The Death of Donna Whalen

by Michael Winter

  Clayton Troke she dont know if he was asleep. Some nights she gets up and she’ll say are you awake. Some nights he’ll say yes and she’ll say do you want to come out and have a bowl of Special K with me. If he dont answer well then she knows he’s asleep.

  Fifteen minutes’ sleep is as good as twenty-four hours to someone else. She’s adjusted to this. The proper one for you to talk to would be her doctor or get her file. She’s been adjusted to this for years that she dont get to sleep. When you get a bit older you dont require as much sleep. And another thing she’s being treated because she’s hyper. When youre like that you always got to be on the go. She got out of bed half past two the other morning putting up curtains and cleaning up the house and that. So she was in bed and got up, she can’t stay still. If you want she can get her files.

  CLAYTON TROKE

  Donna was a bad junkie. Every day she was getting the pills. Clayton had run out of the medication he takes for his back and Donna could come up with them. She came in one day, it was just after dinner, and she kicked off her sneakers down at the bottom of the stairs and she ran up over the stairs and asked where was Bertha, and Clayton said she was downstairs putting clothes in the washer. She bumped her leg off the coffee table and said oh fuck. She said now that’s going to bruise. And she went downstairs and then her and Bertha come upstairs and she showed them her leg she said look what did I tell you. There was a big bruise on her leg. That’s the only time that Clayton ever seen a bruise on her.

  On Friday he was home. There was five episodes of The JFK Story and he was following it up. He was sitting on the end of the chesterfield close to the window. Sheldon came to the house at ten past ten. Clayton has five clocks in the house. Bertha said there was a car out by the door and Clayton looked. That’s Sheldon, he said. He come in through the door and walked into the hall and asked how they were doing. He wasnt drunk. He didnt have anything into him because Sheldon dont usually come home when he’s drinking.

  Clayton had to phone his brother to see if he could get a truck for to go to pick up some wood. And he couldnt get a pickup for that day. He could have got one the next evening but he phoned his friend back and told him to forget about the wood.

  There was a story coming on that Bertha wanted to look at, Clayton not so much. So she looked at it and that was over. Clayton went to the bathroom. Sheldon was in bed. You couldnt help but notice his room because it’s illuminated pretty well.

  When Clayton went up over the stairs Bertha was making Sheldon’s lunch. He went in the bathroom and got washed. Sheldon was sleeping. After he got washed he got in the bed and shortly after that Bertha come up and she got washed and into bed.

  They had a cigarette and Clayton can’t sleep, he has a problem with insomnia so he’s just lying there in the bed and you can hear Sheldon moving in the bed, you can hear him snore.

  Clayton takes an antidepressant and Tylenol 3 for his back. He was just laying in bed awake and Bertha got up and went to the bathroom. Shortly after he went. It would have been about two-thirty. He stayed awake for a half an hour after that. The next thing was he heard Sheldon getting up in the morning. You could smell him cooking downstairs the bacon and eggs. He came upstairs and asked his mother if she could drive him to work and she said are you awake, and Clayton said yes. She said I’m too sick. She was sick for a few days before that.

  Clayton drove him to the cemetery and dropped him off down at the bottom. What time should I pick you up, and Sheldon said he’d phone. He might work a couple of hours overtime, he said, because he was after missing work that week. Clayton came on home and went straight back to bed. It was ten minutes to nine because the clock was on the dresser. He was laying there and he heard the scanner. He heard get ahold to Dr Abery, there’s a DOA and they said the address and Clayton thought to himself, that’s where Donna lives. Then the phone rang. There is nobody calling that early in the morning. Bertha reached over to answer the phone and before she answered the phone he said Bertha, Donna is dead. She never heard him. When she hung up she said, That was Iris. I got to get ahold of Pat Vivian. I wonder why do I have to get ahold of Pat? And Clayton said Bertha, what number does Donna live on?

  She phoned Pat Vivian and couldnt get no answer. The phone rang again and it was Iris and she said Donna is dead. Bertha said, Youre crazy, Donna dead, and she said, Yes, and Bertha asked her what happened and Iris said that Tom Vivian told her she’s sliced up.

  Bertha said to Clayton there’s no way that Donna is slashed up because she loved herself too much and she wouldnt harm her body.

  The phone rang again and it was Agnes Whalen, Donna’s mother. She told Bertha that Donna was dead. And she wanted to know if Clayton would go out and pick up her husband, Aubrey. Clayton left the house right away. He lost no time getting to the graveyard, let’s put it that way. He was thinking how was he going to tell Sheldon about Donna and he said aloud, Why me.

  He drove down through the graveyard and Sheldon was working in the middle. Aubrey Whalen was up in the Jewish part. Clayton hauled in and Sheldon came down to the car and said, Clayton, what’s wrong, and he said, Sheldon, I have some bad news for you.

  Sheldon’s words to him were, Clayton, who is it?

  It’s Donna, he said, DOA. Clayton was crying at this time because he didnt know how to tell him. Sheldon sort of screeched, he didnt bawl right out, he raised his voice and said what and he turned white. He mistook it for an OD because he said, But Donna never had no pills last night. And then Clayton said it’s a DOA, Donna is slashed up.

  Sheldon started to run up towards Aubrey and then he decided to walk but he was walking fast up towards him. Clayton dont know what he said to Aubrey. They got the wheelbarrel and the shovels and put it in the shed and they were hurrying. Both of them came down and Sheldon said you go on right home now, Mr Whalen, and Sheldon got in the car and Clayton said, Did you tell Aubrey, and Sheldon said, How could I tell him that?

  They left the graveyard and went out Blackmarsh Road and Sheldon was looking away and he was crying. You could hear him sobbing and going across Pearce Avenue he looked at Clayton and said, What’s going to become of poor Sharon and Cory?

  Clayton didnt know what to say, he didnt have any words to say to him. They went on and hauled in about two doors down from Donna’s and Ches Hedderson came over to the car and he said he wanted to talk to Sheldon. Sheldon was getting out of the car anyway and Clayton said to Ches Hedderson he said how is Sheldon going to get home and Hedderson said we’ll look after that.

  The squad car was behind them and when Sheldon got out to go back to the car with Ches Hedderson, Agnes Whalen and Tom Vivian come up over the steps and they were saying, Dont tell them nothing, Sheldon, dont tell them nothing, and this is the way they were going with their hands. Dont tell them nothing. Sheldon went back to the car and Clayton drove home.

  SHARON WHALEN

  The room at the end of the hallway there is Sharon’s room. There’s a bureau in the middle of the doorway. That was her mom’s. She was going to put that bureau in Sharon’s room and give Sharon’s to Cory. The furniture was being moved around because her mom had gotten new furniture and it had arrived. It was in her mom’s room. With the bureau there you arent able to close the door all the way.

  The gloves on the floor, her mother never used them and if she ever used them well Sharon wasnt around she’d never leave them on the floor. Because her mom used to like to be clean and tidy.

  The top of the garbage can, she never left it on the floor before. The mop and bucket. Mom usually put it in the cupboard. Sharon’s seen it out like that in the kitchen before, but not very often. Her mother never cleaned up late at night. The mop and the bucket, the gloves on the floor, the top of the garbage can, they werent there when Sharon went to sleep Friday night.

  When she was getting ready for school, Mommy was in the chair by the phone watching TV and Sheldon was sleeping on the couch. This was Friday. Cory was in the kitchen having breakfast. She went t
o school and her mom was getting Cory ready for daycare up by Tim Hortons. Cory gets to daycare by bus. If he’s sick in the morning and better in the afternoon Mom might drive him. The car is white and has rust spots on it. Sharon went home for lunch and had a sandwich. Sheldon was watching TV. He had on jeans and a white and black top. Mom was out shopping. The car was gone, she normally parks on front. Sheldon said bye and Sharon went back and played outside and the bell rang. The subject that afternoon was math corrections. They played a few games and Mrs Grimes read the story. Sharon was skipping and then she and Ashley went up by Mary Brown’s on Freshwater Road and played with a couple of friends, Catherine and Nicole. Then they played by the school and then went down by Ashley’s house and played for a while. They went to the store and came back and Catherine and Nicole had to go home. Sharon and Ashley skipped and played ball and Mom called her in for supper around six.

  After supper, Sharon did her homework and watched The Simpsons on TV. She watched half of it in her room and half of it in her mom’s room, because Sharon’s TV is a little fuzzy. Mom was down at Tom

  Vivian’s house talking to him and Sheldon was watching TV in the living room. Mom came up from Tom’s around nine and she started watching a movie in the living room. Sharon had the same movie on in her mommy’s room and it was a movie about a man who left his wife for another lady. The wife came in and started spray-painting things and breaking plates and glasses. Sharon did not go out into the living room because she was afraid Mom would put her to bed. She did go out to look at the TV Guide and her mom said your eyes look tired and told her to go to bed. She went to bed and then she could hear them putting their boots on out by the bathroom. Her mom came in and told Sharon that she was dropping Sheldon off. She heard the two of them walking down the stairs. There’s no carpet on the stairs going down. While the movie was on and her mom and Sheldon were in the living room, Sharon heard them talking. They were talking and saying what was going to happen next in the movie. When they left Sharon turned her TV on for a few minutes and there was something on about an election and then she turned her radio on and got into bed and fell asleep. It was going on ten p.m. She did not hear her mom come back.

  BERTHA TROKE

  She phoned Cathy Furneaux and let her know that Donna was dead. She told Cathy that she slashed up. That was what she heard, but she didnt believe it. Donna was the type of a girl that loved life, she loved herself. Iris said she must have OD’d and Bertha said no Donna wouldnt be able to OD.

  The police visited their home, two officers. They had no warrant. They said they needed Sheldon’s clothes, and Bertha said no problem and she took them upstairs. It was Constable Gary Bemister. This would be the clothes that Sheldon wore home the night before. His jeans were laid across the hamper and his shirt was on the bottom of the bed on the comforter. She couldnt find his shirt. Constable Bemister was the one that found his shirt. She gave his jacket and she wasnt sure of his deck shoes or his sneakers so she told him that he had better take both just to be sure and he said no that’s all right, I’ll take the sneakers. He didnt want the shoes so he didnt take the shoes. Bertha asked did they know what happened to Donna. Gary Bemister said all they done was sent him to get Sheldon’s clothes and to take her statement. He said, If you were found dead here this morning who do you think theyre going to go after? Bertha said what do you mean. He said they’d go after Clayton. Why. Because he’s with you, he said. Bertha said so in other words theyre going after Sheldon. He said well it’s only routine, they’ll question him.

  When Sheldon came home Friday evening he never had a spoonful of beer in him. Because if Sheldon had to have a bottle of beer in him he wouldnt have come home because he’d be looking for more. He was perfectly sober. If anything he was tired.

  Gary Bemister was in an awful hurry just to write down what she said and get out of there. Do you think the police tell the truth? You got to laugh at that one. Bertha got to laugh too. She just glanced at it like that and threw it to one side. She didnt need to read it because she knew that what she had given was the truth. She could have told Constable Bemister a lot more but he seemed like the piece of wood to her. He wasnt writing down half what she was telling him. Constable Bemister couldnt wait to get out of her house.

  GARY BEMISTER

  Gary spoke with Bertha Troke and Clayton Troke. He was sat with them in the living room with Constable Charles Stamp as they executed the search warrant. Gary had a quick look into the kitchen and there was a wallet there. He looked through it and it was Sheldon Troke’s wallet. There was a card in it, Gullivers Cabs, Car 18 and the name on it was Michael Porter. It was a business card. He did not seize the card, but he did make a note of it.

  CATHY FURNEAUX

  The phone rings and it’s Bertha Troke calling. She said, Cathy have a guess who’s dead.

  Who.

  Donna.

  Go on what happened to her, did she OD?

  She was slashed up.

  Cathy hung up the phone and ran upstairs to Paul’s room. She shook him.

  I got some bad news, Paul. Have a guess who’s dead.

  Who?

  Donna.

  Why what happened to her, what’d she OD?

  She slashed her wrists, she slashed up.

  Cathy Furneaux went downstairs, she dont know if Paul fell right back to sleep. She was like a hen on a hot rock herself. She couldnt believe that Donna was dead.

  Paul didnt get out of bed until quite late that afternoon.

  SCOTT LOCKE

  Sam Shades is a club between Benders and Pier 17 on a little lane where youre going through George Street. The big club across from it is the Sundance. They have specials on down there, a buck a beer and other specials they sing out during the night.

  Scott Locke come in eight oclock Friday night and worked until three. Paul Troke was at the club that night. The club can hold two hundred but it wasnt jammed. Scott used to live over the street from Paul while they were growing up. Paul came in by hisself around tenthirty. There’s a dance floor as soon as you walks in then you go to your left and it’s the bar. Around the corner it’s the bathrooms and then the stairs to go upstairs.

  Scott makes sure nothing gets out of control. He moves through the club. They always check the washrooms. Paul went into the washroom Friday night. He went into a stall. He was with someone in the stall. Scott seen four legs. They might have been having a conversation. Scott went in there to make sure nothing was on the go. No dope or nothing was being smoked. Scott didnt smell nothing. He left the washroom and went back and stood against the wall. Paul came out and he strewed along the side of him, put his head back on the wall and stayed there for a minute and left. He must have had a buzz on. He wasnt drunk, he wasnt loaded. He was half-drunk. Paul Troke is a drinker. He left for fifteen minutes at the most and come back into the club. Not all the way back, back into the hall. He looked like he was whacked out of it.

  It’s fairly unusual at Sam Shade’s that two men go into the washroom and into one stall. Maybe they were talking, Scott didnt want to go in and bang on the door. They could have been up to something. Well if theyre in there and he doesnt smell marijuana he just leaves them, whatever theyre up to theyre up to. Paul was able to walk out of the bar under his own steam. To tell you the truth, Scott is somewhat scared today to say exactly what he thinks.

  MICHAEL PORTER

  He was driving a taxi downtown. Many people Thursday night. There was one person in particular that stood out. Michael picked this person up at the bottom of Bates Hill. Somewhere close to twelve oclock. Michael was letting people out and this person got in the front seat and asked him to drive.

  Where.

  I got money drive anywhere, he said.

  Well I still got to have a direction.

  Take me to a drug store.

  The only drug store Michael knew to be open that hour on a Thursday is Shoppers, so that’s where they headed. The man asked if he heard tell of the Trokes.

&nb
sp; I knew a family of Trokes many years ago, Michael Porter said.

  Well I’m Sheldon, he said.

  Sheldon said he’d had a fight with his girlfriend and that he didnt know if he was right or she was right.

  Everybody has fights, Michael Porter said. Making up is good.

  When they got there the fare was about three fifty. Sheldon gave him five dollars and then he thanked him for talking to him. Will you talk to me five years from now?

  Michael said, Why not?

  I’ve been in prison.

  Well you served your time, you paid your penalty, so why wouldnt I speak to you?

  As he was getting out Sheldon Troke reached in his pocket and took out some more money.

  No that’s okay youre after paying.

  It’s only money, he said. Where’s that going to be five years from now.

  He threw it on the dash and got out. It was about eighteen more dollars.

  Michael Porter took out a card with the car number on it and gave it to him and told him any time he wants a cab to give him a call.

  Sheldon headed east, in that direction of the curling club over there. Michael Porter just backed up the car then and went back to the stand. Sheldon didnt go into the drug store, no he didnt.

  TANG MAN

  Tang Man operates a Chinese takeout restaurant. She is originally from Hong Kong. She takes orders from customers either in person or by telephone. She also helps out in the kitchen. Her husband, his English is not as good as hers.

  She knows a person by the name of Donna Whalen. She usually telephones to place orders for meals. Sometimes she came to the restaurant to place the orders. Tang knows that Donna lived in a house opposite the restaurant but she doesnt know which house.