The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Maybe he shouldn’t have left Frank’s house immediately with, the hidden bottle of booze predominantly on his mind but Henry was bothered by it. Frank was hiding it now? For what purpose? From whom? The bottle was another warning flag to Henry that Frank was much worse than he had thought. He went to the social hall where the metals run meeting was taking place. When Henry walked in there, he saw Frank standing before a map. His hand was spread out on it and a table of men were before him. Henry’s eyes shifted to the table and to the empty seat. A drink glass was there. As he raised his eyes, he saw Robbie. Robbie listened as he fiddled with his guitar, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. They made eyes contact only briefly. Not wanting to interrupt, and feeling the silliness of his searching out Frank, Henry turned and left the social hall.

  “Did you want to see me, Henry?” Robbie asked.

  Henry turned around in his walk. Robbie followed him out? “No, Frank.”

  “Is everything O.K.? I’ll go get him.”

  “No. Don’t bother him. I . . . I was just . . . never mind.” Henry shook his head and started to walk again.

  “Henry.” Robbie chased him “Something is wrong. What is it?”

  “It’s stupid why I’m here. It can wait. I’ll talk to Frank about it later.”

  “O.K.” Robbie tossed his hands up.

  “Robbie,” Henry called to him as he walked away, “you’re his brother. Can I tell you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m worried about Frank and his drinking. Should I be?”

  Robbie took a serious look. “I noticed him drinking more but what makes you worry about it? Is there a reason to worry more?”

  Henry lifted his shoulder and lowered them with a slow drop. “I don’t know. I think there is. Maybe I am over reacting. But . . . I was doing laundry at his house and I found a bottle of moonshine hidden behind the soap. He has one in the kitchen. Why is he hiding a bottle in the basement?”

  Robbie let out a slow deep breath. “He’s not just hiding a bottle in the basement, Henry.”

  “But I . . .”

  “Trust me. If he has one in the basement, he has them everywhere. And if that’s the case . . .” Robbie motioned his head toward the living section. “Let’s go.”

  <><><><>

  Dean clicked his fingers on the keyboard of his computer. “No.” He shook his head as he looked at the image on the screen. “This can’t be right.” He lifted the clipboard and reviewed his notes. “This can’t be right.” He leaned his aching head on his hand, staring at the screen and the picture of the virus untouched by his agent 17. “This is the original strain. It worked on it before.” He picked up the clipboard again, looked and slammed it down. “What the hell happened?”

  <><><><>

  They felt sending Josh with both babies over to Henry’s house was the right thing to do, Seven bottles, all different sizes, all with different amounts of moonshine in them, sprawled out on Frank’s table. Henry and Robbie sat at the table staring at them.

  Robbie closed his eyes briefly. “This is bad. All this hidden? This is bad.”

  “I know.” Henry folded his hands and lowered his head.

  “Who would have thought? Frank?”

  “I saw it coming, Robbie.”

  “We all did.” Robbie noticed the look on Henry’s face, so sad, so down. “Henry, what is it?”

  “It’s all my fault. All of this.” He pointed to the bottles. “I caused this.”

  Robbie had to laugh at such the ridiculous notion. “Right, Henry. You put the bottle to my brother’s mouth and told him to drink? I don’t think so.”

  “I pushed him to it.”

  “How do you figure that?” Robbie was shocked.

  “I know when Frank started drinking regularly and heavier and that was when I started being Ellen’s primary relationship.”

  “So why do you blame yourself? My brother gave her up. You didn’t take her from him, Henry.”

  “Didn’t I?” Henry finally looked up at Robbie. “I know those two. Break up, back together. I did nothing when they broke up the last time to help them out. I made your brother a promise. I promised him I would never make Ellen mine. I promised him I would always do whatever I could to keep them together. Do you know why I promised him these things? Not because he’s my best friend, but because I was alone. I was very alone. Your brother went against everything he believed in and he shared what he had with me. Because of that, my life meant something again. Having Ellen in my life made me smile again. Frank gave that to me. In my gratefulness I gave him my word. In my selfishness, I broke that word.”

  “They weren’t together, Henry.”

  “Who was to say that they wouldn’t have worked this out?”

  Robbie shook his head. “I can’t agree with you. I have to argue with you. Life got hard for Frank, too bad. He needed Ellen, too bad. He turned to the bottle because of that. That is not your fault.”

  “Don’t you think I could have helped matters by recognizing he needed her? She bore my child when Frank assumed it was his. We thought we were married. Whether or not it turned out to be invalid or our reasons behind it, we did it behind Frank’s back.”

  “Then Ellen’s to blame too.”

  “And now Ellen is the key to stopping it.” Henry closed his eyes and sat back.

  “No Henry. Frank is the key.”

  “Frank is the key to recognizing his problem. Ellen is the key to helping him through it. If Frank doesn’t have her, he will have no incentive to quit. If she is in his life he can do it, Robbie.” Henry leaned forward. “You know and I know alcohol is a weakness. The addiction is a weakness. Giving it up is a fight that will wear you down and make you weak. Who is it that Frank can be like that in front of? Ellen. Ellen is the only one he will let his defenses down in front of. He will not fight it if he has no one to tell him it’s all right to struggle. It’s all right to feel like you’re losing. He’s not going to listen to us. He’s not. It is my responsibility, my love for my friend, and my indebtedness to him, that I have to be the one to get her to help him. At any risk. At any cost.”

  “Then talk to her.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” Henry replied.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because all this …” Henry pointed to the bottles. “She hasn’t a clue how bad it is.”

  “Well, Maybe it’s time she does. but remember, we can’t help Frank until he wants to help himself.” He exhaled heavily. “That may be the hardest part yet.” Robbie closed his eyes. The corners of his mouth lowered as if gravity itself were pulling at them. He opened his eyes and shifted his views from Henry to the bottles. He let out a slow breath of disappointment. “Frank.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “No, this isn’t right.” Dean pulled up the ‘recipe’ of agent 17 on his computer. “I mixed it right, I didn’t miss anything.” He shook his head. “Why aren’t you working? It’s right here.” He flicked his finger on the screen. “And this matches this.” He picked up the clipboard. “Unless . . .” He stood quickly from the stood. When he did, a rush of blood hit him and his head filled with an enormous pain. Dean tilted in a sway, latched onto the counter for support, and waited for the pain to subside. It didn’t. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore it. With the help of the counter as support, he made his way to the filing cabinet. He bent down to the second drawer, his head throbbing as he did, and pulled out his journal, the latest one with his notes. He flipped to the section where he knew he could find the information and focused in on his notes. Though they were blurry he could see enough to confirm what he believed. “Son of a bitch. Ellen. Damn it,” He tossed the journal to the counter and while he pressed his fingers tightly to his temple, he went back over to the computer. “Damn it. You cost me a whole night’s work,” he bitched to himself. “I said make a change to the dose per weight, not a change to the weight of the agent. Damn it, it was too weak.” Frustrated and feeling worse physically,
Dean corrected Ellen’s error in the computer, getting angrier with each key stroke he hit.

  <><><><>

  When the Moon Lodge women’s group entered into the social hall, they were greeted with hooting, an unusual occurrence. Ellen knew a security meeting was the cause. How many of them were actually drunk by that point? Cole was. He could barely stand. In fact Ellen laughed when he fell to a chair because of his drunkenness and held on to Trish for support. He laid his head on her pregnant stomach and looked as if he were about to nap.

  The women immediately mingled as soon as they walked in. They were the big celebrities. Jenny danced with Patrick. Andrea sat next to Jason at the bar. As Ellen skimmed the large room, she saw Frank as he played darts and laughed. She smiled when she saw him. Did he not see her? He probably didn’t even notice. She stood way to the back of the large--not only in numbers but in size as well--group of women.

  Frank rubbed in his game victory to Mark and turned his head to see the women. His cringing face smiled when he saw Ellen. Finishing off his drink, he lifted his head, set down his glass, and walked over to her. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “I’d like to ask you the same but seeing all your security guys, I figured this is where the big metal run meeting was.”

  “It was. I’m glad you’re here. Wanna hang out?”

  “Nah, go hang out with the guys. You don’t do that very often.”

  “El, come on.” Frank shook his head then hunched to her level. “I’d rather be with you.”

  Ellen stared up at him then smiled. “All right.”

  “Can we sneak off in a corner somewhere?”

  “We can do that. We can sneak off.”

  Frank bit his bottom lip with the orneriest of grins. “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope.”

  He laughed. “This is great. All right. What do you want to drink?”

  “Um . . . nothing. Let’s just go to a table.”

  “Let me grab my drink.” He backed up.

  “Frank.” Ellen grabbed his hand. “You don’t need to that.”

  “El, one drink.”

  “Frank, I watched you finish one when I walked in here. Was that your first one?”

  “El, I’m out having a good time. One more, please?”

  Ellen folded. “One more then that’s it. You’re shut off.”

  “One more.” Frank made his way through the gathering maze of people over to the bar. He didn’t see Ellen when he grabbed his glass and his bottle. Checking once more for her, he poured a drink, downed it then poured another. As he lifted his glass to carry with him, he felt his arm pulled so roughly that the glass slammed to the bar, splashing up the moonshine. “El?”

  “Why did you do that?” she asked with such anger.

  “Do what?”

  “Sneak in an extra drink?”

  Frank didn’t have an answer, his facial muscles twitched as he turned his views from her to think.

  “Frank. Why?”

  “El . . . please, enough. All right?”

  “No it is not all right.” She finally released his arm with firm point to him. “You . . . you have a problem. You promised me you’d stop this drinking. You didn’t, did you?”

  “El . ..”

  “You didn’t. Did you?!” She nearly screamed over the noise.

  Frank took a deep breath. “No.”

  “Fuck, Frank. You promised me. You gave me your word. I see what’s more important.” She backed up.

  “El, wait.” He chased her, grabbing hold of her arm.

  “No, Frank.” She swatted him away. “You disappoint me and it’s not often I say that to you. I give up on you.” She shook her head, turned harshly from him, and raced out of the social hall.

  “Ellen!” Frank chased her. “El, please wait.” He caught up to her, placing his hands on her arms. “Look at me.” He placed his face close to hers. “Please listen.”

  “What.”

  “I’m sorry.” He watched her turn her head. “No, El. I’m sorry.” His index finger turned her chin to make her look at him. “I am. I broke my word to you. I won’t break it again. I promise.”

  “Can you make that promise, Frank?”

  “I swear to you I’ll make the promise. Give me one more chance. Don’t give up on me.”

  “Frank, I’m angry because I’m worried about you, worried that you can’t quit.”

  “I can quit.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “I didn’t really try. I’ll try now. Please.” He leaned closer to her. “This is the first time I have ever broken my word to you. Let me make it up to you.”

  Ellen closed her eyes. “You have to keep your word this time. You have to show me you do not have a problem, because Frank, I believe you do.”

  “No, I don’t. I’ll prove it to you. Please.”

  “O.K.” Upon her words she felt the embrace of Frank as he held her tightly. “Now I’m . . .” She heard her name being called in the distance. She knew the voice and knew by Frank’s disgusted look who it was. “He sounds mad.”

  Frank looked behind Ellen. “He looks mad.”

  “Shit.” Ellen closed her eyes.

  “Want me to beat him up?”

  “No.” Ellen shook her head with a laugh. “I’ll deal with him. Why don’t you go home and I’ll meet you there.”

  “I thought we were hanging out.”

  “I’ll tell you what. We’ll go off somewhere and hang out when I get to your house. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great.” He kissed her quickly. “See you there.” Backing up, Frank wiggled his fingers. “Bye, Dean.”

  Dean ignored Frank as he watched him leave, he wasn’t in the mood. “El.”

  “Yes, Dean.” Ellen tried to smile but saw it coming on his face. “What did I do now?”

  “You screwed up.” Dean poked his finger at her. “You screwed up big time. You cost us time. You could have cost lives.”

  “Ow.” She hit his hand. “You poked me, you asshole. Physical abuse.”

  “El! This is serious.”

  “What the hell could I possibly have done, Dean?” She threw her hands up.

  “Remember when I gave you the notes and told you to make the changes in the computer for agent 17. Well you did it wrong. The whole entire batch was wasted because it didn’t work.”

  “I screwed up?” Ellen fluttered her lips at him. “How do you know it was me and not you? You are the one who can’t see Dean.”

  His nostrils flared and his heavy breaths let her know she had crossed the line. “Fuck you.” With no more words, Dean left Ellen on the street and stormed off to his home not far away.

  <><><><>

  Frank was upbeat as he approached the front door of his house. Ellen would be there shortly. Josh was probably asleep. He and Ellen wouldn’t even have to sneak off. They’d have the house pretty much to themselves. Whistling, Frank stopped when he walked in and was surprised to see Robbie and Henry rise and stand before the dining room table. “What’s uh . . .” Frank shut the door. “What’s going on?”

  Robbie’s face turned red. He had been waiting for Frank. “What the hell are you doing, Frank?”

  “What?” Frank walked closer, then his whole expression dropped when Robbie stepped aside and exposed the dining room table full of bottles.

  “What is this shit?”

  “You don’t know?” Robbie closed in on him. “Look at it, Frank! You don’t know what this is? I’ll tell you what this is. This is your downfall.”

  Frank huffed and his face felt hot. He glared at Henry then Robbie. “What the fuck were you guys doing going through my stuff!? Huh? None of this is any of your business!” Frank moved to the table.

  Robbie stopped him harshly. “It’s not our business?!” He spoke so roughly. “Fuck you Frank. This is our business. You are our business. You are screwing around. You have a problem.”

  “I don’t have a problem.”

  Henry was calmer, perh
aps because he was more down than angry. “Frank, you have a problem. Why are you hiding bottles in every room and closet except where the kids sleep?”

  Frank placed his hands on his hips and raised his eyes to the ceiling, closing his mouth tightly. He stood in silence for a moment then with a loud growl of frustration, he swung his arm outward toward the table, smashed it down into the bottles, and cleared the table with a thunderous crash. His hand that began to bleed came harshly to his face and ran down it as he blindly reached for a chair and emotionally sat down.

  Henry and Robbie stared at him. He looked so lost as he sat with elbows on the table, face buried in his hands, sitting amongst the mess he had just made of his table and, ironically, the mess of his life.

  Robbie walked to him. “This . . . this has to stop. This secret can stay between us, but it has to stop big brother. I swear to you.”

  Frank nodded. “I know.”

  Henry closed his eyes with some relief to hear Frank say that. Of course it wasn’t the first time he heard Frank say that. “Frank, we’re here for you. We’ll help you but you got to want to help yourself first.”