The Meekering Incident

The Meekering Incident was fifteen years in the making, and it had a profound effect on me and those around me. I had arrived home from LA an hour ago, Mum had called to tell me that Dad was in a bad way and was not expected to live for any more than a couple of weeks, a month tops.

I haven't been near this place for fifteen years, ever since I left for the big smoke to pursue my career in Tinseltown. It was a circuitous route, one taken by many before me, a part in a long running soap, followed by a couple of leads in local indie movies and the dive off the deep end of the Santa Monica pier with holes in my water wings, and having to paddle like buggery (nothing to do with certain sexual acts) to keep my head above water in Hollywood. I eventually became moderately successful, enough to have my own home and rumoured affairs with likewise moderately successful young and attractive female actors. I could drop names but that would be so gauche. Life was good up until now.

Dad was well enough to ask me to head into town a get a good supply of proper beer, you know, Aussie beer, not that imported muck. This was how I found myself walking down the street to the hotel bottle shop. Meekering hadn't changed all that much while I've been gone.

"Ben Stanforth, what the fuck are you doing here?" The voice came from a man of my age striding towards me. I didn't much like the angry way that he was looking at me.

"Hi Jimmy, how're you doing?" A response not designed to fuel his obvious anger. He had reached me, and what happened next was not what I was expecting. My next lucid moment was looking up at the sky with several concerned faces intruding on my view.

"He's come around. Ben, can you hear me?" It was a woman in a paramedic's uniform. Her face looked vaguely familiar, and when the mists had cleared sufficiently, I could see that it was Cecelia's sister Rosalie. Cecelia was my girlfriend at the time that I won the part in that soap.

"I've felt better, what happened?"

"Jimmy hit you for some reason. What did you say to him?"

"To the best of my knowledge all that I said was 'Hi Jimmy. How're you doing? Pretty innocent stuff I would have thought."

"We'll get you to hospital for a check-up, you're probably concussed, you apparently cracked your head on the concrete when you fell. I don't think that anything's broken, although you'll have a shiner." (black eye)

"Can you do something for me?"

"Sure thing mate, what do you want?"

"Can you find my wallet in my back pocket, take some money and buy a slab of beer (box containing 24 375ml cans or bottles) and drop it into Dad, and let them know what has happened."

"Are you sure that's the right thing to do, I hear that he's not too good."

"You're right about that, but he wants to go out happy, and he's convinced that beer's the very thing. Humour him in his last weeks, please?"

"For you mate, anything. What're the chances of an autograph or two, one for me and one for Cecelia?"

"No probs, you'll have to find me a pen and some paper. By the way, how is Cecelia?"

"She's over you, finally. Why did you leave when you did?"

"I don't know what she's told you, but I was in love with her, and wanted her to come with me to the big smoke. I'd got the part that I'd tried out for. She said that she was happy for me right up until the day before I left for Hollywood, that was when she told me that she didn't love me and she hoped that I'd rot in hell, and fail in my dream to become a huge movie star. She told me that she wouldn't wait for me to come home with my tail between my legs. I tried to reason with her, I even told her that when I got to Hollywood I'd pay the fare for her to come over and join me. I know that it was only a dream at that time, but I was sure that I would get there. It was about then that she told me to fuck off, and to not bother to write to her."

"We couldn't figure that out, she was madly in love with you, and has a huge collection of photos and news articles in a box under her bed, at least she did. You did know that she got married, didn't you?"

"No, that snippet of information didn't get to me. I'll have to ask Mum why she didn't tell me."

We had reached the hospital and my entrance caused quite a stir, it isn't every day that you have a famous Hollywood star, at least in this town, being carted into A&E (Accident & Emergency). This wasn't helped by the fact that the treating Doctor was an attractive young woman doing a country residency, who told me that she had to beat off other doctors to get to treat me. I have to say that her examination of my body was very thorough, even parts of me that weren't hurting came under her close scrutiny. "You have a nasty bump on your head, and we are going to have to keep your here for at least twenty four hours to monitor your concussion." I was told.

"No permanent damage then?" I asked.

"Thankfully, no, apart from your black-eye, your face has come out of this pretty much unscathed." She brushed the hair from my eyes and smiled down at me. If I didn't know better I'd say that she was hitting on me, but that would be considered to be unprofessional.

A couple of cops pushed into the cubicle. "We'd like to ask you a few questions if we may?" I gathered from his tone that his asking permission was a formality that he didn't care for. "We have heard Jimmy's side of the story, now we need to hear yours."

"Not much to tell, he asked me 'what the fuck I was doing here', he was angry for some reason. All that I said to him was to ask how he was going. That was when he 'king hit' me. That's pretty much it as far as I'm concerned."

"We don't call it king hit anymore, the new term is a 'coward punch'. Your version fits in with the popular consensus, but then the witnesses all seemed to be young girls and their version could be a little biased."

"When you spoke to Jimmy, did he give any reason why he's angry with me? I can't recall ever doing anything to upset him."

"That's the problem with you Hollywood stars, once you leave town and find fame and fortune, you forget about us little people. You don't recall skipping town in a hurry and leaving your mess behind you?"

"What mess? What are you talking about?"

"How can I put this? You get your girlfriend up the duff and piss off and leave her to fend for herself. If it hadn't been for Jimmy stepping in and marrying the girl, I don't know where she'd be."

"If you're talking about Cecelia, she and I never had sex. You probably won't believe this, but we were waiting until we got married like we'd been taught at church. And it was she that broke up with me. I wanted her to come with me, but she told me that she didn't even love me, that she'd never loved me. Where did you get the idea that she did?"

"It was common knowledge that she was in love with you. But after you left she went off the rails a bit. That was when she told her parents that she was pregnant. Everyone assumed that you were the father and she did nothing to indicate otherwise. It became known around the place that she was 'that silly girl with stars in her eyes, who got knocked up by the superstar'. Her parents were bitterly disappointed with her and she left home. That's where Jimmy stepped in and married her. He'd always had a crush on her, and told her that he would take care of her."

"I don't see how he could be angry at me over this, after all, I wasn't the child's father."

"It might have been okay if she hadn't insisted that he be named 'Benson' after you."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"Who knows, anyway she and Jimmy split up and she divorced him a couple of years ago."

"I think that I should go and see her, as soon as I can get out of this place."

"I'd rethink that if I were you. You'd be better to see how the land lies before you make that move." He stuffed his notebook in his pocket and the two of them left me to my thoughts and the tender mercies of the hospital staff.

Mum came in the next morning with a clean shirt to replace the one that I had the misfortune to bleed all over, and to take me home. "Your father couldn't wait, he got stuck into the beer that Rosalie dropped in yesterday, so we'd better get some more on the way home. She told us what happened and I can't say that I was surprised, he's been gunning for you for years. I don't know why that was because he got Cecelia. He was angry when she dumped him for you, and after you left he was lording it around that you were an arsehole who was only interested in fame and fortune, and not your friends."

"If that was the case, then why the outburst yesterday?"

"It was what happened after that that was the problem. It was not a happy marriage, and he blamed you for that."

"What did happen to make him so angry with me?"

"I don't know the full story, you'll have to ask Rosalie about that."

"The cops said something that I don't understand. When I said that I should go and see Cecelia, they said that I should rethink that. What is that all about?"

"We'll talk about that when we get home."

"Why can't we talk about it now?"

"We should get home as quickly as we can, your father wasn't feeling well this morning, I don't know whether it's the hangover, or the illness, but I don't want to leave him any longer than necessary."

We stopped at the bottle shop and bought some more beer, I felt that I might need some for myself.

Dad didn't look so good. "I hear that you tied one on yesterday. You could have waited for me."

"What and die of thirst? How are you feeling? I heard that you and Jimmy had a falling out yesterday."

"You could say that, although I was the one doing the falling. I still don't know what was behind it. He certainly gave me no chance to defend myself."

"That's Jimmy all over. If you'd been in a position to defend yourself, he wouldn't have started anything."

"I don't know why I should have had to defend myself in the first place."

"We'll tell you in a moment, when Rosalie gets here."

"What does she have to do with this, or shouldn't I ask?"

The door bell rang and Mum went off to let Rosalie in. My memory of her in her paramedic uniform didn't prepare me for the vision that followed Mum into the room. She is a stunner. She came over to me and kissed me. When I say kissed me, I mean really kissed me. "Welcome home Ben, how long do you plan to stay?"

"That depends on how long it takes to get my head around this mystery."

"What mystery?"

"What mystery? You have to be kidding. I want to know why it was that Jimmy should deck me without warning, and when I ask questions about Cecelia, the subject is quickly changed."

Mum came out of the kitchen with a beer for each of us. "Take a beer and a seat, you'll need to take a seat."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, it's that bad." Rosalie said. "The Cecelia you will see shortly is nothing like the one that you left behind. We feel that we should prepare you before you go to see her. Life has not been kind to her as you will see, and it is all because of Jimmy, and he blames you for that."

"But why would he blame me, I wasn't even here."

"But you were. When I say you were, not physically, but your presence was still here."

"And Jimmy resented that, did he?"

"More that you could ever comprehend." Rosalie said. "The marriage was doomed from the start, he was not a nice man at the best of times, but it went from bad to worse very quickly. You see she was pregnant, and Jimmy was, at first over the moon, but then, when he found out, she told him, that she was already pregnant before they got married he lost the plot big time."

"Surely he didn't think that I was to blame for that, did he?"

"Not at first, but then he came home drunk one night, and they had a huge row, in the course of which she told him that the baby was yours. It wasn't true of course, she told me when she found out that she was pregnant that she was sure that it was the first time that they, her and Jimmy, had had sex that did it, she told me that the two of you hadn't made love before you left. Anyhow he flipped out big time and beat the crap out of her, but that wasn't the worst thing that happened. He was charged with assault and was given a suspended sentence, he should have gone to gaol but didn't. It got worse soon after that. He came home one night and called her a slut. It would seem that one of his mates had told him that he had fucked her a week before you left. He said that Cecelia wanted to get even with you for putting your career ahead of her."

"Is that true?"

"No. She was upset that you were going away, but to fuck around, no, that just didn't happen."

"But he believed his mate, is that it?"

"Yes, and he was so angry that he beat her much worse than he'd ever done before."

"It sounds as if the beatings were a common occurrence."

"We didn't know how bad it was at first, but after this one we found out just how bad it really was. She lost the child early in the third trimester."

"So what happened this time?"

"He copped five years in gaol and she ended up in hospital for a long time, before going to where she is now."

"And where is that?"

"Finish your beer." Rachel said. I realised that I'd forgotten all about the stubby that sat on the table in front of me. "And I'll take you to see her."

"Okay, tell all, who is the latest star that has graced your bed?" She asked as we walked to her car.

Talk about questions coming out of left field. "What makes you think that anyone other than me has graced my bed, as you put it?"

"Come on, I read the glossy magazines, I watch TV, I know that you have gained a reputation over there for your dalliances."

"You look too smart to believe that crap, For your information, I am not interested in women, don't get me wrong, I'm not gay or anything like that, but I was hurt rather badly some time ago, and I don't want to go through that again."

"Now what stupid sheila would do that to you?"

"It was someone quite close to you if you must know."

"Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood before you meet Cecelia."

Now I was really worried. Just how much of a shock was I in for?

Let me tell you that I had myself psyched up for the worst, but that didn't even come close. We walked through the front door and Rachel called out to Cecelia. "Hi I'm home, and I've got a surprise for you." She ushered me into a room that smelt like shit, and there, seated in a motorised wheel chair was Cecelia. "You remember Ben, don't you?"

"Uyo Men, ow-are-you?" She hit this little lever on the arm of the chair and it pivoted around so that she faced me.

I was not prepared for this. The last time that I had seen her she was a young, vibrant and drop dead gorgeous young girl, full of life and vitality who had just finished telling me that she didn't love me, but now she was haggard, her head lolled over to one side, her mouth hung open on one side and there was a cloth tied around her neck to catch the saliva that dribbled from her gaping mouth. I couldn't see her legs for the rug draped over them, but I guessed that they were no longer the shapely legs of her youth, but thin, atrophied, muscle wasted legs, that she couldn't bear to look down on.

"I'm fine, and how are you" You stupid fucking idiot, how could you be so insensitive, it's fucking obvious that she's not fine. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"As you can see, she has seen better days." Rosalie said.

"How, how did this happen?"

"Jimmy, he really lost the plot the last time. The doctors at the hospital were surprise that she actually survived the beating. He punched her to the ground and kicked her in the head and ribs, few of them survived, she had bruising to the spleen and kidneys, a punctured lung and a broken neck, not to mention the head injuries. In some ways her head injuries saved her life, she was in a coma for months, long enough for her body to heal to some extent, but what sort of life is this. I sometimes think that it would have been more humane to agree to let the doctors turn off her life support."

"Why didn't you?"

"Mum and Dad hoped and prayed for a miracle healing. Their Pastor convinced them that all they had to do was to call on God for a miracle healing, and she would be healed and become the bright, vibrant, young girl that she once was. That never happened and they never got over the disappointment, especially when they were told that the lack of success was their fault because they never had enough faith. I could quite cheerfully have gone down to his church and killed the sanctimonious bastard myself. They told me to forgive him as they had. I could see that they said that they had forgiven him, but inside they could not hide their hurt. Mum died last year, and Dad not long after."

"I'm sorry, Christ you really have had a rough time of it. How do you manage it?"

"Not well, if you must know. I got this job because I thought that if I could help others to recover from physical and emotional trauma, it would help me to get over this."

"And has it?"

"Sometimes I think yes, and sometimes no. When I'm on a call-out and working flat out trying to save an injured person, and I'm working on little more than instinct and adrenalin, I feel good, but at other times when it's quiet and I have time to think, it's hard, believe me."

"Will you ever get over this?"

"No, probably not, but come to think of it, I feel better since seeing you yesterday afternoon, flat on your back staring at nothing, and then now. I don't know what it is, is it just seeing you again, or is it something else, I don't know."

"You say seeing me again, I wasn't aware that you even noticed me before."

"That was because you saw no further than Cecelia. I was there, believe me I was there."

"Are you trying to tell me that you had the hots for me? But you were just a kid."

"I was not quite two years younger than Cecelia, which of course means that I am two years younger than you, which means that I am much older than those tarts you've been shagging in Hollywood."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy here?"

"De-er. Me jealous of some vapid young wannabe?"

"Me-er." Cecelia said. This was the first indication that she had been listening to our conversation. She had her chair facing us, half her face smiled at us, the other half did nothing. Her finger pushed the little lever forward and her chair rolled up to us. "He-u-oo." (She loves you.)

"You aren't supposed to know that, let alone tell him that." Rosalie scolded her. There was a smile in her voice, she was relieved that her feelings toward me were now out in the open. She looked into my eyes, waiting for a response.

"Come here." She came into my arms and raised her face for the expected kiss. It was so much better than the kisses that I had been receiving from the few girls that I had dated in LA. It was, if my understanding of woman was correct, an unconditional statement of her love for me, something that even the best of acting schools could never teach. My mind was galloping through my emotions searching for confirmation of my feelings, and came to a screeching halt when I realised that I had noticed her way back then, and I was quite fond of her but hadn't allowed my feelings to progress beyond fondness, because I was in love with her sister. In a way I was still in love with Cecelia, but was it the real unconditional love that I felt before, or was it a 'sympathy of her plight' kind of love.

Rosalie had seen the change of expression in my face. "Thank you."

"What do you have to thank me for?"

"For confirming what I hoped you would feel, that you still love big sister. Believe it or not, but that revelation makes me love you even more. You should know that I am Cecelia's full-time carer. I have a part-time carer that comes in when I'm at work, but the rest of the time it is just me. I'm not asking you to make a decision on our future right now, but now you know what you would have to look forward to if this was to progress any further. I do have one other string in my bow, but that will have to wait a while because I have to go to work in a few minutes. Jane should be here about now to take over from me." Right on cue the front doorbell rang. Rosalie went off to admit Jane. A motherly figure followed her into the room and we were introduced to each other.