Читать книгу The Unthinkable - Lois A. Schaffer - Страница 16

Chapter

4

Daniel returned home eager to show his mom his haircut. He trudged into the house through the garage, his heavy winter boots clomping on the floor as he entered. He heard the sound of the television set and remembered that he had forgotten to turn it off when he left for school that morning. Passing the laundry room on his way into the kitchen, he yelled, “Ma, I’m home.”

As he entered the kitchen, he experienced the greatest shock of his life—a shock that rendered him totally speechless and immobile. He saw his mother lying motionless and face down on the kitchen floor, blood oozing from her body and trickling toward the kitchen cabinets.

Daniel dropped to his knees. “Ma!” he screamed. But she didn’t move or speak and didn’t seem to be breathing. Somehow, Daniel managed to pull out the cell phone he was carrying. He called 911, then Alvin (his mother’s longtime partner), and finally, his father. While waiting for the EMT unit to arrive, Daniel lay on the floor next to his mother, stroking her, kissing her, speaking to her, and trying to rouse her.

The EMT unit and Alvin arrived at the same time. The EMTs suggested that Alvin and Daniel wait outside while they tended to Susie. Alvin put his arms around Daniel and they held each other in desperation as they stumbled outside through the bone-chilling air and into Alvin’s car. They sat together in stunned silence until Alvin managed to ask, “Do you know what happened?”

Daniel hesitated for a moment, and the only words he could utter were, “My mom’s not breathing.”

Suddenly, Daniel’s cell phone rang.

“Yes, Sarah.”

“Where’s Mom? I’m at my friend Laura’s house, and I’ve been trying to call her on her cell phone. It’s dead.”

“Sarah, I can’t talk now.”

“Why? Is something wrong? You sound weird.”

“Just stay where you are. I’ll come get you later.” He closed the phone. Daniel and Alvin huddled together to keep each other warm and to bolster their emotional strength.

They waited and waited in the car, both of them freezing and trembling at the thought of the horrific news they feared was only minutes away. Alvin managed to compose himself enough to initiate a chain of phone calls to our family in New York. First he called my husband, David. In clipped speech he said, “I can’t talk long. Something terrible has happened. I’m sitting in the car with Daniel.” Losing his composure, he screamed into the phone, “Susie’s been shot!”

David spat out the words, “Who? When? What?”

“Oh God, oh God! I don’t know! I’ll call you later when I have more information.”

David immediately made a conference call to me and our son, Eric, trying to remain as calm as possible. “There was an intrusion in Susie’s house. The EMT unit is working on her.”

“What happened?” I asked as an ominous feeling crept into my chest.

“I don’t know. All I know is that Alvin just called me with the information I just gave you.”

“Dad, maybe she’ll be all right. She has to be all right.”

Eric’s voice was barely audible, and both David and I knew he was crying though he was making a valiant effort to conceal it from us.

“From the sound of Alvin’s voice, I’m very worried,” David told us. David had always maintained a thoughtful, calm demeanor, but now his anxiety was clear. “Both of you, stick close to the phone. I’ll call you after I hear from Alvin again.”

David called ten minutes later, his speech almost unintelligible. “She’s dead. Our daughter is dead.”

A strange numbness pervaded my body, as in a suffocating nightmare. All I wanted to do was scream, but I couldn’t.

“What—what are you saying to me?” I finally shrieked into the phone.

David’s voice quavered as he delivered a message that no parents on earth should ever hear: “Susie was shot. Murdered. She’s gone,” he choked out through his tears.

In disbelief, not knowing where the self-control I summoned came from, I said to David, “I don’t want you to drive home in such a state. How are you going to get home from the office?”

“One of my partners will drive me home,” he managed to answer.

“You need to call the airline to get on the first flight we can to St. Louis tomorrow for the two of us, Eric, and Rachel.”

“I’ve already done that. Also, Alvin told me that his sister, Lois, is opening her house as a meeting place for everyone.”

News traveled quickly. Neighbors arrived in tears, offering help and support. These were people we had known for the thirty-plus years we had lived in our home, people who had watched Susie grow from a teenager to an adult.

David arrived home with his partner. There was nothing to say. We just hugged each other as hard as we could.

Soon Rachel appeared. “I can’t cry,” she said. “It’s unreal.”

Eric and his wife Nancy arrived soon after that. Eric said nothing. His red, swollen eyes said it all.