The Burning Question – Part I
By
Johnny was carrying a manila envelope and he set it down on the table as he got a coffee mug out of the pantry and set it down on the counter. He went to the pantry and got out a tea bag. He put the little bag into the cup, filled the little silver pot with water and turned on the stove. It was a little after 7 and he was already at work, he was hoping to use the privacy to look at what he had sent away for. He tore open the manila envelope and dumped its contents out onto the table, they were several newspaper articles and he began looking through them.
“Morning Johnny.”
He nearly jumped through the ceiling as he gathered up the newspapers and put them back in the envelope, it was his partner that had startled him.
“Morning Roy.”
His partner was dressed in his uniform and opened the pantry and took everything out to start the morning coffee, he then noticed that his partner was using the pot.
“So what are you doing here this early, it’s not your turn to cook?”
“Nothing much.”
“How’s Min doing?”
“Pretty good, working hard as usual.”
“So how is married life?”
“It’s good, pretty much the same as just living together but I still can’t get used to hearing Min Gage, I’m so used to Duke it sounds weird.
Roy turned off the stove and poured the hot water into Johnny’s cup, he took a spoon out of the drawer and stirred it, he handed his partner his tea. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
Roy saw the envelope and began to make coffee. “So what articles were you reading?”
Johnny sighed, he was hoping Roy hadn’t seen them, he wasn’t going to say anything but then decided to confide in his partner. “If I show you, will you keep it to yourself and not breathe a word?”
Roy was surprised at how serious his partner sounded. “Sure Johnny, you’ve got my word.”
“All right, sit down.”
Johnny took the articles back out of the envelope and handed one of them to his partner. “Here, take a look.”
Roy sat down at the table and took the article, the headline was in bold lettering. LOCAL MAN KILLED IN CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENT. He read the first few lines and his blue eyes grew wide, he looked at Johnny. “Evan Gage?”
Johnny nodded. “My father.”
Roy leaned back in his chair, he was completely floored. “Johnny I had no idea, I mean I knew your father was dead but you never mentioned that he was killed.”
“I know, I never told anyone.”
Roy read the short article. “It says he died in an accident but it doesn’t say what happened.”
“I know, it’s filled with bull but no information.”
“How many articles do you have here?”
“At least 6, I haven’t gone through all of them but I’m sure they will all be just as useless.”
“It says here that they will release more information when it comes available.”
“Yeah but they never did, and not even my mother knows what happened.”
“That’s tough Johnny, when did this happen?”
“When I was 13.”
Roy gave the article back to his partner. “I don’t mean to sound mean or anything but what made you decide to start looking into this after almost 15 years?”
Johnny shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it started when we went on that trip to Wyoming, I took Min to see his grave and it really upset me. Then later on we were up in my old room and there was this picture of him with me sitting on his lap, it made me realize how short our time together really was. It’s been in the back of my mind ever since. I’ll be right back.” He left and returned with the photo of Johnny and his father at Halloween, he handed it to Roy.
“Holy Cow! You look exactly like him!”
“I know.”
“So do you think you will be able to find out what happened to him?”
“I think so, a lot of the people that worked with him still live in Hollister, I’m going to try and track them down.”
“Anyone in particular?”
“No, I don’t have any names yet.”
Roy got up from the table and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Johnny, let me ask you this, what if you do find out about your dad and it’s something really bad?”
Johnny sipped his tea and set his cup down. “Then at least I’ll know, and the questions will be answered.”
Min was humming as she stirred the contents of her cooking pot with a wooden spoon, she was making spaghetti sauce and she added a dash of oregano. She heard the front door unlock and she turned to see her Paramedic in shining uniform walk in.
“Hey, care for a taste?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and offered him her wooden spoon.
Johnny unbuttoned his blue shirt and took it off, he threw it on the couch and accepted the spoon. “Trying to poison me after only three months of marriage, huh?”
Min grinned. “I’m going to have to plead the 5th amendment on that.”
He dipped the spoon into the sauce and tasted it. “It’s good.” He gave her back the spoon and went into the bedroom. Min turned off the sauce and covered it with a lid, she went into the bedroom.
“Honey, is something wrong?”
He was putting on a pair of shorts. “No.”
Min walked over to him and lifted his chin with her fingers. “Johnny, we’ve been together for almost two years, I can always tell when something is wrong, so what is it?”
He looked at her and sighed, he took her hand from his chin and held it. “You do know me that well don’t you?”
“Yes I do, what’s bugging you?”
He sat down on the bed and looked up at her. “I’ve been looking into what happened to my father.”
Min joined him on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know.”
“Gloria said he died while on the job right?”
“Right,
he worked for Hollister Construction.”
”What have you found out?”
“Nothing, he died in an accident is the only thing I have been able to dig up so far.”
Min sighed and squeezed his hand. “What do you want to do?”
Johnny looked at her. “I want to take a few weeks of vacation time and go back to Hollister and see what I can find.”
“Are you going to tell your mom what you’re doing?”
He shook his head. “Not really, I don’t think she would approve.”
“Why not?”
“She would tell me that what’s done is done and what good would it do to dig up the past.”
“If my husband had died and I didn’t know exactly how I would want to know.”
“I guess she figures that knowing what happened would be too painful.”
Min sighed and leaned against his shoulder. “So what do we tell her the reason for our visit is?”
“Vacation time that I have to use or lose.”
“Okay, I’ll call the airlines and reserve our tickets, when do we leave?”
“Next week.”
It was summertime in Wyoming and the weather was just gorgeous, the temperature was in the 80s and it was the perfect shorts weather, which was what Gloria was dressed in when she met Min and Johnny at the gate.
“Hey!” The shorts she was wearing were black and she had a matching black and white striped shirt to go with them. She put her arms around both of them and hugged them. “How have you been?”
Min was wearing white shorts and a black tank top. “Good, really good, right Johnny?”
“Right.”
Johnny was wearing the paramedic shirt that Min had given him and Gloria shook her head and laughed. “Nice shirt!”
He looked at his wife. “See! I told you she would like it!”
“So you are the one that gave it to him?”
Min nodded. “I’m afraid so, I had it especially made and I also gave one to Roy when his anniversary as a paramedic came up.”
The threesome started walking towards the baggage area, Gloria was in between the couple. “So how long are you going to stay?”
“A few weeks, this time I want to do some exploring, maybe look up a few old friends.”
Gloria nodded. “Sounds like fun, Johnny maybe you can show Min were you went to school and stuff like that.”
Johnny smiled. “I was thinking of taking her up to the old make out point.” He looked over at his wife and wiggled his eyebrows at her. “So what do you say?”
Gloria smacked her son on the arm. “John Roderick Gage!”
“What? She’s my wife! It’s perfectly legal!”
Min started to laugh. “Gee I don’t know, I have a reputation to protect.”
Johnny reached behind his mother and took his wife’s hand. “Don’t worry Darling, I promise to respect you in the morning.”
Gloria and Min were in the kitchen fixing sandwiches, Min was spreading mustard and mayonnaise on six slices of bread.
“So when are you and Johnny going to make me a grandmother?”
Min stopped spreading and nearly dropped her knife. “You want to be a grandmother so fast?”
“Sure, I’ve been waiting a long time.”
“How about waiting a little longer, we’ve only been married three months, I would like to wait at least a year or two.”
“And what if nature dictates otherwise?”
“That’s fine, we did talk about kids and we do want them.”
Gloria took the bread from her daughter-in-law. “Level with me Min, what are you guys really doing here besides just visiting?”
Min sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “Is it that obvious?”
“It is to me, I knew something was up when Johnny said he was going to look up old friends.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
The older woman had put a slice of cheese and a slice of roast beef on the bread and was now adding lettuce and tomato. “All of the people Johnny went to school with aren’t here anymore, they’ve all left and he knows that.”
Min put the top on a sandwich and put it on a plate. “If I tell you, do you promise not to say anything to Johnny?”
“I promise.”
Min picked up the plate and put it on the table. “All right, we’re also here to look into Evan’s death.”
Gloria looked surprised. “His death?”
“Yeah, Johnny wants to find out exactly how he died.”
Johnny’s mother sat down at the table. “When did this start?”
“I think it started when he took me to the cemetery.”
“You mentioned that he got pretty upset.”
Min sat down at the table. “It did but I didn’t tell you how much, he went for a walk and he was gone so long I feel asleep in the car waiting for him.”
Gloria sighed, deep down she knew all long that someday Johnny would want to know what happened to his father. “I guess I should have seen this coming.”
“Gloria, can I ask you something?”
She looked at her daughter-in-law and nodded. “Sure.”
“Why didn’t you find out what happened?”
“I did try, but no one would tell me anything, I finally got a visit from Howard Jacobson, he owned the construction company, he told me that the company was going to pay for the funeral and give me an insurance settlement for a hundred thousand dollars.”
“And all you had to do was stop asking questions, right?”
Gloria nodded slowly, she saw the way Min was looking at her. “What was I supposed to do Min? I had a 13 year old son, and a cabin that Evan had built with money he borrowed from a bank and had only half paid back. I didn’t work and I didn’t even have enough money to bury my husband!”
Min touched the older woman’s hand. “I think I understand, you did what you thought was best for both you and Johnny.”
“I really had no alternatives, it was either stop asking questions or lose everything and losing Evan was hard enough.”
“I told Johnny I would help him any way I could, do you remember that day?”
“Yeah, how could I forget it?”
“Does anything come to mind that you think could help?”
Gloria took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The only thing that really stands out about that day is that two of Evan’s friends came by in the evening to tell me how sorry they were.”
“Do you remember who it was?”
“Ben Pearson and Marty Mathews.”
“And they didn’t tell you anything?”
“They both were pretty shook up, especially Marty.”
“Do they still live here?”
“Yeah, Ben would probably be the best person to talk to; he and Evan were best friends.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Johnny that you casually mentioned those names.”
“He should talk to Marty too, she was really a mess.”
Min nodded. “Johnny has a few articles that he sent away for and I looked them over on the plane. They were pretty vague and there was something odd about them but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Odd? In what way?”
“It was like whoever wrote the articles were deliberately covering it up and the articles were from at least 3 different newspapers.”
Gloria looked puzzled. “But why would they do that if it was just an accident?”
Min’s face grew pensive. “Exactly…and that’s the burning question isn’t it? What happened to Evan Gage?”
Johnny was sitting in a black wrought iron chair on the front porch, he was
looking out into the woods remembering some of the times he had spent with his
father. They did the typical father-son activities like fishing, playing ball,
and Evan had taught Johnny all about horses and how to ride. The two of them
always had long talks about the future, and he had told his son to not be afraid
to do what was truly in his heart because it was important in this life to be
happy. The only thing that had made Johnny truly happy was fire fighting, Evan
had even taken Johnny down to the Hollister Fire Department, the men there were
very nice and had even given Johnny a ride in the fire truck. Johnny could see
his father’s smiling face and he would give anything to see it right now, if
only for a moment. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he reached up and touched
it.
“Bad time?”
Johnny looked up and saw the face of his wife, he shook his head slowly. “No, I was just remembering.”
“Your mom and I were talking and she gave me two names that could be helpful.”
Johnny pulled on her hand a little, Min walked around the chair and sat down on his lap. “She did?”
Min nodded. “Two people that came to see her the day Evan died, Ben Pearson and Marty Mathews.”
“I remember them from the funeral, Ben and Dad were pretty good friends.”
“That’s what your mom said too, are you going to give them a call and go talk to them?”
“I’ll call Ben first.”
Min saw how sad her husband was and she touched his cheek. “It really hurts to be here doesn’t it?”
He looked at her and nodded slowly. “Yeah it does, he’s here in this house and I can feel him. Do you remember when I told you that I hadn’t seen my mom in 7 years?”
“Yeah I remember.”
“Why didn’t you ask me about the math? You know my six year anniversary as a fireman is next month in August, why didn’t you ask me what I did before I went into the academy?”
Min shrugged. “Well it did occur to me that there was a missing year but I figured that it was your business and no one else’s.”
Johnny sighed and put his arms around her. “I left home when I was 20 and went to LA, I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself, I wasn’t going to become a fireman.”
“But I thought that’s what you wanted since you were a little kid.”
“It was but I didn’t want to do it, it reminded me too much of Dad, but I didn’t know that at the time.”
“So what happened to change your mind?”
“I had found a job at a riding stable, and was taking care of horses, I liked it, it was hard work but it paid pretty good. One day there was this guy that was smoking in the stable area, some of the other stable hands got really mad at him and tried to kick him out, it turned physical and he dropped the cigarette in a pile of hay. The fire started and in a matter of seconds everything was burning, I was in the back stalls when I heard the commotion. I started getting all of the horses out, they were whinnying, I could hear them crying for help and I ran back into the smoke to try and free some of them. The smoke was thick and I couldn’t see, I let a few horses out but the smoke was too much and I remembering fall down. Everything was burning all around me and I tried to get up but I couldn’t, it was getting harder to breath. I thought for sure my number was up, I was lying on my side and I looked up and saw my father standing in the smoke. He was wearing his favorite blue flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, his long hair was blowing. He told me to get on my knees and crawl, I told him that I couldn’t, and he said that I had to; it wasn’t my time to join him. I remember rolling onto my stomach, I felt like I was going to pass out but I clawed at the dirt and slowly started to move, I don’t know how far I crawled before someone picked me up and took me out of there.”
Min’s eyes were huge. “Who picked you up?”
Johnny looked at her and smiled. “It was a fireman, he carried me out and laid me down on the ground and put an oxygen mask on my face. I opened my eyes and saw him, he was this older guy and he looked at me and took the mask off, he told me that I was lucky, if I hadn’t started crawling towards the door he never would have seen me.”
Min sighed. “So that’s when you decided to go into the academy?”
He nodded. “My father had given me a second chance, I could have died in that fire. I realized how foolish I was being, so a few days later I quit and enrolled in the fire academy.”
Min smiled at her husband and kissed him. “You made the right decision, you really are good at what you do Johnny and a lot of people in LA owe their lives to you and Roy, including me.”
Johnny was feeling a little bit better now, his wife had cheered him up, he got a wicked idea. “So Mrs. Gage, shall we take that trip up to the make out point?”
“You mean right now?”
He nodded his head and grinned at her. “I mean right now!”
“But what about calling Ben?”
“I was going to wait until tomorrow to call.”
Min raised an eyebrow at him. “Well…let me think about it and I’ll get back to you!”
“Get back to me?” Johnny had his arms around his wife and tucked a hand under her knees, he stood up and had her in his arms like he was about to carry her over the threshold but instead he flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “No one refuses Johnny Gage!”
Min was laughing and kicking her legs. “Put me down you nut!”
“No way! You’re mine now woman!”
“I was just teasing you Johnny! Of course we can go to that make out point!”
Johnny set her down. “Good, I’m glad you see things my way!”
Min put her hands on her hips. “On second thought…”
He tried to grab her to put her back on his shoulder but she ducked out of his reach and started to run.
“Sorry Fireman, you gotta catch this girl before you can have her!” She headed towards the woods.
Johnny sighed. “Women…why do they always make things so difficult?”
He reached into his blue shorts pocket and took out a pair of sunglasses; he put them on and ran after his wife.
Johnny was upstairs sitting on the bed he shared with Min, talking to Ben Pearson on the telephone. Min opened he door a little and saw that her husband was scowling. She walked into the room and sat down on the bed beside him.
“All right , I understand that, thank you for your time Ben, bye.”
He slammed the phone down hard. “Thanks for nothing!” He covered his face with his hands and sighed.
“I take it that the phone call didn’t go too well?”
“No, he said it’s been too long and he doesn’t remember anything, I should try Marty Mathews.”
“Did he have her phone number?”
Johnny uncovered his face and looked at her. “No, he said that she works at this bar called Scallywags and that if I want to talk to her I’ll have to go there.”
“Are you?”
“Yeah, I have to go Min, I gotta know.”
“Want me to come with you?”
“No, you stay here, I’m going to go see if I can find this place.”
“Well it shouldn’t be too hard, it’s not like Hollister is LA.”
Johnny got up from the bed and took off his green t-shirt and his shorts. He picked up his suitcase and laid it down on the bed and opened it, he took out a blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans. “Yeah I know, I think I have an idea of where it is.” He got dressed and slipped in his boots.
“What are you going to tell Gloria?”
“That I’m going to go exploring.” He sat down on the bed and touched his wife’s face and gently kissed her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Min nodded. “You just watch yourself okay?”
“I will.”
Johnny tucked his wallet into his right back pocket and walked out of the bedroom, Min listened as he walked down the stairs and talked to his mother. She heard the front door close and the sound of Gloria’s Wrangler starting up. She thought about everything and the newspaper articles stuck out in her mind most of all, the words of her mother-in-law came back to her.
“But why would they do that if it was just an accident?”
Min sighed and laid back on the bed, she hoped that Johnny wasn’t going to be walking into a bear trap.
Johnny stepped through the door of the Scallywags bar located a few miles out of town, it looked like an old red brick house and the windows were painted black. The bar was cloudy, the smoke was thick and it burned his eyes as he took off his sunglasses. The bar was very dark compared to the bright sun light and his eyes adjusted to the difference in a matter of seconds. When he was finally able to see, he looked around at the bar, it was very tiny, there were only a few tables, a juke box in the corner and a ratty, torn up pool table. He saw someone with short red hair, a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, was sitting at the bar. The bartender was washing glasses, he was a big burly man that looked more like a bouncer than a bartender. He had brown hair and a thick brown mustache, he watched as Johnny walked up to the bar.
“Help you with something?” He walked around the sink and was wiping his hands on his white apron.
“I’m looking for Marty Mathews, I was told I could find her here.”
The big man nodded. “You just missed her, she went to go pick up something for me, she’ll be back, have a seat.”
Johnny straddled a bar stool and moved it closer to the bar. “Thanks.”
“You want something to drink?”
“A beer please.”
The bartender tapped him a beer and placed it in front of him. “Buck a half please.”
Johnny reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a 5, he was given his change and slipped it back into his pocket, he wondered how long he was going to have to wait.
Marty Mathews jumped down from the back of her truck and checked a few things off of her clipboard, she ran her fingers through her short brown hair and got back into her truck, she threw the clipboard on the dash and drove back to the bar.
Johnny was halfway through his beer when the door opened, he turned to see a middle aged woman wearing white t-shirt and a pair of tan pants.
“Hey Sid, I got the load of booze you-”
Marty spotted Johnny and her eyes grew round, she stopped in mid stride.
“Oh Jesus…Evan.”
Her knees felt like rubber and she took a few more shaky steps and saw that it wasn’t Evan, but she knew who it was.
Johnny stood up. “You must be Marty Mathews, I’m-”
She walked over to the bar and set her clipboard down. “I know who you are, what are you doing back here?”
He sat back down. “I just came to see my mom.”
Marty pulled back one of the stools and sat down beside Johnny, she took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and lit one. “I don’t think so, if you were just here to see her you wouldn’t be waiting for me.”
Sid set a shot down on the bar and she picked it up and slipped it slowly. “Thanks Sid, your load’s out back.” The big man got the hint and left to go get it.
“All right, you got me, I’m here for more than just a visit.”
Marty took a puff of her cigarette and blew out the smoke. “Let me take a stab in the dark, you’re here to dig up a grave.”
Johnny nodded. “I talked to Ben Pearson, he said he doesn’t remember that day, are you going to tell me the same lie?”
Marty downed the drink in one swig and reached over the bar and picked up the bottle and poured herself another shot. “No.”
“Can you tell me about that day?”
She blew out another stream of smoke. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s something you don’t want to hear about.”
Johnny watched as she poured herself her third shot. “That’s where your wrong Marty, it is something I want to hear.”
Marty took a long drag on her cigarette, she turned and looked at him.” Why are you doing this? It’s been 15 years, what good is it going to do to rehash it?”
“He was my father Marty, and something took him away from me way too soon. I’m not going to stop until I find out what.” Johnny started to leave when a hand grabbed his wrist, he looked down and saw Marty’s hand. “All right, but not here.”
“Where then?”
Marty finished her shot and put out her cigarette. “The cemetery.”
“Why did you want to come here?”
The cemetery was deserted as usual except for the two of them, the trees made the temperature seem a lot cooler then it actually was. Marty was standing there, looking down at Evan’s grave.
“I wanted to see it, I never have, he’s been gone for so long and this is the first time I’ve seen it.”
Johnny looked at her, he saw more than just friendship reflecting in her eyes. “You loved him…didn’t you?”
Marty looked at him, her face was wet with tears. “Yeah I did, but I never did anything to jeopardize what he had with your mom, I knew he only saw me as a friend and that was fine.” She wiped her face with her hand. “Let’s walk.”
A breeze began to blow as the two people walked amongst the grave stones, they got to the other side of the cemetery and spotted a gray stone bench. They sat down and Marty took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it.
“June 14th, I’ll probably always remember that day for the rest of my life. It was really hot, hotter than Satan’s tool shed, I was working the 10-6 shift and when I got there at quarter ‘til 10, I saw Evan.” She looked at Johnny and shook her head. “God you remind me of him, you nearly gave me a heart attack back at the bar. You know you are almost the same age he was when he died, but your hair is shorter than his was and not as dark.”
Johnny nodded. “I know, I’ve seen pictures.”
Marty took a puff of her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly. “Anyways, it was payday and Evan was there already, I figured he had come in early to pick up his check, he went into Doug Roberts’ trailer and closed the door.”
“Who was Doug Roberts?”
“He was the foreman, he still lives here, he has his own construction site.”
“How long was he in the trailer?”
“Well I’m not sure, I came back down around 10 30, because I had forgotten to fill my thermos with cold water. Evan was drinking a cup of coffee and he didn’t look too happy, he looked mad.”
Johnny looked puzzled. “Did you ask him why?”
“No, I was not about to ask him why, I only asked him if he got his check and he said yes. I filled my thermos from the big cooler and was screwing the lid back on when I saw Evan was strapping on his safety belt. I asked him what he was doing, I knew he wasn’t supposed to work until 1. He said that Roberts let he could come into work early so he could get a little over time, Evan put on his gloves and walked into the elevator, he waved at me and went up.”
Johnny could feel his heart beating hard. “When did you see him again?”
Marty’s hand was trembling as she took out another cigarette and lit it. “God I need a drink.”
“Well we’ll go back to the bar after you tell me what happened.”
She ran her hand through her hair. “I had decided to go grab a donut before I went back up, I had missed breakfast. I was walking towards the elevator and there was this sound.
“What kind of sound?”
She blew out her smoke and looked at him. “Have you ever stood on the side of the road when a semi drove past? Or beside a train track when the train goes by?”
Johnny nodded, he knew what she meant. “Yeah I have.”
“That’s what I heard, this whooshing sound, like a semi was coming at me. I looked around didn’t see anything, the sound got louder and I remember that I looked up.”
She stopped talking and wiped her face, she got up from the bench, her back was turned to Johnny.
He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly getting very dry. “What did you see Marty?”
Marty turned back around, her face was blank. “Your father, coming straight at me.”
Johnny’s face dropped. “What?”
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was like it wasn’t real, but somehow my brain was aware because all of a sudden I was diving out of the way. I hit the ground hard and the impact kind of woke me up, I thought that maybe I had tripped.”
She sat back down on the bench, she covered her face for a moment. Johnny touched her on the shoulder, she uncovered her face and wiped it with her hands. “I sat up and there was something next to me, I turned and it was Evan. He was lying there and there was blood coming out of his nose, ears and mouth.”
She was staring off into the distance, she was back in that time reliving that terrible day. “He was still alive, I could see his chest moving, I picked up his hand and asked him what happened, he tried to talk but there was this gurgling sound. He squeezed my hand and closed his eyes, his chest wasn’t moving anymore.”
She covered her face and started crying, Johnny tried to put his arm around her shoulder but she moved away. “I don’t know how long I was there by myself, it seemed like an eternity before anyone realized what had happened. Everyone swarmed around me asking me what happened but I didn’t know anything, they all kept trying to get me to move away from him but I wouldn’t. Finally Roberts came down in the elevator and went into his trailer and came out with a table cloth, he covered Evan with it. Ben came down and he knelt down beside me and told me that I had to let go, the ambulance was coming and I would be in the way. I remember looking at him and nodding, I let go of his hand and Roberts tucked his hand underneath the table cloth and told Ben to take me into his trailer.”
Johnny’s inside felt as though they had turned to liquid. There were many emotions running through his veins, he wanted to scream, to cry, to pound something but he refused to give in to the pain that was bubbling deep inside of him. He simply put an invisible mask over his face to hide it all. “Did he?”
“For a few minutes until the ambulance got there, I remember coming out of the trailer with Ben. The two attendants pulled back the sheet and started loading him onto the stretcher. I looked down at him and noticed that his safety belt was gone.”
“Was it on him when he fell?”
Marty nodded. “I’m positive that it was, it was the first thing I looked for, it was bright yellow you couldn’t miss it. Nobody was there, everyone had left but me, Ben, the ambulance guys and Roberts.”
“Roberts? Was he alone with my dad before the ambulance got there?”
“I don’t know and there was something else that was weird. Roberts came down from the building, he wasn’t in his trailer.”
“You mentioned that, why is that strange?”
“He was a foreman; he really didn’t belong on the building and hadn’t been but all of a sudden he came down in the elevator.”
Johnny’s face was blank as he walked into the cabin; Min and Gloria were sitting on the couch watching a movie when they saw him.
“You want something to eat Sweetie?”
His face remained passive. “No, no thanks Mom I think I’m going to go lie down, I don’t feel good.” He walked through the living room and went up the stairs. Min watched him and looked at her mother-in-law.
“He doesn’t look good at all, I think I’ll go see if he’s all right.”
Gloria nodded. “I think you better.”
Min went up the stairs and down to the en of the hall, she opened the bedroom door and saw he was lying with his back to the door.
“Johnny?”
She walked into the room and closed the door, she slipped off her sandals and climbed into the bed. “Are you okay?” She reached out and stroked his hair.
“Not really.”
She moved her hand down and started rubbing his arm. “Want to tell me about it?”
“Not really.”
“Johnny, we’re in this together remember? I want to know what happened to Evan as badly as you do.”
“I found out what happened today.”
Min put her hand on his shoulder and rolled him over onto his back. “What?”
He wasn’t looking at her, his eyes were looking someplace else. “I said I found out what happened.”
“From who?”
“Marty Mathews.”
Min swallowed hard, she knew she was walking on dangerous ground. “Are you going to tell me?”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I can, not right now anyways.”
She nodded. “Do you want to go to sleep?”
“Yeah.”
She crawled around him and laid down, she lifted her arm and he laid his head down on her chest, she brought her arm back down and began rubbing his back.
Johnny was standing at a construction site, he looked up and saw a frame for a high rise, it reminded him of a Lego tower only made of I-beams.”
“Johnny…up here.”
He looked up and saw a man standing about 6 stories up, he had long black hair that was being blown around by the wind, he recognized who it was. “Dad?” Everyone was right, he was the spitting image of his father. “What are you doing up there?”
“You’re getting closer, but you have to be careful. The truth has been hidden for so long and there are still people out there that want it to stay that way.”
“Who? Who wants to keep it hidden?”
Evan walked away from the edge and disappeared. “Dad wait!”
There was a ladder going up, leaning against the frame and Johnny climbed it all the way up. He carefully stepped out onto the beam, it was pretty wide but it still made him feel unsure of its sturdiness. He saw his father standing on the other end. “Dad who wants to keep it hidden? And why?
Evan only looked at him. “I wish I could tell you Johnny but I can’t, it’s something you’re going to have to find out on your own.”
Johnny walked over to him and the two men were face to face, the only difference was Evan had darker hair and skin and was 6 years older than Johnny was now at the time of his death. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
The two men hugged and Johnny leaned his head against his father’s shoulder. “It isn’t fair.”
“I know but I’m still with you, just like you’re with me. We’re both a part of each other Johnny and no one can ever take that away from us.”
Johnny opened his eyes, he was no longer hugging his father, Evan was standing on the edge again. “Dad what are you doing? Get away from there it’s dangerous!”
Evan looked at him. “I have to go now Johnny, you mind what I said, be careful.”
Johnny shook his head. “No! Don’t!”
Evan smiled at his son. “I have to.”
He turned his back and Johnny started to run. “Dad!”
The wind was blowing Evan’s long hair, he took a deep breath and jumped.
“Dad!”
Johnny sat up, he was breathing hard.
“Johnny?”
Min rubbed her eyes, he had woken her up, she touched his shoulder gently. “Are you okay? Was it a bad dream?”
He flopped back down on the bed. “I dreamed about my father.”
“Really, what did he say?”
“He told me to be careful.”
Min laid down beside him. “I think that’s a good idea.”
Johnny rolled onto his side and looked at his wife. “I’m ready to tell you what happened.”
Min could see the pain in his face, it was just below the surface. “Okay.”
He scooted back down and laid his head against her chest. “I spent the past few hours with Marty, we were at the cemetery.”
“Why there?”
“It was her idea, she said she wanted to see my Dad’s grave.”
“Oh.”
“She said she was there the day my dad died, she saw everything.”
“What happened?”
Johnny took a deep breath. “He was working on the 6th floor and he fell.”
“Did she see what made him fall?”
“No, but she was there when he landed, he nearly fell on top of her.”
Min gasped and closed her eyes for a moment, his words painted a terrible image.
“He was still alive but couldn’t talk, she was there when he died.”
“Oh God…” She wrapped her arms around her husband. “I’m so sorry Sweetie.”
“That’s not all, she said that she saw him put his safety belt on before he went up and it was there when he fell but when the ambulance got there it was gone. Marty also said she saw Doug Roberts the foreman come down in the elevator.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“A foreman being up on a building would be like Captain Stanley grabbing a hose and fighting a fire.”
“So he would have no reason to be up there?”
“Right, Marty said that Ben took her into Roberts’ trailer after the accident and when they came back out everyone was gone but Roberts.”
“You think he took Evan’s safety belt?”
“Maybe.”
“Is that all?”
“No, Marty also told me that in the report Roberts said that my father fell because he wasn’t wearing his safety belt.”
“Did Marty tell them that was wrong?”
“She did but they told her if he had been wearing one, where did it go?”
“They didn’t believe her?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
Johnny lifted his head and looked at her. “Yes.”
Min nodded. “So do I Johnny and there is something else I believe.”
“What’s that?”
“I think your father’s death wasn’t accidental, I think he was murdered.”
Those were the words that broke the mask that Johnny was wearing, he had managed to keep his feelings hidden, even when Marty was telling him what she had seen that long ago summer day. The realization of it all finally released all that bottled up pain. Min saw his mask shatter like glass, his brown eyes grew wet and he got off of the bed, he tried to run from the breaking dam but didn’t quite make it, he fell to the floor and started to sob. Min was on the floor in an instant, she put her arms around his shaking shoulders and helped get him to his feet. They both laid down on the bed and she drew him to her, he was crying like a child. She realized that he was a child, a thirteen year old one that was mourning for his father. She started to cry as well as she stroked the head that was buried in her shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her and started to wail. Min closed here eyes against the sound, she always hated when an Indian did that, it was the most horrible noise of pain and terrible grief. It made her heart break to hear him do that and she held him tighter against her. “Shhh….its all right….its all right…”
Min was listening to his deep breathing, he had stopped shaking and had settled down, she wasn’t even sure how long they had been there.
“Min?” She started at the sound of his voice; she thought he had fallen asleep.
“Yes?”
He lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes were sorrowful and full of pain he also looked completely drained. “Why do you think he was killed?”
She had been thinking about it as she soothed and comforted her husband. “I think that he either saw or found out something that he wasn’t supposed to.”
Johnny sighed, his tears threatened again. “I think you’re right, but what did he find out?”
“I don’t know but whatever it was cost him his life, I want you to promise me something.”
“All right, what?”
“Promise me that it won’t cost you yours.”
Johnny looked at her and nodded slowly. “I promise.”
To be continued…..part II