by Ann Mullen
Several months ago, Abigail, Isabel and Randy Morgan came into our lives. They were Claire’s neighbors when she lived with her husband, Carl, the scumbag, in Washington, D.C. They still live there.
Things change and Carl is basically no longer in my picture. Claire has the house and Randy.
Abby (who insisted from the start that I call her by a more personal, shortened version—which she never suggested Claire do) and Isabel are two delightful sisters. They’re a little older than Mom and they argue like sisters do. Abby is the outspoken one and runs the show, while Isabel is the more subdued one and follows… most of the time. That pecking order was established a long time ago. Isabel is a widow and Abby’s husband, Pete, plays golf all the time, so they spend all their time together.
Just before their appearance, we met Detective Frank Trainum. He’s a D.C. cop, and all I can say is that I convinced him I was an honorable person. It took a little work—we certainly didn’t meet under the best circumstances—but in the end, my charming personality won him over.
Mom immediately turned and walked to the back of the house. She disappeared into the nursery and came out carrying a blue duffel bag containing the electric breast pump given to me by Claire (who, at the time, said I would really thank her for that gift later). We’ll see. Mom walked up and set the bag down by my feet.
I had to laugh. “You’re such a good mother. You’re always here when I need you.” Then I started to cry.
“It’s starting,” Claire said. “Post-partum depression. Nobody has such an easy delivery without paying for it in some other way. I knew you were very lucky.”
“That’s nonsense,” Mom said. “Don’t go putting those ideas in Jesse’s head. She’s just glad to be home. I was the same way with every one of my kids. Don’t listen to her, honey.” Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
But everything wasn’t fine. I cried for three straight days. The first day I cried when Jonathan came home from the hospital. Then I cried when Ethan cried and I cried when he didn’t. I cried because I just knew he was going to come down with some fatal disease. I cried because I was afraid he was going to get beat up when he went to school. I cried when I thought about him going off to college and leaving us. I cried… and cried… and cried. Then miraculously, on the fourth day, the crying stopped.
“I tell you, Minnie, Jesse’s lucky,” I heard Sarah whisper to Mom while they were standing in the kitchen. “I really thought she was going through post-partum depression, just like Claire said.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Mom whispered. “I even looked it up on the internet after the third day.”
Billy had gone to work. He didn’t want to leave and I didn’t want him to go either, but somebody had to make a living and pay for my new car. I laughed when he said that just before walking out the door.
“I can hear y’all,” I said, rising from the sofa where I had been sitting with Maisy by my side and Ethan in my arms. “I’m going to put Ethan in his crib and Maisy in hers. They’re both ready for a nap. Anybody want to give me a hand?”
The phone rang as I walked toward the kitchen holding Ethan, with Maisy holding onto my leg.
“Let me help you,” Mom said as she came to my rescue.
“I want to help, too,” Sarah said as she walked toward us.
“I’ll get that,” Claire said, walking over to the kitchen and then picking up the receiver from the wall phone.
As Claire answered the phone I was thinking of how much I disliked that old thing. It protruded from the wall at face level and the cord always hung down low enough for the cat to swat at. Once Maisy came into our lives, I stopped at the store one day and bought a shorter cord.
Besides, nobody has those old phones anymore… except Mom and us. Both of us have other phones, but neither one has taken the time to rid ourselves of the dinosaur attached to the wall. One of these days I’m going to dispose of that thing.
Claire refused to go back to D.C. once my crying spell started. She told us she just wanted to be around our new bundle of joy, but I knew better. She was worried about me and wanted to be here in case she had to strong arm me into going to the doctor and getting some pills.
Mom picked up Maisy. “I’ll carry her,” she said. “You have your hands full. You really shouldn’t be lifting anything so soon after having a baby.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
We were still busy making a fuss over Ethan and Maisy when Claire hung up the phone. She turned to us and said, “Another member of that club has died.”
“What?” I asked, stunned.
“That was Billy on the phone and he’s with Russ Shank at the hospital. Alice Aikens was killed in a car wreck.”
“Oh, no,” Mom cried. “Not her! Please tell me there’s been some mistake.”
“I’m afraid not, Mom,” Claire said. “Billy said she was run off the road. She was on Middle River Road one mile past Daisy’s house when it happened. She was on the phone with Billy at the time. He said she told him she had just left Daisy’s house. She also said they had a terrible argument. She accused her of murder and said she wouldn’t give up until Daisy was either dead or in jail. She would expose her no matter what the cost. Then she saw Daisy’s car in her rearview mirror.”
“How awful!” I said. “Everybody give Ethan and Maisy a kiss so I can put them to bed, and don’t talk about this until I get back. I’m tired of being left out. I feel great and I’m ready for action. Come on, Mom. Let’s go. I don’t want to miss a thing.”
I did feel great and I was ready to get involved.
Athena and Thor jumped to their feet.
“Not you guys,” I said. “No offense, but I don’t want your tongues on my children.”
“Yeah, sure,” Claire said with a chuckle. “I can just see you now running around, jumping fences and sliding down hills. How about a good B&E?”
“I can do it!”
“I’m sure you can.”
We left the room, put Ethan in his crib and Maisy in hers, and then closed the door slightly. As we walked back into the kitchen, Claire and Sarah had just sat down at the table and were sipping coffee.
“Would you like a cup?” Mom asked me. “I can fix you a cup of decaf in the microwave. It’ll be instant coffee, but...”
“Sure,” I replied. I looked from one to the other as Mom walked over to the counter and fixed my coffee. “Hey, where are the kids, Claire?”
“As soon as they finished breakfast they ran to the back of the house to the den so they could watch cartoons on that big television set of yours. I’ll never be able to pry them away from it. Carrie wants to know why ours is so small and Benny wants one just like yours. I guess I’ll have to let them live here with you.”
“That’s fine with me,” I said.
Claire looked up at me in surprise. “I do believe you’re serious. You sure have changed. I actually think you would let them live here.”
“I would,” I replied. “Why not? This house is now big enough for the whole family.”
“I’m not going to live here all the time,” Mom said as she handed me a cup of coffee. “I like my freedom too much.”
I looked at her and smiled. “Sure, sure,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Getting back to business—let’s have it.”
Claire continued with the details. “Daisy slammed into the back of Alice’s car in a curve. Alice went over an embankment and down into the stream, but not before she clipped a couple of trees first. ‘Get her, Billy. Stop her before it’s too late,’ she screamed to Billy before the line went silent.”
“It’s already too late,” Mom shouted, stunning us all. She stood and paced the floor. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s war now! We’re going to put that woman behind bars! Alice Aikens was a decent, Christian woman. She didn’t deserve this. She was trying to get to the truth.”
“Looks to me as if she did, Mom,” I said. “It’s a shame she had to pay such a high price
to find it.”
“I’m so angry I don’t know what to do with myself,” Mom cried. “I don’t think I’ve been this mad in a long time.” She looked straight at me. “I’m going to get that woman if it’s the last thing I ever do! How can a person be so bad?”
I looked at Mom and could tell something was wrong. She didn’t look right. Her face was red as a beet and the vein on her forehead was bulging. The sight of her scared me.
“Hold on a minute,” I said, getting up from the table. “You need to sit down, Mom. Your face is all red. Don’t let this get you flustered. We’ll…”
Mom crossed her arms over her chest and then reached out to grab the kitchen chair. She sat down and said, “I feel a little nauseated and I have this awful pressure in my chest. Maybe, I should go lie down. All of a sudden, I feel exhausted.”
I went to her and asked, “Can you breathe?”
“I’m having a hard…”
“Call an ambulance,” I screamed out. “Okay, Mom, just remain calm. Everything’s going to be all right.” Tears ran down my face and landed on her blouse.
The dogs started howling.
“Shut up!” I screamed at them. I glanced their way and saw them retreat to their corner. “I’m sorry,” I cried. “I didn’t mean to yell at…”
“Don’t call an ambulance. It’s probably just a case of heartburn. If I could lie down for…”
“We’re calling an ambulance, Minnie,” Sarah said coming over to Mom. She placed her hand on her shoulder. “Just to be on the safe side.”
Claire came over and knelt down beside Mom. “The ambulance is on the way. Just hang in there, Mom.”
“But I’m fine. I just need to lie down for a minute. I’ll be …”
“You’re showing classic signs of a heart attack. We’re not going to lose you just because you don’t want to go to the hospital. I know you hate them, but we’re not taking any chances.”
Even though it had only been a few minutes before the ambulance arrived, it felt like hours. The emergency crew rushed in and took over. We stepped back out of their way, huddled together and prayed. Within minutes they had Mom on oxygen and were out the door. Just before they left, I saw Mom close her eyes. My heart skipped a beat.
The big, burley guy with a mustache came over and said, “I think she’s going to be fine. You did the right thing by calling us. Sometimes people wait too long. Most of the time they think it’s just a case of heartburn or indigestion.”
“Do you think it’s a heart attack?” I asked the EMT.
“We won’t know anything until we get her to the hospital.”
I looked over at Sarah and Claire.
“I didn’t know what to do.”
Claire hugged me and said, “Yes, you did, Jesse. You recognized there was something seriously wrong and you convinced Mom to go to the hospital. I’d hate to think what would happen if she’d been alone. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t like her living by herself. She should sell that house in Dogwood Valley and move in here permanently. She loves it here. I know she does.”
“Good luck on that one,” Sarah said. “Minnie’s not going to give up her freedom. That house is the last home she shared with Mack. She’ll never let go of that place.”
I was shaking all over when the EMT asked which one of us was going to the hospital with Mom.
“I’ll go,” Claire said. “You need to stay here with your newborn baby.” She looked at Sarah. “Will you stay and…”
“I’ll take care of the kids and Jesse,” Sarah said. “You go ahead.”
Claire grabbed her purse and ran out the door behind the EMT.
“Hey,” I yelled. “Where are you taking my mother?”
“UVA Hospital,” the EMT yelled back.
Sarah and I stood in the middle of the room. I cried while she tried to comfort me as we listened to the sirens blasting down the driveway. Finally, they were gone and the silence in the air was like the quiet on a dark night of a new moon. It was an eerie feeling… a feeling of doom.
It didn’t take long for my anger to get the best of me.
“I’m a good person. I wouldn’t hurt a soul, but I’m telling you, Sarah, if anything happens to my mother because of that crazy woman, I’ll kill her myself. I’m sorry for talking like that…”
“That’s okay, Jesse,” Sarah said, patting me on the back. “It takes a lot to offend me. Remember, I have four grown sons and they are just like their father! Thank goodness my two girls are the calm ones in the bunch. They take after me.”
I smiled at the thought.
Mom’s purse was on the desk in the living room and we could hear the musical chime her cell phone made when it rang.
“I’ll get it,” she said. “You need to sit and calm down. I’m sure your mother won’t mind if I go into her purse.”
I walked over to the sofa and sat down. I felt numb and disoriented as if I didn’t know what to do with myself. It seemed as if I was in another world. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I had to go be with my mother, but first, I had to get myself together. Normally, I would run out of the house in a flash, but now, I had obligations. I had a newborn and a toddler who was almost a year old. It wasn’t so easy anymore. I had things to do. If I wanted to go somewhere, I had diaper bags to get ready.
Sarah punched a button, closed up the phone, and then walked over and put it back in Mom’s purse.
“That was Daisy Clark. She wanted to talk to your mother, but I told her she wasn’t here. I didn’t know what else to say. Also, I turned the phone off.”
“That was a good idea. Thanks, Sarah. You did fine with Daisy,” I assured her. “I’m glad it wasn’t me who answered the phone. I probably would’ve gone off on her. I don’t want her anywhere near my mother. I need to call Billy and tell him about Mom. I need to hear his voice.”
I grabbed the portable phone from the desk in the living room and started to dial Billy’s cell number, but stopped when I realized that he had probably turned it off. The hospital doesn’t allow cell phone usage. They have signs posted everywhere saying so.
I punched in his number and when the recorded message came on, I hit the off button and then punched in the stored number for UVA. If he wasn’t there, then I’d try Martha Jefferson Hospital. He had to be at one of them. The operator came on and I asked her to have Billy Blackhawk paged. A couple of minutes later, Billy answered the phone.
“It’s me, Jesse,” I said to him. “Mom’s on her way to UVA. I think she’s had a heart attack. The ambulance should be there soon. Don’t leave. I’m on my way.”
“Ask my mother to stay and watch the kids. I’ll meet you at the entrance to the parking garage. Calm down and drive the speed limit. I’ll be here waiting for you. Try not to worry, Jesse. Your mom is a strong lady.”
“I know,” I replied. “Mom is pretty tough.”
“Are you going to be all right?”
“I’m fine; it’s Mom that I’m worried about. She was really upset about Alice Aikens. She yelled, her face turned red, and then she almost fell out. If Mom had a heart attack, it’s Daisy’s fault! Daisy caused it! I’m going to kill that woman!”
“Take it easy, Jesse. Is everyone else okay?”
“Yes, they’re fine. Oh, Daisy Clark called Mom on her cell phone right after they took Mom away. Your mother took the call and told her Mom wasn’t here. I guess it took your mom by surprise, because she didn’t know what to say. But she handled the situation well. I’m glad. We sure don’t want that lunatic to come over here. I’m afraid I might choke that woman to death!”
“Get yourself together, `ge ya. You need to calm down before you get into a car.”
“I will, Billy. Please check on Mom. I’ll be there in about an hour.” I hung the phone up and turned to Sarah. “Would you stay with the kids?”
“Go,” she said. “I’ve got everything under control. I’ll call the chief and get him to come over and stay with us. Don’t worry; we’ll be
fine.”
I gave her a hug and said, “You’re so terrific. I’m glad you’re part of my family.”
I grabbed my purse and headed to the hospital. I cursed under my breath the whole way. I knew if anything happened to my mother, Daisy Clark would be breathing her last breath. I would kill her sure as the day is long… and the world would be less one evil person.
Chapter 7
According to the doctor in the ER, Mom had suffered a mild heart attack, but was going to be all right. After we explained the circumstances of her attack and what had led up to it, he suggested she refrain from any undue stress in the future. That statement, added to everything else that was building up in me since Jonathan was shot, put my anger level at an all-time high. Stress was a hard thing to control. I, of all people, knew that firsthand. Anger, stress and ignorant people (who make stupid remarks) were some things I had a hard time dealing with. I just let his comment roll off me. I figured he meant well.
They inserted a stent to open one of Mom’s arteries, allowing a better flow of blood to the heart. She was released from the hospital two days later. She joked about the surgery when she got home, saying she was as good as new. She had clear arteries now. I didn’t find it the least bit funny, but I didn’t say a word, because I knew it was her way of dealing with what had happened.
After a delicious Sunday dinner cooked by Claire and Billy, we all sat around in the family room discussing what to do next.
Maisy was in the playpen, playing with her toys, while Ethan, barely two weeks old, slept peacefully in the bassinet in one corner of the room. Sarah, Chief Sam, and Jonathan had joined us for dinner. The rest of Billy’s family had plans they couldn’t change since the invitation was such short notice. And, of course, Claire, Benny and Carrie were still with us.
“We have to go home tomorrow,” Benny said. “We have school.”
“We’ll miss you,” I said. “This place won’t be the same without you guys.” I bent down and gave him and his sister a kiss on the cheek.