Chapter 6

This time, Janice delivered a daughter, Helen Mary Brinkley. We went through the same routine as before, and I covered for Janice while she was otherwise occupied. Helen did wind up with a double babysitting job, but she took it on with no complaints.

We had three happy years before tragedy struck. By this time, I had checked Mary and found that my genes had passed on to her, too. Somehow, this got to Janice, and she decided that she did not want any more children. She kept muttering something about going against God's will. That did not make sense to me, but I didn't argue with her. We had two wonderful kids, and that was enough for me.

We had been married for seven years, and Helen was still acting as babysitter. We never did find out much about how it happened because Janice and I were at work when Janice fielded a phone call. She let out a scream that could be heard all over the shop. Everybody who could dropped what he was doing and rushed into the office to investigate. Janice blubbered something about our house being on fire, so I grabbed her up and ran to our car. I had no idea that I could get away with driving so fast, but the express way was virtually clear at that time.

I pulled into our street and had to stop. The road was completely blocked by fire trucks and ambulances. Three houses were burning: ours and the one on each side. Janice was still too upset to be functional, so I left her in the car and ran to see what I could of the exact situation. I was stopped by a sympathetic cop who wanted to know who I was. I told him and that my house was the one in the middle of the three that were burning. He directed me to someone with a red cross on the back of her jacket, and she told me what they knew so far.

The fire had started in the house next to ours, and that tripped the automatic fire warning to ADT or whoever had the contract. They called the FD (Fire Department) and EMS. The wind was blowing hard enough to spread the fire to our house, and to the next one from our place. Okay, that was a far as I wanted to go with the physical damage. When I asked about injuries, that was when I found out why the Red Cross woman was stalling. Mary and Billy were okay, but Helen was a victim of smoke inhalation and had been shipped to the hospital.

I was told where I could find the kids: they were being cared for by a friendly neighbor. I ran to them and found that they were upset about their grandmother going to the hospital, but they were also fascinated by the FD and the fire. Billy announced that he was going to be a fireman when he grew up.

I thanked the neighbor and led the children to our car and their mother. That was when they broke down into tears about their grandmother. I had the name of the hospital where Helen had been taken, so I drove there somewhat less frantically than I had to get to our house. We arrived soon enough, but I was the only one allowed in to see Helen. The poor woman was awash in IVs (Intravenous tubes) and oxygen. She was still alive, but unconscious. The nurse assured me that I would be notified as soon as she could have visitors. In the meantime, we had to wait in the special waiting room.

It was two hours later that a doctor and a priest showed up to talk to us. That was enough to tell Janice and me that Helen had died without having to hear from either man. We listened to their words of condolence, and I could tell that the prayer from the priest did a lot of good for Janice. The kids were still confused, but settled for being told that they could not yet see their beloved grandmother.

During our wait in the hospital, I had heard an interesting story from Billy. He said that Helen had smelled the smoke and rushed them out of the house, but she went back in to collect some mementos of Bill. She was gone long enough to make Billy worry, so he ordered Mary to stay behind while he ran into the house to search for Helen. He found her unconscious at the foot of the stairs.

He could not tell if she had fallen down the stairs, but he dragged her out of the house because he could hear the fire already working on our house. Very shortly after he reached the front sidewalk, the FD and EMS showed up, and Helen was rushed to the hospital. No one had thought to ask a five-year-old boy how the grown woman had gotten to the street. Therefore, it was only at the autopsy that the crushed skull was found: she must have fallen down the stairs! That further confused the authorities.

Anyway, I carried on to Billy about how much we appreciated his heroism, but I also fussed a little at him for entering a burning building. I was morally certain that he would not have been permanently injured by the fire, but I still wanted him to be more careful. I was also amazed that a five-year-old had the presence of mind to do what he did. I already knew that he was strong enough to do it, but I did not know that he had the brain power to reason out how to do it.

Meanwhile, Mary had been trying to calm her mother down. Janice was absolutely overcome with grief. The doctor had left, but the priest was still there talking to Janice. I don't know if he heard any of my conversation with Billy, but I am sure that he discounted it as the raving of a child if he did hear any of it.

Janice went into a funk that seemed to last forever. Somehow, she blamed herself and me for causing God to strike down her mother. She was sure that the superhuman abilities of our children went against God's will, and God was punishing her for having the two children. Anyway, she refused to have anything more to do with the children. I was at my wit's end trying to figure out something to break through her cloud of guilt, but nothing I did made any difference. Not only that, Janice collapsed into hysterics every time she was approached by the children!

I asked everywhere for advice, and the best advice I could gather was to have her committed to some sort of home for the insane. Well, let me tell you, there just are not many places like that still around these days! The cost was damned near prohibitive, but I finally found a place just south of Joliet, IL. I didn't like the place very much, but it was all I could find that I could hope to afford, so I settled for it.

For some reason that I still don't fully understand, Janice liked the place. I think that it was because the children were not allowed to visit her, and I was discouraged from doing so. Hell, it was as if I had abandoned Janice, but there was nothing else I could do. The staff reported that she spent almost all of her time in the chapel praying, and she seemed happy to do that. After the third time I was turned away because she refused to see me, I just gave up on her. It nearly crushed me to do it, but what else could I do?

Meanwhile, the kids were taking this whole thing pretty hard. In desperation, I put the business up for sale and took the children to see their other grandparents in Indiana. They had visited us a few times in Chicago, and we had been to visit them every summer, but they were almost strangers. I didn't know what to expect, but they agreed with me to give an extended visit a try.

The extended visit worked out so well that it turned into a permanent move. I did have to return to Chicago several times during the sale of the business and the sale of the lot where the house had stood, but I stayed in Indiana the rest of the time. I'd had all of Chicago that I could stand!

Janice had just given up, I suppose, but she was found one morning hanging in her room. She had fashioned a noose from a bed sheet and had managed to hang herself from the chandelier. That cut off the considerable drain on her funds and actually left a little for the kids, once all of the outstanding debts were paid.

Naturally, I was bored to tears before long. I had not gotten myself sufficiently under control to find a job. I had plenty of money from the sale of the business and the Chicago lot. I was going to have to start working again soon, but I had lost all ambition and was very much like I had been before I had originally left for Chicago.