Susan is doing well in therapy with Dr. Y. It shows in her desire for human contact, our dancing, singing karaoke, pool, or darts with the folks from the doctor's office or the library.
We talked the Doctors into bringing Jackie to sing karaoke one night. His smile lasted an hour to be included. It made me smile, and the bar owner came over and says. "He can stay till ten, and then he must go. The restaurant closes at ten, and our liquor licenses at the bar are at stake having him here, but we're happy to open the mike open an hour earlier if you call first. He told us his son was once in a chair. He beat cancer. He's the head coach at a high school."
We became a new family doing things together. Thanksgiving is next week, and I often get strange this time of year. Loud noises and men who looked like he did makes me a little hyper-alert. Mary ordered a forty-pound bird, and it would just fit in her oven, so we all picked a side dish to make, and the turkey day came, we set up the living room and dining room, we put four tables up, and we made food for the library orphans and a few from Bobbie's work. For those without family dinner for thirty-five, the jingle of dishes, forks, and knives sword fighting for the golden bird. The laughter of friends and couples, if you're looking for things to be thankful for, good food, good friends, and good lovers, heads the top of that list. We passed the talking stick and had to tell a short story about why we were thankful for the day. We heard a few cute stories, one of a heavy turkey that broke a folding card table trashing the whole meal, and they were thankful for not having to eat a Chinese buffet on Thanksgiving day again.
Mom's turn came, and she started speaking, her voice cracking and soft with shame. "Dan was eleven, and I was taken to a garage apartment of a man I met in a bar. I woke up there two days later, sick from what was in my drink. My son was home alone, locked out for maybe two damn days. I'm not even sure if it was just two days. I swore never to put myself in a position again like this. I was sick and kept doped up; I'm sure he took me when I was out of it. I freaked out; all our stuff was now in this guy's place, and there was no Dan or memory of how the stuff got moved or even when. The Man sold or traded our things for cash or drugs. I was making good money until then, so we had a fifteen-pound turkey, and all Thanksgiving fixings were in the fridge. We had bank money saved for a new place. I made a big scene in front of his buddies, and he took me to the bank for cash for his party drugs, and he dropped me off at the place we lived at. I found Dan cold, wet, and dirty, hiding near the front door in the bushes. He looked just as bad as I felt. I brought a few hot dogs, cheese, and water you ate as I held you. I told you what happened, and all our stuff was at this guy's house. We need to get out things and get out."
Dan told me. "No, we need to leave now this second, Mom. It's not worth going back for our stuff. It's not. Please, let's go now."
Mom says. "Dan pleaded with me, but I wanted our stuff. The guys truck I kept looking for it. I have to call him the guy; he never told me his name besides Guy. He pulls up, and Dan and I get in; that was Wednesday, maybe. I called into work, and I have been fired for not calling in, a sin in a nice restaurant. He kept me drugged for I am not sure how long, and then one night Dan was cleaning my face of blood and giving me water; I could not think or stay awake. But Dan tells me the guys are gone; he took everything, even the bird, in the fridge."
Bobbie continued. "I'll clean up best I can. I'm not sure how long I was out of it might have been days; Dan, it was rough on him. He cared for me, detoxing from what the guy had me on. Getting sober enough to drive, I found my car still at the bar. I took Dan to the store, bought us a fine meal, and my card was declined. The bastard cleaned me out, but I had a twenty hidden in my bra. My Mom taught me to do that. So we had cold Spam and green beans with white bread by candlelight. The guy cut the power to the place. So I'm grateful for my son, this lovely group of people, his new love, and this wonderful meal, and he still protects me today." Bobbie finished her tale; her face showed tears and love too.
It came my turn. I had never talked to a group of grown-up people before it freaked me out, and I had to go to the kitchen and gag into the sink. Mary's warm hands holding my hair out of my face over the sink as you rubbed my back, you began. "Guess that growing up thing hit you all at once, huh? Just see them as children now. So let's go, my Man, and you know you are right?"
I say. "Yes. I will always be yours, Mary, no cute or fancy name from a book but your Dan." So I said as I looked into your eyes.
"I intend to marry you. Does that scare you, Mary, dear?" You nod your head yes. "No, dear man, nothing about you scares me." We almost lost track of time by kissing softly and lovingly in the kitchen.
We walked back in, picking up the talking stick, and I told my tale. "That the people in this room have added to my world beyond measure are just a few of these things my lover and my friends have given me to be thankful for. My Mom was getting taken by that guy, and for almost three days, I ate at school on the first day, but I drank pool water and went in the bushes. I called the police they came out and saw the empty apartment. I hid till they left, not going to school for fear of losing my Mom to CPS." I say, stopping taking a drink of water.
"I am not proud of stealing from the local store. You think a bag of Oreos cookies and a can of Spam would have lasted an eleven-year-old kid two days, but I ate it all that day for three meals. Mom found me; she looked drugged. She never did them on her own before. The last day the creep was in the garage apartment. He tied my Mom up, shot her up with something, and told her I get my balls cut off or give him the pass-code for Mom's bank account. Finally, she gave in, and we were tied up, tossing in the bathtub. Mom told him to let me go, and the guy beat my Mom in front of me. She passed out. He did not stop; he kept hitting. I tried to stop him, but he just hit me once backhanded. I was done; I don't know how long it was before I woke tied in the tub."
I stopped looking at Mom, taking a deep breath. I could not say what he did next and continued with this instead.
"My Mom was tossed on top of me, making it harder to work on my ropes, not that it was any easier after getting out from under my Mom. I tried most of that day and some time into the night before I broke free."
I held my arms up, and you could still see the scars left by the ropes. "I got out and drank water, untied you, and started to run to find a phone to call for an ambulance and the police. I thought back to when we were broken into, and all our stuff was taken. The police were called, turning my Mom into CPS because of where we lived. We moved around and had to change schools a few times after that. I cleaned my Mom up, iced her bruises put some band-aids on her worse cuts. I dressed her in clothes left there and sat with her holding her using a part of a rug for warmth. I sat with my Mom for six days as she detoxed. I ate crackers and green beans, stuffing, and all eaten cold; tap water was it the gas, and power was turned off, but at least we had water, but it was a very long week." I say, passing the talking stick. The room became quiet.
Then Susan says. "And still he rises, please pass the yams, please."
About that lover thing, we did not outwardly show affection at work, but we did kiss as lovers in the kitchen. Mary and I did once with friends over. We saw Susan talking to people, and she glowed. She looked so happy, oh course Mary kissed me in the kitchen, and Sara, the head of the H.R. Department, saw us kiss.
"Well, I have seen you, too, look at each other and not say a word, and suddenly work was started smartly; how or why is now clear to me. You do look happy like you joined at the hip. Mary, your Sister, is talking to people and laughing again; you two keep doing what you're doing. I love getting calls from the Mayor's office telling us we are making the city look great! But my Dad is twelve years younger than my Mom. You two work wonderfully together. Damn, the kid has been here for a short time, and we got good Yelp reviews about our people; we never had that before. We need to let Dan put on a show getting kids to read; his reading Horton Hears A Who is getting up there in views." Sara in H.R. says.
Mary says. "Seems like extra pay should be involved; his time juggling us and college and reading to kids is a lot on his plate. But, I do not doubt that he can do it; I have seen him work till he almost passed out."
"Well, there is some grant money for that, Dan. You get two or three friends to dress up and do tricks to get kids to sit down and read. Also, there is talk about turning this into a research center and a wedding event place. But it will at least buy your college textbooks." Sara says.
I say. "I have a friend who does a great Joan of the Ark and a few drama majors. I can talk to my friends; thank you for the opportunity. I am still worried about my SATs scores. If they're too low, I won't get the financial aid, and hell will freeze before I ask for money from Susan or Mary, so your offer of extra income will help. Thank you."
Mary stood taller, and you beamed back at me. We sat outside around a fire pit that a couple put together from stones found unused and stacked near the yard shed. We toasted marshmallows and traded ghost stories drinking hot cocoa around a crackling fire.
Susan is telling us a chilling one about. "The crazed ghost that lost her lover and could still be seen walking around the town looking for a lover to replace him. If you slept with her, you were found dead the next day. Your manhood, well, you can guess. The Marfa Lights, a native, stole her from her love, and the lights were lovers looking for each other."
