oh, thank you, Alec! This will just be something else to add to my growing list of things I won’t ever be able to repay you for, but thank you so much! I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this.” Alec opened his mouth to respond but a shrill scream outside his driver’s side window followed by someone slapping the roof of the car interrupted whatever he was going to say. Pulling back and looking quickly out the window Klara asked “Who in the world is that?”
