Love Trust and Communication

"A woman left lonely, will soon grow tired of waitin' she'll do crazy things, yeah, on lonely occasions."

I felt someone stand in front of me blocking out the spotlight.

Scott.

The music stopped. Nothing else in the world now existed. The entire bar went silent. He was holding out his arms to me. His forearms were heavily scared. He had a large scar on the right side of his neck.

"Emma, can I at least get a hug?"

I grabbed him and squeezed him in a bear hug while everybody clapped. I broke the embrace when I saw standing behind him another marine. She was looking closely at us. I thought I lost Scott, I thought I found him, and now I know I lost him for sure. At that point, I looked at him and the woman Marine. He smiled at me. "Emma, I'd like to introduce Mary. Mary, this is Emma. Let's sit down away from the music." Mary looked at us and said "Scott, you've got a lot of catching up to do with Emma, I'll mill around."

Gina and our friends immediately came over and included Mary. They started by getting her a drink on the house. It's a custom here. Even underage soldiers get free beer here. I've even seen the county police buy sometimes. Mary disappeared in 30 seconds leaving Scott alone with me.

By this time, I've been able to gather my wits again from the roller coaster ride. "So once again, you can't do things half way, can you? You really know how to make an entrance. How'd you find me here?"

"We stopped by Gene and Curt's house first. Didn't she tell you I was going to be in town soon?" I nodded my head no. "Well, she should of. She said that you got all my stuff from her garage. Thanks for taking care of that. Max did some great work on the ramp and door. I heard that you did the design work on it."

At that point, he reached over and held my hand. By instinct, I pulled away. Scott was a little shocked, but our attention was immediately torn away. Gina had been singing Respect by Aretha Franklin when the entire bar got quiet. Gina's ex walked in looking straight at her. He was angry and he looked like he had been drinking. His clothes reeked of weed, the locally grown kind. Mark has been out of work lately.

The way he was swaggering and the anger on his face didn't look good at all. I glanced at Scott and saw that he was making hand signals to Mary. They both moved slowly, Mary behind Mark, and Scott in front where Mark could see him. Mark's voice kept getting louder and his arms were flailing. Life had not been good for him lately. Because of his alcohol and drug use, he was out of work, he was out of their apartment and his mother disowned him. He was in the low rent trailer park that even the migrant farm workers without families wouldn't go to unless they had to.

Scott knew Mark from school before. When Mark really started to scream at Gina, Scott placed his body between them, allowing her to escape. Scott started to talk quietly to Mark. Trying to engage him in a conversation and keep his attention. It became apparent that Mark was not as much under the influence as we thought he was. It was more of his rage that he was vomiting. It took a few minutes, but Scott got Mark to calm down a bit.

Scott was talking with Mark as a person, somebody who had lost it all. We saw tears rolling down Mark's cheeks. I honestly felt sorry for him. He caused his own problems, but he was still a person that was at the end of his rope. I remember Scott writing about his getting near to hurting himself. That desperation we could easily see in Mark. I saw the echo of it in Scott's face too.

After Mark had recovered a bit, he realized that he showed weakness in front of everybody. In a split second, he freaked. Mark immediately made a feeble lunge toward Gina.

Mary had him face down on the ground with his arms painfully pinned in a second or two. Scott had his belt off and started to tie Mark's hands together. Mark was thrashing and crying in rage and shame and anger and hurt.

While Scott pulled Mark to his feet, Officer Bob Harris walked on over. The bar owner called the police when he saw Mark come in. Officer Harris had walked into the bar just as Mark was being taken down. "Scott, you weren't due here for another week or two. Sorry to have to put both of you to work. You guys are good. We can talk later, I'll take him and process him now." Scott introduced Mary and asked Bob if he could speak to him in private. After a proper set of handcuffs were placed on Mark, Bob and Scott went into the back room while Mary stood guard.

All of us in the bar were in total shock while we waited. Mary kept Mark seated on the floor so that he wouldn't be a physical problem to anyone. He sat there and cried. Mary asked Gina to stay outside with a couple of her friends for a few minutes.

About 5 minutes later, the officer and Scott walked Mark out back behind the bar to a picnic table. Scott asked the owner to let them have some privacy. Everyone was asked to stay inside and Gina and her friends came back in.

It took about 30 minutes until Scott came back in. We asked what happened but Scott said that no one was going to be arrested tonight. It was past 10 and everyone was asked to go home. As we were walking to the cars, another squad and an ambulance pulled up. Then we saw Mark's mother pull in next to the ambulance.

At this point, I looked at Mary and Scott. "I know that it's late and you need a place to stay the night. I still have enough room at the apartment for all of us. Will you both spend the night?"

Scott looked at Mary, then at me. "Well to be honest with you, we had made some other arrangements, but we really don't want to bother them now as it's late. The thing is Mary and I have to leave early in the morning. We have to get to Oregon day after tomorrow. Mary's getting married, and she can't be late. I hate to bother you, but we are also famished and I know the stores are closed here now, but could we beg a meal off of you?"

My eyes popped open, "Mary, you're getting married?" then I looked at Scott, "And you're not?"

"Scott, You mean she's not your...."

"Well, we were for a little bit, but not for a while. She's been my best buddy for a couple of years. Emma, can we continue this after we get back to your apartment, and we get something to eat and drink? I really need a drink."

It took 10 minutes to drive to the apartment. I got 10 minutes alone of trying to digest all that went on, who was who, who was with whom or however you say things like that. Then I have to feed them. Ok, there are frozen pizzas in the freezer, there's some MGD in the fridge, there's always stuff for sandwiches. I emptied out the damn refrigerator this week and I get the most important company in four years. How am I ever going to do this? He wasn't going to stay with me tonight, oh, I just don't know anymore.

Scott had the door open. He and Mary were taking things out of the car into the apartment. That means he still kept a key. He kept that key for four and a half years. By the time I got to the door, Mary called out, "I got dibs on the couch. Is that really all his stuff in the spare bedroom?" Scott was flipping through the phone book and started ordering from the local pizza place while he pulled the beers out of the fridge. Nice of him to make himself at home. He keeps a key and he's drinking my beer.

Suddenly Scott yells out "Do you want the normal garbage pizza with everything on it or do you want anything special on it?" Mary yells out "What ever gets here quickest." I yell out "Ask him to bring a case of something good from his back room, I'm buying." The local pizza place doesn't have a license to sell beer, but he does have his private stash, if you're nice to him.

It takes about 10 minutes for them to settle down. I assemble some munchies as they spread themselves over the living room. I finally walk in to see only Mary sitting there, sipping her beer. Smiling she said Scott was inspecting the spare bedroom. He comes walking out with a bemused smile on his face. "Did I really have that much stuff?"

"Actually Scott, before it came here, I went through it at Gene's garage. I did get rid of a couple of things that could be totally classified as junk. I let Curt make the final decision. So if there is anything missing, don't blame me."

"Emma, after the way I treated you that day, I am grateful for anything you saved. But to be honest with you, there're going to be couple more things that have to go."

That was when Mary popped up, "Did he really do that to your stuff? I kept thinking that he took after Mark Twain and spun a real tale. Then he told me about how he was outclassed by the Mother Mary Monster Truck. The guy I took down, was that him? What happened out back?"

Scott looked at me and said, "You gave me a get out of jail free card when I was stupid. Remember? Well, Mark there was another lost soul. I talked him down mostly in the bar. After Mary took him down, doesn't she do good work Emma?" I nodded and smiled at Mary. "Well, with Bob at his side explaining the criminal justice system, he got spooked. He's lost. He's been doing drugs and alcohol for a long time. At the wedding, he was completely disowned. His mother has been fighting with him about his drug use for years. That's why she did the Mother Mary on his stuff. Bob and I called up my old therapist, he is the tri-county social worker on call for cases like this. And he suggested a rehab facility to start off with. So a deal got cut. It was harder to get his mom back than it was to turn Mark. She pretty much had it with him. I got on the line after the cop spoke with her and told her that Mark finally it bottom and was looking at jail time. This is now the time to do something. When Mark got on the phone with her and asked her to go with him to rehab, well, she folded. I guess that he never asked for help before. By the way, how is Gina doing?"

"I was talking with her, but it was Mary that did the heavy lifting. You took her on the side. What did you say?"

"I told her that Mark was looking at two options. Either going to go to jail and she'd have to put an order of protection against him. And she needed to keep pepper spray with her at all times when he got out. Or Scott here was going to get him into therapy. The way Mark broke down on the bar floor, I thought that Scott was going to be successful."

By this time, we were starting our second beer. Scott finished his can and grabbed a third. "I'm not complaining about this, but let me guess. You don't drink a lot of beer here? Do you?"

"If I would have known you were going to be here, I would have been stocked up with the better stuff. I take a trip once a year and hit some place big, and come back with better beers, a couple cases of wine and a case of hard stuff. It's been a while since I stocked up."

The doorbell rang and the pizza showed up, along with a case of Lienenkugel. When he saw that it was a pair of Marines, he said that it was his pleasure and refused payment for everything.

As we devoured the pizza, I kept looking at Scott, and his scars. I hope there was going to be time later to hear about those scars. "You guys said that you were leaving tomorrow. What time? I don't want you to be late for your wedding."

Mary piped up. "It's more than just me, Scott here is standing up for it. He's the best man, kind of. We both have to be there. It won't be a formal wedding, just in my parent's back yard. He won't be in his full uniform. All three of us are out or will be in a week or two." That was when she looked at me and said, "would you like to come to my wedding? Join us on this road trip? Scott has told me about you over the years. I feel like you're a family friend. Is that OK with you Scott?"

Remembering the size of the car they drove up in, I was amused. "I'd like that, but you've got a very small car that's very filled. I don't think it can happen." Scott held up his finger for the conversation to stop as he tried to finish a wedge of pizza. I looked at Mary. "Isn't it a rule that you have to ask a question AFTER somebody starts eating?" Scott threw a pillow at me while we chuckled at his expense and he furiously munched and swallowed the pizza.

"As I quite righteously feel that I'm being ambushed by both of you ladies as I eat, let me respond. Yes, I think that it would be great that Emma joins us. We would finally get some time with each other in person. Yes, the car is small and loaded, but I could remove everything that I don't need and store it in the warehouse of the spare bedroom. I was originally planning on being here in two weeks anyway before Gene and Curt both urged Mary and me to see you. That was where we were going to spend the night. In and out and then I'd be back again after the wedding. We really don't have much time. What do you all think?"

Mary stood up and headed toward the door. "Start now so we can relax with those Liennes" she said as she disappeared out the door. I guess that I didn't have a choice. I don't. I don't want him out of my sight and I'm going to hear more about his life and see his friends of these last four years.

It took about 30 minutes to empty the car in the parking lot, sort out what was to go into the house, and then repack. After a few minutes, I picked up a load for the spare bedroom. Mary said that I needed to pack my things that I'd need for the trip. I came back out to ask a few questions about what to bring when Scott was in the house. Mary quietly told me to bring a wrap for the pool, a bathing suit and types of clothing that I would fit in with everybody else. Then she held my hand and whispered to include what ever I use for protection would be a good thing too. Just then Scott popped out of the front door and she started complaining loudly about his stuff, pointing out this and that to me. I was starting to feel better about this whole mess that popped back into my life hours ago.

I sat down at the computer and sent an email to Max letting him know that I was taking my vacation. We're in a slow season right now, so it wasn't going to be an issue. I sent one off to George to have him take my spot for the doctor's run for Curt for Wednesday of next week. I followed it up with one off to Gene and Curt letting them know what was happening. I got back and they were two beers ahead of me and they were feeling no pain. They were also exhausted. I got Scott to go to the bedroom while I got out a spare set of sheets and towels for Mary. For Scott, I grabbed some clean towels and gave it to him. While Scott showered, I made up the couch for Mary, then I washed and put the dishes away. By the time I was finished, she had finished her shower and was out like a light. He was too.

After my shower, I went to the bedroom and lay next to him. This was our bed once. I was feeling the heat from his body. I listened to his breathing, I remember his wonderful smell. You can never forget your lover's smell. And now, I'm wondering what I was getting back into. I slowly fell asleep as all sorts of questions raced across my mind.

It was four hours of sleep. Just four hours. Those guys got over four hours, I got way under four hours. I'm not good at way under four hours. I think I understand zombies a bit better.

Mary said that we should just jump in the car and go, but I suggested taking 10 minutes to pull together all what ever I could for eating in the car. The perishable food would have gone to waste and we were going to need something to eat. A small cooler, a roll of paper towels, cold pizza for breakfast to go and a 6 pack of coke for the drivers. We were out in 9 minutes.

Mary took the wheel at first while Scott and I slept. She put a good 120 miles behind us in a little under two hours, only 1,800 more to go. She was starting to nod, and we needed gas. A quick fill up, a washroom break, two cups of coffee from the Mickey D's, and we were off. Mary stretched out in the back and was actually quietly snoring in 10 minutes.

I looked at Scott and realized that we may not be physically alone, but with Mary sleeping, we were. This was the first time we were alone and awake in so many years. I had to break the tension.

"Does she always snore like this? I giggled and punched his arm lightly. He started to stammer at first, then realized what I was doing and said, "No, normally I'm the one on the couch." and he broke out into a chuckle.

"Scott, I've go so much to ask you, so much I want to know, so much I want to tell you. And you figured out a way to keep me by your side for days. Don't think that I haven't figured that out."

"Emma, it wasn't my original thought. I can't take credit for it. You have to blame Gene and Curt, then Mary here. We were only there for about 20 minutes when Gene brought up this idea, and all of them wouldn't stop talking about it until I agreed. As I said, I was coming back in two weeks and I knew that we would have all the time in the world then."

"Scott, they told me that they would never break a confidence. They never said a word about you, they would listen and ask questions and hear what I felt, but they never told me about you. I know that they had their plans. Getting me on this trip had to be one of those plans. What do you think?"

"She and Curt did a lot for me. Starting from the very beginning. After being arrested those years ago, this scared man-child decided to grow up. He lost his best friend and lover, because he was stupid."

"WAIT A MINUTE. I am not going to hear you say you were stupid. I can hear you say a lot of other things, but I will not hear stupid."

"Ok, this man-child was scared and immature. Does that work for you?" I nodded and he continued. "I learned a lot in those therapy sessions. Common courtesy was one thing. I sent Gene a thank you note. The therapist suggested it, so I did it. What surprised the hell out of me was that she wrote back. I quickly realized that it was not a polite write back. I would read and reread her letters. I didn't know if it was because she took pity on me or what. She became a friend when I just lost my other one. She was the one that helped me to stop depending on the bottle in those first couple of months. She's been looking out after me.

"You know, she would ask me about you, but she never told me what to do or anything you ever said. It was a shock when I asked you to help and her cover was blown." At that we both started to laugh.

"Scott, you said that they were filling in the roles of grandparents. Somebody interested in you but having no responsibility for you." He nodded and quietly added "How long do you think that they'll be able to be independent? I don't know much about that, but my buddies have told me stories about their grandparents declining."

"I really don't know. I think that the next step is going to have to be a live in. The Gene and Curt group is there every second or third day, but that is not going to be enough. Their house does have a den that can be a small bedroom for a live in. I do think that they have enough funds to cover for that, but I don't know how much they've saved."

At that, we both became quiet, thinking of those two. "Scott, you do know that they had no children. I got the feeling that the trouble in their marriage was during their child bearing years, but I'm not sure."

We heard a little stretching and groaning in the back seat, and the soft snoring came right back. We both chuckled.

"Emma, I know that it's important to talk about Gene and Curt. I think we can both see that they've been helping us for a while. We can see that they've been guiding us back together. But we aren't doing something else." He reached over and took my hand in his. "We're not talking about us. I know that we're going to have a lot of time together in the next week or two, but right now, we only have a little bit of time before Mary wakes." I nodded and squeezed his hand, his scarred hand and said "Do you want to go first? or me?"