NOW WILL YA LEAVE ME ALONE? part 14

NOW WILL YA LEAVE ME ALONE? Part fourteen

Max

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Tommy smiled in spite of himself. Finally, he said, “Okay. We’ll see. I’ll go tomorra morin’ and see the guy in charge. Who knows? Maybe he can help. No promises, though. Okay?”

Mary Ellen squeezed his hand and smiled as she said, “Okay.”

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Mary Ellen looked up at the cold and cloudy sky. Looks like rain, she thought and shivered with the chill in the air.

For some time, she patiently waited at the park for Tommy and Max. Finally, giving into boredom, fatigue, and the chill in the air, she decided to go home.

Mrs. Morgan noticed Mary Ellen’s distraction. The young girl sat on the seat beneath the bay window in the living room staring out the window at the dismal sky. She walked over to her daughter and said, “Mary Ellen, what’s wrong?”

Mary Ellen sat with her arms wrapped around her knees that she bent and pulled up close to her chest. With a big sigh, Mary Ellen replied, “Oh nothing, really, I guess. It’s just that Tommy and Max weren’t at the park today.”

Turning her head to face her mother, she placed her chin on her knees. “We always have such fun together and I miss seeing them. That’s all.” She sounded so lonely.

Trying to cheer up her daughter, Mrs. Morgan sat next to her and said, “You know, you never really told me much about Max. I’ve only seen him the few times Tommy brought him here, and even then, Tommy made Max stay in the yard. Tell me more about him.”

Mary Ellen smiled as she thought of Tommy’s fine-looking pet. “Mom, you’ve seen that he’s not such a big dog, sort of medium size, I guess, but he sure is strong. He seems to have big shoulders, though. That is if dogs have shoulders. His hair is short, brown colored, sort of. He has dark, like a deep brown-reddish color on his back but light brown going down towards his stomach, where it turns white. He’s got floppy ears that are the same color as his back. His eyes and nose are light brown, very light brown. I’ve never seen a dog like him. He must be a lot of mixed breeds. He’s very well behaved and I’ve never seen Tommy put a leash on him. He listens and follows every command Tommy says.”

Mary Ellen paused, took a breath, and continued, “I know he’s a mutt, but he sure is beautiful. When you rub his belly, he makes a sound like a purring kitten, only much louder. Tommy said he found Max in an alley when he was only a puppy. Tommy said it looked like someone didn’t want him anymore and just tossed him out. Anyway, Max got caught in a wooden fence and Tommy rescued him.”

Mrs. Morgan squeezed Mary Ellen’s hand and said, “I can see you love Max as much as Tommy does. Don’t worry about today, sweetheart. I’m sure they’ll be there tomorrow. It’s just a well that you came home early. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon. I hear we’re in for a terrible storm.”

She wrapped her arms around her chest and rubbed her arms as if trying to warm the sudden chill she felt run through her body as she bit her bottom lip trying hard to fight back the tears that tried just as hard to fall.

The memory of the car crash so many years ago, was still too vivid, still so filled with pain, still unyielding to the peace of mind she longed to find.

All those people – those lives, like mine, destroyed forever, she remembered as her eyes squeezed closed trying to block the image in her mind.

Mary Ellen noticed her mom’s eyes were moist with the beginning of tears. The way Mrs. Morgan looked at the threatening sky made Mary Ellen think her mom must hold a terrible memory that she seemed to live with as long as the young girl remembered.

While her thoughts drifted, Mrs. Morgan said quietly and more to herself, “People can drive so carelessly in stormy weather. The road gets so slippery, and people just seem to forget that.”

Her memory continued. The night was supposed to be fun. Dr. and Mrs. Morgan took the rare opportunity to leave Mary Ellen with friends and enjoy a romantic evening out for their anniversary and to celebrate the new little life that would enter their world within the next five months. The storm hit their little town only a few minutes before they left the restaurant for the 20-minute drive home. The road, slick with so much water, became a slippery roadway causing automobiles to swerve and skid.

Dr. Morgan and the car approaching in the opposite direction did their best to avoid a speeding car whose driver quickly lost control. All too quickly, the speeding car swerved between Dr. Morrgan and the on-coming car causing them to spin and roll out of control and finally come together forming a violent, twisted mass of metal and glass.

Mrs. Morgan’s mind wandered to her unborn child, a child that she would never hold but always love, the child she lost in that horrible crash those so many years ago when Mary Ellen was only three years old. The accident not only took her unborn child but left her incapable of bearing more children.

“Mom, Mom!” Mary Ellen called.

Mrs. Morgan felt relieved that her daughter’s voice brought her back to the present day, yet in a strange way, it reminded her of another voice – a voice from that cold and lonely night, the voice of a young child calling out in a terrified voice, “Mommy, MA-MEE! MA-MEE!”

Mrs. Morgan blinked and tried to push the tragic memory from her mind one more time.

Mary Ellen thought of asking her mother why the weather bothered her so much, but before she found the words, her mom spoke in an attempt to brighten their dim moods. Patting her daughter’s knee, Mrs. Morgan, trying to sound enthusiastic, said, “In the meantime, how about a cup of hot cocoa?”

Mary Ellen dejectedly shrugged her shoulders. “We might as well,” she said with a sigh.

As they turned to leave the living room, a sudden thought came to Mrs. Morgan. “Mary Ellen,” she said cautiously, “when did you say Tommy’s parents died?”

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Thank you for reading Now Will Ya Leave Me Alone? I’m working on another segment. Please stay tuned to see what else might happen to Tommy and Mary