Page 19 of August
“He wanted, get this, he wanted immortality from a vampire.” He said that he’d been distracting him. “From who? I was the only one in here and I just happened by. Or do you think your vampire thing sent me?”
August wanted to yell at her to stop, but frankly, he was terrified of her. Any day of the week, he thought that his brothers would take on six armed men at once than to piss off their wives, that included his.
The police took the check and told him to shred it. Nope, he couldn’t do that. It was a government document, and he was going to be responsible for shredding someone’s pension check. After showing him where the little shredder was, the officer first on the scene did it. Apparently, it was a fake check to lure one of the family to the bank. He just happened to show up at his place instead.
So far, Shipley told him they had arrested three of the family members and gotten one of them to the hospital. Her name wasn’t told to him, but they said that Findley had beaten her up badly enough that she was going to require some extensive surgery on her face. Apparently, he’d hit her with a pair of brass knuckles and a bat.
On his way home, he called Jack as he was beginning to call her to see if she needed something from the grocery. It seemed like daily, they were stopping by and picking up things that they didn’t know that they needed or something that they’d just run out of. He smiled every time he was asked to stop for something, as it made him feel like a dad.
Not that he wasn’t, but since he was able to leave to go to work daily—it was too much at home for him to be able to get a good phone call in—he wasn’t there all the time where the noise and calamity was. But he thought that Jack was enjoying her time with the kids.
He was standing in line when Carrie called him. “I’m with your wife, but I was wondering if you could please pick me up my money. I left it with Mr. Thomas the other day.” He said he’d be happy to do that. “Thank you. He knows that you’re going to be there soon, so if he misses you, please let him know.”
“I can do that. Did Jack tell you about my interaction with Wally? He’s a danger to himself more than I think he is to other people. Idiot.” She laughed and asked him how long of a conversation did he have before he figured that out. “When he came into the office with his shirt tail hanging out of his pants. Probably couldn’t see it because of the rolls of fat on him. He’s fat and out of shape if you ask me.”
Mr. Thomas brought him the money, but he disguised it as a loaf of bread. Taking some of the bread slices out and putting the money inside. He told him when he got closer to him, he didn’t want anyone to see that he had that kind of cash on him. August thought the man was brilliant.
He rarely had any cash on him if he was honest with himself. When he did have cash, it was because he was headed to pay for something for someone or, in this case, to go by the store for his wife. Telling him thanks, he got into his car and backed out of the parking lot.
~*~
Jack was sitting on the floor with the two older kids when August came home. Not getting up, they were hot into a game called Colors. Their lack of education bothered her a bit but the teacher that she’d seen today about it said they were eagerly learning and catching up in no time. She hoped so.
Jack could beat Richard and Linda for how they treated them, or she supposed, mistreated their children. They were behind in the most general of things, like spelling their own name. The kids were catching on better than she thought that they would and having fun at the same time.
Sending them off to get cleaned up for dinner, she put the game away and talked to August. She realized that she needed to do that more and talk to adults before she started reverting back to her childhood. But not for a while yet. Jack was having fun just hanging around them when they had things to do.
“I went to see Carrie’s sister today. Her name is Susan, and she is badly beaten. Carrie and she cried the entire time we were there.” He asked her what Susan was like. “Much like Carrie. She’s a delicate little thing. I don’t mean in strength, but she talks like she’s very shy. I didn’t get that in what she was saying but in her voice. She has another surgery in the morning to do more repair work on her ears. It was so swollen, I guess, when they brought her in that they thought that she might lose it. They’re still worried about her hearing. I wonder if they’ve treated all their siblings the same way? I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“I spoke with Demi about Carrie. He said that he can’t imagine having sex with her. She was more like you are to him. Sisterly. Are you telling me that we’re going to have to help out another Sharp as a family?” She said that they didn’t have to, but she was going to do it anyway. “I’m not saying that. I just want to help her stay out of jail if she doesn’t belong there. Were you able to see what needs to be done with Ms. Sharp?”
“Yes, she’s deeper into her Alzheimer’s and dementia than Carrie thought. The doctor who is going to be treating her said that it’s because of her daughters helping her when she gets lost. I feel sorry for all of them. When she remembers who they are, I can tell that she was a loving mother to the sisters. Not so much to the others. Especially if they were forever knocking her around for her check each month. I know how it is to live paycheck to paycheck.” She stood up and put the throws they’d been playing on in the large basket by the fireplace. “The kids aren’t ready for school. I talked to one of the teachers and she gave me a list of things that they’re going to need. We need them to catch up on their shots as well as clothing for school. Locke said that he’d make sure that they got everything that they needed, like their testing and shots. He got an official-looking envelope today when I was there. Alex seems to think that it’s his State Board records.
“He’s been telling me for the past week that he thought he’d have them by now. I would imagine that he’s both happy and terrified about what he might have gotten. I think he could have taken them as soon as last year, but he also wanted to get his degree in Nursing as well. He has a Doctorate of Nursing now.” She asked him if he was proud of him. “Yes, and I’m also sad for him. He wanted for Martha to know, too, when he graduated at the top of his class. As he was studying for his doctorate, she would test him on some of the skills that he had to learn, too. I know it was her that pushed and encouraged him to do it. Locke will be a great doctor, too.”
Dinner was hamburgers and baked potatoes. The kids usually shared one, but tonight they were starving, they told him. After having veggie kabobs, his favorite as well as Richards, he was ready for a nap. Several of them, he thought. After dinner, it was his turn to do diaper duty. He told himself that it was kind of gross to enjoy diaper changing. But then, he’d always been an odd man out in his family.
He really didn’t mind that part. It wasn’t just diapers but bathing the kids and getting them into their pajamas. Making sure that Joey and the boys were ready for bed was a treat for him that he never thought that he would get to do with a wife.
They didn’t have to be in bed until nine o’clock. But between the excitement of going to the school and playing a game by a quarter after eight, they were all dozing off with him. His favorite time of the day was reading them a book until they were sound asleep. Going back down the stairs, he was on the couch when Jack brought them both a cup of decaf tea as well as some honey rolls that their cook had made. He could really get used to this married stuff, he thought with a laugh.
After the news was off, Jack watched Jeopardy because her grannie did when she’d been younger. It was fun for him to watch it, too, and between the two of them, they could get as many of them right as they did wrong. Jack told him not to quit his day job and they both got a laugh out of that.
They were making love every night now. He was determined to make love to her tonight as well. But as exhausted as they both were, he didn’t know which one of them was asleep first when their heads hit the pillow.
Waking up around three in the morning, he heard Jack talking on the phone. There was a child or two that needed a safe haven, apparently. He was pulling on his pants when a cruiser pulled up in front of their home with just their lights on and no noise. He was glad about that. He didn’t want the kids to be afraid.
There were three children needing help this time. Varying from about ten to the oldest, that looked to be about seventeen. He’d guess wrong on the last one when he was told that she was nineteen. The officer told him that because she was as old as she was, he didn’t have to take her in.
“Bob, do I look like I’d turn someone down? Nope, come on, kids, we’ll get you something to eat and then fresh clothing.” This was their second group of older kids, and he couldn’t have turned them over either. “My wife is upstairs getting your rooms ready, or do you all want to sleep in one room for comfort?”
After getting his answer, he told Jack, and they followed him in the kitchen. August was thrilled that May was ready for such things and had sandwiches in the refrigerator for young ones coming in the middle of the night like these kids were.
“We’re only going to be here until our mom gets out of the hospital.” the youngest said. Looking at the nineteen-year-old, she only shook her head. That could mean a great many things to this kid, so he wasn’t going to ask for clarification until they were in bed. There was always a file that came with them, and this time was no different. He didn’t bother with it until they were all settled.
After they ate like they were starved, he was going to have May order more chips and stuff that they liked. He took them up to the shower. The girl, Mandy, could of course, shower herself and did so. The two younger ones, Teddy and Martin, could bath themselves as well, so he gave them all towels to use.
Mandy got a brand-new pajama set from the things that they’d gotten, and the boys were stuck with a shirt of his that they swam in as well as new joggers. By the time they were shown to their rooms, they were about as exhausted as he was. But at least he’d been able to get a good five hours of sleep before they had been called.