by Henry Givens
CHAPTER FIVE
Olivia froze when she heard Fred’s statement. Her face got hotter and she knew that it must have been beet red. Arthur had been trying to tell her in ‘Arthur babble’ about all the excitement he had that afternoon. But, when he saw the look on his mom’s face change as quickly as it did, he knew something was wrong. As red as Olivia’s face got, Arthur’s began to pale. “Mom” he asked as timidly as he dared, “is something wrong?”
There was a small standoff between Olivia and her son. Fred’s voice was calling on the other end, “Olivia? Olivia? Are you OK? Can you hear me?”
Olivia’s mind was racing between several things. Fred’s statement, ‘He’s here’ could only mean one thing. Arthur didn’t know anything about the person they were talking about. There was no time to explain it to him right now. She didn’t know what she could explain to him that would make any sense. Then again, she didn’t know a whole lot and Fred was trying to tell her something. She had to get away from Arthur so she could talk freely to Fred without Arthur’s inquisitive ears overhearing something that may or may not be…….
Panic. That’s what she was in right now, real border-line panic. Olivia was torn between two things that were equally important. She stammered into the phone, “H-hold on for just a minute. Let me walk outside.”
She held the phone away for a minute and went to one knee until she was eye-to-eye with her son. Her hands were shaking and her voice was quivering as she tried to act like she was in control, “Honey, this is a very important phone call to….uh… Mommy right now.” A tear escaped the confines of her eye lid. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was a tear that she didn’t want her son to see. He tended to go all to pieces when he saw his mother crying and he was just about there right now.
She put the phone on the floor and held onto his shoulders and consoled him, “No, no, no, it’s not bad, sweetheart. I promise you, it’s not bad.” She forced a smile and when she did, the excitement of the moment began to get to her as she continued, “In a way, this could be the best news ever. Oh, Arthur. This could be…….” She took a hand and wiped away tears from both cheeks. Then, she held him in her arms cheek-to-cheek and she began to babble a little herself, “I didn’t know…..well, none of us knew..we just thought and hoped. That maybe…..that there was always…….a chance. And, it could be right now.”
As she pulled away from her son she gave him some orders, “But, baby, I’ve got to go outside onto the porch to talk to …….., uh, this guy. And I need you to promise me that you’ll watch out after Wendy and don’t eavesdrop on me now cause…….I WILL tell you….but. Oh, you know what I mean, don’t you, Sweetie?”
“But, it’s nothing bad, though?” Arthur asked as he shook his head no.
As Olivia shook her head also, she said, “No, no, no. This could be the news that I have been praying for….for…..forever.” She finished with a happy giggle.
With his mother’s laugh, Arthur finally relaxed. “OK, Mom,” he said as he hugged her neck, “you just go out there and get that good news and I’ll take good care of my little sister.”
“That’s my man,” she bragged as she kissed him on the cheek. She picked up the phone, headed out the door and blew Arthur a kiss as she closed it behind her.
As per the rules of the game, Arthur acted like he caught it and slapped it onto his cheek with a loud “pop.”
He then turned his attention to his little sister Wendy. “OK, little lady. It’s just you and me and o-o-o-o-o-o-o what a mess you are.” He went to the sink and dampened a small washcloth and he and Wendy began to play at washing her food-splattered face. He wound the cloth around his finger and acted like he was tickling her face and then her neck and then a spot on her arm. As always, she fell for it hook, line and sinker. She laughed and giggled at the game while Arthur was wisely getting rid of every scrap of food that had found its way to her body.
Olivia closed the door behind her and said into the phone as she crossed the back porch, “Fred? Are you still there?”
“Yes, but are you alright?”
“Well, other than practically falling apart in front of my son,” she acknowledged. “I must have looked like Mrs. Frightmare herself by the look on his face. But, Fred who is he?”
Fred took a deep breath before he spoke. He had it all planned out in his mind how he would say it, but when he began to put it into words, the reality of what he was saying began to play with his emotions. He stammered, “It’s………my best friend…….and your……grandfather.”
She froze again as she heard Fred’s normally clear and strong voice become like Jell-O as he tried to talk. With understandable anxiety, she chided him, “Are….are you sure? Fred, how can you be sure? You can’t…..Arthur said this is the first time he had seen him. I mean it’s been years……”
Fred began to sob as he interrupted her, “It IS him. I (sob) just know it. His mannerisms….his eyes. Tom had (sob)……had this way of looking at you when he wanted to make a point. You know how someone will tilt their head down and look through the tops of their eyes? Well, Tom would do that and also tilt his head to one side. It’s him. I know it.” Fred stopped and took a deep breath to try to calm himself. He fought to continue, “Lord, I’ve got to get a hold of myself before somebody sees me, especially him. I told him to go order some coffee and he said he would get us a place by the window. Oh, Lord, help me.”
Something that hadn’t been said in the conversation dawned on Olivia. “Wait a minute. You said you that you knew it was him by watching his actions. Do you mean to tell me that he didn’t tell you his name?” she asked incredulously.
“That’s just it,” Fred began to explain. “He introduced himself as Tom Baxter. (sniff) He even showed me his military ID with the name ‘Tom Baxter’ on it.”
Olivia groaned real heavily, “Oh, mercy. Then it might not be him. The military doesn’t make mistakes on their documents do they?”
“Not necessarily,” Fred answered. “But, I have known the government to create alternative IDs for their counter-intelligence agents. And, when some of them retired they had to give them a different name to help protect them from our enemies.”
“But, why wouldn’t he want to use his real name? I mean, that’s who he is? Is he trying to hide something like those spies do?”
“Olivia, you’ve got to remember. Tom was listed as being killed in action. The government declared him dead. They paid Ellen his benefits and pension and all that. No, something has happened that we don’t know about. The government wouldn’t issue him an ID if he wasn‘t working for them,” he continued. “AND, the ID I saw showed that he has retired from the military service. There are some sensible pieces to this puzzle that we just haven’t found out, yet.
“And, there’s something else you need to know. He talked about Tom Dandridge as if he was a fellow in his platoon. He might be suffering from an identity disorder. He might not want to come back to be Tom Dandridge because of all that has happened to him.”
“Fred Lee, how can you say that?” Olivia demanded as her voice trailed off into tears. “Why…(sob), oh, my God…. would he want to be somebody else?”
“It’s either of two things,” Fred stated. “Number one, if he is suffering from some kind of trauma, he might not WANT to be Tom Dandridge. We might do him even more damage if we insist on bringing him to his real identity. Then again, he might be trying to come out of the trauma. If so, our best bet is to help him come out at his own speed. Number two, if he is NOT suffering from some trauma and had to take a different identity because of his supposed death, then he’s come here to try to find out if he has any family here. Our best bet is to talk to him and love on him and let the Lord bring about his recovery in the way He sees best.”
Hope and joy seemed like they had taken a giant step backward as fear began to try to break the door down. She gasped, “You mean to say that we might not get him back? He might not ever want to be my grandfather again?”
The onl
y thing Fred could do was to be brutally honest with her. His voice became a little stronger as he continued, “Olivia, I have seen the ravages of war do some strange things to the minds and emotions of those who have had to live through it. Some come out with happy endings and others stay lost in their fantasy world. All the mental help, medical help or love and attention can’t bring some of them back. They prefer to be somebody else that never went through the ordeal. Or, they’re stuck in the nightmare of reliving those battlefield horrors every day of their lives. That’s why a lot of Vets drink the way they do. They can’t focus on life because they can’t escape from what they saw. Some of them can’t forgive themselves for the things they were forced to do as soldiers.”
As she listened to what he was saying, her high hopes began to sink. She knew Fred was just being honest with her. He had never been one to beat around the bush when it came to saying something. The thought of having her grandfather one minute and then the possibility of never having him at all brought her back to tears. “Oh, my God, Fred, (sob) what are we going to do, now? I had my hopes up….but….but now….I don’t know how I'm supposed to feel.”
He continued, “There’s something else that could be a clue. He used a phrase that your grandfather used to use. When I pressed him on it, he pulled out his military ID and handed it to me so I could look at it as closely as I wanted to. It was almost as if he WANTED me to find him out. And Olivia, the ID listed his date of enlistment as 1954.”
“Oh, my gosh. That’s the same year that my daddy said he and grandma thought that he had come by the house. Fred, it’s got to be him. It’s just got to be him. That can’t be just a coincidence,” Olivia asserted.
Fred agreed, “I would almost stake my life on it. But, Olivia, we can’t just rush in on him and force him to admit it. If he is still suffering from being blown out of that ammo shed…..”
“Blown out of an ammo shed?” Olivia almost yelled. “Oh, no. Fred, you didn’t tell me that he…….”
“I know, I know,” he interrupted her again. “I’m so discombobulated that I…..I…..just..I’m having a hard time dealing with it myself.”
She tried to calm down, “Oh, I’m sorry Fred. We’re both just about beside ourselves with……whatever. Shock, joy, apprehension, something.”
He continued, “The bottom line is this, Liv. In my dealings with men in trauma, they have to come out at their own rate. They basically have to be understood, loved and just helped out and not forced out. Now, the other side of that COULD be that he is perfectly fine. He just might be totally embarrassed about coming back to face people after he had been declared dead. And, it IS possible that he is just embarrassed about the fact that he hasn’t been back for fifty years. We just don’t know.”
"Oh, Fred, (sob) I hope that's it. I hope and p-pray that's it. Oh, dear Jesus, You just gotta bring him back," she sobbed. As she tried to absorb it all, she absent-mindedly began to pace back and forth on the porch. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Arthur and Wendy at the window. Through her tear-filled eyes she saw a smiling Arthur busy trying to get Wendy to wave at her. When he turned around to look at her, the smile fell from his face. That something’s-wrong-I-know-it look took its place. Frantically, Olivia tried to smile, wave and mouth the words, “It’s Ok. It’s Ok.” But, Arthur wasn’t buying it.
Arthur painted a smile back on his face as best he could and mouthed “OK” back to her. Hurriedly, he put his sister in her playpen and put in her favorite toys for her to play with. He ran through the kitchen to the utility room where Samson was impatiently waiting to be let out. Arthur could hear the sound of his claws dancing on the vinyl flooring. He turned the handle of the door and opened it just wide enough to let him out. A couple of inches were all Samson needed to wriggle through the door. Without being told to, he bounded into the dining room and dutifully cleaned up Wendy’s high chair and surrounding floor area.
Arthur knew that Samson’s next move would be to go into the living room where Wendy was already calling for him. He would lie down on the floor in front of the play pen and whine at Wendy until she threw something out for him to fetch. Then she would laugh and giggle at her best friend as he happily returned the toy. The game would go on for hours.
Arthur knew that he could trust Samson to keep Wendy fairly quiet and absolutely occupied for quite some time. He dashed into his bedroom and picked up the cell phone that they allowed him to use while he was at the house and punched in his dad’s cell phone number.
Ryan caught it on the first ring, “How’s my best buddy doing? Did you have a good football practice?”
In almost panic mode, Arthur chose to ignore his dad’s questions. “Dad, how far are you away from home? Are you very far away?” he asked on the verge of tears.
Ryan noticed a little quiver in his voice and responded, “I’m about two minutes away, son. What’s wrong? Is somebody hurt?”
“I don’t know, Dad. All I know is that Mom’s out on the back porch talking with somebody on the phone and she’s crying harder than I’ve seen her cry since Grandma and Grandpa got killed. But, she said not to come out there. It’s like she doesn’t want me to hear what she’s saying. I‘m scared, Dad. I‘m scared that something might be bad wrong.”
Ryan tried to calm his son while at the same time keep his own nerves from going to pieces. His wife was a very strong woman. It was not like her to be as upset as Arthur described. To top it off, Ryan had no clue in this world as to what could have upset her. “Ok, pardner,” he said calmly. He made a point to talk a little bit slower and keep a low tone to help settle his son down. His mind kept a steady stream of talk going while he was driving the last little bit to the house. “Just a couple of more blocks and I’ll be pulling into the driveway. I’m sure everything is going to be OK. Hang loose for a few minutes. I’ll be right there and find out what‘s happening. Now you know that sometimes your mother gets upset real quickly over stuff that really isn’t worth worrying about. Then, we would have a little talk and everything would be just fine. Ok, I’m just one block from the house. I love you, son.”
“I love you, too, Dad and thanks.”
Ryan pulled into the driveway and saw his wife standing on the back porch. She held the phone in one hand and had her other arm tucked across her midsection. Yes, she had a very distressed look on her face. And, yes she was still crying. However, when she saw him pull into the driveway, she slowly walked down the steps and walked toward the driver’s side of the car. At least there wasn’t any extreme emergency. But, Arthur was right. Something very serious was going on.
As he stepped out of the car, he heard her say, “OK……..OK.. Yes. I can do that. No, it won’t be any problem at all. You’re just going to have to keep him busy for an hour. This has got to be my best batch you know.” She laughed through her tears.
Sheepishly, she smiled at her husband and he held on to her and vainly tried to wipe the tears from her face. Her Prince Charming smiled back at her and pulled his handkerchief out and handed it to her.
She rolled her eyes and said to Fred, “Dear God in Heaven, well, you know that Arthur would go for that for sure. He hasn’t stopped talking about him since he got home. This phone call interrupted the most amusing ‘Arthur babble’ I’ve heard from that boy in a while.” She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Arthur had watched his dad come up. Then, he saw his mom laugh. Whatever made her cry can’t be all bad. He breathed a sigh of relief and wandered into the living room. He knew that his mom and dad would stay outside until they had discussed it. Then there would be the hugging and kissing and the mom and dad talk. Arthur was just not interested in seeing it.
Fred’s voice almost sparkled with hope as he offered to, “Oh, Olivia, it just dawned on me that Arthur could be the key that helps us unlock him from his prison.”
“What?”
“Well, he and Tom hit it off from the very start. You should have seen them in the park. The loo
k on Tom’s face as he and Arthur were talking reminded me of the look that he would get when we were planning some kind of prank. And, get this. He doesn’t know that you and Arthur are related to him, yet. His guard will be down and receptive to all of the love we can pile on him. I tell you, Arthur is our key to his heart.”
Olivia listened as the excitement in Fred’s voice almost electrified their conversation, “Oh, my gosh, Fred, something tells me you are absolutely right. I’ll send him right over just as soon as Ryan and I can come up with a plausible story as to why I had a meltdown,” she said as she leaned over to give her hubby a kiss. “I guess the best thing I could do is just give you a call when it’s just about ready, huh?” She listened to the phone a second and replied, “Well, okey dokey then. It’s a plan. Call you in a bit. Bye.”
“So, what’s going on?” Ryan asked as he was finally able to slip both of his arms around her. “Is everything alright?”
Olivia slid her arms around his neck and responded with a smile, “Well, yes and no. Fred seems to think that he and Arthur have met my grandfather.”
His eyes brightened at the news, “Why, Honey, that’s great. Isn’t it?”
Her smile faded a bit as she continued, “Bu-u-u-t, he introduced himself as Tom Baxter not Tom Dandridge. He even produced a military ID with Baxter on it.”
“H-m-m-m. What did Fred suggest that we do? I overheard portions of a plan.”
“He asked this guy to have a cup of coffee with him at the bakery. Luckily, he got an e-mail on his phone. He sent Tom on ahead to get a couple of seats saved and get Ed to put on a Fred Lee pot of coffee while he called me.”
“That’s Fred Lee, alright.”
“Yeah, I know. Well, Fred said that we need to spend some time with him to see if he will open up. This guy has been through some bad war stuff and may or may not want to admit who he is. So, the best way Fred thought we could do it was to invite him for supper.” Then with a fake haughty look she continued, “And he figures that a couple of platefuls of my super-great-delicious spaghetti would be just the thing to do it.”
“I do believe Fred is right. A good portion of your award-winning recipe will bring anybody to their right mind,” Ryan agreed.
“Here’s the problem. We’ve got to find a way to keep this guy here long enough for me to fix up a batch and get him to come to supper.”
“O-o-o-o-o-o, that could be the tricky part.”
“Oh, no it’s not. We just sick our number one son on him. Fred said to send Arthur to the bakery. He said that the two of them hit it off great in the park. And, you know Arthur. He’ll have more than an hour’s worth of questions. Seems this Tom knows a little about martial arts and Arthur is itching to talk to him. Not to mention, if we put the bug in his ear about inviting this guy and Fred over for supper…” she let the answer hang in the air.
“Fred is pure genius, Honey,” Ryan declared as he kissed his wife. “But, did he tell you how to explain stuff to Mr. Twenty thousand questions himself?” he asked as he saw Arthur watching all wide-eyed from the window.
Olivia mumbled quickly, “I’ve only come up with one idea. Just catch on and let’s run with it.”
Arthur’s curiosity was more than getting the best of him. When he saw his dad kiss his mom, he knew that it was safe for him to come out. And, did he ever have the questions. He jumped the stairs of the back porch and ran up to his parents. He gave his dad a big hug and said, “Hey, Dad. I’m sure glad you’re home.” He looked up at his mom and asked, “Mom, are you feeling any better?”
She patted her precious on his head and said with a smile, “Yes, dear. Mommy feels a whole lot better now that she has had a chance to talk with your father.”
Ryan nervously smiled and hoped that she wasn’t going to come up with something totally wild.
“You see, sweetie,” she started as she inwardly prayed, ‘Dear Jesus don’t let me tell a lie. Watch my tongue, please.’ “Uh……it IS possible that…….y-o-o-o-u-u might be getting a baby brother or a sister.” ‘Don’t hit me Jesus, it’s the best I could do. And, don’t make it come true just to get back at me either.’
A doubly surprised Ryan cleared his throat before adding with a broad smile, “How about that for a bit of news, son?”
“Mom, really? You did all that crying and carrying on about being pregnant? Dad, did she do that when she found out that she was pregnant with me?” He asked with a wide-eyed grin.
“Well, uh….Arthur,” Ryan thought real hard, “she was pretty flustered alright, but….uh…..in a different sort of way.”
“But, Mom…..,” Arthur started.
Olivia interrupted with a pretended haughtiness, “Pregnant ladies do not go bananas the same way in every pregnancy. If we’re going to be burdened with having to carry around a live being inside of us for nine strenuous months, then, by-golly we ought to be able to have whatever kind of hormone overrides we want. So there.”
Arthur looked at his dad with that I-don’t-really-understand-what-she-said look and asked, “Doesn’t sound like we have anything to say about it, huh, Dad?”
Ryan’s only reply was a snickering, “You’re sharp, son. You’re sharp.”
“Besides, I might not be, I just said that it’s a possibility,” she went on with her pretend haughtiness. “How many men in this group strongly believe that a possibly pregnant woman has needs that should be catered to?”
All two of the men in the group raised their hands.
She bent over and touched Arthur’s nose with her finger and demanded, “Then your job, right here and right now, Mr. Blister is to go back to town and invite this new guy….whatever his name is and Mr. Fred Lee to supper tonight. I know you want to talk to him so maybe you can get your fill over supper tonight.”
Lighting the Christmas tree at the Whitehouse didn’t hold a candle to the eleven-year-old that lit up in the back yard of the Hollis residence. It also created an ‘Arthur babble’ that registered 7.6 on the unintelligible scale.
Olivia’s hand went up. Arthur’s mouth shut tight. Olivia looked at both of them and asked, “Just where in Elmhurst would two old war horses be spending the afternoon?”
The two males within arm’s length of the questioner looked at each other and said in unison, “Drinking coffee at Ed’s Bakery.” This action caused a goodly amount of giggles from one of them.
The queen of the house commanded, “Then go and invite them and tell Fred I’ll call him when it’s ready.
Quicker than quick, Arthur flew off in the direction of the bakery. As the blissful couple stood arm in arm staring at the cloud of dust he left behind, Olivia commented, “I just said that it was a possibility not a probability.”
As they turned to walk back up the porch steps, Ryan replied, “Oh, I understand completely. “