Eva and the Irishman

by Janne E Toivonen

  “Eva!” he screamed. He rounded the corner of the barn. He saw her lying helpless on the ground. Ellen, in tears, crawled to her mother. Saimi stood over a prostrate lump of a body, an iron pan in her hand. Liam took a hard but brief look at the body. It had no leather vest.

  He fell to his knees at Eva’s barely conscious body. “Eva, are ye shot?” he asked, frantic and out of breath. He searched her body for blood or a bullet hole.

  She was gasping for air, and trying to get to Ellen, who was still in hysterics, crying “Mamma!” Liam could see a red handprint across Ellen’s cheek. He pulled her close.

  “It’s all right, darlin’,” he whispered into Ellen’s hair.

  “He choked her, Pappa.” Ellen clung to him fiercely. “Is Mamma all right?”

  “I have to check her more. She needs to get inside.”

  “I wouldn’t let him kill her,” Ellen said with fear still in her voice.

  By then, the Sheriff had arrived. Both Emil and Paul came to join Saimi to talk to the Sheriff.

  “Well, he’s alive, but I don’t know for how long with that head wound. We’ll get him to the hospital,” the Sheriff said.

  Annie had arrived shortly after Liam and ran to Eva as well. Liam gave Ellen to Annie and picked up Eva, carrying her to their bedroom. He laid her down, sat on the edge of the bed, and began gingerly palpating her injured neck and throat area.

  “Does anything else hurt? Just show me. Yer arms? Yer legs? Yer belly?”

  Eva showed Liam where she had been grabbed on her upper arm. He opened her dirt-covered blouse to look. Bruises were forming. He checked for bone breakage, but found none. He was nervous and wasn’t sure he was seeing everything.

  “Saimi, please call Dr. Andersen,” he said. “I want him here. Tell him it’s an emergency. Let him know an ambulance is needed. Go to the Sheriff and tell him the ambulance is on the way for the … man.”

  Eva tried to talk, her voice raspy.

  “Don’t talk, sweetheart. You can tell me later. I think ye’re goin’ to be fine.”

  “Vhere’s Ellen?” Eva whispered. “I vant her, now.”

  Annie brought Ellen in.

  “Mamma!” Ellen cried. “We saved you from that man.”

  Eva reached out her arms to Ellen, who had tears streaming down her face. Liam could see that the cheek with a handprint still showed, red and vicious. Ellen climbed into Eva’s arms, moving on top of her as if to shield her mother from any more danger. They stayed that way for a long time.

  Liam sat on the edge of the bed, still stupefied at what had just happened. Who was the man who had been was rendered unconscious by Saimi Laivo wielding a frying pan? Liam left the two battered victims with Annie, going outside to find the Sheriff and Saimi.

  The Sheriff waved him over. “Liam, as far as I can tell, your wife’s attacker was her brother-in-law, Eino Mattson.”

  “Eva said vone time, lonk ago, Victor had brudder who he hate,’ Saimi said. “He left their home farm just before Eva and Victor married. I could hear him talk to her…” She proceeded to tell what she had witnessed when he showed up.

  “He’s the rejected brother of the two who both wanted Eva. How the hell did he find her here?” Liam asked. He was still in shock at the attack.

  ~~~

  Eino Mattson lay unconscious at the hospital with a probable profound brain injury. When Dr. Anderson arrived, he said a radiograph showed a massive crack in his skull. It would be determined in several days what would be done with him if he should survive. Liam was still in mild shock and didn’t know how to process what had happened to his wife and stepdaughter.

  With all that had happened, Saimi, with Annie’s help, was able to fix some semblance of a Sunday dinner. Eva had put the food in the oven before the incident. Annie also helped in the care of Eva and Ellen that afternoon and evening.

  Dr. Andersen came to see Eva and Ellen at the behest of Liam. Andersen insisted Liam re-examine Eva himself, not allowing Liam to let his emotions get the better of him.

  “What’s your diagnosis?” Andersen inquired.

  “Her belly feels normal. The patient has no pain in a manual exam. There are no broken bones. We can have radiographs done later. I see no other injuries besides the bruising on her right forearm and the choking injury. There doesn’t seem to be any permanent damage to any structure in her throat. Her pupils react to light normally. After a few days resting her voice, she should be fine,” Liam concluded.

  “And the girl?”

  “Other than the somewhat painful bruisin’ on her left cheek, Ellen appears to be free of physical injury. Treatment for both is tender lovin’ care.”

  “I concur, Liam. I’m no longer needed here. I should get back to the hospital and check in on Eino Mattson.”

  ~~~

  In her still shocked state, Eva gave a weak smile to Liam. When Andersen left the room, Liam’s tears rolled. “My God, Eva, I thought ye dead,” he said. “It scared the life out o’ me.”

  Eva put her fingers on Liam’s lips to stop him from going further. He took her fingers gently and put them to his lips, kissing them. He leaned toward her and kissed her lips carefully.

  “I gonna be fine,” she whispered with her injured voice.

  “Shhh.” He rubbed her face with the back of his fingers. He also rubbed Ellen’s back tenderly as she lay next to her mother.

  “I love ye, Eva. I’m… sorry I wasn’t there.”

  Instead of putting her fingers on his lips, Eva put her whole hand over Liam’s mouth. “I don’t vant you say anytink …” Her raggedy voice was strained in her insistence.

  “It vas my fault, Mamma,” Ellen said suddenly, still curled next to Eva. “He talked to me yesterday at the store. I told him who you vere. I’m sorry!” Ellen burst out in wails, holding onto her mother.

  Eva pulled her sobbing daughter to her and held her close.

  When Ellen was done crying and ready to listen, Eva whispered haltingly and firmly to her in English. “Eino knew me anyvay. He don’t need you help. You not gonna let him scare you. He can’t hurt us. You save me, den Saimi save us. You don’t do nothink wronk, Ellen. You are stronk, brave girl.”

  The two of them stayed that way for quite some time, until Ellen apparently couldn’t ignore her hungry belly any longer.

  “Let’s go eat,” she said. She wiped her tears on her sleeve and smiled at her Mamma.

  In Liam’s mind, Ellen’s hard grieving seemed to be done and she was ready to move on.

  ~~~

  The next morning, Eva, Liam, and Ellen visited Eino in his hospital bed. Annie stayed behind with the baby. Eino had been shaved and cleaned up. Eva’s heart broke when she saw him as he used to look. So handsome, he was. What a terrible waste of a beautiful Mattson brother, she thought again. And, once again, she felt responsible for all the pain and anger and hatred he must’ve felt since leaving his home all these years ago. The guilt shrouded her like a black curtain blocking out the sun. Why had she treated him so badly back then? Her thoughts went back to the day he left the farm for good. Her slap was most definitely the turning point for him, the last humiliating blow. He was coming to try to tell her about Victor’s sexual exploits. How heartbreakingly ironic it was that she unwittingly saved Victor’s “lying arse” that day, and the other times he tried to tell her, angrily dismissing it all as childish jealously on his part. It was me who was childish. How could she ever tell Eino she was sorry again? She took a deep breath, exhaled through her mouth and decided she was going to try right then.

  “I need time vit Eino ’lone,” she said suddenly. “I try to talk vit him. Maybe he hear me.” She looked grimly at her family as they went out to the bench in the corridor.

  “Vhy is Mamma in dere by herself, Pappa?” Eva heard Ellen ask Liam in the hallway.

  “I’m fairly sure she wants to make amends with yer father’s brother. I don’t know everythin’, but there had been ‘bad blood’ with yer uncle and yer Pappa just before
you were born. She’ll tell us when she’s ready. We’ll just sit out here for a while.”

  ~~~

  Alone with Eino in his hospital room, Eva pulled up a chair and sat at the bedside. She took Eino’s hand, looking at him with his Mattson face, mourning once again. The heartbreak remained for her suffering brother-in-law, she spoke in Finnish.

  “I know this makes no sense. That part of our lives together didn’t make any sense, Victor and his apparent inability to stay away from many girls, and you so angry at him for taking me away from you. I know you loved me and wanted to protect me from Victor’s lies. I can see that now, but I didn’t listen. I thought I knew everything back then, but I didn’t. Liam thought maybe Victor was addicted to sex, like Liam and you were addicted to alcohol. It hurt you to see Victor fool me. I understand that now, Eino. And I know you did love me, and I appreciate that now. Do you hear me? I want you to know that I loved you, too. That’s why I couldn’t say goodbye to you without making love to you. I treasure those moments with you, still. I didn’t understand you. And I am truly sorry, my Eino. I know that if you could, you would say sorry to me, too. I know it. I only want you to be at peace now. Just be at peace.”

  ~~~

  As Ellen, Liam, and Saimi sat on the bench outside Eino’s hospital room, the Pastor from the Lutheran Church approached them.

  “I heard you vere here to see dis man, Eva’s relative. I vant to see if I can help.”

  “Eva’s in there with him now,” Liam said. “She had asked for some time alone. It’s been about ten minutes.”

  “I can step in to see if she need somptink,” the Pastor said, smiling. He opened the door.

  ~~~

  Eva heard the door open and looked to see the Pastor coming in. She gave him a nod to acknowledge his entry.

  He gave her a kind, empathetic gaze. “It’s a private time for you, Eva. If you need a vord vit me, yust let me know.”

  She spoke to the Pastor in Finnish, “I have been making peace with my dead husband’s brother. We all had a volatile life at one time. He was a very troubled soul since then. I’m hoping he can somehow hear me.” She sighed deeply. “I just want … to have him … forgive me.” She put her head down on his hand, her tears spattering the still young-looking hand that held promise no more.

  For one lingering moment, Eva felt Eino’s hand squeeze hers. It made her gasp. She sat up straight, wondering if it was what she thought it could’ve been.

  The Pastor made eye contact with Eva. He said nothing, but Eva understood. Eva knew in her heart that Eino had heard her. It gave her such peace. She was certain the two once-troubled brothers would both be in eternal serenity.

  ~~~

  It was decided that Eino would be transferred to a better facility in Duluth for the duration of his life, however long that would be. Eva and Liam would fund his stay. She also shared with the Pastor that she wished the Mattsons in Finland would never know this turn of events. Knowing the whole story and the added grief it would cause the aging Mattsons, the Pastor thought it was probably best they didn't know.

  It would take just one week for Eino to succumb to the injuries he’d suffered, dying before the transfer took place. Saimi was especially grief stricken, having wielded the blow that eventually caused his death, and sought comfort and words of faith and forgiveness from the Pastor. Saimi was able to see Eino before he passed away. She talked with him as Eva had. Eino’s remains were cremated and given to Eva, who decided to bury them next to Victor at the City Cemetery.

  ~~~

  That night after the burial service for Eino Mattson, the rain came down in buckets as a strong spring thunderstorm rushed through from the west. Eva came to Liam. He sensed her agitated state.

  As Liam entered her, he tried to be gentle and loving.

  “No. Hard,” she moaned with irritation, and shoved her pelvis roughly against him, urging him to follow her lead.

  “No, Eva. I won’t ride ye hard. It’s as though ye’re lookin’ for punishment.” He stopped but remained inside her. “Don’t punish yerself for this. It was never yer fault. It was … it was what Eino chose to do.”

  Eva said nothing. She pulled him to her.

  Liam started his rhythm again, slow and tender to calm her agitation and frustration. “You were just a child, barely a woman.” He felt her relax as her bent knees spread wider and went limp. He whispered as he made love. “That’s a good girl. It’s no wonder they loved ye so much.” He released, gasping for air. He felt her follow. That’s what he’d wanted.

  Before Liam could roll off, Eva let the tears come. They came hard. He held her. The storm passed and the rain on the roof slowed to a patter. Thunder sounded far in the west.

  Part Three: Fight or Flight

  Chapter 1

  It was early March and before sunrise. Waking, Liam turned toward Eva. She had stimulated him to erection. “May I be of service to ye, madam?” he asked her, his voice cracking with sleep.

  “I vant you,” she whispered. “You are my man.”

  “I like bein’ yer man,” he said. He rolled to his side facing her. “What would ye like?”

  “I vant you come inside me.”

  “Just the once, then?”

  “Maybe more. I verdy sexy.”

  “Well, I don’t want to disappoint ye.”

  She hummed in delight when he climbed on top of her. Her hips rocked into him and she smiled when he entered her. Her hands went to his bottom. He thrust slowly yet with force.

  “I like you peppu. It move so nice when you vittu,” she giggled while completely immersed in carnal indulgence.

  “Is that that naughty word for what we’re doin’?”

  “Oh, yes. It feel so good …” She whimpered, and wanted the sensation to increase. “You like my peppu now?” She moved against him increasing her motion as she got closer to her orgasm. Her hands went to her breasts.

  “Oh, aye,” he breathed. “Jesus …” His thrusts quickened and strengthened, his breathing audible and raspy.

  She knew he came. “Ohhh!” she yelled. She bucked wildly underneath him at her peak, pushing until her pleasure waned.

  She could barely open her eyes to see Liam’s expression of wide-eyed wonder.

  “I like vittu vit you.” She gave him a wet kiss indicating she was not done. “I vait for you to get ready ’gain,” she said as she rubbed her slit with her finger. She rolled onto her belly with her hand underneath her. She kept her eyes on him. “Katso minua,” she said and started to rock her hips into her hand.

  He rolled to his side. “I’m lookin’ at ye.” His eyes went to her purposely lewd exposition. He traced her back and buttocks with his finger.

  “You ready yet?” she whispered.

  He nodded. She said nothing as she rolled him to his back and she straddled him putting him inside her. She set her rhythm and tilted her hips for maximum stimulation. He held her hips as she rocked both herself and him to another strong orgasm.

  He gazed slit-eyed into her eyes. “Ye’re a temptress. That’s what ye are.”

  “I vait for you to be ready ’gain.” Her hand went to her nipple and rolled it between her forefinger and thumb and smiled at him.

  ~~~

  Ellen rose on an early May morning. It was overcast and chilly, but this did not dampen her spirits. She was relieved that she didn’t have to stay home with her little sister during Annie’s citizenship ceremony. Annie MacDonald, Ed Murphy, Liam, Eva, and Ellen boarded the train for Duluth. Annie had been in America for nearly a year. Baby Liisa stayed home with Saimi, who volunteered wholeheartedly. Saimi would be taking Liisa to the Huttunen’s for the day where she would have lots of help from the grandsons of her man-friend, Arvid. They had had a baby sister who died a few years ago. They adored her and missed her, and now adored Ellen’s baby sister. Young Arvid was always vying for Ellen’s attention at school where she was admired by one other. Ellen knew young Arvid would be disappointed she was not coming to his ho
use.

  “I see you all the time, Arvid,” she’d told him the day before they left. “It’s not every day I get to go anywhere. I’m going to Duluth.”

  On the train, Ellen latched onto Annie and Ed, sitting between them on a seat that faced Liam and Eva. After fifteen minutes or so, Liam called Ellen to sit between him and Eva. At first Ellen was put out, but then she realized she had a better vantage point for studying Grannie Annie and Pappa Ed. She also realized, with delight, that she had her mother to herself. She loved her little sister and spent much time caring for her, but she was an occasional nuisance, crying right when Ellen had sole attention of her mother or Liam.

  Ellen leaned against her mother’s side and studied Annie and Ed. Yep, she thought, they’re in love. Ellen knew that Annie spent time at Ed’s, even overnight. She was trying to imagine them doing that thing her mother and Liam did behind their locked bedroom door, or in the sauna, or out by the lake on the ground. It's the “act” that parents do, and before you know it; your mother’s belly is growing with a baby inside it. She was intensely curious about Grannie Annie and Pappa Ed, so she continued to study them as the grown-ups talked.

  After a while, Ellen became so mesmerized by her mother’s voice reverberating into her ear that she fell asleep. She felt annoyed when she woke up a while later realizing she most likely missed something. Lots of somethings, she thought.

  “Vhat did you talk about vhile I vas sleeping?” she asked her stepfather.

  “Numerous interesting things too late to mention again,” Liam said with a deadpan face. Their relationship had evolved into a close one. The two liked to tease each other at times, testing each other’s wits.

  Ellen gave Liam a cranky, slit-eyed look, which made him chuckle. Ellen overlooked his teasing when she realized the train was pulling into the station in Duluth.

  “We have some time before the ceremony,” Liam said as they prepared to disembark. “We can have something to eat here to hold us ’til a meal later. We know of an inn down by the docks for dinner before we leave for home.”