by Zina Abbott
Jennie stepped forward and wrapped one arm around Alice while her other still clutched Garrett to her.
“Oh, Jennie, I think something is wrong with him,” Alice sobbed. “This just is not like him. I asked him if he has seen a doctor about his migraines, but he just got angry and said he’s dealing with it.”
“I know,” Jennie said. “I know it has been hard.”
Alice straightened out of Jennie’s embrace and wiped the tears from her face. “You need to get going before Gerald decides to come home,” she urged. “The further down the road you are, the safer you’ll be.”
“Are you and Ned going to be all right?” asked Jennie, now concerned for her in-laws’ safety. Just how violently might Gerald react when he arrived home and found his son missing?
“Yes, we’ll be fine,” Alice said, struggling to sound confident as they all stepped out onto the front porch. Alice leaned forward and kissed Garrett on the cheek. “Good-by, Garrett-baby. You remember that your Grammy Alice and Grampy Ned love you, okay? Now, be good for your mommy and go back to sleep until you get back home.”
Then, turning to Jennie, Alice squeezed her arm and said, “Go, and have a safe trip home.”
Before Jennie could reply, everyone turned at the sound of screeching tires and a revving motor three houses away from the Womack’s.
“It’s Gerald!” Alice sucked in her breath in alarm as she recognized the sound of the car. “Why now? Why now?”
“You need to get going,” Ned said as he darted to the back of the house.
“Get Garrett in the car and lock the doors,” Rob ordered as he pushed Jennie toward the Highlander, following close behind.
Before Jennie and Rob could reach the Highlander, Gerald spun Alice’s sedan into the driveway. He barely missed clipping the corner of the Highlander’s back bumper but did hit the edge of the curb on his way in. Rob firmly pushed Jennie and Garrett toward the Highlander as he turned to face his son-in-law. As soon as Gerald slammed on the brakes and threw the gearshift into “Park”, he jumped out of his mother’s car before it stopped rocking.
“Daddy!” Garrett cried out as he recognized his father.
Jennie panicked. Her dad was no match for Gerald, sober or drunk.
Jennie reached for the door handle. Her fingers fumbled and her arms felt like rubber as she swung the door to the back seat open and climbed in, struggling to not lose her grip on her son. She turned to watch Gerald advance on the car, his unsteady gait evidence of his evening spent drinking. Only her father stood in the way to slow him down. Jennie wanted desperately to go back to stand by her father, to try to reason with Gerald, but she knew her first priority was Garrett. She was her son’s last line of defense. She slammed down the door locks on all four doors, starting with the two doors closest to Gerald.
“Gerald, stop! I’m the one who called her to come pick up Garrett,” Jennie could barely hear Alice cry out as she ran across the lawn, her robe flapping behind her. Alice grabbed Gerald’s arm that was raised to take a swing at Rob. Gerald violently jerked his arm toward his mother to break her hold, sending her crashing to the ground.
“Stay out of this, Mom,” Gerald ordered, as he turned toward her, swaying on his feet. “She’s not taking my son from me. I’ve got to protect my son. Now, get back in the house where it’s safe.”
Jennie grimaced with confusion. Protect your son? She asked herself. From me?
Jennie noticed the next door neighbor’s houselights come on, followed by their porch light. She cringed. Why did Gerald have to make a scene and wake up the whole neighborhood?
“Daddy! I want Daddy!” Garrett cried out, reaching in the direction of his father while Jennie struggled to strap his squirming body into the car seat.
“Shush, Shush, Garrett. Daddy will be okay. We need to go home now, Big Boy, so Daddy can go back to Afghanistan and fight the bad guys.”
“Why’s Daddy fighting Grampa?”
Jennie twisted her head back just in time to see Gerald slam the palms of his hands on Rob’s shoulder’s causing Rob to stumble backward. Jennie sucked in her breath as she watched her father struggle to keep his footing. By this time, Ned had joined Alice and helped her to her feet. Both Alice and Ned began pulling on Gerald’s arms in an attempt to restrain him.
Jennie moved her body to block Garrett’s view of the family struggle on the lawn. Garrett resisted, stretching in an attempt to see around Jennie. He sat still only when the sound of a siren and the flash of colored lights coming down the street toward them captured his attention. It headed for the front of the Highlander.
“You called the cops on me?” Jennie heard Gerald yell at her through the window as he advanced toward her. Her eyes wide with fright, Jennie shook her head no.
“No, I did!” yelled Ned as he held Alice to him. Gerald stopped and turned to face Ned.
“The way you’ve treated your mother this week is unforgivable,” Ned continued. “She took all this time off work for you and Garrett. Instead of spending time with her, you stayed away from the house. Then, you decided you were going to take Garrett away from her without telling us where. I’m ashamed of you, Son! Now, knock it off and let them go!”
“Stay out of this, Ned! I just want my son back. I want to take him to Georgia with me.”
The patrol car quickly pulled across the street and parked, its front bumper almost touching the front of the Highlander. The siren ended suddenly with a squawk, but the white floodlights lit up the lawn and the red and blue lights twirling on the rooftop rack continued to shine in through the Highlander’s windshield, mesmerizing Garrett.
“Police!” Garrett exclaimed, as through wide eyes he watched the two patrolmen climb out of the cruiser and walk toward the group on the lawn.
Jennie felt safer now that the police were there to intervene. She momentarily considered getting out to join the others, but realized she didn’t dare leave Garrett alone in the car. She stood and stretched her body over the seatback in order to turn her father’s key in the ignition far enough so that she could crack the side window and better hear what was being said.
Realizing the headlights had come on and hearing the sound of the window going down, Rob jerked to face her. Shaking his head, he pointed his finger at her.
Jennie realized her father was right. Gerald could reach right through the window and grab Garrett. She closed the window so it was cracked only a quarter of an inch before she turned the key off.
A second patrol car pulled up and parked across the street behind the Highlander. Two more officers climbed out and joined the first two.
By this time, Jennie noticed that several more houses had their lights on and some of the neighbors wearing night clothes stood in their front yards in order to watch the scene in her in-laws’ yard.
Oh, great! This is like those cop shows where half the police force shows up in some low-income, drug-infested neighborhood to break up a domestic violence dispute. But we’re not like that. How did this happen?
Jennie couldn’t hear much through the crack in the window. She watched as the officers separated her family. One talked quietly to Rob on the sidewalk behind the Highlander. One talked to Alice and Ned on their front porch. The first two to arrive, an older officer with a bit of a paunch and graying temples and a younger officer who was extremely physically fit and taller than her husband talked to Gerald. Jennie guessed that because of Gerald’s state of physical fitness and obvious inebriation, they decided they better double-team him.
Jennie watched as Gerald, his face contorted and unsteady on his feet, waved his arms in exaggerated gestures. His voice frequently rose in volume. Occasionally, he stopped and shook his head as if he was confused. She couldn’t catch enough of what Gerald was telling the officers to make sense of what he said.
Jennie turned to check on Garrett once she realized he had been quiet for several minutes. Gratefully, in spite of the commotion, he had fallen back to sleep, his mouth open and his cheek pre
ssed against the head support of his car seat.
Finally, the older of the two officers talking to Gerald turned and walked toward Jennie. Jennie leaned into the front of the car again to turn the key. She opened the window about six inches.
“Mrs. Howell?” the officer asked. When Jennie nodded, he asked for identification. Jennie carefully reached around Garrett to retrieve her purse that had been kicked to the floor on other side of Garrett’s car seat when she climbed in. She handed the officer her driver’s license. He looked at it and handed it back.
“Now, what’s your story?” He leaned over so his eyes were level with hers.
Jennie told him what had taken place in the last few months without going into much detail. All the while she wondered if this situation was going to end up being a case of the best story wins. Jennie worried that whatever Gerald told them, they would probably give him the benefit of the doubt. How could she compete against Gerald? He was an active-duty soldier home on leave from Afghanistan.
“Do you have any court papers showing you are legally separated from your husband?”
“No, our separation is very recent. This week, in fact. I haven’t had time to file any papers.”
“Then can I assume you don’t have anything in writing granting you legal custody of your son?”
Jennie slowly shook her head.
“Your husband claims he has custody of your son.”
“No, that’s not true,” Jennie shook her head with more force. “Because things were not going well between us, he didn’t want to spend his two week furlough with me. He asked to see Garrett while visiting his mother. I agreed that, as long as they stayed at his parents’ home and he wasn’t around our son while he was drinking or smoking and his mother was home all day to take care of Garrett, our son could come down only for the week. I came to pick our son up early because my husband violated his agreement. Not only has he been gone most of the time, he bought one-way airline tickets to Georgia so he can take our son out of state. He won’t tell anyone where he plans to take him.”
“But you have none of this agreement in writing.”
“No, but you can ask his mother. I found out about his change in plans from her.”
“Mrs. Howell,” the officer looked at Jennie intently, “your husband claims that he has custody of your son because you deserted him. He said that you were in base housing when he was deployed, and then you left and took your son with you.”
Flabbergasted, Jennie’s mouth dropped open as she struggled for words.
“That’s not true! He’s the one who deserted me! We were on base housing at Ft. Drum. While he was away several months for some specialized training at Ft. Benning, he became involved with another woman. Before he was deployed, he told me he wanted out of our marriage, but we would talk about it when he came home. Since I was unsure of my future with him, I told him just before he left that I was moving back to California to live with my parents so I could return to school. We talk all the time on Skype and he has never once complained to me about my move.”
“But you have nothing on paper that says he’s not allowed to take your son out of the state?”
Jennie shook her head. “No.”
The officer clicked his tongue as he cocked his head. A doubtful expression on his face told Jennie he did not like the situation. He stood up straight and walked away from the car while motioning to the two officers who had been talking to Rob and the Womacks. He requested they join him in the middle of the lawn. Judging from what she observed, the officers must have told their charges to remain where they were until they were told otherwise. The fourth officer stayed and talked with Gerald. The three policemen conferred quietly for several minutes. Even with the window open six inches, Jennie couldn’t hear what was said.
Jennie watched as the older officer who had spoken to her walked over to talk to Gerald. She noticed that the other two followed and stayed about three feet behind him. Whatever was said, Jennie could see that it upset Gerald even more.
“I need my son!” Gerald yelled at he started running toward Jennie, pushing the nearest officer out of his path. The officer who had stayed with Gerald during the investigation jumped forward and grabbed at Gerald’s arm and ordered him to stop. Gerald twisted out of the officer’s grip and swung his other fist at him, throwing the man off-balance as he dodged the blow. Again Gerald ran toward Jennie.
Panicking, Jennie’s fingers fumbled as she once again closed the window. She positioned herself between Garrett and her advancing husband. Then she watched as all four officers converged on her husband and wrestled him to the ground. Once his wrists were bound behind him with nylon zip ties, the officers pulled him to his feet. They ignored his cursing and threats as they guided him to the patrol car across the street.
Jennie sighed with relief, grateful that Garrett had not been awake to see this. She silently thanked the officers for not loading him into the car directly in front of the Highlander.
Jennie watched as three of the officers conferred again while the one Gerald had attacked stayed at the car with Gerald. The older one who had been the first upon the scene walked toward the Highlander, motioning to Rob to join him. For what Jennie hoped was the last time, she opened her window before she reached over and unlocked the driver’s side door for her father.
“Okay, I think we have things settled for the night,” the officer said. “I’m assuming you’re on your way home. I suggest you leave right away. And Mrs. Howell? I suggest that you do not bring your son down here to visit your husband again unless you have court orders spelling out the terms for visitation and travel. Otherwise, next time we might not be able to let you have your son back as easily.”
Jennie nodded. Then she looked in Gerald’s direction and asked, “What’s going to happen to my husband? I saw him take a swing at your partner. I know that’s bad, but he needs to report to his unit next week.”
“Oh, don’t worry about him. My partner’s been to Iraq. He knows what’s probably going on with your husband.”
“I wish I did,” mumbled Jennie.
“Mrs. Howell, do you know if your husband has ever had his bell rung?”
“Excuse me?” Jennie asked, bewildered.
“Has he ever suffered a concussion from being too close to an IED explosion?”
“No,” Jennie shook her head. “I mean, I don’t know. He’s never said anything.”
“Well, we’re not sure of anything, but there won’t be any charges pressed against him. This just gave us an excuse to detain him long enough to get you and your son out of town. He’ll probably be back home in time to catch that flight to Georgia. My partner is talking to him and, hopefully, he’ll make arrangements to talk to someone when he returns to his unit. Just don’t hang around and be here when we turn him loose, okay?”
“We won’t. We’re leaving now.”
To reinforce her point, Jennie settled back next to Garrett’s car seat and fastened her seatbelt. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, only half listened as her father spoke some final words with the officer. She heard the patrol car with Gerald in the back drive forward, but she refused to turn to look at her husband. Instead, she turned again to look out the window toward the house.
Jennie noticed that the neighbors were nowhere to be seen and the windows in the surrounding houses were dark. The Womacks stood on their front porch under the glow of their porch light. Jennie mouthed “Thank you,” hoping they could read her lips. She waved to them as she pushed the button to close the window. They waved back. Rob climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. He waited as the patrol car in front of him backed up and then drove off, trailing after the cruiser transporting Gerald to the jail.
“Are you going to ride back there on the way home, Jen?” Rob asked.
“No. Let’s just get away from here before I move up to the front seat.”
Before leaving town, Rob pulled into a twenty-four hour mini-mart for snacks and something to
drink to help him stay awake on the drive home. They took turns staying with Garrett, who continued to sleep. After Jennie used the restroom, she settled into the front seat.
The two drove in silence for quite awhile, busy with their own thoughts. Jennie felt tuned in to the drive up the Highway 101 pass north of San Luis Obispo that seemed like it climbed forever. She wasn’t sure if she felt like she was moving away from a big part of her future, or driving toward it.
“Jennie, are you still awake?” Rob asked, once the highway leveled out.
“Yes.”
“I know it’s been a rough night, but you heard what the officer said, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I agree with him. No matter how things end up between you and Gerald, you need to see a lawyer and get some child custody papers for Garrett filed. After what happened tonight, I also think you need to get a restraining order against Gerald. I think you should do it tomorrow.”
Jennie closed her eyes, reluctant to think about it. She was afraid that once she filed for a restraining order and custody for Garrett, it will be the beginning of the end of her marriage. In spite of all that had happened this week, Jennie did not want her marriage to end. She didn’t want to admit she had been wrong to rush into marriage with Gerald.
Jennie couldn’t help but wonder why the officer asked about Gerald and IED explosions. Maybe that explained what was going on with him. Maybe he needed her help more than ever now and just didn’t know it.
“Gerald has a plane ticket to Georgia, Dad. After that, he’s on his way back to Afghanistan.”
“That could change, Jennie. When he gets out tomorrow, he might decide to cash those plane tickets in, if he can, and come after Garrett. Right now, you both have equal rights to him. If he shows up on our doorstep, it could get ugly.”
Jennie sighed, shaking her head in denial.
“Dad, I know something has to be done, but now is just not a good time for me. Besides being so busy, I paid next semester’s tuition this month and next month I have to buy books. I just don’t have the money for something like this right now.”
