Henry

by Cilika Kunovic

  “I am Sergeant Phillips; how can I help you?”

  “My name is Henry Dobbs; I wish to speak with the person responsible for the old records. That is, old unsolved cases.”

  “What does this pertain to, sir? I need to know more about the nature of your request before I can direct you to the right people.” Sergeant Phillips was cautiously observing Henry, as if he might possibly be a crank. And Henry felt a bit annoyed to be thus questioned. There was an aura of mistrust between the two men.

  “I have been spending quite a bit of time at the library trying to get information regarding my brother’s death, years ago. However, I am unable to find what I need . . .” Henry paused at that.

  “I need more than that, sir.” Phillips glanced at the old man as if to say, and the point of going back so many years, is? “What was your brother’s name?”

  “Excuse me, Sergeant; but it would be better if you could send me to someone who is directly in charge of unsolved cases.” Henry was getting agitated. He knew that this man was simply throwing his weight around, without much authority over anything.

  “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” Henry called out to another police officer who just happened to step forward and was looking for the next person to be served. “Would you kindly help us here?”

  “It’s all right; I can handle it,” Sergeant Phillips said, annoyed.

  “No, Sergeant; you have been unable — or unwilling — to help me so far,” Henry stated.

  “Very well; have a seat and I will page someone for you to speak with.” Sergeant Phillips suddenly managed to accommodate Henry’s needs.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Phillips. I appreciate your help.” Henry took a seat at the main entrance, and shortly after, a lady came up to him, introduced herself, and invited him into an office, where he was able to speak with her privately without interruptions. There, he found out that the detective who was originally assigned to his brother’s case was long gone and retired. No one had been assigned to the case since; it was still officially open, but nobody was working on it.

  Henry started thinking; what am I going to accomplish here? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he owed it to his brother to follow up. He wished Ed could tell him who could possibly have had anything against him. After all, he’d had so many friends and, to Henry’s knowledge, no enemies. Henry lost quite a bit of sleep over this and the more he thought about it, the more he wondered: What were those people at the hospital hiding from him while he was there recovering from his accident?

  “I can understand your position, Mr. Dobbs. Sometimes there just aren’t enough people to spread around.” She felt bad. Then, suddenly, it hit her. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” I will not be long.” She left the room and did not return for quite some time. Henry was beginning to think she had forgotten about him, when she returned. “Would you be willing to leave it with me for a few days, Mr. Dobbs? I promise I will contact you, as soon as I get some reasonable information regarding your brother’s case.”

  “Thank you; you have been very helpful,” Henry said, still feeling rather down about the whole thing.

  Later that day, as he was sitting in his favourite chair, a vision came to him. He had dozed off for a few minutes, quite exhausted from his activities of the day. He suddenly saw a car approaching him and a man whom he had seen before. He tried to reconnect with that vision, but was unable to do so. The man was a passenger in the car and was hanging out the window yelling some obscenities.

  But he could not remember anything else. The vision had disappeared, but Henry made the connection between that and his accident.

  “Henry, what’s wrong?” asked Dominic. When Henry opened the door, he looked haggard and disoriented. “Are you all right? Is Serge all right?” He was worried. It was so unusual to see his friend so distressed.

  “I’m quite all right, thank you. I just had a bad day, but there is nothing for you to worry about.”

  “I thought you were on another planet, or something!” Dominic managed to joke a bit. “Why don’t you come along for the walk to get you out of the house? Maybe we can untangle your bad dream, or whatever it was that disturbed you . . .”

  “Yes, Doctor; I do believe you are right about that.”

  Off they went for a long walk, which Serge always enjoyed. Henry asked, “So what is new in your world? Are you quite finished with your classes?” He was looking forward to seeing the children more relaxed after they finish the school year.

  “I only have one more exam and then I am finished. Mr. Miller told me that I can work quite a bit this summer.” Then he paused for a moment. “He also told me that I can go to the cottage once in a while during the summer. You better get in shape for it. You know that a cottage is like a good medicine for you, as well as for Serge.” Each time he mentioned the dog’s name, Serge stopped walking and looked at him with those questioning eyes. That dog knew things that even his master had no knowledge of. Animals are smarter than we give them credit for.

  “How is your mother these days?” Henry inquired.

  “Something is bothering my mother and she refuses to talk about it. Sasha feels the same and she tried to reason with her, but no luck. She simply gets nasty when we question her about it. I am a lucky guy for having such a great sister like Sasha. She is incredible, the way she can calm Mother down. When she gets those spells, we all suffer.”

  “Speaking of Sasha — is she enjoying her job?” Henry had not seen Sasha for quite some time because she was working a lot after school and didn’t have time to come and walk Serge with Dominic.

  “Oh, yes, she is very happy. Her job gets her out of the house and gives her some money, which she was always short of.” Dominic looked far away, thinking how poor Sasha often wanted a few dollars for a bit of makeup or something, but they had to prioritize. She was quite reasonable about it.

  “I guess we better go back. One gets involved in conversation and easily forgets about other things.”

  “You mean things that are disturbing?” Dominic was trying to get him to talk about what was bothering him. It was quite obvious that Henry was battling his own battles about something. There was just too much going on and not enough people wanting to know about it. “So how is your leg; do you think you can drive yet?”

  “I have been driving a bit, but the thing that worries me is how I will feel when it is necessary to step on the brake sharp; I might not be able to do so . . . I know I have to practise that; right?” He felt as if he were talking to his father and trying to explain how he felt. “Give me till next week and I will surprise you when I take you for a ride. Do we have a deal?”

  “It’s a deal. Now you sound like the Henry that I used to know. For a while there, I thought I’d lost him.”

  “Not a chance. Summer is almost here, and there is a cottage up north waiting for us to enjoy.”

  When they got back, there was Nicole waiting for them. Ever since her parents started looking for a house to buy, she felt more in need to see Dominic. In a sense, she missed him already and she didn’t even know where they would be moving to.

  “What a nice surprise,” Henry greeted her. “I am sure you missed me,” he teased her.

  Nicole smiled. “Actually, I have missed you lately. You have been avoiding all of us. I saw you driving today, but you didn’t see me. You were quite preoccupied at the time. I told my mom that I saw you driving, and she was pleased about that. She often talks about you.”

  “How is the house-hunting coming along? Have they found anything good?”

  “I heard them talking about it just before I came here but I didn’t have time to stick around to find out what was going on. The agent is there with them. Come to think of it: my dad just got home from a trip, so maybe they are going out tonight. Dominic, why don’t we go and find out what’s going on?”

  They bade Henry a good night. The evening was calm and the moon was quite visible. Nights like that are so soothing . . . At Nicole’
s house, they walked in on a serious discussion about a house they had seen a few days before and wanted to go back to see it again. The house was located in Burlington, on a quiet street and on a large property. It was set a bit back from the road and it had a barn to go with it, plus a large driveway. This suited the Prestons quite well. So this house was a suitable contender for them to buy. The agent was suggesting that they all go and see it, so that a decision could be made as soon as possible.

  Barb was happy to see Nicole and Dominic walk in; she was trying to arrange for all of them to see this wonder of a house. Finally, they decided on going the next day after school. Just as they had finalized everything, the phone rang. Barb answered it.

  “Barb; this is Susanne. Is Dominic there?”

  “Yes, he is; would you like to speak to him?” Barb took a look at Dominic and saw that he was worried. She handed him the phone and continued talking with Sam about the house, so as not to listen in on their conversation, but Sam could see that it wasn’t working.

  “Mom, I will be right there but don’t tell him I’m coming. Do you understand me?” He excused himself to the Prestons and left in a hurry but not before he assured them that everything was okay. “I will see you later.”

  Everybody was worried. All the talk about the house ended, and their agent left. They would meet him tomorrow. In the meantime, they all wondered what it could be that Susanne was so worked up about, at that time of night . . .

  When Dominic arrived home, there was his father, furiously shouting about some bushes. Before he could ask what the problem was all about, his father pushed him into the wall and started threatening him about daring to attack him from the bushes at night.

  “You — you are the one who is my flesh and blood and yet you dare to come after me and give me orders as to how I should behave! I’m sparing you this time, but next time you won’t walk away alive. And don’t bother bringing yourself a backup, because I am good at revenge.”

  He left with that, and everybody was stunned beyond belief. Sasha was screaming the whole time while her father was holding Dominic by his throat and yelling at him right in Dominic’s face. But, Dominic was too angry to be scared. He had no idea what this “attack” was all about. This encounter with his father only sealed their relationship forever. For some unknown reason, Henry came to his mind.

  In the meantime, Susanne had taken her medication in order to calm down and she was shaking in the corner in her favourite chair. Larry slammed the front door behind him, yelling some choice words. He had been drinking but was not excessively drunk; only angry. Whenever he got angry, he always looked like an ugly animal.

  Dominic tried to reason it out. “There must be an explanation for all of this. You know as well as I do that I had nothing to do with him being attacked at night from any bushes. He is either hallucinating or he got himself into trouble with somebody and now he blames me for it. Sasha, you know how I feel about him, and he knows it as well. The sad thing is that he compares himself with me. I am nothing like him and never will be. Something is going on and we are bound to find out what it is.

  “I have to call Nicole and tell her what happened, or the Prestons will be worried about us.”

  While the two of them were discussing their father, Susanne fell asleep. But Susanne was too still and pale. Sasha reacted quickly and called for the ambulance. Luckily, they responded quickly, and took their mother to the hospital. Those poor children were actually getting used to these kinds of charades — something they should never have had to deal with.

  “What is wrong with her?” Sasha inquired in the ambulance.

  But the paramedics were too busy keeping Susanne awake. They did ask Sasha several questions, which she answered while staring at her brother, who was deep in his thoughts.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Dominic finally asked. “This has happened before. Usually, they pump my mother’s stomach because she has the tendency to overdose. I am sorry to bother you guys.”

  “Not at all; this is our job.”

  The incident actually came as a good distraction to Sasha at the time.

  At the hospital, the paramedics did their duty, bringing Susanne in and handing her over to those in charge of such emergencies. Susanne was still out and unaware of where she was or what was going on. They say people who often attempt suicide are not the ones who truly want to die — they just want attention. But of course there are always exceptions.

  The next day, Dominic called the Prestons’ house, asking to speak with Barb.

  “Yes, sure . . . Mom, Dominic wishes to speak with you. See you later.” Nicole had an important assignment to prepare for her first class.

  “Yes, Dominic, what can I do for you?” Barb asked.

  “Mrs. Preston, my mom is in the hospital for observation after an overdose last night. I have an exam this morning and I can’t go to see her. Could you please take my place and go see what can be done about her this morning? I would not bother you if I could help it. This is my last exam for this year and a very important one. I can’t afford to miss it if I want to go to McMaster.” He had been seriously thinking about asking Henry for help, but his mother was not too fond of Henry.

  “Don’t say another word. You go and do what you have to do at school, and I will take care of your mother. Not to worry.” Barb was more than happy to oblige. She got ready and went straight to the hospital to find out what was going on. The children were told the night before that they were to go home, because their mother was going to be just fine but she had to stay there overnight. Those were the regulations.

  “Hi, Susanne. I’ve come to take you home because Dominic had an early exam this morning.”

  Susanne was not overly talkative; in fact, she was quite reserved, seeing Barb there. “Thanks, Barb. I am being told that I overdosed, but that is not true. I only remember Larry trying to kill my son. Where is Sasha? Why didn’t she come to get me? I know she hates me after being told —”

  “Being told what? What is going on?”

  Just then a nurse came in and asked Susanne if she needed anything. Barb took a chance on the nurse and asked her if Mrs. Lambert was free to go.

  “That will be up to the attending physician. I just started my shift — I can ask who her doctor is.”

  Shortly after that, Susanne was released, and Barb took her home. Dominic came home right after they got there and he was happy to take over. He thanked Barb for her help. His mother told him off for not being there for her.

  “Yes, Mom, I know; but the exams don’t wait, and besides, this was my last one. They told us that you were going to be just fine. Are you not happy to see me? Sasha had a test as well. She still has regular classes for a while, but I am finished with high school. I thought it would never end.”

  He smiled at Barb. “Thank you, Mrs. Preston, for everything.”

  “You are very welcome. Are you coming with us tonight to see the house? You are very welcome, you know.” As soon as she said it, Barb realized, that Dominic probably hadn’t had the chance to tell his mother anything about the house, because of what had developed the night before.

  “I will try but I can’t tell you now if I will come. I’ll call Nicole later.” He felt uncomfortable. So did Barb. Susanne dismissed her without a thank you. The poor woman was unable to cope with the normal world and normal developments.

  “What was that all about? Is there something going on behind my back that I am not supposed to know about? Dominic, you are being very secretive lately. You used to tell me everything, but lately you keep secrets behind my back.” She seemed agitated again and guilty at the same time.

  “Mom, this is not the right time to talk about secrets. When we do, it will be your turn first. Right now, I wish to be left alone. I simply want to unwind and try to recollect a few things.”

  “Dominic —”

  Before she could go on, her son stopped her. “No, Mom! Not now. Please try to relax after your ordeal.”


  Anyway, Susanne was too tired to talk about anything. She was exhausted as well.

  Sasha came in briefly to get her uniform for work. For the first time, she was afraid to go to work. While she was waiting at the hospital the night before, she remembered something that Mrs. Miller had said to her at the time when she told Mrs. Miller about her father’s bothering her, on her way home from work. What if Mrs. Miller had something to do with the fact that their father was accusing Dominic of attacking him at night from some bushes? Sasha decided to have a talk with Mrs. Miller . . . ask her what she meant when she told her “not to worry.”

  “You seem to be in a hurry. What are you up to?” Dominic inquired.

  “Oh, I have to have a talk with Mrs. Miller, so I better go in early. Do you mind? ’Bye, Mom!” and off she went. She had a bad feeling about this business of the attack from the bushes . . . Ah, if only life were not so complicated! She could perhaps enjoy it.

  Mrs. Miller was in her office when Sasha walked in and it was obvious that something was on Sasha’s mind. One could tell by the way she was acting.

  “All right, Sasha, what’s on your mind? Is your mother okay?”

  “Why does everybody always ask about my mother? Nobody asks if I am all right.” Sasha answered. Then, as soon as she said it, she regretted it. “Sorry! I wanted to ask you about what you meant when you told me not to worry about my father. Does Dominic have anything to do with that? I mean, about my dad bothering me on my way home from work. Did you happen to tell Dominic about it?” Sasha was exasperated. Her tears were pouring down her cheeks and she didn’t know how to continue.

  “Sasha, what are you talking about? Why all the questions? Are you having a problem of some sort?” Anna was worried now.

  “Yes! My father came to the house last night and threatened to kill Dominic if he ever attacked him from those bushes again at night. Dominic and Dad don’t get along, so I can’t tell if Dad is just making excuses and making things up about Dominic attacking him in order to get him in trouble, or what he meant last night when he told him that next time he will kill him. He was yelling how good he is when it comes to revenge. I know that Dominic is worried about this. Mrs. Miller, I am sorry if I have offended you. I just had to talk to someone about it. I usually talk to Dominic or Henry, but Henry has enough on his plate already. Don’t you think?”