Andrea Millhouse Pt. 09

"I actually met him aboard the Lusitania , we used to play cards and get drunk together - but that's been some years ago, I don't believe the man even drinks any longer. Of course, there was a period of time when I had turned toward a life of crime and all I would ever receive in my stocking was a lump of coal..." Hans now stated with an English accent as he cut into his steak and nodded at Kathy with a solemn expression.

"NOOO, now don't start, Grand Daddy, you'll only encourage her" Tamika said, eyeing Hans with suspicion and glancing at Kathy, who was by now, laughing uproariously.

"Dad, you need to cool it or we'll get thrown out of here" Raven said to her father and smiling.

Laughing hardily, myself, at the interaction between the family, I suddenly realized that I was enjoying myself again and extremely pleased that I was fortunate enough to be able to share this moment with Andrea. It was so good to hear a child's laughter again and see Hans doing something other than work.

Andrea, I noticed, was also amused at the exchange between the family and it suddenly dawned on me that she presently looked absolutely stunning. Sporting a white blazer and matching slacks now, her hair was wild and she wore her black Harley Davidson style boots with heels, giving her a slightly rebellious look which, she knew, drove me wild.

...Something Mom had once told me now registered within me "Erotica doesn't initiate in the bedroom; it starts several hours before, on the dance floor or at a nice restaurant. Erotica begins with subtle movements and knowing glances between lovers at the dinner table, gestures and glances which others are oblivious to." I stole another quick glance at Andrea now; damn, she looked smokin' hot. I suddenly forgot all about Mickey, and Owen's truck project and began obsessing about something else...

The meal which Andrea and I shared with Hans and his family was the best I could ever remember. The restaurant held a tranquil ambiance and the food had been superb. Our waitress had been friendly and attentive, thus receiving a generous tip and warm words of thanks from all of us. Finally, by ten thirty PM, all of us rose and exited to the parking lot and our respected vehicles, Dean and Raven said goodnight and promised to meet us again at Owen and Tamika's house for breakfast the following morning.

Hans was now carrying the sleeping Kathy and there was also a large doggy bag for Goldie and Pronto. Upon arriving home, Andrea and I bid all a goodnight with the promise of an earlier start in the morning. Presently, Andrea took my hand and purposefully led me down the hallway to our room whereupon entering; she softly closed the door behind us. Turning to look at me with her back leaning against the door, she stood motionless with her hands pressed behind her.

"Let me watch you undress, Tim." Andrea now commanded me.

With trembling fingers I began to loosen my tie and slide it from around my neck, I then deftly slid out of my sport jacket. Raising my chin, I began unbuttoning my shirt, all the while as Andrea watched attentively, as if critiquing each of my movements with a trained eye. After sliding out of my shirt, I sat on the edge of the bed and removed my boots and socks.

Standing once more, I unfastened my belt and slid out of my slacks and underwear with a single swoop. I presently stood motionless and simply absorbed the utter exhilaration of her eyes upon me. Cocking her head to one side, as if inspecting me further, she came closer and stood before me, her perfume evident. Looking up at me, Andrea slid her arms around my neck as she pulled my head down to her and French kissed me with an air of nobility, as if I were her servant and she, the master.

"Undress me" she suddenly demanded.

Stepping forward, I put my arms around Andrea and slid my hands down to her bottom; I then jerked her close to me and planted a slow kiss on her lips. Sliding my hands up her frame, I slid the blazer off her shoulders and let it fall behind her to the floor. I began unbuttoning her shirt as she looked up into my eyes; her breath was beginning to become heavier with each passing minute now, so was mine.

I slid off her shirt and unhooked her bra and flung it behind me, I then backed her to the bed and gently pushed her down onto the mattress and began sliding off her boots and socks as she held herself up on her elbows, looking at me. Sliding off her slacks, I realized that she wore nothing underneath as she then spread her legs in anticipation...

Andrea and I now made love slowly, we weren't beginners any longer. Over the months we had begun to acquire the skills necessary to read each other without words, we were "mature" lovers now and knew what the other needed and each acted accordingly, almost by reflex. After we had reached our zenith, we rested in each other's arms and let the adrenaline and peace of the moment flow over us in gentle waves, no words needed to be spoken.

It had been a day filled with every emotion under the sun. I had felt intrigued with Owen's project and also pride. There had been the feeling of nostalgia and mystery pertaining to the junkyard filled with old cars and there had also been the sudden emergence of my distant past with Mickey and his phone call. I had also felt the long forgotten joy and comradely gathering of a large family at the steakhouse with Hans's family and Andrea this evening.

"Could you get me a ticket to Seattle for Friday night? I'll just have you and Hans drop me off at the airport when you start back to Laughlin, honey" I said quietly now.

"You don't want me to come when you go to see Auntie Colleen?" Andrea asked.

"Andrea, it won't be any fun, and you can meet me there a week later, then we can spend a few days helping Brenda and Ricky get ready for the big day." I said, sighing deeply.

"Honey, let me go with you, Hans can drive the car back. Would you like me to go with you when you go and see Auntie Colleen?" Andrea asked.

"I'll leave that decision up to you, Andrea; I'm not looking forward to seeing any of them again. If it were Mickey or any of the rest of them I wouldn't go at all but because it's her, I'll go" I said, disgusted.

"I'll get on-line tomorrow and get us two tickets for Friday night then, Tim." Andrea replied.

"You're a good woman, Andrea Millhouse" I said.

"We'll get through this too, honey" Andrea replied.

"We can see Yogi and Stormy then too" I said, after a silence.

Andrea Millhouse was already asleep.

All of us stayed busy for the next week and I didn't receive any more calls from Mickey. Andrea continued to video our progress with Owen's truck project and the ladies went horseback riding on several occasions. I put in some long days, cutting, welding and fabricating pieces for the truck project. Dean, Hans and Raven were present at the yard, sporadically, and would drive into town whenever I needed something for the project.

Owen and Tamika were busy working at their fiberglass shop in Lake Havasu but would come to the yard in the evenings for a few hours and work alongside me until the sun went down. Hans and Kathy were also in and out of the yard some but most of the time I was by myself and working alone, which I preferred. Maybe this kind of work had always been a form of meditation for me, I suddenly wondered. I enjoyed working with metal with dirty hands and it was always gratifying for me to see my ideas come to fruition during a project, a project which would hopefully yield joyous results for Owen and his family for many years to come.

...By three o clock, Friday I was fairly satisfied with our progress on the fifty one Chevy. We had the cab and bed transferred over to the frame of the S-Ten complete with functional steering linkages and foot pedals. The engine and transmission that we had wanted to use were also installed and the running boards were in place as well. Owen could now rebuild the brake system and do much of the exhaust and touch-up work; I would return once he had completed this and assist him with the truck's electrical work.

"We need to be at the airport no later than eight o clock tonight, honey" Andrea now said as I began putting away Owen's tools.

"Let me get a shower and we can begin getting ready to go, honey" I said taking off my coveralls.

*******

...At nine PM that night, Andrea and I felt the jetliner being pushed back from the gate as we sat next to each other within the darkened cabin. We were freshly showered and wearing clean clothes again. All too soon, it seemed, we had said good-bye to Owen and his family and I suddenly felt extremely saddened by this. Maybe because I'd never had a family of my own and now been thoroughly exposed to what I had been missing. Maybe I'd just been too damn selfish to have wanted a family...

Somehow the years and decades just seemed to have gotten away from me and time had simply run out for a family life to ever occur in my life now. Like, Hans, Kathy had stolen my heart as well as Andrea's, I knew. It was funny how thirty pounds of energy could steal one's heart so quickly and so completely.

"I really became fond of that whole family, Andrea." I said quietly and looking out the plane's window.

"Honey, they already love you and we'll be back -and often, I know this without a shadow of a doubt" Andrea said encouragingly and taking my hand.

"They love you too, Andrea" I said, without looking at her.

...The flight was just under two hours, Brenda and Ricky were there to pick us up at the Seattle airport and soon we were inside the Toyota Camry, with Brenda at the wheel and enroute to Ricky's trailer. All of us talked about the upcoming wedding, the local weather and gossip among friends and coworkers, the usual kind of conversation, so prevalent whenever someone is picked up from the airport.

"How is she, Ricky" I finally asked after avoiding the question for twenty minutes.

"...It ain't good, Tim, want to head over there now, for a few minutes? We may not get another chance" Ricky asked looking back at me.

"Yeah, let's go see her" I said quietly.

"Auntie Colleen thinks that Mom has been there to visit her, Tim." Ricky now informed me as Brenda turned the car around at a stoplight and we began heading in the opposite direction toward Virginia Mason.

"Maybe she has, Ricky" I replied softly, looking out at the city lights which were now speeding past the passenger's window again.

Twenty minutes later we were all walking from the parking lot toward the main entrance of the hospital. Following Brenda, all of us went single file through the doors and over to the elevator bank. The time was now eleven forty. I wasn't even sure if we would be allowed in to see my aunt at this late hour but Brenda had assured us that we would. Fuck, I'd just gone through this whole scenario with Mom a few years ago and here I was again. God, I hate these fucking places I thought, as we entered the elevator and the doors closed.

Entering the room now, I immediately saw my cousin Mickey, slumped in a large chair next to the bed. His cheap suit was rumpled as always but he was no longer the young and vibrant petty thief that he'd always been; now he was a little old man, old at the age of fifty four. Even in sleep, he looked like a defeated man. I suddenly regretted my treatment of him over the phone a few days prior.

My Auntie Colleen looked just as I had imagined she would; she was shriveled and half way across the river already, she was currently asleep now. I sat in the chair beside her bed and gently took her tiny hand with Andrea standing behind me. My Auntie Colleen still wore the bronze crucifix around her neck and the sterling silver rings on her hand were the same ones that I'd always remembered her wearing. Her eyes, opened suddenly.

"...Tony?" she asked, looking at me.

"No, Auntie Colleen, it's me, Tim, Pat and Lovey's boy, Ricky's brother. I said quietly.

"...Ohhh, yes ...I remember now ...my you're a handsome young man now, Tim. Ohhh, and this must be Susan, what a pretty girl you are..." Auntie Colleen whispered, looking up at Andrea.

"This is Andrea, Auntie Colleen" I replied.

Mickey suddenly stirred and looked up at us. He then sat up without saying anything and began massaging his face. He looked like he hadn't slept in quite some time.

"Oh yes, ...Lovey said that you'd come, Tim, she's been here a few times already today, yes... Mickey, are you awake?" Auntie Colleen now asked, glancing toward him.

"Yeah, right here, Mom" Mickey said, standing beside us now.

"Did you bring it with you, this time?" Auntie Colleen asked.

"Yes it's in the car; I'll go get it, Mom." Mickey said, he then quietly slipped out the door.

"...Susan, let me get a look at you now..." Auntie Colleen said, looking up toward Andrea again.

Andrea stepped forward and stood beside me.

"...Oh yes, Tim and Ricky always did like the pretty ones ...your gorgeous, child" Auntie Colleen whispered.

"Thank you" Andrea replied, quietly.

Taking my hand again, Auntie Colleen's demeanor now seemed to become serious as she looked up at me and squeezed my hand with both of hers "Tim, I don't want you to have bad feelings about Pat or Mickey no more. Pat was a good boy but the war changed him ...he wasn't no good after the war, that's when he got mean. ...Please forgive him in your heart, otherwise the hate will eat you alive and you'll end up the way he did - drowning in a bottle of booze.

Tim, I'll be home in a few minutes now but I want you to believe in this truth I tell you. I've lived eighty eight years in this world and I've seen what hate can do to people. PLEASE, let the past be the past and don't dwell on it no more, don't ever hate none, it's bad when you do that." Auntie Colleen said, looking at me.

Suddenly her eyes were clear and it really was my Auntie Colleen again, the way I'd always remembered her.

"I know, Auntie" I replied.

"Mickey's never been worth a hoot in hell but he's tried, Tim, and that's all that matters. Don't hate, please don't let hate into your heart because it will consume your life and rob you of the good things. Try to see the good in Mickey and remember only the good things about Pat, that's all I'll ask of you." Auntie Colleen now pleaded.

"I don't hate anyone, Auntie Colleen" I said.

"...Pat grew up in the streets with Sean ...Sean wasn't no good, ever, he was born bad, but Pat was always a good boy. I wish you could have known him then, Tim, you'd understand what I'm trying to tell you. When war broke out, Pat wanted to go fight, Sean, he never went, you know.

...When Pat left to go fight he was a energetic young man. He always wished he could have gone-in, years before but he'd been too young then and when he did go, it took time to train them. He always wanted to fly and come home with a high score like Foss and the others did. Pat probably would have too, they said he was better'n most of'em but then the war ended and he only got the seven, he did." Auntie Colleen said.

"Seven, he shot down seven airplanes? I thought it was only five" I said a little shocked, looking at Ricky.

"He got seven and three probables that they couldn't confirm. He helped shoot down two others with his wingman but Pat never counted them ones. ...Pat was the most happy in life when he was flying with the Eighth but then he come home and he was changed by then. When he come home he wasn't no good at nothing and the war had ended so there weren't no more planes for him to shoot at" Auntie Colleen replied.

I knew the general direction of this story from having heard the Old Man speak so often of his glory days. His years as a fighter pilot with the Eighth Air Force had been the best years of his life and he would have been at peace had the war gone on indefinitely, I believe. Upon arriving home to a Post War America, he hadn't fit in anywhere and never held a job for any length of time. The Old Man had slowly become nothing more than a shivering denizen of king alcohol and his mad realm after that.

"Whatever happened to Uncle Sean?" I asked quietly.

"Ah...(sigh) ...he got called to a meeting back in eighty three, I think ...Doc always knew Sean would end up that way, I guess we all did. ...It don't matter none now, what's done is done and ain't no one left who remembers them days anyhow. Word on the street was, the Feds had Sean on tape and was getting ready to land on him with RICO ...loose lips sink ships and all that..." Auntie Colleen said solemnly.

"...Doc, you knew Doc, Auntie Colleen? Doc ...Feldman?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh yes, Sean and Pat knew him from the old neighborhood back in Philly. Doc was a German kid that grew up with us Irish. Doc was middle age by the time I was born, of course, but I knew him and Gwendolyn when they used to go dancing at the..." Auntie Colleen now trailed off, lost in memory.

I said nothing in reply.

"...They said Doc watched his mother die of influenza when he was a mere lad and I reckon that's why he become a surgeon, like he did ...Doc, he was a ladies' man, that one." Auntie Colleen continued, smiling slightly.

I just nodded my head and said nothing in reply.

"...Your Uncle Sean and Doc were the only two men that ever scared Pat" Auntie Colleen then said.

"Doc ...scared him, why?" I asked incredulously.

"Eh...It goes back to when your Uncle Sean was vice president of the Philly Teamsters. Apparently Sean killed a man who was declared off-limits by the Italians, a money courier named Caprio, I think. Caprio was a low ranking made guy that carried the Vegas skim every month during the seventies. Caprio wasn't carrying no money at the time and he was drunk

...I don't think Sean meant to kill him but Caprio was just a little guy and Sean was strong, Pat was there but he was drunk too and he never raised no hand to Caprio. They met randomly in an alley one night with Caprio and words was exchanged, ugly words. No one saw who killed Caprio ...so they thought. Doc had been looking down from a window and seen it all. If the Italians had figured it out then there would have been war between the Irish and Italians all over again..." Auntie Colleen said.

I hadn't been aware that Doc had known the Old Man, before Seattle. It suddenly made sense to me why the Old Man had never booted Doc out of the house during the late seventies and early eighties now, because Doc had held leverage over the Old Man. Probably with someone holding a letter, a letter that would be dropped into a mailbox upon Doc's untimely demise, if and when it ever occurred.

Thinking back to that time now, all of it suddenly made perfect sense ...but then what difference does it make? I asked myself with fatigue washing over me.

Presently I was exhausted and wanted to run screaming out the door and leave Mickey, Auntie Colleen and the insane memories of the Old Man and Uncle Sean behind me forever. Obviously my Auntie Colleen was delirious from the drugs in the I.V. now. She was rambling and bounced around from one subject to the next without making any sense while trying to remember things which had occurred decades ago, in another world and another time. She needs to talk ...just let her talk, I thought.

"...When Pat met Lovey, he was a charming and handsome young man but then the war come and it changed Pat and he got mean..." Auntie Colleen went on.

Looking down at her now, I remembered that my Auntie Colleen had been a very pretty girl once, with long red hair and a quick smile. I recollected her taking Ricky and I roller skating and then to the amusement park once, she'd been a lot of fun and always happy. Ricky and I had loved her, so had everyone else. I nodded my head, as if everything she was saying made perfect sense to me.

"...after Pat left Lovey and took up with that woman, Lovey wanted to adopt the little girl but then the sister come and they took her... broke Lovey's heart it did, yes. Pat and that other woman was drunk almost all the time by then and they'd been living among thieves by then. ...Lovey told me she would have married Jimmy ...but then, that never happened...