by Tully, Alex
With every ounce of strength he had, Trevor pushed the table away and pulled himself up as far as he could. “I told you I’m not hungry! And I’m also a vegetarian by the way. Get that shit out of here—it’s making me sicker!”
Nurse Kym actually frowned, “Okay, okay. I’m taking it away!” He held his hands up in surrender and grabbed the tray. “I’ll go see what else they have. Geez!”
Trevor turned toward the window when he heard footsteps entering again. “Back already?” he called over his shoulder.
“Hi Trevor.”
His heart jumped; it was Bea. He slowly turned back to face her. She was standing next to his bed with her hands clasped in front of her, and she was smiling. Could she have had a change of heart? Maybe they had a chance after all.
Her hair was different. It was light brown now and longer than before. “Hey, did you do something to your hair?” God, what a lame thing to say.
She tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear, “Yeah, I lightened it. Time for a change I guess…” Her words trailed off.
“Well, it looks really good.” Trevor’s mind raced as he thought of what to say next. He had nothing to lose at this point, and he might not get another chance.
He closed his eyes, because for some reason it was easier that way. “Bea I am so sorry about everything. I mean, I’m not sure how all of this stuff got so messed up with your mom… and I just want you to know that what she said that happened between us—it wasn’t true. I swear it never happened.”
“It’s okay Trevor,” she interrupted. “You don’t have to explain. My mom’s got major issues. I’m just sorry she got you involved in her crap.”
He opened his eyes slowly. Why was it so hard to look at her?
She sat down on the bed next to him. She looked calm and relaxed and that put him a little more at ease. She grabbed his hand, “I wanted to tell you I was so sorry to hear about Mr.Tyminski.”
At the mention of his name, Trevor felt his heart sink again. He felt the tears welling up and he focused his eyes on the ceiling. He didn’t want to break down in front of her.
“Trevor I also wanted to tell you—.”
Without thinking, he reached up and pulled her close, until they were staring into each other’s eyes, “Let’s just start over, okay?” He leaned in and kissed her gently. He missed her soft lips, her warm skin, and her comforting touch.
“Stop,” she pulled away from him. “Trevor, I came here to tell you that I care about you, and I’m so sorry about what’s happened…and I’m so sorry about Mr.T. But I still can’t be with you in that way. I just can’t.”
He was confused. She was being really nice, and it was giving him mixed signals.
She went on, “You’ve been through a lot in your life and I want you to know I will always be there for you as a friend. I had to tell you that.”
Trevor was at a loss for words. Friends?
She wasn’t finished, “I’ll be going to college next year, and you’ll be doing something great, whatever that is. I sincerely hope we can stay in touch.”
Bea squeezed his hand, but he had nothing to say. Maybe it was the drugs they were giving him, but Trevor couldn’t speak. He felt completely numb. Everything in his life had pretty much turned to shit, and this just added to the pile.
CHAPTER 30
The coffee in the hospital cafeteria smelled better than it tasted. But the cinnamon danish was pretty good. It had been at least half an hour since Bea had gone in to visit Trevor. Lorene decided it was probably safe to head up to his room now.
While walking in the hallway, she met a very bubbly nurse named Kym. When she asked at the desk for Trevor’s room, he came running over and introduced himself. He was very eager to inform Lorene all about Trevor’s condition and to assure her he was being well taken care of. Oh Lord! She could only imagine what Trevor thought of Nurse Kym. He was a hoot!
“Knock, knock!” She tapped lightly on the open door, but got no answer. She walked into the room and found Trevor alone. Bea was nowhere to be found.
“Hello Trevor.” As Lorene got closer, she stopped in her tracks.
My Lord, he looked horrible. The side of his head was wrapped in gauze like he had just returned from the battlefield. And he looked so thin! Trevor was already a skinny thing, but in that short time he had withered away to almost nothing.
Lorene tried to hide her surprise and attempted a meager smile. “How are you feeling Trevor?” She asked cautiously.
“Good to see you Lorene,” his voice was pitiful.
She looked around the room, “Uh, I thought maybe Bea would be here.”
“She was, but I think she went looking for you.” Trevor sighed, “In case you’re wondering, Bea told me she just wants to be friends.”
“I see.” Even with all the drama, this was still a little bit of a surprise to Lorene.
“Lorene I wanted to thank you for trying to cover for me at the party. Even though it didn’t quite work out…”
“Well I’m just sorry you had to deal with Mrs. Stewart. I’ve worked for that woman for a long time and she has some issues she needs to work out. She’s quite a troubled woman, and I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in everything.”
Lorene didn’t want to upset the boy further, but she had to offer her condolences, “Trevor, I was so sad to hear about Mr.Tyminski. I didn’t know him well, but I could tell he was a very good soul. I’m so sorry.”
Lorene sat down in the vinyl chair beside his bed. “I wanted to let you know that the funeral is tomorrow.”
Trevor’s eyes closed, “You know, it doesn’t seem real. I almost don’t believe it, I mean, they just tell me Mr.T is…not here anymore…and expect me to just accept it. Well I can’t.”
Lorene paused as thoughts swirled around in her head. “I know you obviously can’t make the funeral, but I will definitely say a prayer for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll say goodbye in my own way when I get out of here.”
Trevor would probably be discharged in a couple of days, and Lorene wanted to talk to him about where he would go when he was released.
She studied the boy in front of her. He was so fragile. Should she even be making this offer right now? Maybe this just wasn’t a good time. Then again, maybe there never would be a good time.
“Trevor, I know you probably haven’t given it much thought, but I wanted to throw it out there. My husband Reggie and I would love it if you would come and stay with us.”
She watched his face, but he showed no reaction, “Just until you can get back on your feet. You’ll be turning eighteen soon and I know you can legally be on your own, but I thought maybe you could use the company.” She was rambling, “My kids are grown and in college…”
The boy simply stared ahead. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
“And Reggie and I just thought…well maybe it could do all of us some good.” She searched his face for something, anything.
Trevor suddenly reached over, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it tight. Then to her surprise, he attempted a smile, “Sure, I’d like to come stay with you Lorene. I’d like that a lot.”
CHAPTER 31
He was flying again—over the open fields and barren trees. The man-in-black was below him, slashing his arms through the air, trying to catch him. Trevor was falling lower and lower, closer to his grasp. He couldn’t keep this up much longer! The man caught his leg and in one swift motion, pulled him down to the ground with a thud. The man was on top of him, and Trevor could see his face clearly.
“Trevor, can you hear me?” the man asked.
He opened his eyes, but the face was still there. He blinked again—still there. Trevor was awake, and the man hovering over his hospital bed was the man-in-black! No!
Panic set in and he let out a frightened yell, “What the hell!? Stay away from me!” He sat up in bed and pulled the covers up, like somehow that was going to protect him. “Get away from me.”
“Whoa, kid, ca
lm down.” The man looked surprised. “I think you were having a bad dream. I’m not going to hurt you or anything. I’m just here to ask you some questions.”
Trevor desperately scanned the rest of the room. It was empty; they were all alone. Suddenly, it felt like someone had turned up the thermostat to a hundred degrees. He started sweating and was finding it hard to breathe. The nurse call button! He grabbed it and started pushing it rapidly.
The man-in-black stared at Trevor as though he were crazy, like he had suffered some serious brain damage. Maybe he had. Maybe he was just seeing things. Or, maybe he was still in his dream—one of those dreams inside a dream.
A nurse he had never seen before entered the room. She had to be pushing three hundred pounds and had some major hair-lip going on.
“Can I help you with something?” she sighed, like it wasn’t her job. Nurse Kym was looking pretty good right now.
The words flew out of Trevor’s mouth in a frantic plea, “Please, can you make him leave?” He pointed to the man-in-black.
Looking thoroughly bothered, Nurse Ratchet walked over to Trevor and handed him a little paper cup. Inside were three pills that almost looked like candy. One was yellow, one was pink, and one was blue. He could swear the blue one had a smiley face on it. “It’s time for you to take your pills. Let’s calm down, okay.”
Her attitude was as ugly as her face. Trevor felt rage rising up inside of him. He couldn’t take this bed anymore, these nurses, or this frickin hospital for that matter. “Don’t patronize me! I don’t give a shit about the damn pills. I want him out of here!” he shouted. “Now!”
Nurse Ratchet’s eyes grew wide and she took a step back.
“Trevor!” The man-in-black yelled. He looked pissed, “I don’t know what the deal is, but I am just here to ask you some questions.” He paused and reached into his jacket. Jesus, was he pulling out a gun?
Relief flooded Trevor as he realized it was just a wallet. Get a grip Trevor!
The man took a step forward and flipped it open. A shiny silver badge and some kind of ID were inside. “My name is Brian O'Donnell. I’m the chief arson investigator with the Cleveland Police Department.”
Trevor was more confused than ever. The man-in-black was an arson investigator?
“Yes, I’m an arson investigator.” The man said impatiently, as if reading Trevor’s mind.
None of this made any sense, “Okay… so what do you want to ask me? I already talked to the detective.”
The investigator pulled up a chair next to his bed. “Can I sit?”
Knowing the man wasn’t going to kill him or anything, Trevor relaxed a bit and nodded.
Investigator O’Donnell continued, “Its standard procedure when there is any type of fire, especially if foul-play is suspected. We have to determine if the fire was arson and if so, who’s responsible? Again, this is just procedure for the investigation—to put it on record.”
Trevor shrugged his shoulders, “Fire away…no pun intended.”
O’Donnell didn’t appear amused. “Can you tell me your account of what happened last Sunday afternoon at your residence?”
And so Trevor began retelling the story of that Sunday afternoon. The short and not-so-sweet version which went something like: Uncle Gary went crazy, hit him over the head, burned down the box, and tried to kill him. And no, he had no idea where the asshole was hiding.
O’Donnell seemed to be listening intently, but unlike detective Walker, he hadn’t written down a thing. He just watched Trevor. He was probably one of those experts on body language or something. “Aren’t you going to write anything down?” Trevor asked.
“No need. We pretty much know how this went down. I’m sure the detective told you, some of your neighbors saw the whole thing. It all corroborates with your story. Once we find your uncle he’ll be facing a slew of serious charges, arson being just one of them.” O’Donnell stood up from his chair and turned to leave. “If we need anything else, I’ll be in touch.”
“Wait!” Trevor couldn’t let him just walk away. The guy already thought he was a freak, so it couldn’t hurt to ask. “Have we met somewhere before? You seem very familiar to me.”
O’Donnell walked back to the chair and sat down. “I guessed by your reaction when you woke up, that you must’ve remembered me.”
Remembered from where?! Trevor’s mind was racing. This man was in his nightmares and had haunted him for years, but he honestly didn’t know why. “No. I don't remember you.”
The man-in-black leaned back in his chair and said simply. “I was the investigator on your mother’s case.”
CHAPTER 32
It had been almost a week in the hospital when the doctors finally decided to let him go. And two days had passed since his visit from Investigator O’Donnell, aka, the man-in-black. If it wasn’t for the visits from Lorene, he might have lost his mind. She kept him occupied with her small talk and kept his thoughts away from the fire—from both fires.
Trevor had nothing to take with him but the clothes on his back, which Lorene had been nice enough to buy. They were just t-shirts and jeans, but still nicer than anything he had ever owned. She had offered to pick him up too, but he told her he had some things to take care of. Luckily, she didn’t ask any questions. He still planned on staying with Lorene, but there was someone else he had to see first.
As Trevor stepped out of the revolving door of the hospital lobby, he turned his head up to the sun and let the warmth wash over his face. The winters may suck in Cleveland, but the summers weren’t so bad—warm and breezy with bright blue skies.
He did his best to empty his mind, as he had done repeatedly since the man-in-black left his room two days ago. Trevor knew if he could just hold it together until he got out of the hospital, he might be able to find a way to deal with everything. Might.
The sound of a honking horn jarred him out of his semi-meditative state. A silver sedan pulled up alongside the curb with a blond woman in the driver’s seat. His ride.
He walked over to the passenger side and leaned into the open window. “Thanks a lot for coming.”
She smiled and said, “No problem, get in.” Trevor opened the door and got in.
***
Lorene had just finished polishing the last of the silver flatware when the doorbell rang. In the quiet house she jumped at the sound. For a change, Mrs. Stewart was out somewhere and Bea was at the beach.
The girl improved a little bit every day. She got a summer job at the mall and started going out with her girlfriends. Although she had decided to end things with Trevor once and for all, it didn’t seem to bring her down.
Lorene was still surprised at how strong the girl appeared. One day she seemed desperate and determined to work things out with Trevor. But a couple of days later, she was telling him she just wanted to be friends. Maybe learning about his horrific past was just too much to handle.
Lorene went to the door humming an old Donna Summer tune. Listening to the oldies station always seemed to make the work go a little faster.
She opened the door to find a pretty brunette woman standing in front of her. She had kind eyes and a warm smile—probably in her forties if Lorene had to guess. Her hair was cut short into one of those angled bobs and she was very sharply dressed in a crisp white blouse and navy slacks. Lorene had done enough of the Stewart’s dry cleaning to recognize expensive clothes when she saw them.
“Hello. Can I help you?” Lorene asked in her most professional housekeeper voice.
The woman hesitated for a second and then extended her hand, “Hello. My name is Jean Tyminski.”
Lorene felt sympathy wash over her as she realized who the woman was. They shook hands. “Tom Tyminski was my father.”
“Of course, of course… Please do come in!” Lorene motioned the woman into the foyer. “I’m Lorene, the family housekeeper. I was so sorry to hear about your father. I met him only briefly but he seemed like a wonderful man.”
“Thank you
. He was wonderful—the best father a daughter could ever ask for.”
Lorene could see the pain in her eyes. “Well come have a seat. I can make us some tea.” She made her way to the sink to fill the teapot.
Jean Tyminski sat at the kitchen table, “I don’t want to take up a lot of your time. I was hoping you might know where I could find Trevor McNulty?”
Lorene had guessed as much when she heard the woman’s last name. It was the only reason Lorene could think of as to why she was there.
Jean continued, “I called the hospital and they told me he was released. They wouldn’t give me any more information, so I went down there myself. I found one of the nurses who took care of him and he reluctantly gave me your name. He told me you had visited with another friend of Trevor’s, a young girl named Bea Stewart?”
Lorene smiled, “Yes, Bea is a good friend of Trevor’s.”
“Well, I’m sorry about bothering you like this. I found this address online and I just didn’t know where else to go. I am only in town for a couple of days and I really wanted to speak to Trevor. I was hoping to see him at the funeral, but I’m guessing he couldn’t make it.”
Lorene raised her hands up, “It’s no problem at all. Bea and I were at the funeral, and now I remember seeing you there. Trevor very badly wanted to go but he just wasn’t well enough. I’m sure it broke his heart not to be there.”
“I’m sure it did.” Jean smiled again. “My father talked about Trevor often. He was like a grandson to my father. I would very much like to meet him before I head back to California.”
“Of course. Just so you know, he has agreed to come stay with me temporarily until he gets things figured out. So I’m sure I’ll be seeing him later today.”
“Oh good,” Jean began digging in her purse. “Thank you so much. I’ll give you my cell phone number and you can call me. Or if Trevor wants to call me himself, that’s fine too.” She handed the slip of paper to Lorene.
