They were home by five thirty and Henry thought he could keep Marty until seven thirty. That gave Marty time to change into his lion hunting clothes and he and Fritz passed a good hour helping Wisconsin clear up its lion problem.
Henry stood in the hot tub room, watching the two adventurers through the one-way glass window. Lord, was that boy cute. Marty didn't know that he was being watched so he was not putting on a performance. He was just being the very imaginative, inventive Marty. He, did indeed, look to be on safari with his pith helmet, khaki shirt and shorts, knee stockings, safari boots, and realistic-looking .450 Marlin rifle with scope. Marty stalked from bush to bush and Fritz, glued to the boy's side would actually go into a point—nose and tail outstretched, front paw lifted. It appeared to Henry that Fritz also knew how to pretend, that the dog and boy were completely attuned. He would hold his point until Marty shouted, "Bang!" The dog then realizing that that particular lion had been dispatched would break his point and go back to stalking at the boy's side. Henry chuckled and thought, "I'm glad I don't hunt that dog. Marty would have him pointing at shadows."
Nap or no nap on the way home, this was one sleepy little lion hunter that Henry drove back to the group home. Marty went to the home with only two changes of new school clothes that Henry insisted he take. Marty wanted to take nothing. "Them other kids will mess them up. I'll keep my good stuff here." Henry had said nothing to Marty about Jerry's suggestion because, in the event that it did not work out, he did not want to disappoint the boy. Marty, however, had moved in.
Henry took Marty to the door. He thought the Trollers should know who he was. When Myrt saw Marty she said, "You better get to bed, Baby. Mornin' comin' quick and you hard to get awake."
She made no attempt to recognize Henry. Henry, however, felt that he should make himself known. "May I come in for a minute?"
Myrt seemed hesitant. "Place is kind of a mess. Them kids ain't careful where they leave stuff lay."
"Don't worry about that. I just thought that we ought to know one another if Marty is going to be coming to my house."
"Marty said he knowed you."
"He does but I thought you should know me also and I wanted to meet you."
"But Marty said he knowed you. We won't let him come back no more."
"That's not what I'm saying. Marty is welcome at my home anytime but don't you think it's better if we know one another?"
"You gonna tell Miss Burtch we done somethin' wrong?"
"Cecil joined the conversation. "Boy's a caution. He talk your leg off. He be sayin' he know you and he live in your house. He a good boy. Won't bother nothin' at your house but we won't let him come no more."
"No, now please listen to me. Marty can come to my house any time. He does know me. I'm one of the doctors who helped him when he was injured. You did nothing wrong but I may not have been home. We need to talk to each other so we're sure there's someone to take care of him. That's all I wanted to say—and, of course, Marty spoke so highly of you that I wanted to meet you."
"Did he say we was high and mighty? We ain't tryin' to be."
"Myrt, he didn't say nothin' about high and mighty. He was sayin' the boy talked good on us."
"Oh, so you ain't gonna tell Miss Burtch we done somethin' wrong?"
"No, of course not. I'm very happy that you let Marty come and I'm very happy to meet you."
Myrt's demeanor changed. "Well, we're proud to know you too, ain't we Ces?"
"We sure are. We wasn't meanin' not to be friendly but you can't be too careful with them young 'uns. Miss Burtch can get real troublesome. You ain't tellin' her nothin, then?"
"No. Miss Burtch will know nothing about this."
They exchanged phone numbers and Henry left wondering why the Trollers were so frightened of Kate Burtch.
Henry Schmidt was, indeed, a new man. He left for work early Monday morning so that he could stop by the cemetery. For five years, whenever time allowed, he had avoided even driving past but today he had to go. He had to tell Annie that his life again had meaning. He had to tell her that he had found a love that did not sully theirs. He knew that many men had been able to find love again with another woman. Part of Henry's depression came from his inability to do that. He needed to love and be loved but there were no more Annies. He had not tried to duplicate the physical Annie but someone should have been able to connect with his spirit as Annie had. If there was such a woman, Henry had not found her. Perhaps he had not looked hard enough—but he couldn't. Were those women really coming on to him, pressuring him to make a decision he was not yet ready to make, or was he so blinded by his depression that he just assumed that they were? Perhaps he had not given any of them a chance.
Henry didn't know but that was irrelevant now. The love he had now was the right love for him. Annie had been his partner, his helper, his lover. As he was maturing into his work and his manhood, he had needed those things. He had needed Annie. Annie had helped to make him a strong, confident, successful man. He wanted to remain the man Annie had made him. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps he was so pleased with what Annie had helped him become that he did not want to have to remake himself to conform to another personality. He knew that marriage was made of compromises. Henry was comfortable with what he remembered himself to have been before Annie's death. He did not want to have to become something else. It may have been arrogant or selfish but Henry was convinced that had been a major factor in his inability to find a satisfactory female relationship.
He told Annie about Marty. He told her how much he loved her for what she had helped him become—for her help in having become what, he was sure, God intended for him to be. Now he could help this boy become a happy, successful man, help him become what God intended for him to be. He no longer needed the support. He needed now to support. He needed to be loved. He needed to be needed. He needed to love but he also needed to keep his Annie. Right or wrong, he needed to keep Annie. Marty was what he needed now. He didn't need someone to try to give him what Annie had given him. He had that. He didn't need a strong equal. He didn't need sex. He needed a chance to give back. He needed Marty Toliver.
He told Annie all that and a breeze gently rustled the new spring-green leaves on the trees—the new-life leaves. Rationally, he knew better but he left the cemetery allowing himself to believe that that gentle breeze was Annie saying, "I know Henry, my dear. I saw you. I saw how unhappy you were. I knew what you needed. I sent Marty to you. These leaves are new life for these trees. Marty is new life for you."
On Tuesday, the magistrate was fired. Henry had questioned him about Kate Burtch. The conversation led Henry to believe that Kate was dominating his magistrate just as she was dominating her boss, Mervin Gross. Henry should have paid more attention. The kid knew the law but he was a wimp. Until a replacement could be found Henry's workload would be very heavy but Kate needed controlling. Henry would never allow the magistrate to handle child custody cases again. Whoever he and the commissioners selected would handle misdemeanors and some preliminary hearings. As expected, Kate was livid. She was sure that that damn Steve Brainard had something to do with this.
At Jerry Dissler's suggestion, Henry completed the application to be a Big Brother. By virtue of her position, Kate was an ex officio member of the board but she rarely attended meetings. She was generally disliked and was almost always outvoted. If she could not run something, she wanted no part of it. But something was going on. She had done as she pleased in Jefferson County for fifteen years. No one gave much thought to what was happening in child welfare. People complained about the cost of welfare but that was mostly aid to dependent children or poor relief. People just didn't care about kids who were not their own. They thought they did. Kate, however, knew they didn't care enough to find out what was really going on and she did as she pleased.
But now that Dr. Schmidt had forced her to leave that kid in the hospital and he made her put him in foster care. Somebody was after her and she had to find out who. She went to the board meeting the evening Henry's application was considered. She, of course, objected but that damn cop got Henry approved. Kate left not knowing if it was the cop or Dr. Schmidt who was after her. Whoever it was, she'd lay low until she figured it out. Then, by god, she'd destroy them, even if it was Dr./Judge Schmidt.
She knew how to use the law. An accusation of sexual abuse was enough to destroy anyone. You didn't need a conviction. As far as most people were concerned, an accusation was as good as a conviction. She'd used it before. Anyone who was foolish enough to question or criticize her, she'd accuse. You could make a kid say anything you wanted them to say. That was good enough to get it in the paper. The fact that the kid didn't tell the prosecutor the same thing she'd gotten him or her to say made no difference. They may not have been jailed but they lived the rest of their lives with people wondering. She'd scared the hell out of several and now most people knew better than to cross her. She wasn't worried. Whoever this stupid person was, she'd get 'em.
Kate really wished she lived in Milwaukee County. Linda Burg, a Deputy Prosecutor there believed the old saw that kids don't lie about sex abuse. She'd take anything to court. Kate chuckled to herself. Maybe a kid wouldn't lie on his own but you could sure make him say anything you wanted him to say.
Copyright © 2004 Gordon Klopfenstein
Posted 27 November 2024