Broken Tears 6

Broken Tears 6


The next thing that Caroline knew was that the phone was ringing again. She looked at her watch and saw that it was a little after 2:30. She saw that her book had fallen on the floor. Grace was lying on the carpet on the other side of the table. Caroline’s hand was hurting, but not as much as the night before. What was bothering her was an empty stomach. She picked up the empty cereal banana bowl and headed for the kitchen to answer the phone and get something to eat.

“Hello.” said Caroline as she put several other items in the sink to clear the counter.

“Hello honey.” came the slurred speech over the phone. “Is your m-m-mother there?” asked the male voice on the other end. There was a muffled group of voices talking in the background. Caroline heard what she thought was a television in the background.

“Hello father. She is at work. You should know that by now.” responded Caroline with a grimace on her face.

“Oh yea. Ha. Ha. I guess it is hard to tell TIME when one doesn’t have a WATCH any more.“ Came the slurred speech. Suddenly there was a ripple of laughter in the background. “Come on, I’m on the phone. You see?”

Caroline’s mind went back to the last time she saw her father about eight months ago. He had just come from the airport. He had been on a back to back flight. The second flight was one in such dangerous weather that he literally flew by instinct because one of his dials malfunctioned and stopped working. One of the passengers started yelling and screaming. As a result of this and the fact that his co-pilot threw up, he broke his number of months of sobriety. He went straight to the bar and bought a drink. On his way home, he brought a bottle of liquor. When Caroline and Melody came home, he was in the bathroom puking in the toilet. The bathroom smelled full of vomit and wet clothes. Melody had a bad day and tried to throw the bottle away. With one swing of his hand, he slapped her across the face and she landed on the floor. Caroline came from her bedroom and saw her dear old father running out to his car and drive away. He left his wallet and bag in the bedroom. Inside the bag was a pair of tickets that were for a trip that he and another person were going to take in two days. Two months later Melody filed for a divorce and he immediately agreed.

“Is there a message I can give her. I really don’t know when she will be home.” replied Caroline with a little irritation in her voice. She tried to reach to the refrigerator to open the door, but was just inches from the handle.

“Now Carry baby. I needed to talk to her about some payments. I don’t know when I’ll have some money. I’m working on it. Really. Believe me.”

“Listen, this is really between you and mother. Can you,” Caroline asked but heard a click on the other end.

Caroline looked at Grace who lifted her head and wagged her tail.

“At least your father had a good excuse. He was a dog. My father has no good excuse except that his best friends come out of a bottle. I wish sometimes that he would never call, but then, mother always keeps hoping for the best.” Caroline walked to refrigerator and stopped to smell the air. Grace followed her.
“I could swear that there is something wrong in this kitchen. Let’s go for a walk. But this time you must be careful.”

Caroline showed Grace her cast on her arm. Grace went to the door and sat down, ready to go outside. Caroline picked up the leash from the table and put it on Grace. As they went outside, Caroline looked up at the sky to see what the weather might be for the rest of the day. There were a few clouds coming in from the west blown in by a gentle breeze. On the fence sat the little squirrel who ran up a tree when she saw Grace.

As the pair came out through the gate of the backyard, Caroline saw the mailman making his route. He was the same man who had this route for a couple of years. He brought Caroline her driver’s license and magazines. He had the nicest smile.

On the other side of the street was a cable repair truck and a white van that was backed in to the house a couple of houses down the street. It was strange that the men were carrying boxes out quickly. They had their hats pulled down over their faces and looked a little nervous. Caroline felt a little nervous and made a mental note of the license plate, UR5-779. She started walking down the long way of the street so she could have a few more minutes to see if any thing else looked suspicious in the street. As she and Grace came back on the other side of the street, the same van came hurrying down the street and turned the corner without stopping for the stop sign. The men had their faces completely turned from her. As she came closer towards the house the van was originally at, she noticed that the door was still open and that their little Chihuahua-poodle was running around.

“Oh Grace. That’s Minnie. The Kingstons never let her out. I think that we need to hurry home.” Caroline picked up Minnie with her good hand and pulled Grace from the area of grass that she was smelling.

Caroline and Grace, with a terrified little dog hurried into the back yard and the house with only one thought. Call 9-1-1. She hoped that she had remembered the license and description of the van she saw.