Andrea Millhouse Pt. 09

Jimmy was such a handsome young boy, the little girl was from Jimmy's first marriage to that woman, you see... they had too many days of rain over where they'd take the cars, Lovey told us. That's when she first told us about you, Tim" Auntie Colleen said as she continued rambling, her eyes were glossed over again and she was making no sense.

I was extremely tired and Auntie Colleen was beginning to repeat herself now, covering the same old ground for the second or third time since we'd been here. Looking up at the I.V. it was obvious that she was very heavily sedated, the receptionist had informed Brenda that there wasn't much time left. I looked down at the white hair and watery eyes and thought of losing Mom once more.

I now looked at my Auntie Colleen's rose petal lips and knew there had been many young men that had once dreamed of kissing those lips and bringing a smile to them. I seriously wondered if the lips had ever tasted alcohol. My Auntie Colleen had been as gentle as a newborn fawn, yet my Uncle Sean and the Old Man had been violent throughout their entire lives, meaningless lives which had themselves, eventually ended in senseless violence. I closed my eyes and wanted it all to go away.

"...Tim, let Susan sit with me for a minute, please, I want to look at your beautiful bride, if I may" Auntie Colleen suddenly said.

"Of course, Auntie" I replied.

I stood and gave my seat to Andrea. Walking past Ricky and Brenda then, I went out into the hallway and found a men's room. After I had taken a leak and washed my hands I exited the men's room and found Mickey sitting on a chair outside Auntie Colleen's room. Mickey had an old leather briefcase at his feet and his head was in his hands, Mickey was crying. Taking the chair beside Mickey, I put my arm around him and said nothing.

Looking up at me then, Mickey shoved the briefcase at me and said "Get the fuck away from me, Tim, you've seen her now, so get out of here and don't come back."

"Shut-up, Mickey" I said sharply and remained seated with my arm around him.

"Take your fucking briefcase and get out of here" Mickey repeated.

"Mickey, Ricky and I lost Mom, a little over a year and half ago. My greatest advice to you is not to spend any time alone. Try to be with someone you love all the time and speak what's on your mind - get it out, don't bottle it up." I said evenly

Mickey made no reply and I continued to sit with him. The years in prison and living the life of a petty thief had made Mickey an old man before his time. His hair was bleach white and his face a haggard mess, without a solitary dime in his pocket. He had no one to blame but himself yet I couldn't help but feel a degree of empathy for him. Mickey had essentially wasted his entire life and destroyed everything that had ever held any degree of promise for him including relationships with wives and anyone else that had ever cared about him. I guess he'd been unable to help it...

"Mickey, I'm proud of the way you've stood tall for your mom during her last hour, you're a good son to do that" I said standing now.

"...Tim, take this, Mom wants you to have it" Mickey said handing me the leather briefcase while he remained seated.

"Thanks, Mickey" I said, as I went into Auntie Colleen's room again and carrying the briefcase.

Andrea was still seated and holding Auntie Colleen's hand.

"She's asleep now, I think we need to let her rest" Brenda said, getting up from the foot of the bed.

All of us within the room understood Brenda's underlying implication. The time in which Auntie Colleen would pass was near. Looking down at her now, I seriously doubted that she would ever open her eyes again within this life and if she did, I doubted she would even remember that we'd been here. It was time to let her go onward now.

Siding next to Andrea then, I leaned down and gently kissed my Auntie Colleen on the lips "Godspeed beautiful lady, we love you" I said quietly.

I then stood, and wiping a tear from my cheek, nodded at Ricky and took Andrea's hand. Without me realizing it, Mickey had come into the room as I had bent down and kissed his mother. With all of us standing now, Ricky and I shook hands with Mickey and said good-bye. Looking into his eyes then, I instinctively knew that my relationship with the Donovan family was now a thing of the past and that I would never see my cousin Mickey ever again, it was an awkward and somber moment for all of us...

None of us said anything in the car on the way to the trailer. Andrea and I still smelled of jetliner and we were ready to find a shower and bed, it was very late now and I wanted some sleep. I began thinking of my Auntie Colleen when she had been a young woman. She had worked for "Ma Bell" or Bell Telephone Company for thirty years and retired there in nineteen eighty, complete with a husband. "Ma Bell hooked us up" was one of her favorite little quotes in regard to Tony, her late husband.

Auntie Colleen had always been a breath of fresh air within a family of chaos and she'd always been a pretty girl. Thinking back now, I suddenly remembered that the Donovan family had also suffered one miscarriage, a girl, and also the loss of a boy who later died at the age of two. Their names had been Eileen and Brian; I had been informed over the years.

Auntie Colleen had adored Mom and apparently the two had grown quite close over the years, even despite the Donovan's legacy of mayhem, and later, the Old Man's infidelity and final departure from the lives of Mom, Ricky and myself. Presently I just wanted to forget everything and sleep. I didn't want to think of the Donovan's anymore.

"Les thinks he'll be here on Monday" Brenda suddenly said, bringing me back to the present.

"OK, I'll get some money this weekend and pay him when he arrives and we unload the car" I replied.

"Alright, Ricky and I will be there if you and Andrea decide to go back to Nevada for the week." Brenda replied as she continued driving the car.

"Sounds good, honey, I'm not sure what our plans are yet" I replied.

"It's been an emotional day, Tim, let's all sleep on it and decide in the morning" Brenda replied as she made the left turn onto the frontage road enroute for the trailer house.

Thirty minutes later, Andrea and I were in the shower and scrubbing each other with soap, the hot water felt good and it was nice to be at Ricky's trailer again. The place really wasn't much to brag about but it did have a secure and tranquil feel to it. Stormy the cat and Yogi dog greeted us warmly as Andrea and I entered our bedroom and began undressing.

I slung the leather briefcase onto the floor of the guest room now as Andrea crawled into bed. I finished taking off all of my own clothes and turned out the light and got into bed next to Andrea. It had been an eventful day in which I had experienced every emotion under the sun and I was ready to check-out for a while and sleep.

Andrea and I fell asleep instantly in the spooning position with the peaceful sound of the Seattle rain drumming on the metal roof above us with Yogi and Stormy curled up together at the side of our bed. Deep within sleep and holding Andrea, I didn't hear my phone alert me of the text message sent from Mickey.

"She's gone, thanks for coming, it meant a lot to her"

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