Fred was waiting for him, reading a Golf Journal. “Hey, John,” he said. “Come on in. Shut the door.” He pointed to the chair across from his desk. “Have a seat.”
John did as he was told.
“So what’s going on?” John asked. “The last time you called me down here it was to offer me a partnership.”
Fred chuckled. “Was it that long ago?” he asked, pretending. “Well, this is a little different, my boy. The young lady, Karen, is accusing you of raping her.”
John was momentarily stunned. His mouth hung open, and he could feel the red creeping up his neck. Damn red-headed skin.
“It’s not true,” he finally choked out, thinking, I couldn’t have done it if I wanted to. “I’ll take a lie detector test.”
“That’s not necessary,” Fred said. “I wanted to advise you that the director is in there now with Karen, trying to get her to go to the ER for a rape kit. Will they find anything?”
“Not of mine, they won’t,” John said, his voice squeaking. He was never so happy for a limp dick as he was at that moment. What the hell was going to happen next? There was no way he could go back to work with this on his mind. He’d have to tell Beth if they contacted the police. He bit his tongue, tempted to ask more questions, but resisted. He wasn’t even sure what his boss was doing was legal. Could they accuse him of something so heinous without cause? Or were her childish lies enough? He decided to call his lawyer as soon as he was out of earshot. “It is just occurring to me that you have a lot of fucking nerve calling me in here because a spoiled brat isn’t getting her way,” he said.
“Is that all it is?” Fred asked, with a smirk.
John got up to leave.
“You better clear out for the day.”
“You’re telling me to leave work?” John knew for safety reasons it was probably for the best, but to think he would miss out on an entire day’s pay because an underwear model wanted attention.
“If anything went wrong and this conversation came to light, our insurance company would have a fit. You’re too upset to work safely.”
John turned to leave.
“Sorry about your nephew, too. It was above the call of duty to come in today.”
Yeah, John thought. I should be in Deptford with the rest of my family. But then he thought of Lynn. She was going to meet him after work to make the trip up north. Would he even be able to find her?
He walked out of the office, making sure Karen wasn’t in sight, and left the department. He felt sick, sick and angry. Stopping off at his locker, he changed out of his scrubs. He felt compelled to clean all of his personal stuff that was of value to him out of his locker, just in case. Did he fear someone might go through his locker? It was always a possibility. He dug around the bottom of it and found a grocery bag and proceeded to stuff it with the razor and deodorant, extra clean socks and underwear he kept in case he worked all night, pictures of his kids taped in the inside of the door, and then thought, the coup de grace, a few vials of drugs he was too lazy to put back in the dispensary on the last night he worked into the early morning hours. He imagined the ruckus finding that contraband would cause.
As he left the building, he had a fleeting moment of c’est la vie. And then he started laughing. “Why am I thinking in French today?” he said out loud in English. He really brought it on himself. If anything came of it, of Karen’s accusation, it would be simply embarrassment and humiliation. Beth would be furious. And if she stayed with him after, he would try to make amends. He reached his car and popped the trunk. Everything about the way he was living screamed mid-life crisis. And then he thought, What would happen if anything did come of it? If she was taken seriously, he was charged with rape, prosecuted, and found guilty? He went through the entire scenario as he loaded his car, got in, and started it. He sat with the engine running as he pictured himself losing his job, going to jail for ten to fifteen, getting his head shaved…did they do that any more?
“Stop it!” he commanded that annoying inner voice.
He navigated out of the parking garage toward the shelter where Lynn was staying, hoping she’d be there. Finding a place to park wasn’t easy, so after circling around the block four times, he pulled up to the curb and called out to a group of men standing near the entrance, smoking. “Do you know Lynn Bradshaw?” he asked.
An older man stepped out of the sea of faces. “Sure, I know Lynn,” he said. “She’s not here, though.” He leaned in to the car, and John could smell pipe tobacco and clothes dryer softener sheets.
“How long ago did she leave?” John asked, his heart sinking. He really didn’t want to go home and then come back into Wilmington to pick her up. The man said she’d just left a few minutes ago, saying she had to go to the hospital for some pre-op blood work. Relieved, John thanked him and drove off toward the hospital again, and as he approached the parking garage for the second time that day, he felt like someone threw a bucket of hot water at him as Karen pulled out of the exit. She glared at him, bursting into tears. He had no choice but to pull in and grab a ticket as he waited for the arm to rise up. He drove up to the roof, hoping to God she had pulled out and was on her way home. Was she dismissed for the day as he had been? Too upset to safely practice nursing? Or had she asked to go home?
He pulled into the parking space. Reaching up to grab the door handle, he glanced up to see a red Malibu pull into the space next to him. Karen’s car. She was still crying hysterically. All John could think was, What the fuck? Hadn’t she done enough? And now he was faced with another encounter that could only go downhill. He made a quick decision to lock the car doors and call his boss. He started laughing as he punched in the numbers for the anesthesia office. Fred answered the phone on the first ring.
“Hey, just an FYI, Fred. I’m trapped in the parking deck on the roof with a hysterical Karen in the next parking spot. What do you suggest I do? My sister is getting her pre-op testing today, and I’d like to join her, but now I’m afraid I’ll be accused of rape if I get out of my car.”
There was silence at first.
“Just get out of the car, and come right back inside. Don’t engage her; don’t get on the elevator with her.”
John thought, Yeah, right. He hung up the phone and then went into the settings and found the record switch and turned it on. His phone would record any conversation they might have. She was waiting for him by the back of her car, still crying.
“Don’t say anything!” she yelled. “I’m sorry. I was upset that you left so abruptly last night. I knew you were going home to Beth.”
“Karen, I told you my nephew had been killed. How does that translate into me assaulting you?” He was trying to get her to admit out loud that he didn’t rape her, knowing his impotence could be revealed and not caring, but wanting that evidence recorded on his phone.
“I had to say something to explain why I was so upset,” she said. “I was pissed! It just came to me. I didn’t think they’d insist I get examined!” She got a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose. “I’m sorry, Johnny. I hope I don’t get you in any trouble.”
He looked at her face. How was he ever attracted to someone so stupid? He wondered how she got through nursing school.
“Go inside right now, and tell Mrs. Curtis you lied,” he insisted.
“Okay, but what about us?” She reached out to grab his arm, and childishly, he pulled away.
“We’re finished,” he said. “I can’t trust you. My nephew is killed and you don’t get your way so you accuse me of raping you.” He shook his head. “My sister has breast cancer, and I have to go in to find her, so if you’ll excuse me.” He looked at her again. “Don’t forget, Karen. I’m calling Fred in thirty minutes to make sure you told the truth.” He felt like he was admonishing his ten-year-old son.
She nodded her head.
“You go ahead of me,” he said. “It would look strange for us to be in the elevator together.”
She walked ahead of him, opening
the door to the stairwell. When she got to the second floor, she came to her senses.
~ ~ ~
Lynn was pushing the sleeve up on her T-shirt when she saw John peeking in the door, exactly the way he had the day before. Her big brother. Her savior. “John!” she yelled. “Oh, sorry.”
The technician frowned, having jumped a foot into the air. “I’m trying to stick your vein,” she said. “Don’t do that again.”
“I won’t,” Lynn said apologetically. “Here’s my brother.”
The tech looked up and smiled at the handsome man as he slowly opened the door.
“Can I come in?” He slid through the narrow opening and in two steps was to Lynn, bending over to kiss her on the cheek. “So, are you ready to come with me?”
“Already? I thought we were leaving after dinner,” she asked, wincing as the technician pushed the needle into her vein.
“Well, I was able to get away, so let’s go as soon as you’re done here. Unless you have another engagement,” he said, teasing her.
“Nope, when the Band-Aid is on, I get to leave.”
John’s phone rang, so he went back out into the hall to answer it, waving at Lynn. It was Fred.
“So your friend was just in here. Now she says you threatened her if she didn’t recant. What the hell is going on, John?” Fred said, his response indicating he was going to place blame based on her accusations.
“Threaten her with what? I recorded our entire conversation, Fred. I’ll be right up so you can hear it for yourself.” He said good-bye and paced the floor, waiting for Lynn. She would be the one person on earth who could be told the truth who would support him unconditionally. The ludicrousness of it didn’t strike him.
“Okay, all done until Tuesday,” Lynn said, pulling her sleeve down. “Do I look presentable to see our mother and sisters?”
He looked down at her. “You look fine. None of them will be dressed up, and you know Alice will have jeans on,” he said. “Can you come upstairs with me for a minute? I have to clear something up, and then we can go.”
She agreed, and they got on the elevator for the eighth floor.
Fred waved him in as soon as he saw John at his door. “I’m getting tired of this already,” he said, as though he was addressing an errant child.
John felt his hackles rise, but tried not to respond. He got his phone out and pressed some buttons.
“This just took place before she came down to you and lied again.”
The short recording played back, the voices echoing in the room. If Karen was nearby, she would surely hear it. John looked out the side light of the door and could see his sister sitting in the hall, frowning. She’d heard every word clearly. Fred was holding on to his chin, listening.
“Can you send that to me?”
John nodded his head, and forwarded the recording to Fred’s phone, which beeped appropriately for the delivery.
“I’m not thrilled to have to spend one second getting your ass out of a jam, buddy boy.”
For some reason, the patronizing tone of the older man’s voice, the circumstances of the day, John’s exhaustion from having kissed ass and worked his ass off for the past twenty years would all come together in an awful way, and it would fester and eat at John for the rest of the weekend. He didn’t respond to Fred, but he knew he would have a response somewhere down the line.
“Come on back to work and finish the day out,” Fred said, conceding in the only way he knew how that John had been wronged in some small way.
“No, I don’t think I will. My nephew was killed yesterday, as you know. My sister and I are driving up to Deptford now to be with the rest of the family. You’ll do fine without me for a day.” John walked out without saying good-bye.
Chapter 23
Diane Cabrini had a house full of people when John and Lynn finally arrived. Beth hugged both of them, and in time the rest of the family came to greet Lynn. John spotted his mother sitting on the arm of a chair with her hand on April’s shoulder when she saw her son and daughter.
“Look, April, Lynn’s here,” Alice said. She put a helping hand under April’s arm, pulling her to her feet. When they made eye contact with John and Lynn, both started to cry again as they walked toward each other.
Once the greetings were made, John noticed a very lanky man approaching; this would be Dave, his mother’s new friend. He reached out his hand to shake.
“You must be Dave,” John said. “Thank you for getting my mother home. I’m looking forward to hearing about the trip when the time is right.”
Dave looked solemn. “Sorry about your nephew,” he said softly. “What a tragedy.” He put his arm around Alice’s shoulders, and it was at that moment that a very soft alarm bell went off in John’s head. Something about the movement, about seeing his mother with this stranger just didn’t ring true. He shook his head and looked over at April, grabbing her and hugging her.
“I’m so sorry, sis,” he said meaningfully. “That sounds so lame.”
“Oh, I know you’re sorry, Johnny! Thank you so much for coming. I feel so awful.”
Beth put her arm around April, worried for her. She imagined she would be very fragile and now, of all times, vulnerable to alcohol. Beth wondered if Todd was smart enough to know he needed to keep an eye on her. She’d corner him later.
Diane Cabrini had dinner from her brother’s pizzeria brought in. The family stood around, eating and crying until Alice couldn’t stand it anymore. The little boys were exhausted, and April was cross-eyed.
“Todd, I think your family needs to get home,” she said in a rare display of leadership.
Todd had never heard her give any commands all the years he knew her, and he wasn’t listening to her tonight. “We’re staying here tonight, Alice. My mother has beds ready for the boys. She’ll see to it when it’s time for them to go to bed,” he said, turning away from her.
Alice wasn’t one to make a point, ever. But tonight, his attitude was grating on her. “Where’s the room? April and I will take them up now. Junior is crying, and Markie is about ready to do a cartwheel. They need to go to bed,” she insisted.
“Shut up! Jesus Christ, Alice, I’ll take care of my boys,” he shouted. “Leave me the fuck alone.”
Alice stepped back just in case, sure he wouldn’t smack her in front of everyone, but not taking any chances.
“I know you’re tired and upset,” she said, aware that there was dead silence and that people were crowding around them. John had appeared like a stealth alongside her, and Dave was at her back. “But your kids need to go to bed now.”
April sprang up, coming to from her momentary zombielike state. “Don’t you dare talk to my mother like that, Todd,” she yelled. “I want to go home. I don’t want to stay here tonight.”
Todd looked at her with disgust. “Go home, then. I’m staying here with my family.”
“We’re your family, Todd. Me and the boys. And I’m going home.” She turned to her mother. “Mom, will you stay with me tonight?”
“Come home with me,” Faye said, intervening.
Alice tried not to look relieved.
“The kids would love to see you and the boys. And then tomorrow, we’ll all come back together. For Dougie.” She looked at Todd with the look, remembering what her husband said to her. It could wither the dick off a lesser man.
Todd appeared to squirm a little bit. But he didn’t change his mind.
“Yes, I’ll come with you. Mom, we’ll be in the same neighborhood at least. I hate it here,” April said, ignoring her husband.
“Everything’s ready for you to stay,” Diane Cabrini said petulantly.
“Todd, don’t let her go,” Rose said.
“Sorry, I want to be with my family tonight,” April said.
Todd remained silent, sorry he wouldn’t be with his sons, but confident they’d be together while April was imprisoned.
April looked over to Faye. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
<
br /> “Look, we can go home, then,” Todd said, suddenly coming to his senses. He didn’t want to be held responsible if April decided to tie one on tonight. In his guilt, he felt her family giving him the evil eye, like he had any control over her, like he could prevent her from drinking.
“Nope, forget it. I’m going to Faye’s,” April said, gathering her purse and taking Mark from her mother. “Please get the car seats out of the truck.”
The usual chaos which accompanies any exodus began; all the Bradshaws leaving at the same time. Alice, always the peacemaker, went up to Diane Cabrini and thanked her for opening up her home.
“Come back tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll have the wake luncheon here.”
Faye’s ears perked up hearing it. “April has already asked me to hold the luncheon,” she said. “I’ll have it at my house. The people who live in the south will be invited to Cedar Springs.”
“Whatever!” Diane said, murmuring something to her son. Even the funeral would be marred by family discord.
Chapter 24
Driving through the scrub pine forest on the way to Faye’s, Beth was suddenly in a moment of time where she felt she was seeing as clearly as she would ever be able to see, and that her emotion was as uncluttered as was possible. She reached over for John’s hand.
“You know how much it means to me, what you said to me yesterday? I wonder why my heart is so intertwined with your words. You said I was beautiful while you were making love to me. Hearing you speak, being aware of the way you were looking at me, my self-esteem soared. What is it about those words from a man?” she asked hypothetically, chuckling and not waiting for an answer. “They have so much power over a woman. I’ve been in a good mood ever since. I think I must be either the biggest sucker alive, or I have uncovered the secrets to a happy marriage. The husband just has to make the wife feel loved and desired.” And then she looked at him, not accusingly, but as a friend. “I understand why you were with Karen. I don’t want you to see her again, but I understand.”
Alice's Summertime Adventure Page 19
