A Highway 61 Moment

Abe went back into his room. Gail was asleep, snoring. Abe looked around to make sure everything that was Paul's was gone. It was. Then Abe sat in a chair and started shivering, uncontrollably.

Eventually he stopped, went to the bed and fell asleep. Gail woke him in the morning.

She was pushing his shoulder. She seemed groggy. But she said, "Something's happening outside the door."

Abe got up. He found that he was in shorts, but no shirt. He opened the door to see Nathan hugging Annette, who was crying.

Abe said, "What?"

Annette said, "Paul's dead. He's dead."

Nathan said, "He fell down the stairs."

Nathan took Annette away.

Gail wandered out of the room. She looked confused. She said, "What's going on?"

Abe said, "Paul fell down the stairs. He died." Gail fell out. Abe caught her and eased her down to the floor. He sat next to her. He said, "Gail, are you all right? You seem out of it."

She said, "I...Paul...." Then she stopped.

Abe took her back into their room. She was wearing a robe, and nothing else. Abe took her robe, and ushered her into the shower. They both stayed there for some time. Then they came out and dried off. She seemed to be much better.

But she started crying. Abe asked, "Gail, what do you remember about last night?"

She paused. "You fell asleep. Oh. Oh, no."

"What?"

"I kissed Paul. I kissed him." She was panicked. "I'm sorry. I was just floating. You were asleep."

Abe said, "Don't worry about it, Gail. We have to go and help Annette. But please don't say anything about any kiss. Okay? We, you and I, came upstairs after I woke up. We came together. Paul was still downstairs. Right?"

"Yes. I understand."

"That's very important, Gail."

Gail nodded.

They dressed and went down the back stairs. The main one was blocked by police. They circled around and came into the dining area, where there was a small breakfast set out. Annette and Nathan were at a table. She was softly crying. Abe and Gail sat with them.

Gail said, "I...so sorry. So sorry." Both women cried.

Soon, Nisi, Grant and Bella arrived. There was a general discussion about what would happen. Nathan asked Abe to talk a short walk. They wandered down the path until they were out of sight.

Nathan said, "Our problem is Gail. What does she recall? And will she go along with us?"

"She's sort of half remembering stuff. I told her that she and I went upstairs together."

"You need to keep on it. I don't know what the police will do. Eventually they have to take statements."

The police did talk to all of them. None of the staff were present after midnight. They were interviewed anyway.

Gail was seen by a detective - Norman Gillis. He indicated that he had spoken to most of the others already. He asked, "What was the nature of your relationship with Paul Frick?"

"I...well, we were all good friends - all of us. Paul was part of that. We've known all of them for many years."

"Anything different lately?"

"Yes. There had been some tension amongst us. Sexual tension."

"Please explain."

"Well, the other couples decided that they wanted to share spouses. But Abe and I didn't want to do that."

"So?"

"Nathan had a birthday party here a few months ago. Things didn't go well. Abe and I left early. Since then, the eight of us haven't been as close."

"Mrs. Bellin, are you avoiding the issue?"

"It's....difficult. Paul was kind of aggressive, you know, in trying to get me to participate."

"And your husband didn't like that."

"That's right."

"You two left the birthday party early. But here you are now."

"As time passed, passions abated. And, we missed the friendships. So, we decided to come to the Labor Day party."

"Were there tensions?"

"No. Not really. Abe and Paul had a talk. Things were peaceful. There was no swapping - this time."

"What about last night? When did you last see Paul?"

"He brought us - Abe and me - drinks. A peace offering, he said. We spoke for a while. Then Abe and I went up to bed. Paul was still downstairs."

"What happened when you and your husband got to your room?"

"We slept."

"Okay, Ma'am. Thank you."

Gail was ushered out. And Abe called in.

Gillis said, "We're talking to all of you about this weekend. As it happens, we've spoken to the others. Can you tell me what your relationship with Paul Frick was like?"

"We had been good friends. But of late, not so much."

"Why?"

"There....you know about the swapping?"

"Yes. You and Mrs. Bellin did not participate?"

"Correct. But Paul was....enamored with my wife. When we were last here, there was a small incident, where he and Gail kissed. I was unhappy about that. So, the next morning we left."

"And, since then?"

"Well, we hadn't seen him until this party. We came to see if the eight of us could reestablish something like what we used to have."

"Was that working out?"

"I thought so. We had a drink with Paul last night before we went up. It was fine."

"Was he drunk?"

"I believe he was, at least high."

Abe was excused. He and Gail compared notes.

Then Nathan came to speak to them. He said, "In this state, there could easily be an autopsy. But there won't be one if the local authorities don't ask. Probably they should ask. But maybe they won't. Annette doesn't want one."

Detective Gillis and his Chief had a discussion with William Maker, the Commonwealth Attorney about how to proceed. The scene had been processed. The body was moved to a hearse supplied by a local funeral home. The main question was whether to ask the state medical examiner to do an autopsy.

Gillis said, "I believe we should have one done. This is a sudden death. I'm not completely convinced how it happened."

Chief Amanda Blake said, "Why? Wasn't the guy drunk, fell down the stairs?"

"Maybe. But such a fall is unlikely to have killed him."

William Maker said, "Why not? It's a long staircase."

Gillis began to get the impression that his superiors did not want a death investigation. He thought that the facility, owned by a rich local family, didn't want one. That would mean a lot of publicity. Bad for business.

Gillis said, "Well, I believe we'd be remiss not to get one. We do have blood samples. But it's not enough."

The other two nodded and Gillis was dismissed. There was no autopsy. Annette and Nathan made arrangements for Paul to be brought back north, for cremation.

All seven left that late afternoon. Nathan drove Annette. Nisi went by herself.

Paul's cremation was that Tuesday. A service was set for the two weeks. Annette had her sister and mother come stay with her.

Abe and Gail were largely silent on the drive home. Gail was trembly. After a while, Abe asked, "Are you okay? Shall I stop for something?"

"I'm....I feel guilty. The kiss. Again a kiss. Do you think he put something in our drinks?"

"Yes. I only sipped mine. Then I poured it out. But I went sleepy anyway. If I drank the whole thing....."

"Abe, I...have more...never mind."

"We can sort through it all, Gail. When we get home. It's a tragedy."

"Yes. Yes, it is."

When they did get home it was past dinner. They ordered a pizza. Each of them was exhausted, but edgy.

Finally, Gail said, "Abe, I recall a lot more, now."

Abe said, "What?"

"He was fucking me, wasn't he? From behind. He drugged you, and drugged me, and he fucked me."

"Yes."

"And you killed him."

"Yes. I didn't mean to kill him. I really didn't hit him so hard. I was still woozy."

Gail said, "I'm so sorry, Abe. I got you into all this. He was crazy....so crazy to do that. What could he have been thinking?"

"I told you he was off. Something just set him off. You, maybe. Or not getting you when he wanted it."

"Why did Nathan....?"

"He just took over. I went along with it, when I saw what he was doing."

"But...it's so risky. For him."

"He...I think he probably felt guilty, because he started all of it, and had the parties."

"Well, I feel guilty, too. I don't know why I was so....loose with him."

"But you didn't do it...until he slipped you some drug."

"I...yes, true. But I'm still at fault. The kiss before. And, even if he drugged me, I was ready to....I might not have gone with him if I didn't truly want to do it. I remember it, Abe. I was...I was not resisting."

"The drug lowered your ability to put him off. I always knew you were attracted to him. He was big and...well, I'm not."

"No, Abe. It wasn't you. You're great. But, all of the rest of us were ready to fuck around. Maybe something about our age, empty nest, whatever. We were all desiring something new."

"Like you said, new is exciting."

"I feel so sorry for Annette." Gail started to cry. "She did love him. She did."

Abe said, "I hope they don't think too hard down there, about what happened. When I thought about it, I was scared. Still am. I wonder what Annette said about when Paul came up."

"She told me she didn't remember. I wonder if he drugged her as well."

"Maybe. We'll never know."

They went to bed. No sex. No sex for a while after that, either. But gradually, they reworked their lives a bit, and resumed marital relations. They didn't talk much about Paul's death. But they did see Annette quite a bit. After the memorial ceremony, her relatives left. And Gail invited her to lunch. They had a good time, talking about Paul, in some of his better days.

The remaining seven didn't socialize together at all for some time. Grant and Bella came to dinner and bridge several times. Annette also came to dinner. They played pinocle.

Nathan and Nici were around less. Abe thought Nathan was nervous about the cover-up. Once, Abe and Nathan saw each other at a hardware store. They walked for some time with each other. Abe thanked him for risking so much to keep him clear of a charge. Nathan said that it was the least he could do. He said that he had researched what might have happened to Paul. He had decided that it might have been cardiac arrest from the blow to the chest. A million to one shot. Abe really didn't want to think about it.

Time passed. A year. Abe and Gail were pretty much back to normal. Annette had developed a special friend - Jerome. Another retired football guy that she'd known from when Paul played. Jerome was on TV, now, commenting on games. Jerome had looked her up when he heard about Paul's demise.

Annette and Gail spoke about her new guy. Annette was enthusiastic as she described him to Gail.

As the anniversary of Paul's death rolled around, Annette invited all six of them to her house for a 'get together."

They all accepted.

Abe was somewhat reluctant, but he wanted to be able to help Annette, if he could.

The get-together was on a Saturday, a barbeque. Annette had Jerome there, to meet her friends.

Jerome was a large, very fit, medium complected black man, who had played linebacker with Paul, and then gone pro. Annette and Paul had socialized with him and his then wife. Now he was divorced, and, apparently, living with Annette.

Gail knew this, but the rest didn't know how far it had progressed. Gail had met Jerome when she went to visit Annette one weekday, when he wasn't working. She liked him a lot, and thought he was good for Annette. In many ways.

The party - for that's what it turned out to be - went quite well. Annette seemed happy, and the rest were happy for her. No one mentioned Paul.

There was a considerable amount of alcohol drunk, and some weed, supplied by Nici.

There came a time when Annette started up her sound system, and all of them danced.

The end.

(I know the real Highway 61 - Dylan's - was not in Virginia. But there is one here. You could look it up.)