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

by Jacqueline Druga

“Most definitely.”

  “Frank.”

  “Frank?” Ellen was shocked. “You said Frank.”

  “You seem surprised.”

  “I am. I thought you were going to say you.”

  “I wanted to, but then you said to be honest. It’s Frank. My God, you have known the man most of your life. You were together for years off and on, and then for years here. Why in the world aren’t you with him? You love him. No wait ... you, Ellen, idolize the man.”

  “Danny.” Ellen took a look of embarrassment upon her. “It’s not that simple. I wish it were, but it isn’t.”

  “It’s the share thing that has to happen, huh? Well tell me why the three-way relationship isn’t with you, Frank, and Dean.”

  “More than you know it was.” Ellen fluttered her lips. “Beside the fact that Frank and Dean hate each other, I have my reasons that I just can’t be ...”

  “I knew ...” Frank walked in interrupting, not wanting Ellen to finish what she was saying, “I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. “Hey, Danny.” Frank hit him in the shoulder, then smiled at Ellen. “El, listen to this man. He’s right, but we won’t get into that.”

  “Frank!” Ellen stood up. “Were you listening? You were. You are such an ass.”

  Frank laughed. “Yep. Hey, Danny, we’re playing softball at five thirty today. You wanna play?”

  “I don’t have a glove,” Danny answered.

  “We’ll get you one. I’ll put you on the roster.” Frank looked back at Ellen. “I came to get you.”

  “Get me?” Ellen looked at him. “Why?”

  Frank lifted her phone from the desk. “Just as I thought. See.” He showed it to her. “Your power is off, as usual. Anyhow, I was checking the keypad at the clinic and Stevie Wonder asked, if I ran into you, could I send you over there. He needs help with some tests. It seems he couldn’t reach you by phone.”

  “Now?” Ellen asked.

  “Now.”

  Ellen looked at Danny. “I’m sorry.”

  “No go on.” Danny stood up. “I will anxiously await Joe.”

  “I’ll hurry him along when I see him,” Ellen said. “I’ll see you during the day, probably at the softball game. If not, how about I stop by late tonight? Will you be up?”

  “I’ll wait up.”

  “Good.” Ellen moved to the door with Frank and stopped. “Oh, Danny? It’s gonna be good to have you out of here. Don’t be surprised if they work you today. I hear Mechanics is swamped with reqs.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  Ellen, seeing Frank bobbing his head to hurry her along, walked from the office with him. “Does Dean really need me now?”

  “Who said Dean?”

  “You said Stevie Wonder.”

  “Oh, El. Oh.” Frank was so dramatic. “That is really wrong that you would assume that I would use that as a nickname for our poor disabled Dean.”

  “Well ... oh shit.” She snapped her finger as she saw Frank reaching for the buzzer. “Wait right here. I have to get something from my desk to show you.”

  “Hurry up.” Frank watched Ellen run all the way down the hall. He watched her go into her office, heard her rummaging and saying something to Danny, then he opened the door when he saw her running back down toward him. “What do you have to show me? Is it wrapped in that cloth?”

  “Yep.” Ellen waved to the guard who sat at the front desk, and then she left Containment with Frank. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” Frank placed his hands on his hips.

  “OK, now you can’t make fun of it or I’ll feel really badly. I made this myself you know, last night at the meeting.” She shielded it as she unwrapped it. “Here it goes.” Ellen held up the doll and closed her eyes.

  “Oh shit,” Frank said with a grin. “Is that me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Whoa.” He took the doll. “El, this is cool. Look at the hair.”

  “It’s your hair. I took it from the sink when you trimmed your goatee.”

  “I wondered what happened to that when I got out of the shower.” Frank ran his hand over the doll’s black hair. “You got the little beard thing happening. Good job.”

  “Frank.” Ellen blushed. “I’m not a six-year-old who made an art project in school.”

  “No, this is really neat. One thing ...” Frank pulled out the pants of the Frank-doll and peeked down under them. “Aw, El. That is really wrong.”

  Ellen snickered. “My personal touch.”

  “Wow it’s the Frank action hero.”

  “Frank ...”

  Frank held up the doll and deepened his voice speaking for the doll, “Hey I’m Frank. Where’s Dean?” He made the doll look around. “Hey, you.”

  “Frank.” Ellen laughed again.

  “El, can you make me a Dean-doll. That way I can have my doll beat him up. Thanks for this. I’ll put this on my desk so I can play ... I mean look at it.”

  “No.” Ellen snatched the doll back.

  “Hey!” Frank reached for it. “Oh I get it. You need a little of me around so that’s why you made it.”

  “No, Frank, you goof. It’s not the Frank action hero doll. It’s a voodoo doll.”

  “A voodoo doll? You made a voodoo doll of me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?” Frank asked insistently.

  “So when I get mad at you, I can do this.” She flicked the doll in the head.

  “Ow!” Frank grabbed the side of his head.

  “Oh stop that, Frank. You didn’t feel that.”

  “Yeah I did.” Frank rubbed his head. “Man, El, I have a lump.”

  “You do not.” She flicked it again.

  “Ow! Knock it off.”

  Ellen laughed and began flicking the doll, watching Frank be a goof and shudder his body as she did so.

  “El!” He reached for the doll. “You’re killing me.”

  “Don’t touch it.” As Ellen pulled the doll from Frank in a grip, she watched Frank grab his chest and his face turned red. “Frank?” She stepped before him as he doubled over. “Frank, quit playing around.”

  “I’m ... not ...” He grunted loudly. “I think I’m having ... a heart attack.”

  “Oh my God.” Ellen panicked.

  One more loud moan and Frank, grabbing his chest, buckled over and fell to the ground.

  “You’re such an ass, Frank.” Ellen looked down at him. “Get up.” She didn’t get any response. “I said get up.” Nothing. “Frank?” her voice lowered and she reached down and touched him, “oh shit, I killed him.” Spinning around, first in confusion on where she should turn, Ellen held her hair back and began to scream, “Help. Someone help ...” Her words were muffled when a hand covered her mouth.

  “You really thought that doll worked?” Frank whispered in her ear as he held her from behind.

  “Frank.” She swung back her leg, kicking him in the shin.

  Frank laughed hysterically and pulled Ellen back as she tried to walk away. “El.” He brought her to him. “It was funny.”

  “You’re a big goof.”

  “Yeah, but you love me.”

  “Oh, I do not.” Ellen fought—but not too much—to get out of his arms. She moved her head that Frank followed with his smiling face. Giving up, Ellen giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Frank was taken by surprise. “Whoa, what’s the hug for?”

  “You make me smile.” Ellen pulled back from him slightly, feeling his hand slide up her back and support her head. She kept her face close to his. “After all these years, Frank Slagel, you still make me smile.”

  “I feel like ...” Frank took a deep breath and whispered as his hands spread across her face, “I feel like we’re headed to this really awesome moment right now. Want it to be ruined?”

  “No.”

  “Too bad.” Frank set her down and released her from his embrace.

  “Frank?”

  He stepped back, running his hand over the top of his head
then letting it rest on the back of his neck as he looked at her through the tops of his eyes. He cleared his throat then twitched his head to the right.

  Ellen turned only her head to see where Frank was motioning to. Walking up to them was Henry. “You set me down for him?”

  Frank raised his eyebrows and looked at Henry.

  Henry blinked long, then through half-closed eyes looked at Frank. “Can I talk ... can I talk to Ellen now?”

  Ellen answered before Frank could say anything. “No, Henry.” She started to walk away. “I have to get to the clinic.”

  Frank grabbed hold of Ellen and pulled her back. “Talk to him. This needs to be resolved. I need it resolved.”

  “Dean needs me at the clinic.”

  “Five minutes,” Frank told her.

  Ellen looked at Frank, then Henry. “All right.” Folding her arms, she walked to Henry. “I’ll listen to you.”

  Henry closed his eyes. “Thank you.” He opened them and looked at Frank. “Thank you, Frank.” He turned back to Ellen. “Can we go somewhere private? The Social Hall is closed right now so we can go there.”

  Ellen nodded and followed Henry. She kept looking back at Frank as she walked. He stood on the street watching them the whole entire time.

  How big the Social Hall seemed when it was empty like it was that morning. Ellen stepped inside first, Henry waited until she was far enough inside and closed the door, locking it. Slowly he walked to Ellen whose back faced him. “El.”

  Ellen spun to him, her arms close to her body and tightly crossed. She wanted to lash out at him, her mouth opened to do so, but as soon as she looked at him, Ellen turned her head.

  “You can’t even ... you can’t even look at me, can you?” He walked to in front of her.

  Ellen didn’t answer.

  “I don’t blame you. I can’t even look at myself.”

  “You shouldn’t feel that way, Henry,” Ellen spoke sadly. “You and I are no longer together. I told you ... I am still processing everything ...”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Henry, I don’t want your apology.”

  “I need to give it to you. I need you to know how sorry I am for everything that happened last night and for everything that’s happened between us. We weren’t supposed to get like this, El ... not you and me.” He stepped closer to her, trying to look at her, only to have her eyes turn from him. “I betrayed you.”

  “It’s only betrayal if we were together. We weren’t.”

  “Bullshit, El. In my heart we were.” He reached for her hand but she moved. “Do you know how much it hurts me that you can’t even look at me? Do you?” Henry’s voice cracked with emotion. “I never wanted this. Never. Not when I woke up every single morning wanting and needing to see you. Needing you every ...”

  “Henry!” Ellen moved farther from him. “You said your apologies. I want to go. I don’t want to be here with you.”

  “Can I just say one more thing?” He watched her hesitate in her walk out. “Just one more thing.” He moved to her, standing before her, staring at Ellen who gazed at the floor. “It probably means nothing right now, but a part of me needs to tell you this. I need you to know that I ... I stopped. I couldn’t go through with it, so we stopped.”

  “The same way you stopped with me?”

  Henry lowered his head. “I was drunk. She was drunk.”

  “Yeah, well, so was I. And if you really did stop for those reasons, then that makes it all the worse, because you were supposed to be my friend. You didn’t with me. This is just not working, Henry. I trusted you in every way. I need time to even get over things. Can’t you see this. Quit adding to things.” She began to leave.

  “Ellen, tell me what I can do. Please tell me what I can do to make this up to you.”

  She stopped in her reach for the Social Hall lock. Turning around very serious, without the look of ‘mean’, Ellen faced him. “Let me go. Just let what we had go. Don’t make it any harder than it is. Just let it be and maybe I won’t turn away the next time you say hello. Just don’t be a part of my life anymore. That’s what you can do.”

  “What about Nick?” Henry walked closer. “He’s our son, El. We have to be ...”

  “No.” Ellen shook her head. “Nick’s name is Slagel. Frank takes care of him. Frank lives with him. If you want to be a part of Nick’s life, you deal with Frank on that issue. As far as I am concerned, he is Frank’s child, not yours.” She unlocked the door. “Not yours, Henry.”

  Tightly Henry’s eyes shut the moment Ellen left. Both of his hands went immediately to his face, running straight through his hair, and in a spin, he turned from the door. Trying his hardest to control any emotions that tried to escape him at that second, his hands came down and gripped tightly to the back of the chair before him. So tense he was, standing there, holding on to that chair, his head down and his hair flung forward. He fought hard to not let the emptiness he was feeling take over him. He stayed there, in the Social Hall, until he felt he could go back out. Hurting for himself, hurting over what he did, but most of all hurting for Ellen and the loss of the friendship they had.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Joe recognized the sound of the thumping, in fact, it flashed his mind back and brought a smile to his face. He placed the sound to many years before when Frank was only five. It was the day they moved into the house in Gaithersburg. Frank ran around that house, checking out every room, every closet and he did it all with enthusiasm. As Joe listened to the pitter-patter of the feet above his head, he figured Danny, in his excitement, was doing the same thing that Frank did all those years ago. “Having fun, Danny?” Joe yelled up the steps.

  “Oh, Joe, this is great!” Danny came flying down the steps. “I bet Bentley loves it here. Has Bentley seen this place yet? I saw that line of people outside his barbershop. Wow.” Danny charged into the kitchen, and he squealed loudly. “A fridge. Food! HA!” He flew back out. “Am I going to work now? What do I do after work? Is there anything to do around here or do most people just ...”

  “Hold up.” Joe stopped him before Danny caused his head to spin any more. “I might put you to work today. I haven’t decided yet. You have that softball game in a couple hours and you make up that man they need. Since I can’t umpire, Jason has to. And you’ll take Jason’s place. As far as having something to do, we have the Social Hall open seven days a week. It’s like a bar. It’s open now but no one really goes there on a weekend night until late. In fact, Robbie’s band is playing there tonight starting at nine.”

  “I can go?” Danny asked. “I’m allowed?”

  “Sure, but you get put on the cleanup schedule like everyone else.”

  “Can I get drunk?”

  “If you want to.”

  “I don’t want to. I was just wondering. OK.” Danny clapped his hands in a ready fashion. “What’s next? My stuff is upstairs.”

  “Maybe you should consider alcohol. You are way too hyper.”

  “Oh no, Joe, I like being this way. I go constantly.” He snapped his finger several times. “Hell, I hate to sleep.”

  “And you aren’t friends with Henry?” Joe shook his head as he led Danny to the door.

  “Like to be, but Henry hates me. It’s that ‘I’m Chinese, he’s Japanese’ thing. You know, goes back to the old world.” Danny took a breath. “Racism, who would think it would still be around?”

  “Danny, did it occur to you that it isn’t racism, that perhaps Henry is a bit threatened by you.”

  Danny laughed. “By me? Now why in the world would Henry be threatened by me? If anything, I should be threatened by him. He helps run this place. He’s the fix-it guy. From what I heard, he’s ‘the man’. There is only one thing that Henry is, that I’m not, that I don’t want to be.”

  “What’s that?” Joe asked, after deciphering Danny’s statement. He walked from the house with Danny.

  “Stupid when it comes to relationships.”

  “I take it my d
aughter told you about what’s been going on.”

  “Oh yeah. Ellen and I are friends.” Danny smiled as he walked, looking around and taking everything in.

  “Danny, in all seriousness, my daughter is a very busy lady, and confused sometimes. You aren’t ... you aren’t planning on confusing her any more, are you?”

  “Who me? Not me, Joe. I’m gay.”

  Joe stopped walking. “Really?”

  “Nah, just kidding.” Danny laughed when Joe grunted. “But all kidding aside, there’s one very good reason why I won’t try to go after Ellen.”

  “What is that?”

  “You know that big mean looking guy you call your son? The one that used to be married to Ellen, not the one who only fooled around with her?”

  “You mean Frank?”

  “Yep. He’s the reason.” Danny nodded and started walking again. “That man wants her back, badly.”

  “And you don’t want to get in the way.”

  “Hell no I don’t. He scares me.” Danny shuddered. “He’d kill me. I’m pretty good at some things, Joe, but fighting and defending myself against a Neanderthal is not one of them.”

  Joe laughed at Danny. He sensed there was probably more to what Danny was saying. Then again, maybe he was just frightened of Frank, or he could really be gay. But Joe figured Danny’s reason was probably because Danny was a ‘go with the flow’ kind of guy, and rippling already troubled waters was just not Danny’s forte.

  <><><><>

  The ringing of her History telephone sent chills of excitement through Trish, causing her baby to kick harshly. With a giggle, she ran her hand over where the baby’s foot poked. And she grabbed the phone, clearing her throat. “Good afternoon, History. Trish speaking, how can I help you?” Odd, extremely odd. There was a long squealing beep coming over the line. Then Trish’s eyes brightened and she flung herself up from the chair. “A fax! I’m getting a fax.” Jumping about and racing to that fax machine she knew would come in handy. Trish hooked up the cellular phone with the attachments Cole gave her, made sure there was paper in the machine, and watched excitedly as the fax came through.

  It could have been faster Trish thought, but seeing it was her first fax ever in Beginnings, she lifted it up with joy when it was finished. The smile dropped from her face and she scratched her head as she read it. “Oh no.” Sadness took over her voice, “Who could have sent me this? This is mean. I’m telling Joe.”