by Jeff Seats
She wasn't much of a party girl though she wasn't a recluse either. Marion's only desire was to find a good man to marry and be the best mother and wife she could, which was a role modeled by her mother, but she was no pushover.
She never considered herself to be a “feminist” though her beliefs and politics leaned strongly in that direction. Marion just knew that her best contribution to her husband's success would be in helping form and maintain a supportive and loving home for her family. She didn't blame Wilson for the economic downturn that helped speed the demise of his company, but she wasn't blind to the mistakes that he made that weakened the foundations of the business making it vulnerable. Early in the company's troubles, Marion found that if she didn't at least take control of their home life, then Wilson was certain to experience a melt-down, and that wouldn't have done any of them any good.
“Hey!” 10B yelled.
Marion placed an arm around her daughter's shoulder and pulled her close. Something was going to happen between that loud mouth and the bus driver and she wished that they weren't there to have to witness it.
“I’m still here,” Dick yelled a bit louder.
I can see that. Asshole. Eddie thought and slowly closed his eyes trying to control his anger. He was a pot ready to boil over, but like his wife liked to remind him, it wasn't always necessary to be right especially if you're about to burst a vein in the side of your head. He could see her in his mind's eye and acknowledged her caution. Besides, Eddie knew that this situation was his own damned fault, no matter how much of an ass 10B was being. He took a deep calming breath, opened his eyes, stood and turned to the passengers.
Eddie took one step into the bus and addressed the trouble maker. “Sir, if you will just return to your seat I will resolve this issue and get us back on the road shortly.”
“What issue man?”
Eddie could feel the passengers watching him; eyes peeking over the seat backs and he knew what they were saying. He fucked up.
“Sir, uh, I'm sorry I don't recall your name.”
“Dick.”
Of course. “Uh, Dick, it appears that we are...lost. That is, I am not quite sure exactly where we are.”
This admission made the other passenger’s whispers turn into loud protests.
“And we’re almost out of gas.”
“What the...?” Dick took a menacing step towards the bus driver.
Paul rose up out of his seat and moved closer to the aisle.
Eddie gave Paul a quick wave off and redirected his attention back to Dick. The other passengers quieted down and turned their eyes towards the confrontation in the aisle.
“Sir, I said I would handle this so please sit down.”
Ellie quietly came up behind Dick and touched him. She tugged on his shirt to get him back to his seat. “Come on back to our seats Richard and let the driver do his job.”
Dick turned on Ellie and yelled into her face, “That’s just it. If he did his job, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!”
Ellie placed her hand on Dick’s shoulder and slightly pulled him in the direction of the rear of the bus. She murmured, “Come on sweetie...”
He yanked his shoulder away from Ellie’s grasp and shoved her away from him, pushing her into the row Paul was now standing in and into his arms; catching her before her momentum drove them both into the side of the bus. They stood face to face; for a moment Paul held onto her, keeping her on her feet. He stared into her eyes. She looked back into his, and for a split second, Paul felt a jolt of electricity.
“What do you think you’re doing pal?” Dick asked Paul.
Connection broken. Ellie freed herself from Paul’s steady grasp and slid out into the aisle where Dick pushed her back towards their seats. This time, when she stumbled, she fell heavily to the floor. Stunned by the fall, Ellie picked herself up and slunk back to her seat not making eye contact with anyone.
Dick and Paul locked eyes sizing each other up. There was a pregnant pause as each man waited for the other to do something. Then Dick broke out into a huge fake grin. With the wave of his hand, Dick blew off the incident like he had nothing to do with it and joined Ellie in the back of the bus.
Thus ended the first “battle” of the Pride of Ontario.
Paul watched Dick make his way back to the rear of the bus and sit. When he felt confident that there wasn’t going to be any further outbursts he turned and slowly lowered himself into his seat, cautiously, hoping that that was the end of the excitement for this trip, but he was trained for such things and awaited the next incident. It was the realist in him.
Paul Mathews was traveling to gather his thoughts about what he should do next with his life. He never thought too much about it, his life that is. Ever since 9/11, at the age of fourteen, the only thing that Paul could think about was joining the army and go off to defend his country. Well, maybe he also had an unyielding desire to get away from his stifling mother. To be fair, she became more protective of her only child after Paul's father died. She hovered over him with such a heavy hand that it kept him from forming any genuine and lasting friendships.
His high school years were a nightmare. His mother wouldn't let him do anything that might get him hurt. When Paul tried out for the football team in secret and got accepted, she marched him down to the coach's office where she made him tell Coach Parsons, to his face, that he was quitting the team. The coach could see the anguish in Paul's eyes at having to do this, and Paul appreciated how the coach handled the incident, but that didn't stop the guys from giving him crap. “Puss Boy”, or PB for short, was his nickname for the rest of his days at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington.
He smiled at the thought of Coach Parsons. The man knew the score when it came to understanding Paul's situation. He even convinced Paul's mother to let him be the team manager since nothing “harmful” could happen in that position.
Nothing damaging to the body, but the ribbing he received from the team could have been detrimental to his psyche had he been a weaker person. Instead, the taunting and towel snapping taught Paul how to behave and banter around men. He crossed over into full-on acceptance when he decided to strike back at his tormentors. That one day, before practice, when he got into their lockers early and applied a thick layer of the heat rub to all their jocks was sweet revenge indeed. After about thirty minutes the entire team had to make haste into the showers pulling off gear and jocks to wash away the burn. Instead of beating the crap out of Paul the team bowed down to PB, honoring his assault and from that point, he was one of them. His memory of catching the coach’s smile as the players were madly washing away the burn was the best since the death of his father.
The day after he graduated from high school Paul walked straight into the recruiting office and joined the army as his father had, finally doing something in which his mother had no say. The army was a good place for him to grow up. He never realized just how much his mother had shielded him from the world and the life choices that others make just in the everyday act of being a human. The army taught him to take the initiative, to achieve and grow as a man.
What Paul saw and experienced in Afghanistan began this process of self-reflection. Three deployments under his belt had placed a heavy burden on his soul. He loved the Army, and he wholeheartedly believed in its mission to protect the United States, but the destruction and death he witnessed and caused were always going to be apart of him. He needed to put things into perspective as well as rest his injured body after that IED blasted a Humvee out from under him.
This long deserved leave would help him, hopefully, decide on staying in the Army and taking the career path or to set out on new adventures. By his standards, he had all the time in the world to think on this since he didn't have to report back to Joint Base Lewis-McChord until the end of the week.
Paul looked up to the front of the bus and nodded to Eddie signaling that he had his back.
Eddie nodded back at Paul, signaling his thanks
, then wiped his brow and returned to his seat where he reached into his jacket pocket and brought out his cell phone. He swiped at the screen a few times. No signal. He turned around and held it at a different angle and still nothing. Under his breath, Eddie said, “Shit.” He turned back to the passengers.
««« ‡ »»»
AS EDDIE STOOD and turned his back away from the front of the bus to address the passengers, Kelvin saw something dark fly past the windshield outside, moving too fast for him to make out. It could have been a bird, maybe a bat. Perhaps the wind had picked up some leaves. Then it returned and wisped behind the bus driver past the windshield again from the opposite direction.
Kelvin looked around to see if anyone else saw what he did. No one seemed to have noticed. He nudged Jenna in the ribs and said to her under his breath, “Did you see that?”
“The bus driver? The 'all-American family?' I can’t see much with these seat backs blocking my view.”
“Something weird flew by the front of the bus.”
“It was a bird.”
“No. It wasn’t solid. It was...” He tried to show her with his fingers wiggling, intertwined, as he moved his hands apart and together in front of her face, “Like smoke coming off a campfire. See?”
Jenna brushed Kelvin’s hands away from her face. “No. I don’t see and neither did you.”
“I saw it! It was like black strings. No, like that Halloween, cobweb stuff you have to pull apart.”
“Shut up. You’re high.”
“No, I’m not. I told you I’m not doing that stuff anymore.”
««« ‡ »»»
EDDIE LOOKED BACK towards the passengers and saw that the comedy team was still at it. He shook his head not understanding how they could keep up their routine even in the face of bad news; then he raised his voice slightly to address all the passengers. Holding up his phone, Eddie announced, “Okay. I'm not getting any signal out here. Any of you have a better service than me?”
Wilson O'Neil shrugged his shoulders apologetically and his wife, looking at her phone, shook her head “no” as she returned it to her bag. Paul looked at his phone and gave a “no go” head shake. Eddie saw that pretty girl, Stephanie—funny how he remembered her name—in 8-A, searching her bag for her phone.
Kelvin called out, “I have one of those pay-as-you-go Walmart specials, but I'm sure I wouldn't get a signal out here even if I did have minutes left to use. Besides, my phone needs charging.” Jenna gave him a punch in the shoulder and Kelvin responded with a melodramatic silent “Ouch” and gave her one of those over exaggerated limp-wristed slaps back at her, “Bitch.” Then they hugged giggling to themselves.
Eddie gave the odd couple a sideways stare as they continued to carry on in their never-ending show and then an excited squeal slipped out of Stephanie’s mouth. “Found it!” She turned it on. “Hey! It looks like I have a signal.” She stepped into the aisle with her phone held out. The light from the screen highlighted the underside of her chin and nose giving her face an almost divine, angelic, glow.
Eddie stepped towards Stephanie but Dick hopped up and reached her first. He grabbed her hand seductively and looked at the screen. “Sorry beautiful but you ain't got nothin' too.” He moved his eyes from the phone to Stephanie’s body and gave her a quick once over. “Signal that is.” She smiled at the compliment. Dick gave her a wink and got a coy look back in response.
“Say, what’s your name?”
“Steph.”
“I’m Richard. Pleased to meet you.”
“Same.” Steph returned to her seat unaware or not caring that everyone had just watched the guy use one of the sleaziest of pick up lines in the history of man and right in front of his girlfriend.
««« ‡ »»»
FROM THE BACK of the bus, Ellie watched Dick go through the motions she had seen countless times before. She was used to it. Dick needed to feel wanted, and this was just a little game for him, only a flirtation like all the others. He always came back to her. That had to mean something. Right?
So Ellie sat with her eyes closed waiting for her boyfriend to return to his seat after he finished playing his little game. He always chose the back near the restroom because it’s secluded and far from prying eyes so he could “pass the time”.
Ellie Struthers grew up allowing others to take advantage of her, thinking that she didn't have the ability to stand up for herself. Her dad treated her mother and, at times, her like they were undeserving of decency and respect. And that continued into her mother's second marriage with yet another poor choice of life partners.
Ellie’s stepfather liked to say she reminded him of Sally Struthers, that ditsy blond actress on that 70’s TV show All in The Family. He always would refer to that actress whenever he was making a point about her appearance, like the way she wore her hair or her choice of clothes. It certainly didn’t help matters that her last name was Struthers, an ironic coincidence when combined with her blonde hair and good looks.
Ellie never understood what his fascination was with that old show except that maybe he had a crush on Sally Struthers in his early teens. She could almost envision him hiding in his bedroom, door locked, drapes drawn and looking through a fan magazine with pictures of her. It made Ellie shiver with disgust, especially when he stared at her breasts as he commented on her clothing selection. “That old Archie Bunker wouldn't allow his daughter out of the house in that tight of a blouse.”
These she considered the “good” memories of living with mom and that perv.
The really terrible stuff came when he entered her room after beating on her mother. Ellie could hear her sobbing away from down the hall as Mr. Shitburger, Dwayne, would throw open her door. No, these were definitely not good memories. Dwayne would open her closet and pull out the tight blouse and shorts that really seemed to get him going. He'd toss them onto her bed.
“Change.” He'd always say in a matter of fact tone.
She would always resist. Always. And he'd always reach out and slap her across the face. She would hesitate and then he would start to get furious. Ellie had seen mad like that with her real father and knew when to do what she had been told.
“Change. Now!”
Shaking, Ellie would undress and put on the clothes. Dwayne's breath would turn into quick panting as he watched. She always tried not to show him too much, but it was hard in her small room. Besides, Dwayne wanted to see her dressed as his fantasy from All In The Family.
When she had put on the “ungodly” clothes as Dwayne called them and then combed out her long blonde hair just so, he would lick his lips and then slowly close her door. She could hear her mother sob out, “NO!” And then it would be just her and him in the room.
“Move around slowly. Unbutton the top of your shirt. Bend over a bit.” He would watch her performance. It never took very long before he would unzip his pants. If you could bleach out a memory that would be the one but no amount of bleach could remove that image from her head.
Aside from the initial slap or two to get his point across, Dwayne never touched her sexually. He was a watcher and boy did he like watching. She could feel his eyes on her even if they weren't in the same room. She could never find it, but she was certain that there was a peep hole in the bathroom, and that enabled him to watch her while she showered. But she knew if she said anything about her suspicions it would bring about the beating of both her and her mother and Ellie was so tired of getting hit. She would do almost anything to keep that from happening again.
Despite her home environment, Ellie did well in school. It was the least she could do for her mom. She had so little to grab on to, and Ellie was determined to give her as much as she could. Getting good grades wasn't all. Ellie was on the debate team. She edited the yearbook and volunteered at a woman’s shelter. The irony was not lost on Ellie as she helped women who were not unlike her mother and her.
Not long after she started volunteering , Ellie began taking a self-defense class wh
ere she learned the basics and was rather impressed with herself with how well she picked it up. She believed that one day, this knowledge would save her mother from another horrific beating and maybe even keep her from having to see Dwayne’s wiener yet another time.
She was certain that there would be no way she would ever hook up with an abuser like her father and step dad were. No way.
Meeting Richard Conroy was a flotation device tossed to her sinking life. Perhaps a bit rough around the edges but he was from working class stock and rough is what you would expect. Not quite the captain of the football team but a very talented player who got a minor scholarship to a junior college down south of the Bay area. That was enough for Ellie, so she kissed her mother goodbye and gave Dwayne the finger as she closed the door behind her.
Ellie's life was just starting, and she wasn't going to look back. Except that she did. Her crying mother was looking out the window and cautiously giving her daughter a wave goodbye.
She opened her eyes and found that she was looking directly at that handsome man who held her a few rows up. And he was looking at her. Ellie quickly turned her gaze back to Richard.
Too late. He saw her looking at the guy. In a fury, Dick stomped back to their seats and shoved Ellie into the side of the bus. The pain wasn’t as bad as the humiliation, but Ellie held in a whimper not wanting anything further to happen; a hard lesson learned from years of abuse.
Dick then turned his attention to Paul and gave him a stern stare, a warning to not be looking at his girl. His property. Paul stood and stared back; not intimidated in the least. After a moment of an intense stare down Dick again cracked a slight smile and waved his hand like nothing had happened. With his eyes still looking at Paul, Dick deliberately moved in even tighter with Ellie and started whispering in her ear and kissing her lovingly on the cheek.