The Beloved

by Gonzalez, J. F.

  “Right. Look at her. Just like Cindy. And Diana is just like Cindy as well, only she doesn’t drink all day and run around the way Cindy does.”

  “Give her time.”

  “I don’t want to give her time,” Laura said. “I just want him to grow up and find somebody who is mature. All he goes after is party girls.”

  “Well, Mom, Ronnie always did let his little head do all his thinking.”

  “You got that right.”

  The two women sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee and thinking. Elizabeth finished her cup and rose to get a refill.

  “The more I thought about what Mary told me, the more I realized she seems to be right.”

  Elizabeth turned to her mother, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Diana doesn’t talk with her kids,” Laura said. “She yells at them and she talks to them sometimes, but she doesn’t engage them in conversation. She doesn’t pay attention to them. She spends all her time sitting in front of that goddamn computer and the kids don’t talk to each other much.”

  Elizabeth still had that frown on her face. She thought about what her mother just said as she sat back down at the table with a fresh cup. “I don’t think I can comment on that. I’ve never been over enough to notice.”

  “Jerry and I talked about that all night,” Laura said, finishing her coffee. “About how Diana treats the kids. There’s never food in the house and it’s always a mess. She’s home all day long and won’t get a job, so you’d think she’d clean the house and cook, but she doesn’t.”

  “That’s one thing that’s always bothered me,” Elizabeth said. “Diana refusing to get a job.”

  “It makes Jerry angry. Ronnie is working himself ragged in order to pay for a roof over their heads and put food on the table and clothes on their backs and she won’t do anything to help. You’d think she’d pitch in and do her part by keeping the house clean, making sure there’s food in the house, cooking, tending to the welfare of the kids, but she doesn’t. She sits on her ass all day and runs up the phone bill. Jerry wants Mary to move in with us and I agree with him.”

  Elizabeth was surprised at this. “You serious?”

  “Serious enough to discuss it at length last night.” Laura finished her coffee. “Jerry is afraid for Mary’s safety over there. Ronnie isn’t seeing what’s going on. I don’t think it’s so much that he doesn’t want to see it, but I don’t think he’s around enough to experience how things really are.”

  “He doesn’t notice his house is a mess and there’s no food in it?” Elizabeth found it hard to believe that her brother, even as much of a loser as he was, would not notice his house was messy.

  “He works all the time,” Laura exclaimed. “How could he notice? He comes home, drinks a beer or two, goes to bed, gets up and does the whole thing over again. He spends more time at work than he does at home and you know it. I’m sure Diana is being as sweet to him as she can to keep him on her good side. Probably why he doesn’t notice anything is wrong.”

  “That little head in control again.”

  Laura laughed. “Well, Ronnie never was the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to women. I must sound like a horrible mother to be talking like that about my own son, but it’s true. He was always more into taking the easy way out than working hard to achieve something. He flunked out of college and when he was working for your father, Jerry fired him at least half a dozen times. He’s always been what you kids would call a fuck-up.”

  You missed several things, mom, Elizabeth thought. The time he was busted smoking pot when he was fourteen. All the fights he used to get into at school. The DUI he got when he was twenty-one. Being charged with vehicular manslaughter stemming from an accident he got in one night when he was twenty-three and making a beer run with his buddies. And then what about the times you and dad were visited by his drug dealer, who demanded payment for Ronnie’s coke habit? I think that happened twice, and I believe the demand was something along the lines of ‘pay up or something bad will happen, maybe to Ronnie, but maybe to you or somebody else in his family’. You and Dad shelled out nearly ten grand to pay off his drug debts. Oh, he’s been more than inconsiderate over the years, I’d say. Putting his family in danger due to his selfish actions is just one of them. The only reason he entered rehab was because of his last arrest for driving under the influence, and he did that to avoid prison. Thank God for that, because he would have gotten himself killed if he’d kept it up. Although I must say, even though he stopped attending NA meetings and continued drinking, he appears to have learned from the errors of his ways and hasn’t abused drugs and alcohol to the extent he did ten years ago. Although that very well could change with the pressure he’s under now. Yeah, I’d say he’s a fuck-up all right. And that’s putting it mildly.

  “The closest he’s come to anything in which I felt I could be truly proud of him was when Mary was born,” Laura said. “He really seemed to settle down and get his act together. He and Cindy moved in together and got married. He was doing good at the shop with your father. He and Cindy moved to that little condo in Ephrata. They were doing really well there. He really cut down on the partying, and he was a good father to Mary.”

  “And until Diana came along he continued to be a good father to Mary,” Elizabeth said. She had to admit, despite his past history of being the consummate fuck-up, having Mary helped Ronnie maintain the straight and narrow road. Elizabeth had to admit that in the five years or so he was married to Cindy he had straightened out so much, had redeemed himself from his past sins so greatly, that he had truly become a different person. He had actually been fun to be around. That changed when Diana arrived.

  Laura nodded. She took a hearty gulp of coffee. “You’re right.”

  “So what happened?”

  “Diana.”

  Elizabeth thought about that for a moment while she drank her coffee. Granted, she didn’t like Diana either, but she still felt it was Ronnie’s responsibility to make sure Mary was taken care of. She tried putting herself in Ronnie’s shoes; if it had been her raising Eric as a single mother, she wouldn’t have been so quick to jump into a new relationship. She would have given herself time to grow into being a single parent. And even if she had met somebody and decided to shack up with him, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to be the sole breadwinner; she’d have insisted her new mate bring in an income too, and if he didn’t his ass would be out the door.

  But then she didn’t think with her little head. That was her brother’s territory. She had to remember that.

  “Do you think Diana’s abusing Mary?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Physically, no. Psychologically and emotionally?” Laura thought about it. She shook her head. “It’s hard to say. I don’t think there’s any abuse going on in that house. But it’s obvious something’s happening.”

  “You mentioned before that you thought Mary was going through these crying tantrums as a way of protesting the situation. Never able to see her father, being thrown into an environment she’s uncomfortable in...”

  “I believe that’s where most of this stems from,” Laura said. “I think it’s led to stress and the buildup reached its peak last night.”

  “You think Mary hallucinated what she saw?”

  “What else could it be? What she described sounds like something out of one of your books.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Elizabeth said. She took a sip of her coffee. “It’s too unreal.”

  “Jerry and I discussed getting Mary to see a child psychologist,” Laura said. “We went around with what we’ve been discussing, all the changes Mary’s been through, being in a new house, not liking Diana and her kids, never seeing her father, being affected by the incompetence of her mother. And he agrees Mary probably needs to see a professional. I’m going to call Dr. Wagner Monday to get her in to see if he can give us a referral.”

  “Do you think Ronnie will be okay with that?”
/>
  “I don’t care if he is or not,” Laura said. “Besides, he’s never around much anyway. If I put it across to him that I’m taking Mary in for a checkup, he won’t think twice.”

  “So you and dad decided on this last night?” Elizabeth asked, sipping her coffee.

  “Yes,” Laura said. She had finished her coffee but hadn’t gone for a refill. “We decided to keep Mary for the weekend to give her some fun, take her mind off things at home. Before we came over I called Dr. Wagner and arranged to have her seen by him Tuesday afternoon. Jerry called Ronnie’s to tell him we had Mary, but he was asleep. I decided to come over here with Mary while Jerry deals with Ronnie.”

  Elizabeth snorted laughter. “Oh I can see that going well.”

  “Jerry assured me he would be level-headed.”

  “Dad level-headed?”

  Laura grinned. “Well, at least he won’t let Ronnie walk all over him, which is what he would have done with me. I’m usually more liable to let Ronnie have the upper hand, but your father isn’t. The advantage your father has over Ronnie is that he can reason with him. And Jerry’s calmed down sufficiently from last night. He’s going to tell Ronnie we’re keeping Mary for the weekend and he’ll bring her back Sunday evening, and I’m taking her for a checkup Tuesday.”

  Elizabeth nodded, digesting this latest bit of information. She knew something would blow up at her brother’s house eventually. She just didn’t think it would involve Mary.

  “Does Mary know about the accusations Cindy is making against Diana?”

  “No, and she doesn’t need to.”

  “And you don’t believe them?”

  Laura shook her head. “At this point I don’t know what to believe.”

  Elizabeth didn’t know what to believe either. What she did know, however, was everything that represented trouble in Ronnie’s house centered on one person.

  Diana Marshfield.

  The friction between Cindy and Diana was understandable, and if everything else was fine in Ronnie’s life that tension could be chalked up to jealousy on Cindy’s part. But when you added the other elements in: Ronnie working twelve, sometimes fourteen hours a day, six and seven days a week because Diana wouldn’t work and they needed the money from the overtime to meet basic living expenses; Diana not pitching in at the house to help out with things; Diana’s treatment of her own children; the effect it was all having on Mary—no wonder it was taking a toll on the girl.

  One thing Elizabeth couldn’t get over, though, was the supposed accusations Cindy was making against Diana.

  Diana threatening to hurt Mary.

  Elizabeth didn’t know Diana very well, but she knew Cindy. And as much of a fuck-up as Cindy had become of late, Elizabeth didn’t think her former sister-in-law had the capacity to make up an accusation as ugly as that. Especially against her own daughter.

  She had a feeling Cindy’s accusations might be correct. She didn’t know why she felt this way—it certainly wasn’t because of her own dislike of Diana—but she felt it nonetheless.

  It was a gut feeling.

  “How long have they been gone now?” Laura asked.

  Elizabeth glanced at the clock. It was after two. “About an hour and a half maybe.”

  “Why don’t you call Gregg and see if they want to meet us at Park City,” Laura suggested. “We can do some shopping.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “Sounds great.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall shopping and, as discussed with Gregg when she called him from the house, they met at five o’clock at an Applebee’s restaurant for supper. They drove back to the house, where Elizabeth suggested her mother and Mary spend the evening with them. They could sit up and watch movies all night and eat popcorn. Mom thought that was a wonderful idea, and they swung by Jerry and Laura’s home to make a pit stop for clothes. On the way back, Laura told Elizabeth that Jerry had talked to Ronnie and said everything was fine over there, then dropped the subject. Elizabeth nodded, trading a glance with Gregg, who had been brought up to date in bits and pieces over the course of the afternoon while the children were out of earshot. Gregg nodded, put on a smile and said, “Why don’t we watch something funny tonight? How ‘bout Shrek?”

  To which the kids gave a resounding, enthusiastic “Yes!” in reply.

  NINE

  CINDY BAKER SAT in her new boyfriend’s car watching Ronnie’s home.

  It was one-thirty A.M., Sunday morning. The October evening was chilly, and Cindy was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and a black leather jacket. She smoked a cigarette, watching the house for any sign of movement and thought about what she had come to do.

  The Colt .45 lay on the front seat beside her, fully loaded.

  The gun was Scott’s, and he had stolen it a few years ago in Kansas, where he had been living. She had just moved in with Scott two weeks ago after having left Ray’s apartment due to a sudden argument. Ray wanted her to start paying rent, but Cindy had a mountain of debts over her and couldn’t afford it, and besides, her new job didn’t pay for shit. Ronnie’s latest bitch was still calling the apartment, too, and Ray had gotten tired of calling the police. The last time he’d called the cops they didn’t even bother to show up, and Ray was still smarting over the incident from last month when Cindy had been determined to go over there with his gun and blow the cunt to hell. So she’d packed the few belongings she had into a duffel bag and headed over to the Cocalico Tavern where she’s spent the evening drinking, and then crashed at her friend Jacob’s house.

  The following day, though, Jacob told her she couldn’t stay. His wife wouldn’t like it, so she’d had him take her back to the Cocalico Tavern where she’d met Scott Anderson.

  Scott had just gotten off of work. He was a construction worker with a local contracting firm, and his weathered face looked ten years older than his thirty-five years. He’d just served six months in Lancaster County Jail for possession of heroin, and he claimed that he’d been sober now for over a year. Well, okay, truth be told he was off smack but what was wrong with beer? Cindy agreed wholeheartedly and they drank up. She ended up at Scott’s place a few hours later, in his bed, where they’d had sex and passed out.

  And since she didn’t really have a place to live she’d stayed with him ever since.

  She was still working for Kelly Services as a Cleaning Specialist, working the day shift. Scott had gone to Hershey last night with some friends to see a Rush concert and crashed at a friend’s house. He’d called her this afternoon and told her he was going out with the guys again, this time to Philly to hang out with other friends. Cindy didn’t mind; they needed to resume their relationships with their friends, and she felt that’s what made romantic relationships work—giving your mate their space. Besides, it would give her time to do what she knew she had to do.

  Cindy picked up the Colt in one leather-gloved hand. It was heavy. She’d been careful to wipe it down with a cloth while wearing the gloves before she left the house so there wouldn’t be any prints on it, and she’d also been careful to make sure that it wouldn’t be traced back to Scott. He’d told her a few days after they met that he had spent a year in Kansas working construction, and he had been using heavily then. To support his habit, he’d broken in to a few houses and lifted whatever he could find. He’d come across the Colt during a break-in and taken it. If the gun was registered, it was likely reported as stolen, and since Scott had never been implicated in the B&E’s in Kansas, or even questioned, it wouldn’t be traced back to him. Besides, she hoped it wouldn’t be found when she was finished. The Cocalico creek was on her way home from Ronnie’s, where it would provide the perfect resting spot.

  The thought of committing murder didn’t bother her in the least.

  I’m not committing murder, she thought, her emotions warring within. I’m protecting my daughter because nobody else will!

  The sudden revelation that she had to take such drastic measures to save Mary had come to her throughout the day. She
’d called Ronnie’s house to arrange a visit with Mary, since Scott wasn’t expected back until this afternoon, and Diana had told her in that indifferent tone of voice that Mary had spent the evening at Jerry and Laura’s. When she asked to speak to Ronnie, Diana had told her he was still asleep. He’s always asleep, Cindy had thought as she hung up. He doesn’t know what the fuck is going on anymore. Cindy had called her ex in-laws and Jerry had answered, telling her that Laura had taken Mary over to Elizabeth and Gregg’s for the day. Cindy had felt a little disappointed at that; she’d really wanted to see Mary today and she voiced this to Jerry. “I’m sorry Cindy,” Jerry had said. “I can have Laura call you. Maybe we can arrange to have you see Mary tomorrow.”

  Cindy thought Jerry sounded tired. “Yeah, that sounds good. I haven’t seen her in two weeks and it’s just been so hectic here.”

  “I’ll do that, Cindy,” Jerry had said.

  “How’s Mary doing?” Cindy had asked; the question seemed to come to her suddenly and she had the probing need to know how Mary was.

  Jerry hesitated. Cindy’s senses weren’t altered yet this morning from drink, and she could tell there was something on his mind. She’d felt the curious need to not have to wake up this morning with a glass of beer or a shot of whiskey and she’d actually had a few cups of coffee this morning while reading the paper. She’d felt relaxed, at peace with herself, and she found herself thinking this is sobriety? My God, this is what I’ve been missing? I feel great!

  “Well, Mary wanted to come over last night,” Jerry said. “So I went over and got her. In fact, she’ll be spending the weekend with us, so you can call here anytime this weekend and she should be here.”

  “I’m glad she’s with you instead of with Ronnie and Diana,” Cindy said. “No offense against Ronnie, but I don’t like her being with Diana.”

  “I don’t either, Cindy.” There was that hesitation in Jerry’s voice again. Then: “Cindy, can I ask you something? Just between us?”

  “Sure, Jerry.”