Leaving Sharpstone

by Marion Leavens

  Next evening he was back at his usual spot at Smitty’s. The conversation among the pipeline workers was largely about the break-in at the yard and the theft of dynamite from the shed. The yard foreman had estimated that less than two dozen sticks had been taken along with a roll of fuse. The police had been notified, but had found no clues and since the loss was a small one, no one expected that much would be done about it. There was a lot of talk and speculation about what was behind the theft, and some concern about where the dynamite would turn up, but then someone suggested that it could just be someone with some stumps to get rid of and that became the theory most widely accepted. The whole incident was enough to cause a bit of discussion but not a lot of concern. Eric added nothing to the conversation and appeared to be only half interested and after a short period of time the talk moved on to more interesting topics.

  Eric continued sitting at the bar most nights for another week and then causally mentioned that he was starting a couple of weeks of afternoons. Now, no one would even bat an eye when he wasn’t there anymore. Probably, once a couple of weeks had passed, he would be a dim memory and the men at Smitty’s wouldn’t give him so much as a passing thought. Mission accomplished.

  Now, he was ready to go to Toronto. He had four days off coming up in just two days time and he knew that he needed to act now. He drove to the airport and paid cash for a one-way ticket in the name of John Dennison. His ticket home, purchased in Toronto would be in yet another name. Although one-way tickets were more expensive, he knew that they would be harder to trace and it made him feel much safer to do it that way.

  There was only one person who would miss him if he disappeared for a few days - Rita. There was no way he would chance having loose ends that could trip him up and he certainly didn’t want her questioning where he had gone in case anyone thought of him in connection to trouble with his in-laws. He had to get her to leave him alone and not call for those days that he would be away. Now that would be a real problem for she was calling more and more often all the time. He decided to have a bit of fun with her while he was handling it. It would be interesting to find out how committed she was to him and how far he could push her away and still have her running back and eating out of his hand.

  When he got home from the airport he opened a beer, put his feet up and phoned her. After a bit of small talk, he brought up one of his favorite topics - the frustration and depression he was feeling about the loss of his sons. He liked this subject for it always brought out the tender side of her and she would do anything for him at that point to ‘cheer him up’. “I’m reaching the end of my rope.” he said, “I still have no idea where my boys are. I don’t know how much longer I can cope not knowing how they are or where they are. I worry about them all the time.”

  “I know, darling. I wish I could do more to help you through this.”

  He smiled at how easy it was to wrap her around his finger. “I appreciate all you do now. But I’ve started having stomach problems. I went to the doctor today and he thinks I might have an ulcer.”

  “Oh, Eric.”

  “It just goes on and on. There won’t be an end to this torment until my boys are back where they belong.”

  “Oh, darling. I feel so bad for you. Why don’t I come out there tomorrow and have dinner ready for you when you get home from work.”

  “You know how much I love having you out here but I think that what I really need is a little space to try to figure out what I should be doing to get my boys back.”

  “I wouldn’t bother you, Eric. I just want to be there for you.”

  “Rita, you are always here for me. Sometimes I think that you are here too much. You are smothering me. I need a bit of space.”

  “But...”

  “You have been crowding me. You’ve got to admit that. I love you but I need to be concerned about my boys now and I can hardly get time to think about them because I have to spend all my time thinking about you. It’s not right. Ever since Emily left you have acted as if you live here.”

  “That’s not fair. You wanted me to come out there and clean the place.”

  “You wanted to come. Be honest about it. I think you are hoping I’ll let you move right in. Women are always looking for someone to look after them so they can sit back and not have to worry about anything. Just like Emily.”

  “That’s not true. I’m not anything like Emily. I work for a living.”

  “Yeah, you work for a living. And still you take money from me.”

  “I what?”

  He noted the disbelief in her voice at his unfair accusation, yet he continued, “Whenever we go anywhere, I pay. If we order pizza or anything, I pay. Whatever, I pay.”

  “First of all, we don’t go anywhere. And when you decide you want to order something, yes, you pay. I don’t know why you are doing this. I thought we were going to get married eventually. I thought we were in this together.”

  “Who said anything about marriage?”

  “You did. You’ve said many times that you wanted to be with me forever. That sounds to me like marriage. I just assumed...”

  “Well, don’t assume.”

  Rita began to cry and at that Eric smiled, “Look, Rita, things are just coming at me too fast. Give me a few days, maybe that’s all I need. Perhaps I need to get away from the house for a bit, too. What do you think?” He had pushed enough. Now was the time to start reeling her back in.

  “Whatever you want.”

  “I’m sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was to upset you. You are my lifeline here. I get so upset with Emily and then I take it out on you and it’s not your fault, I know that. It’s hers. Maybe I do need a break from everyone and everything. I could go away somewhere. Perhaps, fishing. Don’t you think that a fishing trip up into the mountains might be good for me?”

  “Yes, I guess it might.”

  “I could leave here at 4:00 or 4:30 in the morning, drive to the lake, spend the day fishing and be home by midnight. Maybe a couple of days of that will give me a chance to do some thinking. I might even come back prepared to divorce Emily and start over. I know I’ll come back a new man.” “Sure, honey, if that’s what you need to do. But why don’t you take a tent and stay over night. It would mean a lot less driving.”

  “I don’t have a tent.”

  “I do, and a sleeping bag. I’ll be working all day tomorrow but I could get them out of the closet and leave them in the hall if you want to come by and pick them up.”

  “What would I ever do without you?” He couldn’t help but feel proud of himself for having handled her so well. The hope in her voice, though rather pathetic, proved how much control he had over her. “I can read you like a book, sweetheart.” He thought before speaking again into the phone, “I’ll call you as soon as I get back.”

  “O.K. I love you, Eric.”

  “I know. Me, too. Bye.”

  “Bye, darling.”

  This was coming together perfectly. He had planted the thought in her mind that perhaps he wasn’t going to marry her and then just as quickly dangled a ‘marriage’ carrot in front of her again. He would get the tent, open it in the yard for a night so she would know that it had been used, and she would be certain that he was ‘gone fishin’. Then he could go to Toronto, do what he had to do, and get back without ever raising any suspicion with her. She would spend her time while he was gone hoping that he was getting prepared to marry her. When he finally got back and called her, she would once again be eating out of his hand. All he had to do now was run in to her apartment, get the tent, pack a small suitcase and wait until time to catch his flight. Sometimes life just fell into place perfectly, and this was one of those sometimes.

  Chapter 20

  The warm spring weather brought with it baseball. The boys thought of little else. They discussed baseball with their breakfast, played baseball at recess and lunch breaks, and after school turned the back yard into a neighborhood baseball diamond. Pete spent many happy hours in
the backyard tossing balls to them as they practiced batting with their new bat and catching with the new gloves Emily had bought for them at the Canadian Tire Store. Six-year-old Kyle, even more than his brothers, couldn't get his fill of the game. His new glove went everywhere with him, including to school. It sat on his lap during dinner, on the bathroom floor during his bath and in his bed with him at night. One night as Emily checked the boys before she went to bed, she discovered him sound asleep, the glove on his hand tucked under his little face. “Dad, bring your camera, we’ve got a ‘Kodak moment’." This was one of those pictures that she knew would be imprinted on her memory forever and yet, even knowing that, she wanted to capture it in a picture she could hold in her hand and treasure. She had no way of knowing how important this picture would be to her in the years to come, or the number of tears she would shed as she gazed at it and remembered the wonder of this precious blond haired little boy and the joy he experienced that wonderful, carefree spring with his introduction to the game of baseball.

  Teams were being organized in the neighborhood and all three of the older boys had their mother sign them up. Schedules were handed out and taken home to study and discuss. Scott's team had the first scheduled game to be played, followed next night by Kyle’s team at 6:30 and then Sam’s team at 8:00. Pete and Emily were almost as excited as the boys as the big day approached for the first game. They ate dinner and then the whole family went to the park to watch. Scott played right field and fortunately not too many balls came his way, for he had a hard time throwing the ball in the direction he wanted it to go. (Pete made a mental note to let him do the throwing for a while.) He appeared nervous when he first got up to bat and let a ball go by that he should have swung at. He looked to the stands toward his family as the umpire called ‘strike one’ and then prepared for the next throw. Again he let the ball go by and the umpire this time called ‘ball’. Now he seemed to stop worrying about the family watching, and prepared to swing at the ball. The pitcher threw again, the ball was good and so was Scott’s swing. He hit the ball, which just narrowly missed the shortstop’s glove, and began to run. He made it to second base before the shortstop recovered the ball and threw it to second. It took two more hits from other players to get him home but he made it. He struck out once, but his other turns at bat showed him to be one of the better hitters on the team, which made his family proud, particularly his grandfather, who couldn’t have been more proud if he had hit the balls himself. The game ended, with much cheering, with Scott's team ahead by three runs.

  "Good game, son." Pride sounded in Pete's voice.

  "Yeah, ya did good." Sam, too, was proud of his little brother.

  "Who wants ice cream?" asked Emily.

  The celebration moved to Frosty's Ice Cream Parlor where Emily treated everyone to ice cream sundaes and the game was discussed and marveled over. Emily smiled at her father as she remembered evenings long past when he had brought her, her mother and brother here to eat ice cream following other ball games in which she or her brother had taken part. She marveled that in such a few short months such a change had come into their lives. The boys were able to experience a normal life with friends dropping by to play in the yard, baseball, birthday parties and even a dog. This had been her dream for them and thanks to her father it had been unfolded before them.

  During the walk home they rehashed the game, play by play and once there, Sam began a homework assignment and the younger boys went to bed. Kyle had a hard time settling down to sleep, for tomorrow he would play his first game. Once again the glove went to bed with him.

  Later that evening, Pete and Emily were in the living room enjoying the routine that had become the usual days end for them, in front of the TV with Bandit in his usual spot with his head resting on Pete’s feet and Emily across the room cutting small squares from a piece of peach colored cotton for another quilt she was planning. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had just ended and a Tide commercial had come on when Pete spoke, "Sam and I were talking about his upcoming birthday this afternoon and the talk turned to his father. He's surprised that there hasn't been any word from him and frankly, so am I."

  "Me, too. It's not in his make-up to just let us go without some kind of trouble. I keep expecting him to just drive up."

  "I hate to think what I’d do if he had the nerve to show his face here."

  "I don't know what I'd do either. I'm scared of him, Dad. But since he hasn't threatened us or anything, I don't suppose we could call the police even though I know I wouldn’t feel safe around him. I don't know what is going on with him but I don’t think he’s going to just leave us alone. I can’t imagine that he would want the boys but I'm sure it drives him crazy that someone else has them. He could do anything."

  "If he should happen to show up and try anything or even hint that he might try something, I want you to call the police. Whether they do anything or not, just get them here. And whatever you do, don't trust him or think for one minute that you can handle him. I’ve thought a lot about what I’d do if he showed up and I think it would be wise for either one of us to call the police and let them handle him for I think I’m too old to take him on. And I don’t want you to even try dealing with him. Just get help here. Promise me."

  "For sure, Dad. Promise."

  "Can we go now? I don't want to be late." He was so excited that he couldn’t sit still for a minute.

  "You won't be late. Your game doesn't start for more than an hour. Come on Kyle, eat your supper."

  "I'm not hungry. I just want to go to the park."

  “All right, six more mouthfuls and then go get your glove. I'll wait to do the dishes until I get back after the game."

  "Wow, great. Hurry up, everybody." He shoved a forkful in his mouth and began to chew as quickly as possible. The meal soon ended and within minutes they were putting on their jackets and Emily was getting Danny settled in his stroller in preparation for the walk to the park, which was only four blocks away. Two games were on the roster for tonight. Kyle’s team first, followed by Sam’s immediately after. They arrived early and the boys had time to play on the swings for a while until the coach and more of the player's arrived and then the coach got the team together to prepare for their game.

  It didn't take long before it was apparent that Pete's coaching had helped the small boy. He was one of the few who could catch the ball as well as throw it. His first time up to bat, he hit the ball and even though the inning ended with him stuck on second base, he was thrilled. The game was all that he had dreamed it could be. They were scheduled to play only five innings and they had last bat. As the second half of the fifth inning began the game was nine to fourteen for the other team and Tommy Hayes, a little boy in Kyle's class, was the first up to bat. He made it to second. Duncan Parks came up next and stuck out, while Tommy got to third base. David Harris was next with a walk and then Kyle came up. He swung at a low ball, missed and heard the call, "Strike one." The next ball was good and he swung his hardest. He heard the 'crack' as the bat hit, dropped it and ran as fast as he could. He was at third base when he heard the coach call 'stop'. He stood there while Paul Boomhower struck out and Jason Brockman got a walk. When Chuck Lahay swung twice and missed, Kyle, and most of those watching, were sure the game was lost. But when the third ball came toward him, he swung and connected. The three boys began to run and by the time the ball had been caught, dropped and picked up, all three had made it home and the game was tied. It was then that Ronnie Sagriff, who had been unable to even come close to hitting the ball, took his turn at bat. A few people groaned, but the boys cheered their friend on. "Come on, Ronnie. You can hit it." He watched one ball go by and then hit the second. Everyone cheered as the stocky boy ran to first base. Allen Peterson got the next hit and got to second base while Ronnie advanced to third. They were now back to Tommy. He watched one go by, swung but missed the next, watched another go by and then got a hit. Ronnie headed for home while the boy on second base scooped up the ball and threw it to t
he catcher. It went wild and the catcher missed, then scooped it up and managed to stop Allen at third. Once again Duncan came up to bat and struck out but no one cared, for the game had been won fifteen to fourteen. An excited group of boys shook hands with the opposing team and prepared to leave the field as the older boys began moving onto the benches, getting ready to play their game.

  It was a proud little boy who joined his family in the bleachers. The praise from his mother paled compared to the praise he received from his grandfather. "You played a good game, son. Best of all you seem to be a team player and that's not something you can learn in the backyard. It's something you either have or don't have, and it can make a big difference in whether or not you win games. I'm real proud of you."

  Kyle beamed as he sat beside Pete and watched his brother's team move out onto the field. Sam, since he had never played on a team before, was somewhat less skilled than his teammates, who had a few years play over him. He was in right field and it was obvious that he was doing his best. The coach gave him encouragement and suggestions and as the game progressed he appeared to be more at ease. By the third inning, it was past Danny's bedtime and he had begun fussing so Emily decided to take him home to bed.

  As she gathered up her purse, insect repellent and Danny's diaper bag, she turned to Kyle, "What do you say, pal, bed-time?"

  "I don't want to miss Sam's game."