This is a story about gay love, so if reading such things is offensive to you or if it is not legal for you to do so, proceed at your own risk. This is fiction. All people, places and events are the product of the writer's own imagination. All rights are retained by the author.
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Sam, chapter 8
Lee lay awake a long time that night, thinking and worrying about Jay, mostly, but also reliving the visit they all had had over at the McMillans. That was the first he had seen Jay's mother and sister. The minute he saw Irene Evans, he could tell she had to be Jay's mother because Jay looked so much like her. But he could see very little resemblance to Jay in his sister Jenna. Even though she was four years younger, she was already at least as tall as Jay, and she had beautiful, thick, wavy auburn hair and big green eyes. She was certainly a striking looking girl. Lee assumed that neither of them knew about his and Jay's relationship, but he found Jenna looking at him a lot. More than once he would catch her staring at him, but whenever he caught her eye she would quickly look away. He didn't know, of course, that Jay had already confided in her about his love for Lee, hence her keen interest in him.
That had been a very emotional time for all of them in Mack and Sharon's living room, munching on popcorn and drinking tea or coke, and talking about Jay and the events of the evening that had had such an impact on them all. Naturally, there had been some speculation about what might have triggered Gene's sudden outbreak of violence toward Jay, but it remained an as yet unsolved mystery. Lee had noticed how Jay's mother seemed to draw closer and closer to Sharon and even to his own mother, little by little opening herself to them, letting down her guard and letting them in, as it were. He felt happy that their families were being drawn together that way, even if it was such an unhappy event that had thrown them together that night. Maybe with time, through his and Jay's and Sam's friendship and love, their families would eventually have come together, but the process had been greatly accelerated by Jay's being hurt. Lee's mother and Sam's parents had been `good neighbors', having lived next door to each other for several years, and were casual friends, but this event seemed to be bringing even their friendship to a new level somehow.
Lee was certainly not the only one that had a hard time getting to sleep that night, following the traumatic events of the evening, but it was worst of all for Irene. She didn't get to sleep at all. Perhaps no one among them had more to think about than she did, either. She didn't know what direction her marriage with Gene would take after that fateful day, but in any case she couldn't see how it could possibly continue exactly as before. She had always been at least half afraid of him; not because he had been physically mean to her, or violent, but she had always sensed the potential for violence just under the surface, and he had abused both her and the children relentlessly and mercilessly with his cruel tongue. Almost as soon as she had married him, she had woken up to the fact that he was extremely self-centered and hell-bound to have his own way. He couldn't tolerate even a hint of opposition to what he proposed or suggested or demanded. And if he made up his mind about something, or made some decision, that was the last word on the matter. She had always given in, had never questioned his word, and had never stood up to him. She was afraid to do otherwise, clear and simple. But she knew very well that he didn't respect her for it either. In fact, she doubted if he had any respect for her at all. And she doubted if he truly loved her. He seemed incapable of loving anyone, really. He had never shown love to the children either. They had instinctively followed her example in always appeasing him, bowing to his every wish and demand, tip-toeing around him to avoid rousing his displeasure in any way. And somehow, up until today, they had managed to keep from angering him to the point of physical violence. But something had apparently happened that day that had finally been the last straw. Irene didn't know what it was. She had wracked her brain ever since it happened trying to figure out what it might have been that had enraged Gene to the point of physically attacking Jay, but still she had no idea.
Irene loved her children. They were her life. She certainly had no happiness in her marriage. It was a loveless, joyless coexistence, nothing more, and she had never seen any remedy for it, nor any way out. But her children were everything to her. And she was extremely proud of them — proud of their intelligence, of their sweetness and goodness, of their exemplary behavior, even of their appearance. She had regretted over and over that she always let herself be so cowed and passive in the face of Gene's tyranny that she had failed to nurture them as she knew she should have and as she wanted to. Gene was always so quick to accuse her of pampering and coddling them, of over-indulging them, if he felt she was paying them too much attention. And if he refused to give her the money to buy them what they needed sometimes, for example, then they had gone without it. She had never fought him over it.
But Gene's violence against Jay that evening had been a wake-up call for her. She would not stand by and let him abuse and hurt her children. She was firmly resolved on that score and determined to stand her ground. She had been horrified, at first, at the hospital when Dr. Jordan had told her there would be an investigation and that steps would be taken to make sure there wasn't a repeat of what had happened. But afterwards, when she thought about it, she felt relieved by what he had said, and by the firmness of his resolve in the matter. It reassured her that she would have powerful allies on her side in her defense of her children. She made up her mind that if necessary she would even leave Gene and take the children away from him before she would permit them to be hurt by him again.
Lying there in that strange bed in that strange house, unexpectedly a guest of those up-till-now unknown but wonderful people who had rallied to the aid of her boy and of herself and Jenna so unselfishly and unreservedly and compassionately, wide awake in the dark of night, Irene examined herself and her life in a way that she never had before, reassessing her life and her goals. And she felt almost reborn. She could scarcely recognize the new Irene that she saw emerging, the more determined Irene, firmly resolved to exert herself and to fight for the well-being and safety of her beautiful children. Gene had always called her mousy, and she had soon come to see herself as mousy as well. She had lost the greater part of her self respect in her years of unquestioning subjection to her unreasonable and overly-domineering husband, and she had hardly any self-identity remaining. But no longer. The mouse was dead, and a lioness was emerging who vowed to stand her ground, letting nothing harm her young. As far as she was concerned, Gene could go to hell if he was unwilling to accept this new reality. He would forfeit his right to be the father of her children if he so much as raised his finger again to harm them.
After the children had gone to bed that night, around ten thirty, she and Sharon and Mack and Marjorie had remained talking for another hour or so, and she knew that she had found some true friends whom she could always turn to and count on.
The next morning after breakfast at the McMillans, Irene was anxious to go home for a bit before going up to the hospital to see Jay at ten. She was very nervous about Gene, wondering if he might have come home yet, and fretting about what shape she might find him in. Would he have calmed down? Would his rage — whatever had set it off — have dissipated? Surely he wouldn't still be as berserk as he was when he had beaten Jay and then stormed out of the house and driven away? She steeled herself inwardly as much as she could for whatever she might find at home, and she was almost surprised that the resolve she had formed in the dark hours of the night was still strong and unwavering. She knew she would need it. Regardless of what frame of mind Gene might be in, she would face up to him and stand her ground. There would be some very major changes taking place in their family and household. She would not stand for his tyranny any longer. Her pitiful marriage could well be dead already for all she knew, but in any case, from now on her precious children would take precedence in her life. She had sacrificed their needs and well-being far too long already in deference to Gene's despotic demands, but she would do so no longer.
Mack and Sharon drove Irene and Jenna home at 8:30, as soon as the breakfast dishes were done, and when they drove up in front of the Evans house and saw that the garage door was still gaping open and that there was no sign of the car, they all four looked at each other wordlessly. Irene didn't protest when Mack and Sharon said they would go with them into the house and make sure all was well. They had agreed earlier that if they weren't needed there they would return home and then pick them up an hour later to take them to the hospital. Lee and Sam had insisted the night before that Irene and Jenna go see Jay first, at ten, and then Marjorie would take them to the hospital a bit later in order to spread out the visits a bit. They thought it best to avoid all trooping in at once. They didn't want to risk upsetting the hospital staff and neither did they want to overwhelm poor Jay.
Irene could tell that the house was exactly like she had left it the night before. No one had been there during the night. So where was Gene, and when might he come home? She couldn't help the growing sense of unease that was creeping in on her. Jenna also was uncharacteristically quiet and restless. Mack and Sharon's hearts went out to these two new friends of theirs and Sharon said, "Irene, we're free today. Tomorrow too. Well, goodness, for that matter we're free every day. We're here for you. If you want us here, we're staying. If you want to come home with us, our house is yours. If you need a ride anywhere or help with anything, anytime, today, tomorrow, whenever, let us know. Please! You're not getting rid of us!"
Irene just burst into tears and threw herself into Sharon's arms and the two women stood like that for several minutes until Irene got a hold of herself again.
"Thank you, Sharon, Mack," Irene said, finally. "Yesterday, before all this happened, I would have protested. But I'm not the same woman I was then either. I need you, I know that. And my children need you. I'm already so indebted to you that I'll never be able to repay you, but I need you still and the fact that you're here for me, for my children, means more to me than you can ever imagine."
Sharon hugged Irene again and Mack said, "Forget any thought of indebtedness, Irene. That doesn't enter into it at all. You don't owe us anything. We're all family now, and Sharon was right when she said you're not getting rid of us. You're stuck with us from now on, like it or not!"
"Mom," Jenna said, "why do we hafta wait till ten to go see Jay? I can't stand waiting any longer."
"Well..." Irene started to say, when Mack interrupted.
"Yeah, let's go right now. If they let us in then you can see him, and if not, then we'll just wait there until they do."
So the four of them went back to the car and drove to the hospital, arriving there just after nine o'clock. They found section C without difficulty and took the elevator up to fifth floor. They located the nurses' station and stood waiting while three or four nurses were talking together, studying some charts. Eventually one of them noticed them and raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"We'd like to see Jay Evans, ma'am," Irene said. "I'm his mother..."
"Well I'm afraid you'll just have to wait until..." the nurse started to say, curtly, but another of the nurses interrupted her.
"You're welcome to look in on him, Mrs. Evans. I'll take you right now to his room." She had a very kind voice and a gentle and grandmotherly manner.
"I'm Mrs. Hellvig," the nurse said to them as they walked down the hall. "Jay's still sleeping, I'm afraid. I just came on duty at seven, but the night nurses said he had a very restless night and he was given a mild sedative two times during the night to help him rest. The last one, a bit stronger dose, was administered at five this morning and he's been sleeping soundly ever since. You'll be shocked when you see his face, I'm afraid. It looks a mess. The swelling is bad and the color is getting worse. I'm afraid both eyes might be swollen shut for awhile."
By then they were at the door to Jay's room. It was a two-bed room, but the bed closest to the door was empty and the curtain was drawn between the two beds so they couldn't see Jay until they were standing at the foot of his bed. Irene gave a little gasp when she first saw him, his disfigured and discolored face, and Jenna cried out, "Oh Jay..." and burst into tears, burying her face in her mother's bosom.
Sharon immediately drew the distraught Jenna into her own arms so that Irene could be free to give her attention to Jay. Irene was glad Nurse Hellvig had forewarned her that he would look worse than the night before, but still it was a shock to see him looking so battered. His disheveled hair was wet and matted to his head and when Irene laid her hand on his forehead she gave a start and exclaimed, "Oh my God, he's burning up!"
Nurse Hellvig, who had been standing back a bit, came at once to his bedside when she heard what Irene had said, and she too felt his forehead. Wordlessly, she took a thermometer to check his temperature, then reached under the sheet for his hand and started counting his pulse. "He has a fever, obviously, and his heart is racing. This has come up very quickly," she said. "I'll go call a doctor at once. You can wait here until the doctor comes." And she left the room.
Irene stood by the bed, holding Jay's hand, gazing at his almost unrecognizable face and crooning to him softly under her breath. Jenna, still cradled in Sharon's arms, had quit crying and stared wordlessly at her beloved brother. Mack stood beside them with one hand on his wife's shoulder.
Very soon, Nurse Hellvig was back with a very young doctor in tow, an intern actually. "Dr. Everidge" his name tag said. "Would you please step outside while we check him over," he said, and they left the room. Just a few steps further down the hall was a little alcove with some easy chairs, a coffee table and a magazine rack, and they went there and sat down to wait.
Finally Dr. Everidge came to where they were sitting and introduced himself and asked, "One of you is Jay's mother?"
"Yes, that's me," Irene replied, standing up.
"Jay has developed pneumonia, I'm afraid. I understand he vomited last evening while he was unconscious and he must have aspirated a bit of it. We will have to take him down for chest x-rays. I've already started an I-V with antibiotics and the nurses are getting him ready to wheel him down to the x-ray department. You can wait here if you like, but it will maybe take an hour or so before he is back in his room."
"Thank you, Dr. Everidge. I think maybe we'll leave and return in an hour or so," Irene said, and Mack and Sharon nodded in agreement.
"I'm quite sure Jay will soon be better," Dr. Everidge assured them. "He looks terrible, but I don't think his injuries are as severe as the appearance of his face would make you think. As soon as we can get this pneumonia cleared up, he'll be out of the woods, like they say." And then he turned and hurried away down the hall.
"Let's give Sam and Lee a call," Sharon suggested. There's no point in them coming for an hour yet either.
"You're right, my dear," Mack said, and then added, "as usual!"
Sharon laughed and gave him a smack on the arm as she left to go to the nurses' station. She had noticed a payphone on the wall near there when they arrived earlier.
During the night the police had managed to follow the `paper trail' and learned a few things about Eugene Evans, the owner of the car they had reason to believe had been involved in the hit-and-run, and whom they presumed to be the unconscious man that had been found in the car. They learned that he had indeed moved from Alabama to that very city a couple months earlier and they learned that he was currently living at 2037 Jefferson Street. So two officers were sent to that address in the morning to see what they could find out about him.
When they got to the Evans home, no one was there. Irene and Jenna were at the hospital with Jay. When they got no answer at number 2037, the officers knocked on the door at 2035 and again no one was home. Then they tried number 2039, and luck was with them. A woman in a bathrobe, with big plastic curlers in her hair, a cigarette hanging from her mouth and a mug of coffee in her hand opened the door and said, "Yeah?"
"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you so early. I'm Officer Ellis and my partner here is Officer Douglas. We just wanted to inquire about your next door neighbors in number 2037. Do you know them?"
"Can't say I do," the woman said.
"Would their name happen to be Evans, ma'am?"
"Of course it is! Give me some credit, I know that much. He's a big brute of a man, gives me the creeps. He's so unfriendly. And that wife o' his acts like she's scared o' her own shadow. There's two kids too. Why, what's he done? Is he in trouble? Can't say I'm surprised, the beast!" She narrowed her eyes as she spat out that last sentence.
"Have you had trouble with him, Mrs....?"
"Fischer. No. Not me. I keep outa trouble. I keep my nose to home, sir."
"Yeah," Officer Ellis thought to himself, "and you keep your big pointed nose pressed to the window too, I'll bet. You no doubt know everything that goes on in the whole block."
Out loud he said, "Have you noticed any unusual happenings next door, Mrs. Fischer?"
"Have I?" she retorted.
"May we step inside, Mrs. Fischer? It would be most helpful if you could tell us what you've seen." Officer Ellis said.
Mrs. Fischer stepped aside just far enough for the two men to get through the door. It was immediately obvious that she didn't spend much time cleaning house. There was clutter everywhere, boxes piled high in the corners of the room, and stacks of newspapers and magazines on the chairs and tables and assorted rubbish lying on the floor. The carpet was so grimy it was nearly impossible to determine what color it should have been. The television was running, but the sound was turned down till it was nearly inaudible. The yipping and yapping of a nervous little dog could be heard from some other room. The two policemen managed to push aside some of the mess in order to sit down on the edge of the sofa and she remained standing, facing them. She had the floor and they were prepared to let her talk.
"They moved in two months ago, maybe a bit more," she began, and Officer Ellis got the impression she was planning to give them a blow by blow account of all that had happened from that day to this.
"Just tell us what happened yesterday and today, ma'am. That's all we need to know at this time," he said. "Did you see Mr. Evans yesterday?"
"Well of course I did!" she retorted. "I saw when he came home from work. Same time as always, a minute or two before six. If you ask me, he always has a drink or two on his way home. And don't ask me how I know. I just do, that's all. That kid o' theirs, the boy, got home at the same time. Someone dropped him off with a car. First time that's ever happened. He always walks home. He's a little runt of a kid, but he's in high school. Sure don't take after his ol' man that way. More like his mom. She's small too. Well, the big ox wasn't home more'n ten minutes when he stormed outa the house and slammed the door behind him. He got in his car and backed outa the garage and onto the street so fast I thought fer sure he was gonna run into somethin', then he peeled outa here like a bat outa hell, tires squealin' and the back end o' his car swayin' back and forth like the tail of a fish."
Suddenly she stopped her narrative in mid sentence, her mouth flew open and her eyes got wide. "I just thought o' somethin'... That's about the same time that little kid got mowed down on the street just four blocks from here — that kid on the bike. I heard about it on TV last night and I didn't make the connection then but I'm sure makin' it now. It had to be him who done it, the way he was drivin' like an absolute madman, and that's the direction he was headed. Oh my God! That bastard! And he didn't stop, did he? They said it was a hit-and-run and they were lookin' for the car that done it. They described the car too, and it was his. I know it. It had to be..."
"Did you see Mr. Evans come home again last night, Mrs. Fischer?" Officer Ellis asked.
"No. I'm sure he didn't. There was lots o' comin' and goin' though."
"Yes?"
"Yeah. Trust me. I don't think I missed anything. About twenty minutes after the bastard left another car pulled up out front. It was the same car that dropped the boy off earlier. A man and a woman and a girl got out and went into the house and just a few minutes later the man and girl came out again. The man was carryin' someone but I couldn't see who cause he was covered with a blanket. Mrs. Evans was with em. They all got in the car and drove off and were gone a couple hours. Finally they came back and before long they all left again. That time it was five of `em. The man and woman and girl plus Mrs. Evans and her girl. They were gone the rest o' the night and didn't come back till this morning about eight thirty. But then they left again. Don't ask me where they are. I ain't got a clue."
"That's quite all right, Mrs. Fischer. You've been most helpful and we're indebted to you. We'll check by again later and see if Mrs. Evans has returned home. Thank you again for your help." Then the two officers stood up to leave.
"Shall I call you when she gets home then?" Mrs. Fischer asked.
"Yes, that would be helpful. You can call the station and they will get the message to us. The number is 782-1010. Good bye now, Mrs. Fischer, and thank you again."
Since the Evans home was so close to the hospital they decided to return there and wait. No sooner had they gone into the house when there was a knock on the door and Irene went to see who it was. There stood the next door neighbor, Mrs. Fischer. Irene had only talked to her briefly three or four times since they had moved in two months earlier.
"Mrs. Evans," she said, "pardon me for buttin' in, but the police were here a half hour ago lookin' for you."
"Oh my God!" Irene cried, and started to tremble. "Did they say what they wanted?"
"Well, no... They came to my door when you weren't home and asked if Eugene Evans lived next door. I said yes, of course, and they asked if I knew where you were. I told `em I'd seen you leave just a short time before, but that of course I had no idea where you went or when you'd be back."
"Well, thank you, Mrs. Fischer..." Irene started to say, but Mrs. Fischer interrupted her.
"They'll be back. As soon as I saw you come home I called em and told em you're here." and then she turned on her heels and left.
Irene closed the door wordlessly and walked into the living room where Mack and Sharon and Jenna were still standing. "The police..." she said, and then sank down into an easy chair and buried her face in her hands.
Sharon sat down on the arm of the chair beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "That wasn't the police at the door, was it?" she asked.
"No. That was my neighbor, Mrs. Fischer," Irene replied, looking up at her. "She said the police were here just a short while ago. And they'll be back. They were asking about Gene."
"Well, I guess all we can do is wait till they come again," Mack said. "Let me make some coffee or tea or something while you ladies sit here and talk. You don't mind if I rummage around in your kitchen, do you, Irene?"
"Of course I don't mind, Mack, but let me do it," Irene replied.
"Nothing doing, ma'am! You sit there and relax for a bit." Mack insisted, and he disappeared into the kitchen. But then he was back again immediately. "I forgot to find out, which shall it be? Tea or coffee?"
"Either one," both ladies said at once. "You decide."
"Well then, coffee it'll be," Mack said, and he left again.
No sooner had he brought a tray back into the living room with three steaming cups of coffee and a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Jenna when there was a knock on the front door. Irene stiffened and turned pale as soon as she heard it and Sharon took her by the arm and said, "We'll go face them together."
"Thank God you're here!" Irene said as she arose from the chair and the two ladies walked into the entryway. Irene opened the door and stepped back, asking the two policemen who were standing on the step to come inside.
"I'm Irene Evans, Eugene Evans' wife," Irene said to them. "I understand you were already here earlier this morning."
"Yes we were, Mrs. Evans," the older of the two officers said. "My name is Ellis and this is Officer Douglas." Both men shook hands with Irene and she asked them to come into the living room and sit down. Mack had already gotten two more cups of coffee from the kitchen and Irene placed cups on the coffee table in front of each of the policemen.
"We were just getting ready to have coffee when you came," she said. "Please join us."
"Thank you, ma'am," they said in unison.
"I didn't introduce you to my friends," Irene said. "This is Mack and Sharon McMillan, and this is my daughter Jenna."
"This coffee really hits the spot, Mrs. Evans!" Officer Ellis said, "But we're not here on a social call, obviously. We believe your husband is in the hospital, but we need you to identify him."
"Oh God!" Irene exclaimed. "Is he alive?"
"Well, yes. At least the last we heard. But he is unconscious. It seems he was the victim of a mugging last night on the other side of the city. He was found in his car, unconscious and bleeding from a blow to the back of the head. His wallet is missing so we have no positive identification, but the name Eugene William Evans was listed on the registration papers for the car and we were finally able to trace that name to this address."
"Oh my God," Irene said again, and buried her face in her hands. Jenna was crying soundlessly beside her and Sharon and Mack were looking stunned. What more would go wrong before this nightmare was finally over?