Guardian of Eden

by Leslie DuBois

  “Just three more days. Eden’s birthday is in three days and I don’t want her to spend it in foster care.”

  Bernice pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the counter. She stared at me for a long time then finally said, “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll go talk to your stepfather and see if he’ll move back in. Then I’ll talk to my friend at the police station and see if there have been any signs of Holly. If that fails, I’ll see if I can get you emancipated and get you permanent guardianship of Eden.”

  “Thank you, Bernice.” I hugged her again.

  “Don’t thank me yet. I make no guarantees. Even if the emancipation thing works it won’t be easy. You may have to drop out of school and get a job so you can support Eden.”

  “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”

  The next Sunday was Eden’s birthday. This time it was my turn to coax her out of bed. Usually, she enjoys her birthday more than Christmas which is why I didn’t mind the dreadful Christmas day we’d endured. I told myself I would make it up to her on her birthday.

  “I don’t wanna go. I don’t feel good,” she said, as she curled into a ball on her bed.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “My stomach hurts.”

  “Well, it’ll feel better once we get to the diner.”

  “I don’t wanna go.”

  “But they’re expecting us, Bug. Don’t you want to see Anabel and Darlene?” She didn’t respond. She rolled over onto her other side and continued clutching her stomach.

  I stroked her hair as I tried to think of something to say. After all that we’d been through, I wanted her to enjoy her special day. But, then again, if she was really sick, maybe she should spend it in bed. We could do something tomorrow after school.

  I went to the kitchen to get working on her birthday cake when I heard the phone ring.

  “Garrett?” I heard my mother’s voice say. “Are you okay, baby? I miss you.” I didn’t respond. “I understand if you don’t want to talk to me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. I entered a 72-hour detox clinic and I’m feeling much better.” I still didn’t respond and wondered if she had really been in a clinic for 72 hours. Where had she been the rest of the time? And if she was really in a clinic, why didn’t she just tell us that before she left. I had trouble believing her. My trust in her had again been broken. “Um, I’m going to North Carolina for a couple of days to visit my mother. Will you tell Eden happy birthday, and that I love her, and that I’m sorry.”

  “Okay,” I said numbly. I had nothing else to say.

  “I have my cell phone on if you need anything.”

  “Okay.” Then she hung up.

  Chapter 27: In the News

  It started out as a shower. I stood with my head against the wall letting the almost too hot water pour over me nearly burning my flesh. I don’t know how long I stood there, but soon, I sat down in the bathtub with my head in my hands letting the mist from the shower hide my tears.

  I cried for my mother, wherever she might be. I cried for Maddie. I wanted her so badly, but couldn’t have her. Finally, I cried for me and Eden. What would happen to us next? What more could we possibly live through?

  Suddenly, Eden pounded on the bathroom door. The noise startled me and I nearly banged my head on the side of the bathtub.

  “What?” I called. I hoped it was Bernice on the phone or something telling me that a judge was willing to let me be Eden’s guardian.

  “Um, something’s happening on TV. I think you want to see this.”

  “Not now, Eden. I’ll watch it later.” I settled back into the tub thinking she wanted me to see some music video or some new fashion model she admired.

  “No. I think you should see it, now. It might involve Maddie.”

  I jumped out of the bathtub, wrapped a towel around my waist, and flew out the door. Sopping wet, I followed Eden to the living room where she pointed to the TV screen.

  “It’s Senator McPhee,” she said.

  I sat down on the couch and watched as a news channel played the same clip over and over again. It was Senator McPhee jumping into a crowd and relentlessly punching someone in the face at a campaign rally the night before.

  Eden got a towel and started helping me dry my hair as I flipped to other channels. Every single one showed the same clip, some from different angles, but in each, it was definitely Senator McPhee using some man’s face as a punching bag. I didn’t know what it meant.

  In one of the clips, I caught a split second glimpse of Roscoe pushing Maddie into a car. Then I started to put it together.

  “…this obvious lack of self-control will definitely hurt Senator McPhee’s chances for his party’s nomination,” came a voice from the television.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that, Susan. Maybe this country needs a president that packs a punch.” The two correspondents shared a laugh.

  All day long, people speculated about the identity of the mystery victim. Finally, that evening, the McPhee camp issued a statement. Just as I had suspected, the man Bartholomew McPhee attacked was the man that had been stalking his daughter for a month. Even though the McPhees had a restraining order against him, 33-year-old Andrew Duncan still showed up at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. When Senator McPhee caught a glimpse of him staring at his daughter, his paternal instincts kicked in and he charged him.

  The media turned it into one big joke. With flashy graphics and amusing catch phrases, they made it seem like the senator was a dangerous loose cannon that could not be trusted to lead a nation.

  He had a few supporters, however. Some people stated they would do exactly the same thing if someone propositioned their 16-year-old daughter.

  “What does this mean, Gary? Is he not gonna run for President now?”

  “Well, he hasn’t officially dropped out of the campaign yet. He still might be able to salvage his reputation.”

  “But his chances are pretty slim, right? Which means he probably won’t win, right? Which means you and Maddie can get back together, right?”

  Eden had jumped to some pretty far reaching conclusions, but I had to admit the same thoughts ran through my mind as well. It was possible, but not very likely. I turned to Eden to tell her not to get her hopes up, when for the first time that day, I took a good look at her.

  “Are you feeling all right, Bug? You look a little pale.”

  “My stomach still hurts a little.”

  I reached out and felt her forehead. She didn’t feel warm. In fact, her skin felt cold and clammy. “Go lie down and cover up. I’ll bring you some soup, okay?”

  She nodded and got up off of the couch. “If you’re not better by morning I’m taking you to the emergency room,” I called after her.

  That night as I went to tuck her in, I noticed that her condition hadn’t changed. Her skin was still cool to the touch even though she had three blankets on her bed and I had cranked up the heat. She still clutched her stomach in pain. And even though she had slept the afternoon away, she was still ready to go to bed for the night at eight o’clock. I didn’t know what to do.

  “I’m fine. It’s just my period. I’ll be better in the morning,” she said when I suggested we call an ambulance.

  “I don’t know, Eden. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Please, Gary, it’s my birthday. I don’t want to spend it in the hospital.”

  Against my better judgment, I didn’t call an ambulance. Maybe it was just her period. What did I know about things like that? I let her sleep then went up to Corbin’s office to use his computer. I wanted to check up on her symptoms and try to figure out if it could be something else.

  I scrolled the different symptoms and diseases and found that someone her age could ail from anything, from appendicitis to lactose intolerance. I looked a little more and focused on anxiety disorder. The same stresses that caused my headaches and stomachaches when I was little could now be affecting her. Considering the month we’d had, she could definitely hav
e developed an anxiety disorder. I reached into Corbin’s desk to find a pen so I could jot down the warning signs and some specific questions to ask her and I pulled out a key instead. I set it aside and kept searching for a pen.

  After making notes for an hour or so, I switched off the computer and prepared to leave Corbin’s office the exact same way he’d left it. When he decided to move back in, I didn’t want him to think I’d been snooping around his private materials. That is, if he ever decided to move back in. As I picked up the key to return it to the desk, I wondered what the key belonged to. I searched through a few drawers in his desk and found a lock box and the key I held in my hand opened it. My curiosity got the better of me. I had to know what was in that safe. Without a second thought, I inserted the key and opened the box. Inside was a few rolls of undeveloped film, a box of bullets, and the gun Corbin had held to Joel’s head.

  I took the gun out and inspected it. I’d never held a gun before. I’d seen one once when I walked home from school one night when I was 11. Some crackhead tried to sell me one. I had actually considered buying it in case Joel came back, but I didn’t have the money.

  Sitting there in Corbin’s office holding the deceivingly heavy piece of metal in my hands, I thought about how my life would be different if I had owned a gun back then. Would I have used it in order to protect my mother and Eden when we lived in shady dangerous neighborhoods? The doorbell quickly brought me out of my dark reverie and I nearly dropped the gun on the floor. I hurriedly put the gun into the box and shoved it in the drawer. Then I returned the key to its place and rushed downstairs.

  When I opened the door, I got my first shock of the evening. It was Maddie.

  “I stole a car,” she blurted after taking a deep breath. I stood there so completely stunned, I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t move. It didn’t even occur to me to invite her in out of the cold. “I stole a car and I wrote my dad a letter. Well, I wrote the letter first then I stole the car and in the letter I told him about you and about me and I told him that you’re black and that your father is in prison and that you’ve been in foster care and that you’re a genius and that I love…I love you.”

  Maddie paused to take a breath. I still didn’t know what to say so I just stepped aside and let her come into the house.

  She started pacing the living room and snapping her fingers as she continued her story. “Then, while my dad was dealing with the press from the fight last night…did you see the fight? My dad pummeled my stalker guy. Anyway, while he was dealing with the press from that, I left the note in his hotel room then I took the keys to Roscoe’s car and I took his car and I started driving. I stole a car.” Maddie stopped to catch her breath again.

  I took a step towards her to embrace her when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eden collapse in the hallway.

  “Eden!” I cried as I ran to her.

  Eden lifted her head slightly and said, “I think I should go to the hospital now. I don’t feel so good.” Then she leaned over and vomited on the floor.

  “I’ll take you. Let’s go.” Maddie said as she jingled the keys in her hand. I picked up my sister and carried her to the car.

  Chapter 28: Eden’s Secrets

  “Somebody help me, please!” My deep voice resonated against the cold sterile walls of the near empty emergency room. A man in blue scrubs rushed toward me, took my sister’s limp body from my arms and stretched her out on a gurney. He flashed a light in her eyes and took her pulse as a woman fired questions at me.

  “Are you her boyfriend?”

  “Boyfriend? She’s 12!”

  “How long has she been unconscious?”

  “She passed out in the car. About 10 minutes. She said her stomach hurts.”

  “Is she on drugs?”

  “Drugs? She’s only 12! She just turned 12 today,” I tried to explain. Then I remembered it was well after midnight. “Yesterday. She just turned 12 yesterday,” I explained as if it really mattered. They were too involved in examining my sister to care about what I’d said. The man and woman wheeled my sister into a room.

  ***

  “What did they say? What’s wrong with her?” Maddie asked after she’d parked the car and found me in the emergency room. I shrugged and placed my head in my hands. Maddie sat next to me and rubbed my back. “Don’t worry, Garrett. She’ll be fine.”

  I shook my head as I fought back tears. I didn’t want to cry anymore. I was tired of crying.

  “Garrett, she’s strong. Think about all you two have been through, all the struggles you’ve overcome. She’ll overcome this too.” Maddie weaved her fingers in mine and lifted my hand to her lips. She tried to comfort me, but her words seemed empty and meaningless. She didn’t understand.

  Yes, Eden and I had been through a lot of turmoil and survived. I knew how to shield her from all our previous trials. I knew how to make sure she was well fed and prepared for school. I had succeeded in keeping Joel away from her. After what he did to me, he’d be lucky to get out of jail before she turned 18. And by then, he’d never find her. I’d make sure of that. I had kept my mother from ever laying a hand on her in one of her drunken rages. But how do I protect her from what I don’t know? She was already sick. Obviously, the danger had seeped in and I wasn’t there to prevent it. I didn’t protect her.

  After I filled out some paperwork and changed into a T-shirt Maddie found in Roscoe’s car, I played word games in my head trying to distract myself from the present. I wanted to do a few push-ups, but I thought that would look strange.

  I stood up and walked the halls dragging my fingers through my hair. When pacing failed to calm my nerves, I sat back down and stared at the wall.

  Maddie peered at me helplessly. I felt bad for her as well, for the situation she had unknowingly found herself in. She had to be exhausted. It was at least an eight-hour drive from where the rally was in Pennsylvania. She didn’t sign up to spend the night in the hospital. She had come to see me. She wanted to make things right between us. But I was in no mood or position to work on our relationship.

  “Who is responsible for this girl?” The doctor demanded as he stormed into the waiting room.

  “I am,” I said standing up so quickly I woke Maddie who had fallen asleep on my shoulder.

  “And just who are you?”

  “I’m her brother.”The doctor raised his left eyebrow and looked me up and down. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “Look, we have the same mother, but my father is black, her father is white. Now can you tell me what’s wrong with her?”

  “Hmph. I think it’s time to get the police involved.” The doctor turned his back to me and headed toward the nurse’s station.

  “Police? What the…?”I reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

  I wasn’t trying to hurt him; I just wanted him to explain. But the doctor reacted to the motion as a sign of aggression and yelled, “Security!”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Maddie said taking my hand and stepping between me and the doctor. “He didn’t mean anything. He just really needs to know what’s going on. My boyfriend is very protective of his little sister.”

  The doctor studied the two of us for a few seconds. He must have instantly trusted Maddie’s big blue eyes. Everyone did. Including me. She had an innocence, an honesty in her sweet round face that melted away anxiety.

  "Let me see some identification from both of you." I took out my wallet and handed him my student I.D. while Maddie fumbled around in her purse. She couldn't find her wallet. She dumped the contents of her bag onto the floor and searched on hands and knees.

  "Damn it. I left my wallet," she mumbled as she turned red. Then she whipped off her necklace and stood."This has my medical information," she told the doctor holding the necklace in front of him. "There's my name and my address and my father's name if you want to call him."

  "Bartholomew McPhee?" the doctor asked."Senator Bartholomew McPhee is your father?" Maddie nodded. He looked from Maddie to me then back to Maddie. H
e knew he needed to proceed cautiously in dealing with the daughter of a Virginia senator; especially when that senator currently occupied all the news headlines. He cleared his throat then waved off the security guard. “Do you have any contact information for your mother?” he asked me trying not to seem uneasy about Maddie's parentage.

  "She's visiting her mother in North Carolina this weekend."

  I reluctantly let go of Maddie’s hand and I wrote my mother’s cell phone number on his clipboard.

  “Eden's in exam room 3,” the doctor called over his shoulder as he stormed off to the nurse’s station and picked up the phone.

  ***

  Eden started crying and held her arms out to me when I entered her room.