Moon over Madeline Island (22 page)

I drift into my room, snap on the lamp next to my bed and thump into the pillows. My God, what a day. Poor Bonnie, why can't women just—There doesn't seem to be an easy answer. Never is, not really. Things are so much more complicated when you lift all the edges up and really look. Smiling, I recall her in those pink curlers.

I hope
my
daughter's not in that kind of a situation. Sounds so odd: “my daughter”—Amy. Wonder if the new mom kept that name. I wonder myself to sleep.

I
open my eyes, look over to the cat-clock and see it's only a bit past seven. Getting up, putting Rocky on the floor, I hunt for my robe. The smell of coffee lures me to the kitchen. On the stairway, I hear Ruby's voice coming from down below.

“…Not to worry, darling…Yes, yes, I'm sure it will pass over and…All right, then…Good-bye.” Ruby hands me the phone to hang up as I walk into the kitchen.

“Sam rang up to tell us she and Lilly will be a little late this morning. There's a storm brewing, so she thought the ferries might be running late.” She pours coffee.

“I thought I heard some thunder earlier this morning.” I sit down at the stump table and spin on a squeaky stool.

“Sam said something else I thought a bit odd.” Ruby sits down next to me. “That Bonnie is going to be needing—”

Just then the phone rings. “Hello?”

“Eve…it's Bonnie.” She sounds odd. “There's been an…accident…and Al…” Now she starts sobbing and not making any sense whatsoever. I'm getting really bad vibes here.

“Did he…
hurt
you?” I manage to stammer out while standing up, then slamming down my mug. Ruby heads over with a dishrag in one hand and Rocky slung over her other arm.

“He tried to…” She's gasping for air and I feel my skin go clammy. “He wanted to…” She snivels, sighs long and slow and then nothing—silence. She whispers in a voice I doubt I'll ever forget: “He'll never,
ever
hurt me again. Never.” The finality of that sends chills through me. I tighten my robe.

“Oh no…Bonnie.” I sit back down. “Is…he there
now
?” Something tells me I don't want an answer to this.

“Yes…but…no.”

“Oh, boy…oh shit.” I let Ruby know I need a smoke. She lights up two and puts one in my mouth. “Just where
is
Al—exactly?”

“Facedown, next to the stove.” I gasp. “He hasn't moved. I felt his neck…nothing there but…
cold
.”

“Cold?” My stomach roils.

“Well, see…” Bonnie's voice rises and she starts talking really fast. “He came home this morning stinking drunk. It's not that unusual for him to pass out at his bar and then crawl home the next day.”

“Oh Bonnie.” The poor thing.

“So he comes in and I'm vacuuming, and he gets all hands and dirty words and grabbing at me and calling me a good-for-nothing, dried-up bitch! And you know, something happened—something snapped inside of me and I wasn't
me
anymore. I wasn't there anymore…. It was like I was watching from the ceiling. He kept shoving and pushing me, so I hit him with the vacuum cleaner tube and…” Her voice begins to squeak. “I honestly didn't hit him
that
hard. I'm not very strong, you know. But then…this weird look came over his face and his eyes went white-like and he…he…he went…like…it seemed like…he wasn't there anymore and then he just kind of melted onto the floor.”

She takes a deep breath and sobs out, “I don't know how…I feel like I broke apart and part of me went away and part of me didn't and
that
part…that part…watched. I couldn't stop watching. I—” She breaks off sobbing in big mournful heaves.

“Oh…my…God.” The picture plays out in my mind. Ruby is shaking my arm, telling me to listen for a second. “Um…hang on, Bonnie,” I say gently. “Don't go anywhere, okay?”

“Okay,” Bonnie whispers. I cup the mouthpiece and am pacing—thinking. My skin is clammy and I have the worst dry mouth ever. I feel sick.

“I can't
believe
this. This is too much. I've never…What the
hell
are we going to do? I have to think; I…what?” A tear slides down my cheek.

“Sam said not to let Bonnie do anything
rash,
to tell her we'll be over there as soon as we can.” Ruby's eyes bug out of her head. “She knew…” We exchange a look. I frantically take a puff, looking in amazement at how my hand shakes.

“This is
so
nuts! What the
hell
should I tell Bonnie? To put on a nice outfit, brew a fresh pot of coffee and we'll be right over? Come on over and have some coffee…with a
dead body
?” My voice cracks.

“Tell her to
wait
and we'll ring her back in a moment or two. Tell her not to ring
anyone
until she speaks with us. Do it!” Ruby says with more oomph than I knew she had.

“Bonnie…listen…Ruby and I need to think here. We'll call you back in a few minutes, okay?

“Okay…but hurry. I'm so afraid,” she chokes out in a desperate voice.

“I promise, okay?”

“Sure…okay.”

“Oh, and Bonnie?”

“Yes.”

“Don't do anything crazy, like leave or…Just sit tight, all right?”

“Okay…'Bye.” The phone goes dead.

I hang it up and it rings the second it hits the wall. “Eve…Sam here.” I shoot a look at Ruby.

“How the hell?…Oh…right.” I shake my head, wondering when I'm going to wake up and realize this is all a dream.

“This is
not
a dream, girl. Now listen up: Bonnie is going to be just fine, but we all got to support her with this thing.”

“Oh, Sam…I don't know…” I put my cigarette out in my coffee, take a sip and gag.

“
Girl,
I have been down this lonely road of drunk womanizers
plenty
. Besides…it
wasn't anything that Bonnie did
. You got that?”

“Okay, okay…but Jesus…he's dead…Couldn't be from her vacuum cleaner?”

“Not likely. Now listen up!”

“I'm listening.” I wish I was drinking something stronger than coffee.

“Stick to coffee. Now, it's pretty simple as to what's going to come down. You and Ruby get over to Bonnie's and—”

“My God—won't we be considered accomplices or something? What a fucking
nightmare
!”

“It's been
her
nightmare for a long time and now…it's about over,” Sam says in a way I have to take notice of—like it
had
to be this way. “I got Lilly coming in the door here and we'll be there soon as we can.”

“But…shouldn't someone tell the cops? Shouldn't we call…”

“Eve, would you let me finish?”

“Sorry. Right…sure. Go ahead.”

“Soon as you calm down Bonnie, call nine-one-one and just tell them Al Smitters needs an ambulance.”

“But…what about Bonnie and her vacuum and…”

“Don't you worry none about that. Just tell them to come get…him. You understand me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. Now we're on our way, but it's going to be a bit, so…so you call back Bonnie soon as we're done here and then get on over there so she's not alone—with him. It may be a while before an ambulance can get over from Bayfield.”

“Right. You and Lilly meet us over to Bonnie's then…And Sam?”

“Yes child.”

“Bonnie's going to be all right…isn't she?”

“For the first time, both her and that lost soul of a man…I think peace has come for both their tired souls. We just gotta help Bonnie be strong now, that's all.”

“See you at Bonnie's then.” We good-bye and I hand the phone to Ruby.

“Oh Lord…I just want to wake up all over again.” I sit down and light up a fresh smoke. “Let's see if I have this straight…” Adjusting my robe and pushing my hair up out of the way, I explain. “Bonnie was cleaning her house—correction:
vacuuming
her house—when Al comes at her all hot and horny, not to mention drunk out of his mind. I figure he grabbed her, threw her around a bit…maybe slugged her too.” Ruby gasps.

I continue with my description of the scene. “They fight…he swings…she runs…he grabs…she struggles and then BLAM! She freaks out and after holding in all that hate and fear for all those years—she hits him back with her trusty Hoover…maybe the thing's even running…but it sounds like…like it was his time and that she was supposed to be there. It's so weird. Then afterwards…after she knows he's…gone…” I take a deep breath and say very slowly, “She sighs and sighs and sighs.”

I slowly exhale, imagining the scene: the whir of the vacuum competing with Bonnie's sobbing and Al, lying there, all his meanness finally gone. Bonnie, in slow motion, sliding slowly to the floor, wondering, “When did things get so bad.”

“Good heavens, Eve.” Ruby adjusts her necklace for the hundredth time since I began my story. “Horrible—horrible—simply horrible. The poor woman.”

“God…can you imagine? Right in front of you—just like that. Poof and he's toast.” I get up and move around, nervously picking up a spoon and walking around the entire stump table tapping the pots and pans hanging above it for therapy. I feel like exploding. I feel—I just wonder how she feels. Then I realize we need to be there with her.

“Sam is on her way with Lilly. I'm to call back Bonnie and let her know we're on our way over and then Sam says we should call nine-one-one and tell them we need an ambulance for Mr. Smitters.”

“Well I think that sounds logical. Considering. Don't you?”

“But Sam didn't say anything about Bonnie hitting him back and—”

“I should think the less said about that, the better.” Ruby shrugs and we look at one another like we're guilty and…are we?

“But I heard Bonnie say…” I stammer, trying to make sense out of this.

“I think”—Ruby rises, takes our mugs to the sink, then turns to face me—“I think that we should support Bonnie and leave the entire affair up to the authorities.”

“No kidding.” I turn toward the living room. Then turn back.

“I'll get dressed now, ring Bonnie and tell her we're on our way over. Scoot!”

“Jesus…but, well…you know he's been drinking for years. Why even Dorothy's heard about him way down in Eau Claire.” Ruby shakes her head. “Let me call her back—I feel it should be me.” I dial the phone; Bonnie picks up on the first hint of a ring.

“Yes—hello.” Her voice is so small.

“It's me, Eve…Um…you doing all right there, Bonnie?” I'm picturing Al slumped over on the floor with the tube from the vacuum nearby. I shake my head and—the image is gone.

“Yes…fine. Considering.” She laughs weakly.

“Ruby and I are on our way over—okay?”

“Sure.” There's a pause while she takes a big breath. “Thank you Eve; thank you.” The line goes dead.

I hand the phone to Ruby, who gives me a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and for the first time in my entire life, I set it down on the counter. So she gently places Rocky into my arms and we dash upstairs to change.

 

Ruby and I are heading down our winding drive on our way to Bonnie's place. I'm letting her drive; I just feel so odd. I'm seeing my mom's face again. Her death was so peaceful, but you never forget the goneness afterward. I sat there holding her hand until a nurse came and slipped it from mine. I instinctively am holding my own hand now and realize it and try to relax the thoughts away and to…

“You all right, darling?” Ruby asks as the van clumps into gear. We're passing over the little wooden bridge. The creek has a mist floating above it and for a moment, off in the trees, I swear I see the shape of a woman. I shake my head and look again—nothing.

“I'm just remembering…dead stuff. Like in that stupid movie that gave us the creeps for weeks.”

“I see dead people!” We say at the same time, then laugh and boy does that feel good.

“Now be a love and unlatch the gate, hmm?”

“Right.” I hop out of the van, open the gate, then close it after Ruby pulls the van over next to the sun sign. I slam the door closed and suddenly feel better, stronger.

“Put the pedal to the metal,” I say, and she does and of course it takes the van a bit to get going, but we do. I root around, find my tape of Michael Franks and pop it in. His voice is so soothing. He softly croons “Dragonfly Summer.” We head south along North Shore Drive toward La Pointe.

“Oh look.” Ruby points to her left and toots the horn. “Charlie's out fussing with one of his birdhouses.” We wave to the handsome man and he—paintbrush in hand—waves back.

“What will her life be like?” I ponder out loud. “Bonnie's been with Al since fricking high school. Can you imagine?”

“I think perhaps we should focus on the present situation of Al not yet even in his grave, for God's sake! He was a man…a human…a person with…I simply can't bring myself to speak ill of the dead. Not yet. Those poor people.”

“No kidding—you're right,” I agree, but with little conviction. I mean, I
saw
the bruises and what about the wounds on the
inside?
I know Ruby though and this
is
really a very sad day.

“You know”—I have my head half in my shoulder bag—“I'm not exactly sure just where the hell Bonnie and Al live—lived. I mean…” I light a cigarette and feel the cancer-causing serenity. These things are going to kill me. I take one more puff and put it out.

“I don't think it'll be too awfully difficult to find,” Ruby notes. “We've only to keep a lookout for that dreadful station wagon of hers.”

“Hey, this isn't exactly a limo here.” I snap the visor on my side up and the yellow fringe with little hanging balls I tucked around the windshield comes undone. We chuckle.

“I know it's a few blocks from the Liquor Lounge, so turn here.” I point down a side street off Main and sure enough, there's Bonnie's wagon parked outside a tired-looking faded yellow bungalow. The white shutters on one window are just about to slip off. But there's a neatness to the yard—not a leaf out of place. We pull up along the street and hop out.