Crumbling Walls (Jack and Emily #1)

by Laura Strandt

  ▪▪▪

  Jack listened to the bell ring and kept an expectant eye out for Emily. He’d had to meet with some kids from his history class and hadn’t stopped by her house that morning, so he didn’t know she was sick. Dex noticed her absence as well, leaning towards Jack before math class began, “Where’s Emily? She sick?”

  Shrugging, “I hope not. Maybe some teacher’s got her?”

  And so began 45-minutes where Jack didn’t hear a word the teacher said. He stared at the door the entire time, which the teacher busted him for, “Since when is the door more interesting than me, Mr. Callaghan?”

  It took a poke from Dex to bring him out of the fog, “What?”

  “X is up here, Mr. Callaghan, not in the hall.”

  Embarrassed and still more than a little worried, “Sorry.”

  Jack caught Tim as he walked by between classes, “Hey, Tim, was Emily in class today?”

  Shaking his head, “Nope. And when I asked, Ms. Tassleman didn’t know.”

  Dex crossed the hallway, lunch in hand, “What’dya thinking?”

  “I’m thinking I’ll never make it to her place and back in time for my next class, especially in the snow.”

  Knocking him on the back, “She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself for a few hours.”

  Jack could only hope he was right.

  ▪▪▪

  A little before one that afternoon, Elizabeth headed into the bathroom, settling on the edge of the tub while she pulled out her phone to call Will. She would have liked to have talked to him earlier, but knowing his meeting was scheduled to run until around noon, she waited until now to call.

  “Afternoon, wife, how goes it?”

  In a quiet voice, “Not so great. Do you have a few minutes?”

  Getting up to close his office door, he sat back down at his desk, “Why are you whispering? What's wrong?”

  “I'm whispering because I don't want to wake up Emily.”

  With a quick glance at the clock to confirm he hadn't accidentally stayed at work after hours, “Why isn't she in school? She okay?”

  “She showed up on our porch this morning looking worse than you did after you had those bad clams. She’s been throwing up every 45 minutes since around nine.”

  Will's stomach clenched involuntarily at the memory, “Where's her mom?”

  Resting her forehead on her hand, propped up by her elbow on her knee, “This is where I'll need to know if you have a few minutes to talk.”

  Now he was just plain nervous, “Yeah, yeah, I've got at least twenty until Bill gets here. What happened?”

  “I bought Emily back to her house this morning and when I got her upstairs … I just … I don't know how we didn't figure it out. I mean, she never talked about her mother, but what kid …” Her eyes filled with tears suddenly and, swiping them away, “She's by herself, Will. I asked her if her mom lived here and she said no. Now, I thought it might be the fever talking or something, but looking around, there's no way a second person is staying here.” Letting this hover between them in silence for a moment, “Who would leave their child to fend for themselves? How could she just walk away from her own daughter?”

  Will, attempting to digest this news, “What do we do?”

  Given Elizabeth had been screaming this question at herself for the last five hours and remained clueless, “I have absolutely no idea. I was hoping maybe you'd be able to spout some words of wisdom and make everything better.”

  “All I got right now is just … stay with her, I guess. I'll be home as soon as I can but it probably won't be until after five. Do Tim or Jack work today? Could one of them watch everybody until I get there?”

  “I don't know. I'll ask Jack when he gets here.”

  Even though he was alone in his office, Will looked up in surprise, “How do you know Jack'll be there?”

  This was the other train of thought that had been keeping her occupied, “He knows, hon, he has to. I can't think of one conceivable way that he couldn't know. That means he'll be here right after school because she wasn't in class today and he's probably worried about her.”

  Wishing he could be there with her instead of twenty minutes away trapped in meetings, “We can't punish him.”

  Hearing Emily begin to move around the corner, “I know.” She stood up, “I have to go though, Em's time is about up.”

  “I'm sorry you have to deal with this.”

  “I'm more sorry that she does.” After telling him 'I love you' and saying good-bye, she went back to the living room, settling on the floor with the pot ready in her hand.

  ▪▪▪

  Jack toughed it through the day, but as soon as the last bell rang, he was out of that school like a shot. Running all the way to Emily’s house, he stopped to catch his breath before knocking on the door. Since no one answered, he argued with himself, then got out the lock-box key to let himself in. Walking up the stairs, he nearly fell back down them when his mom appeared on the landing above him, “Jack?”

  “Mom? What are you doing here?”

  Pointing back into the house, “Emily showed up at our door this morning sick, so I brought her back here. But now I need you to go home and watch your brothers until Dad gets there.”

  Panic coursed through him and he groped for some kind of believable lie, “I can stay here if you like and wait until her mom gets home …”

  Elizabeth gave him a warm, but sad smile, “It’s okay, Jack.”

  “Mom?”

  “Jack, it’s okay … I know. Go on home, all right. She’ll be fine.”

  “But …”

  “I’ll talk to you later.”

  He stood still at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her, until, “I hated to lie to you.”

  “I know. We’re okay, I swear. Just go watch the kids for me, please. Dad said he'll be home around five-thirty.”

  Nodding, he zipped his coat back up, “I love her, Mom, I didn't see any way around not telling you.”

  Now, normally she would have been angry for the deception, but Elizabeth just smiled at the confidence with which he made his confession, “I know.” She then looked over her shoulder at Emily moving restlessly on the bed, “I’m probably here for the night, so make sure to help Dad out, okay?”

  As he opened the door, “Will do.”

  ▪▪▪

  Emily's stomach calmed down around four in the afternoon and she fell into a sound sleep, her restless movements finally quieting. Elizabeth had been tinkering around the house most of the day, straightening shelves, scrubbing the fridge, napping at times. After making herself dinner, she also cooked some Jell-O and noodles for Emily when she finally woke up.

  Settling on the couch, she spied a crate full of old sketchbooks that she had somehow missed earlier. Without thinking, she pulled them over to the couch and began thumbing through, immediately sucked in.

  The images doodled across the pages were magnificent. Castles and animals and gardens and reflections and buildings and any number of other objects. One whole book was filled with nothing but intricate flowers and leaves. Another held only clear glass cups and bowls. A third was nothing but hands, all in various positions.

  And the last ten or eleven drawings in this particular book, she’d have recognized anywhere. They were her two oldest sons. The wide scar on the back on the first few hands told her those were Tim's, but the rest had curved in pinky fingers and a faithfully rendered fisherman's bracelet, making them uniquely Jack's. She stared at these for a long time, picturing him sitting patiently for her, watching her work. Tracing the edges of his fingers, the delicate lines and shading, she could only shake her head in amazement, wishing for a moment that she could create something that perfect.

  Finally moving onto the next book, she eventually made it through the collection. Once she'd put the crate back in its spot, she looked back towards the sleeping girl, leg hanging off the side of the mattress, arm flung across the pillow next to her. How had she
managed to take care of herself so well? She was well fed; she had clothes to wear and a place to live. She worked, she went to school, she was an artist and, as stated at breakfast a few weeks back, knew how to fix a washing machine. Where had this girl come from and what had brought her here?

  The questions were now so thick in her mind, she began pacing back and forth across the apartment, walking out her anxiety until she calmed down enough to focus on the Sudoku book she'd found on the coffee table. Knowing the numbers would keep her from dwelling on the situation, she settled on the couch again, pencil in hand and phone at her side.

  ▪▪▪

  Will called after he got home and got everybody eating. Going to sit at the top of the stairs instead of in the bathroom, Elizabeth told him everything again, this time asking, “Is this what you were talking about before, when you asked me to trust you?”

  “No. It’s something else, but I can’t really get into it right now. Everybody’s here.”

  Elizabeth nodded, even though he couldn’t see her, “Well, I’ll let you get back to it.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Just sad. And slightly stir crazy, but I think I’ll go to sleep soon.”

  “You know, I can have Jack come by with a few things, some pajamas, your book, something …”

  Considering for a moment, “Pajamas, my toothbrush and my book would be nice. I just don’t want anybody getting sick.”

  “Well, I can have him leave the bag on the front porch?”

  She hesitated for a moment, then, “If you wouldn’t mind, that’d be nice.”

  Grinning on his end of the line, “Which books?”

  ▪▪▪

  After Jack dropped the knapsack off, Elizabeth brought it back upstairs and immediately changed into her pajama pants and t-shirt. Brushing her teeth, she returned to the couch and dug in to see what else got packed.

  Her husband and boys, as usual, didn’t disappoint. There were the two books she’d asked for, along with the puzzle book she’d been working on. Nate had included his handheld NintendoDS and her favorite game. Tim had slipped in his portable DVD player, charger and a couple of movies and Jack had put in his iPod, with a note stuck to it, ‘Have Emily listen to playlist Em3 … she knows how to do it.’

  Even Sam had packed in a few colored pictures and magnets, so Elizabeth immediately hung them on Emily’s refrigerator, thinking she’d enjoy them once she felt better. Back on the couch, wrapped in a blanket she’d found in what she figured was the linen crate, she opened her book, wondering if she’d be able to sleep at all.

  ▪▪▪

  It took a few hours of reading and some game playing before her eyes began to burn and, a little after ten o’clock, she finally gave in, turning off the kitchen light before lying down, the room now only lit by the glow of the blue nightlight in the corner and the soft green glow from the bathroom.

  ▪▪▪

  Jack lay in his bed, his heart aching and sleep eluding him. He had no idea what tomorrow would bring. He just wished he could be there next to Emily, to hold her and tell her things would be okay. He just wanted to touch her and listen to her tell him things would be okay back.

  Will lay awake down the hall, wondering just how much they knew and scared about what they didn’t.

  Jack wound up down on the couch a little after midnight and it didn’t take long until Will joined him without a word. Slipping his arm over his son’s shoulders, together they sat watching the Discovery Channel in silence, until finally their thoughts calmed and both slept.

  And the world was quiet.

  Chapter 15

  Emily began stirring just before midnight, waking up slowly, not sure of where she was, what time it was or even what day. Sitting up, she felt every muscle in her body scream from what she vaguely recalled as hours of vomiting. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she saw a figure lying on the couch. “Jack?”

  Elizabeth sat up almost immediately, “Em? You all right?”

  Still more than half-asleep, she asked again, “Jack?”

  “No hon, it’s Elizabeth.” Getting off the couch, she came over and sat on the mattress, “Do you remember me being here?”

  Racking her brain, which also hurt, “Not really.” It was also in this split second that she realized Elizabeth was in her house, “Did my mom come home from work yet?”

  “Emily …”

  “No, she said she’d be …” trailing off when she caught the look on Elizabeth’s face, “I mean, she told me …”

  Putting a hand on Emily’s cheek, “Please, you don’t have to lie anymore.”

  The tears she’d been holding in since her first lie to Elizabeth welled up and spilled over in a torrent. Curling into a ball, she rested her head on Elizabeth’s lap and sobbed like a small child.

  She calmed a while later and, sitting back up, began apologizing profusely, for everything she hadn’t said in the last six months and for the river of snot leaking out her nose. Standing unsteadily, she pointed towards the bathroom, “I’ll be back in a second.”

  “Take your time.”

  While Emily was occupied, Elizabeth stripped the bed and put the other set of clean sheets on. Once that was back in order, she walked to the bathroom door and knocked lightly, “Are you hungry?”

  Coming out of the bathroom just then, Emily smoothed back the hair she’d just put in a long braid that fell down her back, “I don’t know. I might be.”

  With a smile, “Well, I made you some Jell-O and some pasta. I didn’t know which would sit best for you.”

  “You cooked?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been here for a good 15 hours or so. I got hungry a few times.”

  Glancing over at the clock radio by the mattress, “It’s almost midnight?”

  With a nod, Elizabeth headed towards the fridge, “Why don’t you sit down and you can start with some Jell-O and move on from there.”

  Between the trips to the couch, the crying and the puking, Emily was more than ready to shut her eyes again, which she did, until Elizabeth showed up with a bowl of strawberry Jell-O, causing her stomach to growl. Taking the spoon, “Maybe I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  Elizabeth sat down next to her and watched in silence as she slowly swallowed the entire serving. “More?”

  Shaking her head, “No, I don’t want to push it.”

  “Well, then, would you like to go back to sleep? You look completely beat.”

  Instead, she rolled her head to the right to face her, “Why haven’t you asked?”

  “Because I think you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

  “What if I was ready now?”

  Elizabeth took in her sunken eyes and pale skin, her limp body and her chapped lips, then asked cautiously, “How long have you been alone?”

  The minute Emily heard the question however, her heart froze and she just sat there, eyes shut. She sat for so long in fact, that Elizabeth thought she had fallen asleep and was about to cover her with the blanket, when, “I’ve been on my own since February 29, three years ago. I moved in here March 24 of the same year.”

  “You’ve been on your own since you were 13?” She didn’t even try to keep the shock from her voice, “Oh my god.”

  Giving her a detached look, she stood and reached for the bottom of her shirt and, hesitating, pulled it over her head. Elizabeth watched her swallow hard before she slowly turned around, “Would you have stayed any longer?”

  Even in the dim glow of the night lights, Elizabeth could see the criss-crossing pattern of scars and burns. She had honestly thought nothing was worse than the ones her husband had, but his paled in comparison.

  Emily stood there shivering in fear as she heard Elizabeth get up from the couch and stop behind her. Gently reaching around her, Elizabeth coaxed her arms in the air and slipped the shirt back over her head. Smoothing the back down, she then wrapped her arms around the girl, trying desperately to hug away her past.

  After a few moments, E
mily stepped forward out of Elizabeth’s grip and turned, “You’re the first person to see me like that.”

  “Jack?”

  Emily shook her head, “No.” A lone tear escaped and her voice cracked, “I’ve been too afraid to tell him.”