Chapter 38

Jerry stared out the window of the restaurant watching the sky. The storm that had been threatening them all day had finally broken. It wasn’t as bad as he had predicted. Rather than a thunderstorm, this was the kind of storm that led to a solid soaking of the ground without creating damage. There wasn’t even any lightning. Their tensions over the trial had exaggerated their perception of its threat.

Turning to face the kids, he said, “It’s started to rain.”

His comment didn’t spark any immediate response from the kids. Bill stared at his plate of fried shrimp. Melissa continued to turn a bottle of ketchup while staring off into space. He decided that the idea of stopping at a restaurant to recover from their ordeal and talk about what had happened was not working.

After five minutes, Bill said, “That was fucking brave of you Melissa.”

The young woman didn’t respond immediately, but did stop playing with the ketchup bottle. Looking down at her plate, she said, “I thought she wouldn’t shoot if I was there.”

Jerry didn’t know what to think of his daughter’s actions. It had been brave for her to interpose herself between his ex-wife and him, but it had also been foolish. He knew that the same could be said of his actions. He should have told them to run away. He said, “It was very brave of you, but you shouldn’t have exposed yourself to danger like that.”

Shrugging, Melissa didn’t give forth a verbal response. She was finding it hard believe that her mother would have shot her for standing up for her father. Deep down inside, she knew the truth. She had to face the fact that her mother was dead and she didn’t know what to think about that. The only thing that she did know for certain was that the men had done nothing to deserve getting killed.

Bill dipped a finger into the cocktail sauce and then stuck the finger in his mouth. The sharp horseradish didn’t register on his senses. It seemed to him that he was numb. He definitely knew that his brain wasn’t working correctly. His thoughts kept returning to watching his mother approaching with the gun and calling him a little shit. He hadn’t seen her dead body on the ground, but his imagination provided a picture of the scene. It was giving him a throbbing headache.

Bill wasn’t the only one with a headache. Rubbing her temples with the fingers of both hands, Melissa said, “I have a headache. Does anyone have an aspirin?”

When neither of the males answered her, she repeated herself with greater irritation in her voice. “Does anyone have an aspirin?”

“No,” answered Jerry looking out the window again at the rain. He wondered what word described this particular kind of rain. It wasn’t a drizzle, downpour, or squall. Was there even a word to describe a consistent steady light rain? He decided that there wasn’t and then realized that the word was shower.

Like a boom-a-rang that always returned to where it had been launched, Bill’s mind returned to the events in front of the courthouse. He shook his head at the images that passed before his eyes. Foremost among them was the sight of Melissa stepping in front of his father. He said, “I can’t believe you stepped in front of dad.”

Frustrated at the lack of response to her request for aspirin, Melissa asked, “Won’t anyone give me some aspirin?”

“Do you have any in your purse?” asked Jerry knowing that if anyone would have something for a headache it would be her.

Embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of her purse, Melissa opened it and rummaged through it looking for something to take for her headache. All she found was a bottle of Midol. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt, she shook one into the palm of her hand and swallowed it without water.

Watching her take the pill, Bill decided that he wanted one for his headache. He asked, “Could I have one, too?”

“It’s Midol,” replied Melissa.

“Ugh,” said Bill. He was quiet for a minute and then decided that it would be better to take a Midol than live with his headache. He said, “I’ll take one any way.”

“You’ll grow breasts,” said Melissa lightly.

Knowing better than that, he replied, “You’ll never see me again if I do.”

“Why?”

Bill attempted a grin while he answered, “I’ll be too busy playing with them.”

Melissa frowned at the bad joke, but didn’t react in any other fashion than to push a pill over to her brother. He picked it up and reached for his glass of iced tea. His hand started to tremble too much to hold the glass. Ashamed at the betrayal of his body, he set the glass down with a rattle before he spilled his iced tea.

Hearing the rattle, Jerry looked over at Bill and saw the distressed look on his face. In a soft voice, he said, “Hey, it’s okay. Your nerves are catching up to you.”

“I know. It used to happen to me after fights,” said Bill. Although it hadn’t involved any punches, kicks, bites, or scratches, he felt as if he had gone twenty rounds with a heavyweight boxer. He slipped the pill into his mouth and grabbed the glass with both hands. Holding it like a three-year-old, he tipped the glass and chased down the pill. The thought that he’d grow breasts almost made him laugh and choke on the tea.

Quiet returned to the table. Jerry looked around the table at all of the uneaten food. Bill hadn’t eaten more then three of his fried shrimp. Normally, Bill would have cleaned the plate of shrimp in minutes. Melissa hadn’t touched her hamburger except to take two bites out of it. She had put a little more of a dent in her French Fries. He understood their lack of appetite since his French Dip had a single bite out of it. Shaking his head, he decided that coming to the restaurant had been a very bad idea.

Fumbling in his shirt pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. Opening it, he tried to locate a number in the phonebook function. As he scrolled through the list of numbers, Melissa asked, “Are you calling Jenny?”

“No, I’m calling the therapist,” answered Jerry with a sigh. They weren’t dealing with things very well and he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He didn’t want to see Jenny at the moment, but he didn’t understand why his mind kept shying away from the idea of talking to her. He grunted, “I’m big enough to know that we aren’t dealing with this very well.”

Surprised by his admission, Melissa watched him make the call wishing that he were calling Jenny. She had to admit that calling the therapist was the last thing that she had expected him to do. Running to a therapist wasn’t the kind of thing that most people associated with a big strong man like her father. She had expected him to call Jenny and then for Jenny to recommend that he call the therapist. In a way, his actions impressed her even more. She considered what would have happened had her mother seen a therapist. It was quite possible that if her mother had gone to one, then she would still be alive.

“Too bad she didn’t see a therapist,” muttered Bill giving voice to her thoughts.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Melissa looking at her brother in amazement. She was surprised that he was taking the high road rather than rant about what a crazy woman their mother had been.

While Jerry was on the cell phone, the waitress stopped by the table to see how things were going. The young woman, still a senior in high school, had been working in the restaurant for less than a month. She had taken the job in an effort to earn enough money to pay for her car insurance. New to the job, she worked hard to make sure that her customers were happy.

The waitress frowned at the sight of the plates full of cold food. All of the iced tea glasses were half-filled with diluted tea, watered down by the melted ice. Deciding that there was little hope of salvaging a reasonable tip, she said, “I take it the food wasn’t any good.”

Melissa looked up at the waitress and said, “We’re not really hungry. My mother tried to kill us all today.”

“The police killed her,” added Bill staring at his plate. He thought about how different aspects of the events mattered to each of them differently. Melissa was shocked by the fact that her mother was willing to shoot her. He was shocked that his mother was gone out of his life for good. He couldn’t deny that he was relieved that she was gone, but the idea that he was relieved made him feel bad about himself.

The flat emotionless tone of voice in which the kids had delivered their statements was far more brutal than an emotional outburst might have been. The waitress stood at the foot of the table with a stunned expression on her face. She had no idea how to react to their statements; it wasn’t something that was covered in the employee manual. Almost a minute passed before she said, “Oh.”

Jerry closed the cell phone and announced, “She’ll see us at six. We’ve got three hours to kill.”

Bill groaned at his father’s choice of wording. Melissa felt her stomach twist at the thought of sitting in that booth for another three hours. Tears welled up in her eyes. While dabbing at them with her napkin, she said, “I want to talk to Jenny.”

Wishing that he knew how to comfort the children better, he nodded. He didn’t want to face Jenny, but would do it for Melissa’s sake. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he said, “I’ll give her a call.”

The waitress was still standing at the end of the table trying to decide what she was supposed to say or do. Finally, she asked, “Would you like your bill?”

“Yes, that would probably be best,” answered Jerry tiredly.

Given an excuse to leave, the waitress ran away from the table. This had been the most upsetting experience of her life. She couldn’t imagine how those two kids felt. All she knew was that she wanted to get home and hold onto her mother. Rather than get their check, she left the restaurant crying. As the door closed behind her, she decided that there had to be another way to earn enough money.

Confused by her actions, the manager of the restaurant watched the waitress leave. It was obvious that she was upset and that the party seated in the corner had upset her. During the short time that she had worked at the restaurant she had been a very good employee. She showed up on time, was friendly with the customers, and took care of her tables. Although he believed that the customer deserved the best service possible, he knew there were some customers who were abusive. He looked at the family and headed over to find out what they had said to her.

Jerry was on the cell phone talking to Jenny when the manager arrived at the table. Frowning, he looked at the long faces and the plates full of cold food. His anger evaporated to be replaced by puzzlement.

Bill looked up at the manager and then looked out the window. In a soft voice, he asked, “Why is it that bad things always seem to happen to me before a storm?”

The indifference of the young man to his presence and the awkward question confused the manager. The manager stood at the end of the table for a half a minute wondering if anyone would notice him. He cleared his throat.

Bill looked back at the manager, not expecting an answer to his question. He saw that Melissa was wiping her face with her napkin. Bill put his arm around her and pulled her to him. Surprised by the unexpected gesture of caring, she twisted so that her face was against his shoulder and burst into tears. Feeling awkward, Bill held his sister allowing her to cry herself out.

Jerry noticed the activity across the table and quickly finished his conversation with Jenny. That Bill would reach out to comfort his sister was a major leap forward in relations between the siblings. Separated from them by the table, he realized how bad a mistake it was to come to the restaurant. He slipped the cell phone into his pocket and watched them afraid to say anything to ruin the moment.

The manager cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me, but is there a problem here?”

Jerry stared at the man for a minute trying to figure out how to answer his question. There were lots of problems. His ex-wife had tried to kill him and the kids. They knew that she had been killed. The kids were upset and he didn’t know how to comfort them. He was terrified of seeing his girlfriend. There was also a bright spot in the midst of all this misery. A real gesture of peace had occurred between the kids. He answered, “Yes, but it isn’t a problem that you can solve.”

“What did you tell the waitress that caused her to run out of here in tears?” asked the manager with much more politeness than he had intended prior to seeing them around the table.

“She wasn’t crying when she left to get the bill,” answered Jerry confused by the assertion that they had done something to the young woman. He glanced at Melissa and Bill, but she was still crying on her brother’s chest. Bill was looking over her head with an embarrassed expression on his face.

“Well, she was crying when she passed by me after leaving your table,” declared the manager.

“I guess the kids told her that their mother tried to kill us today,” replied Jerry. He hadn’t been paying attention to the dialog between the kids and the waitress since he had been busy arranging an appointment with the therapist. He added, “We’d really like the bill now.”

The manager didn’t know the story behind these three, but he wanted them out of his establishment. He retreated to fetch the bill. The sooner they left, the better. It didn’t take long for Jerry to take care of the bill. He left a good tip despite the fact that none of them had eaten. He asked the manager to give the waitress their apologies if they had done anything to upset her.

Leaving the restaurant, Jerry held his arms around both kids pulling them close to him to reassure them with his presence. Bill walked along numbly, his mind was not on the here and now. Melissa held tight to her father’s arm as though afraid that she would fly off the planet if she let go. For the first time in her life, she appreciated his strength and size.

Upon reaching Jenny’s house, Melissa flew from the Camaro to the front door. Without knocking, she opened the door and entered the house. Still getting out of the car, Jerry watched her run. He didn’t know why he was dreading talking to Jenny, but the idea of facing her terrified him. Turning to Bill, he said, “Let’s give your sister a chance to talk with Jenny for a while.”

“Yeah, she needs to talk to a woman,” commented Bill. Despite the moment of closeness in the restaurant, he understood the truth. His sister would always seek out the comfort, opinion, and approval of women before that of men.

Jerry looked over at his son and smiled at the insight the boy had demonstrated. Despite the fact that it was still raining, he wasn’t ready to go into the house. Putting an arm on the boy’s shoulder, he said, “Let’s wait for them in the back yard.”

Shrugging his acceptance, Bill said, “Sure, why not.”

The pair walked around the house to the backyard. Potted plants surrounded a small patio with two folding chairs. The plants looked dead, but were actually in their winter hibernation. In spring and summer, the patio was a very nice place to sit and talk. In the fall rain, it was the last place they should have been. Gesturing to one of the chairs, Jerry said, “Have a seat.”