Half-Halloween

Two weeks later during a bitterly cold February ice storm, their power went out. Sharon had only electric heat and was preparing to bundle up and hunker down when her cell phone went off. Red was calling to check on her and he offered his place for her to keep warm. He had both a gas free-standing stove in the family room and a fireplace in the living room. Once she got there, the kids were ecstatic. They wanted to 'camp out' in the living room for the night so arrangements were made for them to use their sleeping bags in front of the fire. Sharon was to sleep on 'her' couch while Red would bundle up and stay in the master bedroom.

Bobby and Bree demanded she read them another story. Even though they both were familiar with the three books they received for Christmas, they wanted her to read them again. As they drank hot chocolate, she read them the stories to their delight. As the evening wore on, they started to flag. She told them to get into their jammies and she did the same. Their dad helped set them all up for their 'campout' and tucked in the kids before turning to go to bed.

"Aren't you going to tuck me in?" she asked with a small grin.

"Sure," he answered as he sat down next to her on the couch. He gave a quick lesson on how the stove worked so they could keep reasonably warm and tucked her blanket down around her shoulders. "Sleep tight."

"You, too, Red. Thanks for letting me stay and keep warm."

In spite of the free-standing stove, it got fairly chilly during the night. Shivering, she got up and checked on the kids. They were toasty warm in their beds. She went to the hall closet and grabbed an extra blanket and eventually was able to go to sleep. During the night the power came back on and by morning they were all comfortably warm. After they all shared a quick breakfast, the kids went to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Red took the opportunity to tell her she was always welcome to come over for any crisis as he considered himself still owing her for all the work she did when he was sick.

-----

They continued their casual 'dates' about once a week. Usually, they were nothing more than a meal and the opportunity to talk without little ears listening in. She frequently invited him into her place where they would talk before he went home to take care of the babysitter. They were in the habit of giving each other a quick hug at the end of the evening but Red never attempted to extend the friend-hug or initiate any kissing.

It was on one of these casual evenings together when everything fell apart. They had plans for dinner at a nearby restaurant and when Red arrived, she was not yet ready. She invited him in while she returned to finish her makeup. Red strolled around the living room and on the mantle he saw a picture frame turned down. Being somewhat of a neatnik, he wandered over to place it back upright. The picture was of an obviously pregnant Sharon sitting next to a handsome lad of about three or four. She had a nice smile and the boy was beaming at the camera. As he was placing the framed photo back on the mantle, he heard a gasp from behind him.

"Oh, God, no! Please put it down."

"Sure thing. Sorry, but it seemed to have tipped over..."

"No! I put it that way," she answered with a catch in her throat. Red could see tears puddling up in her eyes before dripping down her face.

"I'm so very sorry, Sharon. I should've minded my own business. Please forgive me."

"You're going to have to go, Red, please."

"You sure? I'm a good listener if you want to talk about anything."

A sob caught in her throat as she turned away. "Please, I can't talk about it. 'S too painful..."

"OK. Please forgive me. I've ruined our evening and obviously hurt you. I never ever want to hurt you. You've been so good to us, to me."

He went up to her wanting to help her, support her, anything. As he came up to her, she turned to him sobbing and fell into his arms. He stood there dumbfounded holding a weeping woman, not knowing what was wrong. He knew she was divorced and the picture featured a youngster, so maybe he was with the father. Many more questions raced through his mind as she clung to him, sobbing pitifully.

After ten to fifteen minutes, the raw pain had settled down slightly. While looking up at him, she realized she was going to tell him. "Uh," she sniffed, "I think I should tell you about me. No one except my therapist knows what I'm going to tell you. Please, swear you'll never tell a soul."

"Sharon, I promise. But are you sure you want to tell me?"

"No, but maybe I need to. Maybe by doing this I won't bottle the pain up inside all the time."

"OK. Long story? Then let's sit on the sofa."

"You haven't eaten..."

"Lost my appetite. Here I am. All ears. OK?"

"OK. Phew. Well, here goes..."

-----

Sharon and her husband Bill had gone out to a Halloween party put on by the school where she volunteered as a teacher's aide. Their principal had encouraged all the staff to attend to help build morale and teamwork. The evening was relaxed and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Once someone put some music on an old stereo, several people got up to dance. Even though she knew Bill wasn't fond of dancing, she teased him enough until he agreed to dance with her. After several tunes he excused himself and went back to their table. On the way to the table, one of the other teachers asked her to dance. Bill nodded 'OK' and she had fun for the next twenty minutes dancing with several coworkers. Once she saw his dour look, she excused herself and went back to their table. Bill seemed particularly quiet and she could tell he'd had at least one if not two more drinks.

After sitting with him and talking with the vice principal, a tall, young PE teacher asked her to dance. After looking at Bill and getting a slight nod, she accepted his invitation. After two fast tunes, the music slowed. Her partner looked at her with questioning eyes and she nodded slightly and let him place one arm on her low back and with the other he held her hand. He was a wonderful dancer, kept time with the music and led her around the room. He was a perfect gentleman and kept plenty of daylight between them, particularly since she was well along in her second pregnancy. After two tunes he escorted her back to the table and thanked Bill for the opportunity to dance.

She could tell Bill's mood had turned definitely sour as he told her they had to leave. At the car she offered to drive since she was not drinking due to her pregnancy. Bill rudely told her to get in the 'goddam fuckin' car' and that he would drive. Sharon quickly figured out he was angry, probably for dancing with other men. He had shown signs of jealousy in the past, particularly when he'd been drinking. The drive home was silent with only some muttering beneath his breath.

At home she paid the babysitter and thanked her for walking with Caleb while he trick-or-treated at the neighbors' houses. As soon as she left, Bill turned on his wife snarling with venom in his voice, "Who the fuck do you think you are dancing like a slut with every guy there? Huh?"

"Bill, Honey, I was simply dancing. Enjoying the music. I know you don't enjoy dancing too much and besides, I always turned to you and asked if it was OK."

"Slow dancing with that tall guy? Was that simply dancing? You didn't ask me 'bout that. You looked like a slut out there!"

"I wasn't doing anything wrong. We kept enough space between us to drive a train through. He never even touched me except my back and hand."

"The way you looked at him, you want to fuck him, don't you? Tall, good lookin'. Bet you want his big ol' dick in your cunt, don't cha?"

"Bill! Enough! I was just dancing and I came home with you. I'm not interested in him or anyone else. You're my husband and I love you. How can you treat me this way?"

"'Cause you deserve it actin' like a hussy, embarrassin' me. People'll think I can't keep you happy."

"Oh, just stop," she shrieked, "I am not a hussy and I'm not looking for anyone else. You're my husband and the father of my two children. Please, let's get some sleep and..."

"Mommy, why are you mad at Daddy?"

"Caleb, Honey, we are having a disagreement. Now, go back to bed, please."

"No! You stay here, Boy, and see what a slut your mother is."

"Bill, please, that's no way to talk with him..."

"I can talk with my son any way I want. That's if heis my son. Is he?"

"Of course, he is. Come on, Caleb, let's you and me get in the car and go to Grandma's."

"You're not fuckin' takin' him anywhere!"

By this time Caleb was crying and holding his hands over his ears trying to shut out the noise.

"Yes, I am. Once you've sobered up, then we'll talk. Caleb, let's..."

"No, Boy! You stay here!"

"Bill, we are leaving. Caleb, come with Mommy..."

"The fuck you say!" he screamed as he viciously slapped her across the cheek. He had never laid a hand on her previously and she was stunned beyond belief.

"Bill, you hit me! We are leaving," she screamed as tears of pain stung her eyes.

"I said 'No' and I mean it. Come here, Boy,we are leaving your crybaby momma here," he yelled at Caleb and grabbed him around the waist like a sack of potatoes and started walking to the door. Caleb was screaming in terror and Sharon couldn't believe her eyes. Her husband had gone totally mad and was planning on leaving with her son and driving drunk to God knows where.

"Bill, I'll call the police if you take him from this house," she pleaded as she went up to take Caleb from Bill.

"Fuck the police, which I'm sure you will."

"Bill!" she screamed as she grabbed for the boy's hand. Bill turned around and placed a well-aimed kick right at Sharon's belly, knocking her down and nearly senseless. Her last sight of her son was him reaching for her and screaming her name in terror as he was carried out the door.

Sharon crawled to her purse, grabbed her phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"9-1-1. What's the nature of your emergency?"

"Uh, my husband's drunk, out of his mind and he just took my three-year old and left when I told him not to."

"Does he have custody?"

"Yeah, we're married, but my husband's raging drunk and a danger to my son who is terrified. The man has to be stopped!"

"What's the make and model of his vehicle and I'll let the police know. They'll want to talk with you..."

"Please, this is not something that can wait! They need to stop him now." She gave the info about Bill's truck as requested and as she was about to hang up, she felt a huge cramp throughout her entire belly and blood began to pour from her. "Oh, God, I'm bleeding!"

"Ma'am, did he hurt you?"

"Yes, he kicked me in the stomach and I'm pregnant and now I'm cramping and bleeding. I need help, please..." she moaned as she slumped over on the floor and drifted into unconsciousness.

-----

As she slowly woke up, Sharon was completely confused. Her head throbbed, there was a steady beeping noise and her belly screamed in pain. Once she opened her eyes, in the darkened room she saw several poles next to her and a sleeping person in a nearby chair. She tried to talk without success but her hoarse, gagging noise caused the sleeping person to waken.

"Oh, Sharon, Honey, it's me. Momma."

"Mom?"

"Yes. You're in the hospital and you've had emergency surgery but the doctors say you'll recover. Let me get the nurse."

Once the nurse came in she checked the IVs and did a quick blood pressure check while smiling and reassuring Sharon everything was going to be OK. Sharon drifted back to sleep and the next time she woke up, it was daylight. Her mother was still at the bedside.

"Momma?" she croaked out.

"Oh, Shar, I'm right here."

"What time is it?"

"Nearly noon."

"Why am I here?"

"Uh, you were hurt and were brought here by the paramedics. You had to have emergency surgery."

"When?"

"Two days ago."

"Two days?!"

"Uh-huh."

The nurse drifted in and smiled as she checked things out. She gave a few encouraging little remarks meant to put Sharon's mind at ease.

"Uh, Nurse? Uh, what surgery did I have?"

"Well, Ma'am, you were bleeding heavily and I understand they couldn't stop the bleeding. Your baby was, uh, your baby was no longer alive and because you were bleeding so much, they had to do an emergency C-section."

"Wait! My baby's dead?" she screamed.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's right. I heard you were kicked and it must have torn the placenta and..."

Sharon broke down in tears, sobbing in agony over the loss of Sweetie, the name she had given to her daughter until she and Bill could come up with a permanent name. After several minutes of the nurse holding Sharon's hand and her mother giving her gentle hugs, Sharon's tears eased slightly.

"Uh, about your surgery, there's something else you need to know. Uh, they couldn't get the bleeding to stop. You had six blood transfusions and they made the decision to remove your uterus. Otherwise, you would have died."

"I don't care about my uterus, I want my baby...." Sobbing anew, she was inconsolable and the nurse slipped her some pain medicine in the IV and Sharon drifted back off to sleep.

When she woke up the next time, she talked to her mother who seemed to be almost distant in her responses. Eventually Sharon confronted her, asking her what was wrong.

"You know Bill took Caleb that night. Remember?"

"How could I forget it? I don't remember so much him kicking me but... Wait! How's Caleb? Where is he? Did they find him?"

"Sharon, he's gone."

"Why can't they find him?"

"No, Honey, he was, he was killed when, uh, Bill crashed his truck..."

"What?" she shrieked.

"Bill tried to run a roadblock and Caleb wasn't in his car seat and uh, uh, he was thrown from the truck. He's gone, Sharon. Gone."

When the nurse came in, both of the women were sobbing, weeping while holding onto each other. While expressing sympathy, she slipped a mild sedative into the IV. Sharon eventually drifted off to sleep and her mother went home to grieve for her two grandchildren.

Her physical recovery from the surgery went fairly well but she was emotionally destroyed. She had lost both of her children in one fateful night and the cause of it all walked away from the wreck without a scratch. Bill was arrested for assault, kidnapping and manslaughter. He was denied bail because of threats to Sharon as well as his violent behavior in jail. The trial was fairly cut and dried and he was found guilty of manslaughter and assault.

At the sentencing hearing, Sharon was unable to talk when called upon. She wept openly on the witness stand for several minutes before her mother went to her and read the prepared statement which outlined Sharon's loss of both her son and her unborn daughter as well as the loss of ever having children in the future. The judge gave Bill the maximum sentence for each crime with the sentences to be served concurrently. When it sank in he'd be in prison for at least twenty years, Bill erupted with a profanity laced tirade.

"It's all your fuckin' fault, you slut. If you'd just have behaved, this would have never happened. So help me God, I will never forget this. Once I'm out of jail, I'll hunt your ass down. There isn't a place in this world that I can't find you and I don't care if I fry in the electric chair, you, you bitch, you're going down..." The rest of his words were lost as he was dragged by the bailiff and security guard from the courtroom. Sharon couldn't believe his ranting as he clearly wasn't drunk. Something had definitely snapped in his brain and he'd become an evil, evil man.

Sharon was emotionally unable to stay in the house and arranged for it to be sold. A lawyer was hired to proceed with a divorce and couple's assets were divided evenly. She moved to a small apartment and slowly got into writing children's books but she was never able to return to her volunteer work. About six months after these events, Sharon's mother died suddenly leaving her completely devastated and totally alone. Haunting her were Bill's threats and she feared he would find her. Although on most days she didn't care if she lived or died, she didn't want to give him the ultimate pleasure of killing her so she decided to disappear. With the help of another attorney, she was able to arrange for a confidential name change and create a whole 'new person' with a new last name, social security number and credit 'history.' Telling no one, she quickly moved taking only a few personal items, her clothing and that last picture of her and Caleb taken just a week before he died. For the next two years in her new home she seldom interacted with others, kept to herself and, other than her biweekly sessions with her psychologist, rarely spoke to anyone.

It was on the third anniversary of Caleb and Sweetie's deaths when her psychologist suggested she try to face Halloween head on and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. As painful as it was, she thought she handled it well until after the flood of little goblins and ballerinas dropped off. Then the tears started again, tears which were interrupted by Bobby and Bree.

-----

"So, now you know," she sniffed.

"I am stunned. Oh, God, I can't believe it." He moved over and held her in his arms as she continued to cry quietly. Red had nothing else to say, after all, what could anyone say to make things better? Once her eyes dried, she pulled herself away and looked at him.

"Thank you for the hugs. In a tiny way, they do make me feel better."

"Hugs are cheap and I've got a whole supply of unused ones," he whispered.

"I may take you up on your offer," she replied with a tiny little smile at the corners of her mouth as she reached in for another. A few minutes later she mumbled something into his chest.

"Huh?"

"I said that you must be getting hungry."

"Nope. Not hungry at all. You?"

"No. I don't think I've truly been hungry since that night. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat."

"Sharon, I wish, oh, I wish there was something I could do to help. Anything. I can't imagine what it could be, but if there's anything at all, just let me know."

"Keep holding me. That helps more than you might think."

He held her for over an hour until her tears slowly stopped. Her breathing became more regular and eventually, he realized she was asleep. He slowly eased her from him and laid her down on the sofa. He grabbed a small decorative blanket from a nearby chair and covered her, tucking it in on the sides. Once he found a small tablet in the kitchen, he left a glass of water and a brief note on the coffee table:

Sharon, Words cannot adequately tell you how sorry I am about your losses. Please accept my deepest sympathy. Call or come by any time for any reason. Fondly, Red

-----

When she woke up, Sharon was initially confused as to why she was on the couch but she quickly remembered the evening with Red. Although she was nervous about having told him her sad tale, she found she actually felt a tiny bit better having unloaded some of her grief. She called her psychologist for emergency therapy and had a web-based session a few hours later.

Her psychologist listened to Sharon's description of the events the evening before and honed right in on the main question.

"Do you feel any better having told someone?"

"Yeah, kinda, I do."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I dunno. Maybe I've been carrying this all alone and letting someone else know about it eases that burden."

"Can this person undo what's happened?"

"No. Of course not! And that's what's so odd about it. He can't do anything but I feel a tiny bit better that he knows."

"Is this man someone special to you?"