Those Children Are Ours Read online

  “Jennie, did I wake you up?” It was Alexis.

  “No, I’m awake. What is it?”

  “Jennie, I’m sorry that I called you a selfish witch. That was not a nice thing to say. And maybe…maybe you’re not… I don’t know anymore…Anyway, I’m sorry.”

  Jennie started to cry. “Thank you, Alexis. I love you, sweetie.”

  “Bye, Jennie.”

  There was a pause during which Jennie could hear muffled voices on the line, as if someone had placed a hand over the speaker.

  “Jennie, this is Christa. I had a wonderful time at the equestrian center.”

  “I could tell, Christa. You rode so well and you seemed so happy.”

  “Thanks…I wanted to say…to thank you for pulling your father away from me. You gave Alexis time to get between us. Jennie, I was really scared…but I should have waited to call Dad. I’m sorry.”

  “My father scares me, Christa. You won’t ever have to see him again, sweetheart. I’ll make certain. I love you, Christa. You and your sister are really cool kids, you know.”

  “Bye, Jennie.”

  After hanging up, Jennie sat in the living room crying and laughing and smiling, all at the same time. Maybe she was not a total failure.

  Chapter Eight

  Late Monday afternoon, Jennie drove toward Whitesburg. Her regular appointment with Dr. Wilson—Monday afternoon after school—had run late as she had talked about the weekend. She felt a churning in her stomach and she had difficulty focusing her thoughts, symptoms of anxiety, she knew. She wanted to stop at the cemetery to talk with Grandmom, hoping it would calm her.

  She pulled to a stop near the Bateman plot. The sun was at treetop level and long shadows stretched across the churchyard. As she stepped out of her car, she paused and listened, but heard nothing other than the rumble of the afternoon train as it roared west toward Birmingham.

  “Hi, Grandmom, it’s getting late, so I guess I won’t be able to stay very long, but I wanted to tell you about the weekend.” She looked around for a place to sit and finally eased herself onto the grass next to the plot. “It’s funny how something can be both good and bad, isn’t it. Last weekend was certainly like that.” She told her grandmother about taking Christa to the stable, her talk with Alexis, and about dinner with her parents.

  “I wanted to shoot Daddy that night.” She stared at her grandmother’s headstone. “I know he’s your son, and you love him, but he can be so, so…mean, sometimes.” She clenched her fists as she talked. “Why can he never try to get along? Why must he always have people do as he says?” She took a deep breath and allowed the tension to slowly drain from her fists.

  “Later, when Thomas came for the girls, he was the opposite of Daddy. In spite of all the trouble I am causing him, he was so nice to me. I wanted him to hug me and hold me and tell me everything was all right, but of course, that didn’t happen. Dr. Wilson thinks I’m still in love with Thomas, but I’m not. We don’t know each other anymore, and he’s engaged to be married. Sometimes at night I wake up crying about my decision to leave him…but I’m not in love.” She swallowed hard.

  “Alice called at lunchtime. Thomas’s attorney is asking the judge to modify her order to prohibit me from allowing Daddy to have any contact with the girls. Alice wanted to contest it, but I told her to agree to it. I don’t want them to have to be afraid of him. I was before I left for college, you know, never sure what would set him off, always afraid of what he would do once he was angry…I don’t want them to be in that situation. I had thought that if I were with them that I could protect them, but I couldn’t. On Saturday, Alexis was the one who pushed him away.”

  She looked up at the church. The moon had risen and its white outline could be seen directly above the cross that rose from the top the steeple. “Alexis and Christa are so different from each other. Christa is so sweet and so quiet and shy, well, most of the time—she certainly wasn’t with Daddy on Saturday.”

  “Alexis is outspoken and, like I told you, so very angry. Dr. Wilson pointed out that Alexis remembers losing her mother, then having no mother, and then having Emma, who took that role. Then, just as Emma was about to become her mother for real—less than one month after the announcement—I appeared. In Alexis’s mind, she says, she’s about to lose her mother a second time, and again it’s my fault. I’m starting to cry for her as I tell you about it.” As Jennie wiped her eyes, a cool wind began to blow, chilling her tear-damp cheeks. “Alexis believes that I walked away and never thought of her again. Grandmom, it’s no wonder she’s angry with me.” She sat for a full minute, staring at the ground, remembering how Alexis had reacted, the expression on her face, the sound of her voice, as they had discussed the birthday card.

  “Dr. Wilson said, as I described the dinner, that my biggest surprise seemed not to be that Daddy got angry at someone, but that he got angry at Christa rather than Alexis. She asked me if I had planned for him to fight with Alexis, if having him swat her would have been just desserts for how she feels about me.” A sob escaped her throat. “She asked if I would have tried to rescue Alexis as I did Christa, and I couldn’t say for sure.” Tears began to run down her face. “I would be a terrible person if that were true, wouldn’t I? I would be an unfit mother.”

  She sat quietly for a few more minutes, picking the yellow wild flowers that grew, unbidden, across the cemetery, idly pulling the petals away, one by one.

  “I think I would have helped her. I hope that I would have. I know that I’ll never again give Daddy the chance to hurt her.”

  She stood and walked around, circling her grandmother’s plot. The sunlight was about to disappear and the shadows were creeping across the cemetery. “I told Dr. Wilson about how angry I feel—at Daddy for the way he behaves, at myself for making such stupid decisions in my life, at the girls for not falling in love with me, and I always feel angry when I hear one of the girls talking about Emma.

  “She asked me to tell her about Emma, and I told her what little I know—that she has two daughters, the same ages as Alexis and Christa, how the first time I saw her, she made me think of a Greek goddess, how she shot and killed her first husband to protect her children from him and how I now think of her as the goddess of war.” Jennie smiled at the thought.

  “She laughed and said, ‘Minerva? The goddess of war? That’s a tough standard to meet. It’s no wonder you resent her.’

  “She pointed out that I envy her. I’m the girls’ mother, but everyone sees her in that role. She told me that there is no way for me to change the situation, that if I want to be around my daughters that I should accept Emma…Grandmom, she suggested that I meet her and try to become friends…Imagine,” Jennie exclaimed. “Friends…I told her I would think about it, but…”

  Hearing a noise behind her, Jennie jumped, turned, and peered carefully into the shadows. It was only a large red tail hawk that had perched on the limb of a nearby tree, and Jennie relaxed. “I suppose she’s right, isn’t she? The green-eyed monster always messes up your life…Well, I need to be going. Dr. Wilson said to give Alexis time and she would likely come around. Once she realizes that I’ve no intention of trying to replace Emma.” Jennie bent over and touched the headstone. “I love you, Grandmom. I’ll talk with you later.”

  ***

  “What do you mean that I can’t see them?” Askins’ voice resounded through the house. “Hell, yes, I’m going to see my grandchildren, and no old woman in a black robe is going to tell me that I can’t.”

  “Now, Askins,” Sheila stood across the table from him, moving to the left as he moved to the right, “you remember what happened last weekend.”

  “Last weekend? What happened? What did I do?” He glared at her.

  “You remember. You weren’t that drunk. You almost hit Christa. Told her you were going to beat her.”

  “Sassy little girl. She deserved a good swat or two. I should have given them to her. She’s lucky…”

  “And you told those g
irls they would be taken away from their father and come here to live.”

  “So?”

  “They’re not…”

  “Come on, Sheila, you know that they belong here. That’s what Jennie is after. Once she gets them…”

  “We have all tried to explain this to you, Askins, Jennie’s not looking for custody. She wants to know her children, spend time with them, she wants…”

  “Well, she’s a fool if that’s all she wants.” He slammed his fist on the table, then turned and gazed through the window into the back yard at the yellow flowers—he didn’t know the name—poking through the tall grass around the fence posts.

  “That girl has always disappointed me.”

  “Askins, that’s not true.”

  “Yes, it is. Headstrong, smart mouth like her daughter, chased boys like a hound dog on a bird hunt. Would never listen. I pretty near beat her to death when she was in high school, but it never seemed to matter…Then she got that scholarship and went to college.” He spit out the word like a piece of spoiled fish.

  “You didn’t object when Si went to college.”

  “Si’s a boy,” he roared. “He played football.”

  “But Jennie was smart…”

  “Sarah saw no need in college. She wanted to get married, just as a woman ought to.”

  “Jennie married Thomas.”

  “An English teacher. A writer.” He sneered. “The man’s never done an honest day’s worth of work in his life.”

  “He’s paid mighty well for doing no work.”

  “Keep sassing me, woman, and I’ll give you what I should have given Christa.” He ignored Sheila’s disgusted look. “She was a drunk, she was a tramp…”

  “Don’t call my daughter a tramp.”

  Askins watched as a flock of birds flew past, blocking the sunlight for a few seconds. He shook his head. “Disappointment.”

  “Askins, the court order is temporary. There will be another hearing after that visit in April. Ms. Green will argue…”

  “No woman fights my battles. I want those girls.” He turned to face her. “I’ll get them.”

  “Askins, don’t do something stupid.” Sheila went to him, placing her hand on his shoulder as if to stop him, but he brushed her away and turned toward the door.

  “I need to think.”

  ***

  Askins watched as Jeff Ingram slipped through the door of Martha’s Café on the Douglasville Road, just outside of town. Smoke hung thick in the air, “Red Neck, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer” blared from the ancient juke box. The waitress swished past, dressed in little more than she wore the day she was born, and Askins smiled when he saw her, turning his head to follow her progress across the room.

  He knew that when he was in Whitesburg, Jeff could generally be found at the Blue Belle on the other highway, but Martha ran what Askins considered a high-class honky-tonk, although the prices were a bit steep if Jeff was paying. Today, though, it was Askins’ treat.

  He nodded to Jeff and raised two fingers to the waitress, placing an order for two drinks, then he slipped off the bar stool and plopped down in one of the booths. They would be drinking whiskey today, rather than the beer that Jeff could afford.

  As Jeff joined him, the waitress arrived with two glasses. She placed her tray on the table, bending over much farther than necessary, to place a glass in front of each man. She giggled when Jeff choked.

  “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Both men watched as she walked away, glancing over her shoulder to smile at them.

  “Just what I need.”

  “The whiskey or the woman?”

  “Well…uh…” Jeff reached for his glass.

  “Calm down, boy.” Askins chuckled. “Vickie’s just angling for a bigger tip. She’s married and her husband is twice your size.”

  “I…I…didn’t mean…”

  “Of course you did. You haven’t had a woman since my girl walked out on you, have you?”

  “You asked me to leave her alone. I respected your wishes.” Jeff took a drink and smiled. Askins had ordered the good stuff.

  “I told you to leave her alone, and you were afraid not to.”

  Jeff looked down at the table, but he didn’t reply.

  “I hear you had a problem at her house a few days back.”

  Jeff snorted. “I dropped by to crash in her guest room. Her daughters were there. Alexis, the older one, she’s a looker, you know? A lot like her mother when I used to…”

  “That’s my granddaughter.”

  “Oh. Right. Sorry. Anyway, I started to talk to her, and Jennie seemed to take offense. I don’t know why. I was just reminiscing with her, talking about old times. Jennie told me to leave. I ignored her.”

  Askins grunted. “You know how women are. They say one thing, but mean another.”

  Jeff nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. You know, Jennie was always into mind games like that. We’d call it a night and I’d kiss her, hop into bed, and she’d say not tonight, but if I took her seriously, she’d get madder than a wet hen. She always wanted…”

  Askins glared at him. “I don't need to hear such things about my daughter.”

  “Oh, sorry…Anyway, I kept talking, and she got in my face and told me that if I didn’t go, she’d call the sheriff.”

  “Really? You think she would do that? Call the sheriff to arrest you?”

  “I think so. In fact, I heard he was looking for me later that night. She may have called him after I left.”

  “I’m impressed. I wouldn’t have believed she would do that.”

  “Well I’m certainly glad she didn’t pull a gun.”

  Askins chuckled. “You’re right about that. You can’t trust a man with a gun…surely can’t trust a woman with one.”

  “Anyhow, I left. Self-preservation and all. Slept in my truck that night.”

  Askins stared at Jeff for several moments.

  “You still sweet on my girl?”

  Jeff cocked his head to one side. “I haven’t touched your girl in years, not since you asked me not to.”

  “Told you not to.”

  Jeff shrugged. “I crash at her house, used to anyway. Nothing more.”

  Askins stared at his glass of whiskey. He cleared his throat. “I didn’t much like it when she shacked up with you.” He watched as the waitress gently moved a customer’s hand away after allowing it to linger a bit too long. “Course, I preferred you to her husband…In any case, I need some help with a project that involves Jennie. If you help me out, I’ll turn a blind eye to anything you might do with her, and I’ll make sure that the sheriff does too.”

  “You mean…”

  “If she says no, you are free to take it as yes.”

  Jeff grinned, then he seemed to consider what Askins was offering, and his face grew suspicious. “What kind of project?”

  “You said you saw my granddaughters.”

  “I did.”

  “I want them.”

  Jeff frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “Their father has had them all of this time.”

  Jeff nodded.

  “Well, by rights they should have been with Jennie. If she didn’t want them, they should have been with us, with Sheila and me.”

  “But they were at her house the other night. Doesn’t that mean…”

  Askins gave an exasperated sigh. “That dumb girl of mine doesn’t have the guts to fight for them. She went to court and requested visitation. Once a month. Longer in the summer. That’s not the same. She won’t bring them home.” He stared into Jeff’s eyes. “So I have to do it myself.”

  “Now wait a minute, I’m not going to kidnap those girls. I’m not going to prison. A lifetime of your blind eye wouldn’t make up for prison.”

  “Can it, Ingram. No one’s going to prison. Those children are mine, and you can’t kidnap someone who already belongs to you.”

  Askins saw the questions in Jeff’s eyes
. He didn’t seem to be convinced.

  “Look, all you need to do is distract Jennie for, say twenty minutes. Get her to lose Alexis and Christa in a crowd.” He chuckled. “If you plan to do anything with her while I turn my blind eye, surely you have enough charm to distract her.” He smirked. “Make your move then, if you want. Tie her up for the afternoon.”

  “Tie her up?”

  Askins shrugged. “So to speak, perhaps.”

  Jeff became quiet, thinking. “How will I distract her?”

  “How will you…?” Askins exclaimed, causing men at the bar to turn and look. He lowered his voice. “You lived with the woman for two years. Honestly…You might start by apologizing for the other night. Women always love apologies. Sometimes, I purposely do something so that I can apologize to Sheila.” He gave an evil smile. “Works every time.”

  “And you won’t object if I…socialize…with Jennie?”

  “Not at all.”

  “What if she objects?”

  “You said yourself that when she used to say no it meant yes. Besides, since when does what a woman wants matter? If you want to socialize, then do it. That’s what I’ve told the boys who’ll help me with Alexis and Christa.”

  “And the sheriff?”

  “He’ll be no problem at all.”

  “Who is going to help you take the girls?”

  “It’s really not your concern. All you have to do is to distract Jennie. We’ll do the rest.”

  Jeff looked at the table and Askins could read the man’s hesitation. His offer was tempting him, but Jeff seemed to need more assurance that the whole plan would work. Askins gave him what he wanted. “Two young guys, Kenny Watson and Billy Waters are going to help. Kenny knows the girls, met them and talked to them at any rate. I’m thinking Kenny might be a good husband for Alexis. I showed him her picture, and he liked what he saw. Wants to get better acquainted.” Askins snorted.

  “But I’m not involved with all of that?”

  “Not at all. You distract Jennie. Then, if you want, you can disappear for a while. That might be best, in fact. The boys will snatch the girls. I’ll drive them away. Hide them for a while until it all blows over. It’s that simple. I get the girls. You get Jennie. The boys will insist that I show my appreciation by cutting them some slack with the girls—gotta do what I gotta do. It’ll all be worth it, besides, nothing really bad will happen, and everyone is happy. Now, do we have a deal?”