“No, it didn’t,” he said, mentally scolding himself again for his mistakes. She knew well enough what he was doing, and it infuriated her.
“There is no way you could have stopped what happened, Jon. No one could. Deep down you must know that, yet you continue to be a martyr.” She was fully angered now. “We have a way out. But you won’t take it because of your pride.”
“Living with my parents is not a way out, Ava. What about jobs? They weren’t plentiful when I left that small town ten years ago, and there are even less now. We’d be fully living on their charity without a job, and I won’t do that.” She stood with her arms crossed. She had already written his parents a letter explaining the situation and suggesting the idea and she wouldn’t give up trying to convince him to leave. “Besides . . . would you honestly leave Claire and Arianna?” That sent a jolt through her heart. She hadn’t thought about leaving them, living without them. Just the thought of it was painful. She sighed and left the room, frustrated.
While washing the dinner dishes, she decided on an alternate plan. She would get Claire and Arianna to join her in insisting to their husbands that they all leave the city. She was certain that they had had their fill of life in the tenement.
∞∞∞
After his visit with Jonathan, Caleb came home to a quiet, dark apartment and found Arianna in bed. He sat on the side of the bed and felt her head. Her fever had gotten worse, and she coughed loud and wet when she stirred. He stayed with her until she was asleep again.
He wandered to the kitchen and was surprised to find a bowl of vegetable stew in the oven. He ate it cold and then quickly got ready for bed.
Lying on his side, he wiped the sweat from her forehead with a cloth and wondered if they had enough savings left to take her to the doctor if she continued to get worse.
He got up quietly and dug in the back of the dark closet till he found the hidden money jar. He hated to do it, but Arianna would continue to spend money if he hadn't; especially when she felt sad, which was most of the time. He took the jar out to the living room and sat on the hearth to count it by the light of the remaining embers. He was relieved to find that there would be enough to take her but prayed he wouldn’t have to. If he didn’t have to, then there would be enough for the heat and electric bill and groceries. After that was gone, they would have to live on his weekly paychecks. He couldn’t see how that would be possible; every week they had needed to dip into the jar just to make ends meet. He lay in bed several hours worrying before he finally fell asleep.
∞∞∞
“You found who beat up Jon, I take it,” Claire said, pointing to Aryl’s swollen hand.
“We did.” She took his hand in both of hers and examined it.
“Well, you know I don’t like the idea of you fighting,” she said like an exasperated mother. “But I’m glad you found him. C’mon, dinner’s ready.”
“What’s this?” he asked excitedly when she set the bowl in front of him. It was brim full with chunky vegetables. He didn’t wait for an explanation before digging in.
“Well, technically, I could call it vegetable beef because there is a little bit of beef in it, but it’s vegetable soup. Shannon took me down to a cannery today. She’s friends with the owner. He lets her buy the dented cans for half-price. I bought a dozen. I used some for this soup and put the others away.”
“That’s a great idea. Can you go again?”
“Shannon goes every other Monday. She said I could go with her anytime.”
“You should take Ava and Arianna, too,” he suggested.
“I will. That reminds me, Arianna is sick.”
“Sick with what?” he asked, worried it was something that might make rounds and cause them to miss work. She shrugged.
“She has a fever, and her cough sounds horrible. Ava and I took turns today checking on her.” He nodded his approval while finishing off the soup. “That was great. Is there more?”
“Sure.” She carried his bowl back to the kitchen and refilled it.
“You don’t think there will be any trouble, do you?” she called. “With you and Caleb taking care of that guy who attacked Jon? I’m worried he has a big brother that'll come looking for you guys,” she half-joked.
“Well, if he does have a big brother, then that might be more of a challenge,” he said, grinning.
“I’m serious, Aryl,” she said, setting the bowl in front of him. He debated a moment before he spoke.
“Can you keep a secret?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“No, I mean, really keep this to yourself. Never breathe a word of it to anyone, especially to Ava and Arianna.”
“I promise. What is it?” His expression was starting to worry her.
“Well, you already know the history between Jon and Victor,” he started. “We got it out of this guy that Victor paid him to do it.” Her eyes widened in question as he continued. “We’re not sure why exactly. I’m wondering if he found out that Ruth showed up, throwing herself at Jonathan. That might be enough to drive him to do something like this.”
“Well, what would stop him from doing something like this again?” she asked, truly afraid for all three of the men now.
“The message we sent through Tony,” he said gravely and left it at that. He was quiet while he finished his second bowl of stew. He pushed his bowl away and leaned back.
“That was great,” he complimented. Although it was rather bland, it was hot and filling; therefore, in Aryl’s mind, it was great. She took his bowl, still worried and walked to the sink.
“You don’t need to worry, Claire,” he said, reading her. She nodded, unconvinced. He held his hand out and she walked back over to him. He held her by the waist and looked up at her.
“I promise you. There is no need to worry. If it makes you feel better, Caleb and I agreed that we wouldn’t go out alone.”
“Then you’re worried, too,” she said accusingly. He shook his head.
“No. We thought it would make Jon and you girls feel better, that’s all. What’s for dessert?” he asked, changing the subject.
“There isn’t any,” she said, looking down at him apologetically. He grinned and looked her over.
“Nonsense. There’s something sweet and tasty right here.” He hugged her waist and tugged at the material of her blouse with his teeth. She pulled away, sighing in frustration.
“Aryl.” He pulled back to look up at her, a button between his teeth.
“Hmm?” She nodded toward the homemade calendar pinned on the wall. The day had a black line through it. “You’re kidding!” he groaned, letting the button pop out of his mouth. “I thought that started tomorrow!” She shook her head with remorse. He dropped his head in disappointment and she put her hands on his head.
“I’m sorry,” she said, frustrated at the situation herself. He brought his head up and pulled her close, buried his face in her breasts and let out a long, agonizing scream. She threw her head back laughing and, after a moment of muffled screaming, growling, and swearing, he pulled away composed.
“Are you going to be okay?” He nodded with a strained face and let go of her.
“Fine. I’ll be fine.”
∞∞∞
Jonathan was quiet on their walk to work, despite Caleb and Aryl’s attempt to pull him into conversation. He had a knit hat pulled low in an attempt to hide the bruising that spread from his nose to both eyes. Even though he ached incredibly, he decided he would rather endure the protesting of the damaged muscles in his body than stay home. If he had been there today, he would have continued to stare at the wall, the minutes ticking by, as he relived events of the last six weeks. Ava would have fluctuated between doting on his injuries and flying into fury for his unwillingness to consider moving back home. Even the stares and commentary from ignorant men at work would be better than dealing with that.
He didn’t notice that no one looked at him as he entered the yard. And the ones that did, by accident,
looked away as quickly as possible. People stepped aside to let him pass, and whispers uttered well out of ear shot confirmed that this was the man to stay away from. Word had traveled about Tony, rumored still to be in the hospital. Jonathan didn’t know it yet, but he would never receive another insult, be the butt of any practical joke, or receive words without respect for the rest of his days at the yard.
∞∞∞
Ava gathered Claire and went to Arianna’s where Ava sat on the end of the bed. Arianna was still slightly feverish.
“We need to talk,” Ava told them. “I have an idea. I presented it to Jon, but he turned me down flat. I’ll keep pressuring him, but I have a feeling that he will have to relent, if you both put pressure on your husbands as well and if they agree.”
“What’s the idea?” asked Claire, who was simply excited there was something new to talk about.
“I think we need to leave. Leave this place and leave the city. We should go to Rockport.” They stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say. “Oh, come on, aren’t you sick of this? We don’t have to stay here! We can leave on the next train. Wouldn’t you give anything to get out of here?”
“Of course,” Arianna said with a hoarse voice. “I'd love to leave, but where would we live? Where would the men find work?”
“I’ve already thought about that,” Ava said excitedly. “You and Caleb can stay with his parents on their farm, and you and Aryl can use that summer home your parents have, and Jonathan and I can stay with his parents. Jonathan is fighting me about that part. His pride is stopping him from asking them if we can come. But he’ll have to agree to it if we’re all on board together. There’s no way he would stay here without Caleb and Aryl. As for jobs, something will work out,” she finished insistently.
“Ava, Caleb and his father haven’t spoken in several years. Ethel writes, but Hubert is still incredibly angry with him for selling his grandfather’s farm. There’s no way we could stay with them,” Arianna told Ava regretfully before going into another coughing fit. Claire turned to Ava.
“My parents sold the vacation home shortly after the crash to pay some debts. They aren’t as bad off as we are, but they only have a fraction of what they used to, and it seems to be getting worse. I guess we could go to Boston and stay with them there, but then we all wouldn't be together, and I don’t know how long that would last. She talks in her letters as if they are weeks from living in a place like this themselves.”
“What about Aryl’s parents? They love you. They would love to have you both,” Ava pressed. “They sold the house when Aryl’s younger brother left home, and his father built a small cottage. They wanted to save everything for retirement, and they put lots of money into investments like everyone else. Now all they have is that little cottage and his fishing boat. They’re hand to mouth, too.”
“There has to be a way,” she insisted. “There has to be. I’m going to keep trying to find it,” she informed them willfully.
“We’ll try to think of something, too,” Claire reassured her but knew deep down the reality of it. She and Aryl had talked of going home in the beginning but decided it wasn’t feasible. Claire turned her attention to Arianna.
“Have you eaten anything today?” she asked while feeling her head. Her fever had come down slightly.
“No, I’m not hungry.”
“Nonsense. You need to eat. I’ll go make you something.” She went into Arianna’s kitchen to find something to make and called Ava to help her.
∞∞∞
Caleb and Aryl went to look for firewood together after dinner. They came home with only a few pieces each.
The next evening, Caleb stopped in his tracks a block from the building and hit Jonathan on the arm with the back of his hand.
“There’s the Packard again,” he said with a nod.
Jonathan looked up and grumbled under his breath.
“Let’s just keep walking. No matter what, just ignore her,” Aryl suggested. Jonathan nodded, put his head back down and walked fast. She exited the car before he passed this time and blocked his path.
“Jonathan! What happened to you!” she yelled, trying to reach out to touch his face. He pulled his head away and tried to side step her. She kept up pace beside him.
“Jonathan, why won’t you let me help you? Why won’t you let me take you away from all this? You deserve so much better,” she whined. He stopped and glared at her.
“Go away, Ruth,” he snapped before he turned onto the stoop of his building.
Inside, Caleb stopped him at the door with a grab of his coat.
“Now if I were you, I’d go right in and tell her Ruth showed up,” Caleb suggested. Jonathan looked irritated.
“Caleb’s right. In fact, why don’t we go in with you?” Aryl insisted.
∞∞∞
“I have to tell you something,” Jonathan started. Ava was surprised and slightly confused to see all three men walk through the door. “Ruth showed up again outside this evening.” Ava’s smile dropped, her ears burned red and she crossed her arms tightly. “The only two words I said to her were go away. And then I walked away.”
“He’s telling the truth, Ava. We saw it,” Aryl said.
“What did she say this time?” Ava asked. He shifted uncomfortably. He hated repeating Ruth’s words.
“She just went on like she did before, just a few sentences . . . .” He trailed off, praying she would drop it.
“What were her exact words, Jonathan?” Ava insisted. He looked at Caleb and Aryl helplessly, but they could provide no relief.
“She asked what happened to me. She asked why I wouldn’t let her help me get out of here and said that I deserved better than this,” he said, finishing with a sigh. Ava said nothing. She stared at him with clenched teeth and took a moment to remind herself that Jonathan had been honest, so she shouldn’t be angry with him. Her anger was with this woman, who wouldn’t stop approaching her husband.
When she could speak with kindness in her voice, which took several minutes, she looked at Jonathan.
“Thank you for telling me,” was all she could manage.
Jonathan and Ava spent another tense, silent evening eating dinner, watching the fire and then trailing off to bed separately.
∞∞∞
After Jonathan left for work the next morning, Ava sat down with pen and paper. She closed her eyes to better visualize Ruth’s notes. Having only looked at them briefly and in anger, she had difficulty recalling the details of the information. She wrote down what she could remember: a park, fountain of lovers, something about a dog, three o’clock in the afternoon. What days? She huffed her breath in frustration and threw the pen down. She suddenly remembered that Arianna had seen the notes, too. She threw her sweater on, grabbed the paper, and prayed that Arianna would remember enough to make a difference.
∞∞∞
“Ava.” Arianna opened the door, still a little sick but on the mend.
“I need your help,” Ava said before Arianna could greet her. She walked in and spun around to face her. “Those notes,” she started, “from Ruth. I’m trying to remember the information, but there are pieces missing. I was hoping since you looked at them that you might remember the things I can’t.”
“Why would you want to do that, Ava?”
“I plan on going there. I’m going to tell her to her face to leave Jonathan alone,” she said, and handed her the paper. “Here’s what I remember. Can you add anything to it?” she asked hopefully.
“I can do better than that,” Arianna said, smiled and went to the bedroom. Ava followed and leaned on the doorjamb while Arianna dug in a drawer of her beautiful vanity. She pulled the original note from under her delicates. She held it up between two fingers, and Ava’s mouth fell open.
“You have it! Why did you keep it?” she asked, amazed and grateful.
“I thought you might want it eventually. If it were me, I would definitely want to make an appearance,” she said. Ava op
ened it and saw she would be there on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at three o’clock to walk her dog around the fountain in the center of the park. Arianna was reading it from over her shoulder.
“You know, today is Friday,” she said and grinned deviously.
“It is,” Ava said. “I think I’ll take the trolley there today and make my appearance.”
“Be careful. Unless you don’t want to go alone.”
“No, I wouldn't mind, but you’re still sick, and this won’t take long. I’ll just show up, introduce myself and tell her she needs to stop approaching Jonathan. I’m sure that will put a stop to it. Any decent woman wouldn’t continue to pursue a man after being confronted by his wife.”
“I wouldn’t count on her being a decent woman,” Arianna said with a snort.
“Oh! I have no idea what she looks like. How will I know her?” Ava asked, suddenly worried.
“She has blond hair and blue eyes, full lips and a round face that’s more cute than beautiful. She’s very tall, almost as tall as me. And she has really big . . .” She put her hands up to her chest and grabbed her breasts.
“Lovely,” Ava commented under her breath and rolled her eyes.
“You sure you want to do this alone? Claire and I would be happy to come.” Arianna raised her eyebrows, hopeful. Ava shook her head.
“This is mine to do. Thank you, but I’m not going to burden you or Claire.” She hurried home to get ready to catch the trolley that would put her at the park just before three o’clock.
∞∞∞
Ava found the fountain in the center of the park easily enough. A beautiful, marble bowl’s edge held four cherubs with harps that faced inward. The water to the center spray and the cherubs long since had been shut off for the winter. A gravel path dusted with snow encircled it. A few pair of snuggling lovers strolled along it despite the cold. Park benches built intermittently around the path faced the fountain and shrubbery hugged the backs of the benches all around, which provided a protective barrier from the wind. The manicured shrubbery broke at the north and south of the circle for entrance and exit.
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