The Widows of Sea Trail-Tessa of Crooked Gulley

by Jacqueline DeGroot

  She thought for a minute and said, “Yeah, Brierwood, on the 10th hole, there’s a pond, always has ducks in it.”

  “Okay, that’s where we’re heading,” I said.

  “What about the other problem?” It was her car so Cat was naturally curious about this issue.

  “Amy, you trust me don’t you?”

  She nodded her head, but the way her eyes looked clearly said the opposite. “We have to change you before you go to see the ducks, if we don’t you’re going to get a very bad rash.” It was either in the car or on the golf course, and I didn’t like either scenario. Just then two cop cars pulled in and circled the lot.

  “Uh oh,” Viv said.

  “Mmm hmm,” I agreed. “Time to move on, dirty diaper or no.”

  Cat put the car in gear and we followed Viv off the lot, onto 211 and from there to Route 17.

  Then just as we were passing Brunswick Community Hospital, Amy said, “Where are my clothes? Why am I in a nightgown? And why the hell am I wearing a diaper? And what is this? Eeeew!” She said as she brought up her hand with a dark brown smudge on it.

  Cat turned in her seat to look at her, I turned too.

  “Amy, you’re back!” I screamed.

  “From where?”

  As I wiped her hand on a Clorox wipe I told her as sketchily as possible what had been going on. This was not the time to impinge Carlos and have her going off on a rampage trying to find him so I held back on quite a bit. From what I had read, I knew that she’d have periods of lucidity, then lapse back until she was completely off the drug. “You’ve been given an overdose of a medication called Xanax, have you heard of it?”

  “It’s a depressant, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, a schedule IV controlled substance, it’s classified as a high potency benzodiazepine, actually it’s a tri –something but I can never remember the name. Anyway, it’s dangerous in proper doses, and you got a bit too much.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Well have to get to that later, right now we have to get you cleaned up.”

  “I vote for the Wal-Mart bathroom,” Cat said. “I’ll drop you off at the door, you get her into the ladies room and I’ll go find her something to wear, a jogging set or something.”

  “That’s a plan.”

  “What if someone sees me?” Amy said in anguish.

  Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, by the time we got to the light off of Route 17 leading to WalMart, she had reverted again and would have cared less who saw her shuffling toward the bathroom mumbling, “Ducks, ducks, going to see ducks,” her fist clamped on toast wrapped in a paper napkin. But we never made it to Wal-Mart.

  Listening to the radio as we made the turn we heard the first of the Senior Amber Alerts and decided to forego WalMart, the hub of all the goings on in the county. I apologized to Cat for the smears I had to continually wipe off of her leather seat and for the odor permeating despite using almost a whole container of wipes. I finally managed to get Amy cleaned up when we parked by the pond at Brierwood.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a good disinfectant and of those Bissell spot shot things; I’ll shampoo the carpet when I get home. It’ll be fine. Look there’s Viv,” she said as she pointed. “Let’s all relax and feed the ducks for a few minutes, then you and Viv can trade places. I’ll drop Amy and Viv off at Viv’s, you go home and finish packing and clean up, and then later we can take you to Broadway. I’m thinking you need to get out of here tonight.”

  “Yeah, me too. After we feed the ducks I need to get her to sign those papers so I can drop them by the post office. I’m pretty much through packing for both of us, but God, I need another shower. I smell awful!”

  Cat wrinkled her nose and laughed, “Yeah, you do.”

  “Cat, how am I going to manage her for the next few weeks, until she comes all the way back?”

  “It’ll get easier. Today was hard because of all the added stress of stealing her.”

  Amy, who had been dosing since I changed her, woke up as soon I closed the offending diaper in the trunk. She saw the ducks waddling around the edge of the small pond and yelled, “Ducks! Ducks! I want to feed the ducks.”

  “That’s what we’re here for kiddo.” I opened her door and let her out, “Have at it.”

  I followed her over to the edge of the pond and then had to rescue her from the greedy and ravenous ducks that weren’t very happy when she ran out of bread.

  In the car on the way home I gave Amy one of the pills. “It’s hard to give her these knowing this is what’s causing her problem in the first place,” I said to Cat.

  “Well what happens if you don’t?”

  “All kinds of things can happen, but I think the worst is depression, and some people who have come off too fast have committed suicide later, so I’d just as soon not take that chance. I wish I could talk to a doctor about this, but now that I’m a wanted woman, maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

  “No. Stick with the game plan. We did okay breaking Amy out of the nursing home, something tells me we won’t be so fortunate breaking you out of jail.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, you excited about seeing Roman?”

  My voice went wistful as I said, “Yes, although when we’re going to have any time alone together is anyone’s guess. Amy is a full time job right now.”

  “Roman strikes me as the type who’ll find a way for you to be together. Go home and have a glass of wine or two, relax and take a nap and then Viv and I will be over with Amy late this afternoon.”

  “What if you can’t handle her?”

  “She’s only three, how bad can it be?” We both laughed at her sad joke.

  We stopped in front of the post office and I had Amy sign her name. I guess for some things, an automatic response takes over once you’ve done something so many times, for her signature looked just fine. I did have to tell her what her name was though, and how to spell it, and we did practice it a few times, but I was actually surprised at how good her dexterity was today. And she didn’t seem quite as nervous as she had been.

  But when the pill I had just given her kicked in, she got irritable and then sullen and then very, very tired. She was sleeping with her head on the back seat, snoring when Cat dropped me off. Viv had parked my car in the garage and was waiting on the front porch.

  “I drove by her house,” she said nodding at Amy, “looks like they’re having an open house.”

  “Great! Knowing Anna Marie, she’s probably got people trying to outbid each other on it.”

  “Don’t worry about that now, just concentrate on not getting caught while you’re getting her better,” Cat said as she came around the car to hug me. “In case I don’t get to hug you later, have a good time, or as good a time as you can. Oh, dear me, do take a shower soon, Tess.”

  “On my way,” I said as I hugged Viv. “If she gives you a hard time when she wakes up, offer to color with her and she likes those books I left in her bag. The Pokey Little Puppy is her favorite.”

  “I’ve had grandchildren before, I’ll manage.” I gave her a sad smile because we all knew what had happened there. Sadly, she didn’t have grandchildren to read to anymore.

  When Viv’s husband had died, his children from his first marriage had swooped down to empty out the house she had moved into when she had married Charlie. They stole things that had been both hers and his, and they took everything they could fit in their cars and trucks while she was grieving and arranging her husband’s funeral. They were her stepchildren, and the grandchildren were her step grandchildren, and no one wanted to keep the connection to her once they’d cleaned her out and helped themselves to all the possessions that had once been Charlie’s.

  I hugged her again and wished her luck then I took Cat’s advice and opened a bottle of wine, which I took into the bathroom while I showered. I could feel a pity party coming on and I wanted to get it out of the way before tonight, when I’d be back on duty.
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  Chapter Thirty-two

  Myrtle Beach Cat and Viv picked me up at five. We loaded everything in the trunk and I sat up front. Viv had waved me off when I had opened the back door to scoot in beside Amy.

  I looked back after I buckled myself in and saw the two of them playing Cat in the Cradle with twine. Amy was intent on doing the maneuver exactly right and Viv was smiling down at her. “That’s right, you got it!”

  Amy looked up at me and smiled. Viv had cleaned her up, washed her hair and braided it. She was dressed in a nice pant set and she looked like the old Amy, only without the special light in her eyes.

  “We’re going to Paradise now, right?” she asked me.

  “You remembered,” I said with undisguised pleasure.

  “Of course, who could forget going to Paradise?”

  She was working her way back, I could feel it. “Did you give her the evening pill yet?” I asked Viv.

  “Yes, broken just like you showed me.”

  “Good. I drew up a calendar, December 16thor 17th should find this nightmare behind us.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be much better by the time you get back.”

  “She’d better be. One thing for sure though, she’ll be sporting a tan. I’m going to sit on the beach under an umbrella as much as I can. I hate how cold it’s getting in the evenings here. And tomorrow it’s only supposed to be in the 40s.”

  “A good time to get away.”

  “When are you going to take some time and go on a vacation yourself, Viv? You never go anywhere.”

  “I’m a homebody. Besides, it’s no fun to travel alone.”

  “I’ll go somewhere with you.”

  “Always wanted to go to Ireland,” she said and I saw the gleam in her eye.

  “Roman’s Irish. I can’t imagine a whole city talking like he does, it’s sex personified,” I said, with a sigh. “Which I don’t think I’m going to have much of with my little toddler here.”

  “If Roman’s the man I think he is, he’ll find a way, a man doesn’t stop at much to get the girl of his dreams beneath the sheets.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’m the girl of his dreams, just the girl of the moment.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Viv said, “that man’s gone to a lot of trouble to get you to tumble around in his bed, and from what you say, he’s got his pick of women.”

  “That he does. And I’m afraid that any man who looks as he does, always will.”

  “Well, you warm my cockles you do, seeing you so happy and in love.”

  “Oh, I’m not in love.”

  “Don’t deny the obvious, Tess. Of course you are. How could you not be?”

  “This is lust. Lust, lust, lust.”

  “You keep telling yourself that. I think your Roman is ahead of the race with you on that.”

  “Really? Now why would you say that?”

  “Well, if you’re in love, you give more than you get. And truly, when’s the last time you sent him flowers, or stayed up all night drafting papers for a friend, or flying all over the place just to check on somebody who’s ailin’ like you were when you got back from that cruise?”

  “He’s just a very nice guy.”

  “Who’s in love.”

  “You’re daft.”

  “We’ll see, but I bet he’s figured out a way for you two to couple despite your babysitting status.”

  “Well then I’m cheered, ‘cause I could sure use a good f—“

  “Don’t say it,” Viv interrupted as she pointed with her head at Amy, “little ears. You don’t want her saying that on the plane all the way to Charlotte.”

  “Good point,” I said as we pulled up to the Hampton Inn at Broadway at the Beach. “See ya in a week or so.”

  “Happy Tumbling!” she called over to me as I scrambled to get Amy out of the back seat.

  “You’re a trip, you know that?”

  Cat came around to give me a hug and I took the hand of my charge, my erstwhile friend, and led her into the lobby. The luggage followed and soon we were busy checking in, deciding on which restaurant to go to for dinner, and what TV show we were going to watch when we got back. I was too busy to think about what Viv had said about me being in love. But later that night, propped up against the pillows reading and listening to Amy’s soft snore, I remembered what she had said. Well, if you’re in love, you give more than you get. I wrote a note on the notepad by the phone to send Roman flowers in the morning.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Broadway Amy and I spent the next two days around Broadway, going to the IMAX Theater and seeing IMAX Under the Sea and Dinosaurs Alive!, going in and out of all kinds of stores, enjoying all the restaurants, and even taking in a show at the Palace.

  It was a good time for us, we established a routine, and I was able to see Amy progressing. She was coming back in stages, almost like growing up. I thought perhaps we were getting up to age ten or eleven. I was so dreading the teenage years!

  It was finally time to get ready to go to the airport and we both were getting pretty excited. Cat called to say that a sheriff’s deputy had come to my house and left a note for me. Since she was collecting my mail, she saw it on the door. I was supposed to call them as soon as I returned home. She was also checking my answering machine. Anna Marie had called to say she had received the letter putting everything on hold and that she would wait to hear from someone before she showed it again. And there was a call from Janie saying they figured out who I was because Carlos had been called about Amy’s disappearance and when they described the woman Amy had last been seen with, he had identified me. Cat said it was a really good thing we were getting out of the country tonight because it might not take long for them to find out that there were airline tickets in both Amy’s and my names.

  Well, that made for a stressful time at the airport, let me tell you. Every time the loudspeaker came on I practically jumped out of my skin. I was surprised Security didn’t notice my agitation or the fact that I was pulling a precocious eleven-year-old around by the hand that looked suspiciously like a woman in her fifties.

  The flight to Charlotte was amusing. Three men in business suits actually hit on me. The first one became disinterested when he discovered I wasn’t in first class because I was wealthy, the second found a way to back up the bus when Amy got airsick, and the third was so talkative and boorish that I finally told him we were traveling to visit my husband in the Mecklenburg County Jail.

  The flight to St. Thomas was very pleasant as I opted for wine with dinner and even let the steward refill it—twice. Amy took a long nap on the last leg of the flight so I was able to read a few magazines and anticipate Roman’s reaction to her. It turned out that I needn’t have worried quite so much about denying myself some much needed “tumbling.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  This is my island in the sun Iknew it would be easy spotting Roman when we landed. He would likely be the tallest man present, his shock of white hair amidst the raven black acted as a beacon and women would have gravitated toward him, like cartoon characters following the whiff of a pie on a ledge. Women of all ages seemed to be drawn to his aura, and as I felt it too, I knew what it was all about. Women stared at him like an adoring puppy while drinking in his amazingly handsome face and long, lean body. We women unconsciously stored the images away in our memories so we could build our fantasies around the man, over and over again. Even though my fantasies about him were actually coming to fruition, I still thought about him and often caught myself sighing out loud at the powerful masculinity he exuded. If there was ever a woman who needed to be pinched to see if she was dreaming, it would certainly be me.

  Amy in tow, I walked across the asphalt and into the terminal and there he was, in his dress whites, the prerequisite women fanned out all around him. But what was unnerving was that there was one particular woman shoulder to shoulder with him, and he was turning to her and patting her hand. Hmmm. Viv was definitely off base, I thought, this
was not a man in love, at least not with me. And it was a kick in the teeth that the woman appeared to be so much younger.

  He saw me and then his face lit up with a fantastic smile. Hmm, I was getting mixed signals here. He made his way over to us, grabbed me to him and kissed me heartily. Lots of tongue, hands framing my face, a quick do over, and a huskily breathed, “God I’ve missed you,” fanned into my ear when he hugged me to his chest. Okay, I was now Queen of the May for any woman who happened to have been lusting for this man. So who was the pretty young woman standing beside Roman and smiling up at him?

  “Tess, this is Stacey Pratt, she’s a registered nurse. I hope you don’t mind, but I arranged for her to care for Amy at one of the health spas on the island. It’s a state of the art medical and fitness center with several respected doctors aware of Amy’s unique situation. And Stacey here has studied up so she can monitor her progress and care for her there. Is that all right with you? I’m sure Amy will love being there, it’s an amazing place with lots of activities to interest her. It’s right on the ocean with lovely views and Stacey will be right there all the time to make sure Amy has the constant supervision she needs.”

  Bless you Roman, bless you , I thought. Viv was right; he had found a way for us to “couple,” as she put it. “That would be wonderful! Not being able to get a doctor involved stateside, I have been wondering if I was doing this weaning thing right. Are you sure it’s no trouble?”

  Stacey smiled at me, “No trouble at all. My degree is in early childhood development, which is what I understand will be the case for a little while.”

  “Yes, she’s on her way back though, of that I feel confident, but her memory, her temper and her agitation levels are still fairly juvenile. And just so you know, a side effect of the medication is causing some very serious bathroom issues.”

  Jacqueline DeGroot “I understand. Both Dr. Kohlmen and Dr. Jasper have researched Xanax, Alprozolam, and other benzodiazepines. We’re all familiar with the side effects and the withdrawal symptoms. We’ve made a chart and figure she should be off the drug by mid-December.”