Where the Sun Sets (3 page)

“Believed?” questioned the mother.

“Yes, you see she has not spoken a word since
the incident. No one knows for sure if indeed she has ever spoken.
No one had ever seen the child. Birth records showed that she is
the age of seven. However no doctor in the state had seen her since
her birth. She had no school records. Apparently she had never been
outside of her house or off their property until she was brought to
us. One can only imagine the horror she had to deal with in her
short life time. But God always fills our plates for us doesn’t he?
He gave each of us our road; it is for each of us to travel.”

“So you believe the child--” the mother tried
to interject.

“It is not my place to believe or disbelieve
ma’am, my job is to take care of the children who are placed with
me for educational purposes. This is not an orphanage or foster
care facility and we will not be accepting the poor and homeless.
There are several agencies out there for which this is designated.
The problem we have is that the child is not an orphan, as her
father is still alive. So, therefore, she may not be placed in an
orphanage. Foster care is being sought for her and she shall remain
here until such time, for educational purpose only. You need not
fear her stay. Now let us return to the matter at hand, shall we?
Your little Josephine.” Sister Ursula’s eyes met the little girl’s.
She had mis-spoken perhaps. She had not believed the child to be
listening but she could see something in her eyes. Something that
said she heard and understood. She would have to be more cautious
in the future.

Sister Ursula and Antonia had just settled
down at the table, in the kitchen, with their snack of apple slices
and peanut butter when Sister Katherine’s voice entered
authoritatively through the intercom. “Sister Ursula, will you
please come to my office for a moment?” Click. Sister Katherine did
not wait for a response.

Sister Ursula placed a gentle hand on the
shoulder of Antonia. “You be an angel and finish your snack. I will
be but a moment, I promise I will be right back. Wait here at the
table for me.” Eye contact from the child was the only response.
Antonia looked up at Sister for a brief moment and then back to her
snack. Sister silently said a ‘Hail Mary’ for the child on her way
to the office.

Arriving back the office, she knocked twice
and stood aside waiting for consent to enter. Sister Katherine
opened the door for her, and motioned for her to come inside.
“Sister, would you be so kind as to take Miss Josephine up to her
quarters and help her get settled?”

“It would be my pleasure, Mother,” Sister
Ursula said as she extended her hand toward Josephine.

“Please, see to it that she returns to the
entrance hall in one hour’s time.”

Sister Katherine dismissed her and the child
quickly. She needed the parents’ full attention for the financial
procedures. Josephine took hold of Sister’s hand without thinking,
but once she held it she grew nervous. She glanced back to her
parents before exiting the office. Her mother’s face could not hide
her emotions. There were tears forming in her eyes. However her
face held a smile that said “I love you”. Her father’s expression
was full of love that beamed from his eyes without hesitation,
however he sternly said, “Make me proud”

Josephine bent to pick up her suitcase and as
she straightened her back, she looked up at Sister Ursula. Sister
looked at the child with gentleness and said, “Well then, shall we
get started?”

Sister took Josephine the long way around the
main building. She purposely took her through the kitchen. Antonia
was still sitting at the table. Her snack had been finished and her
dish had been pushed aside. “Come, child.” was all that was said.
Antonia stood and pushed her chair in. She grabbed hold of Sisters
free hand as the three left the kitchen.

The main building housed the chapel to the
right as you entered and to the left a small library, primarily
used to keep visitors occupied as they waited. The admissions
office was located in the center, behind which was the kitchen and
dining room which exited out to the yard. To the left and right as
you stepped out of the office, were stairs that led to the dorms.
Two levels on each side. The left side housed the younger girls,
ages seven through eleven; to the right, those from twelve to
sixteen. The younger girls of each side were located on the lower
levels.

Each dorm room was decorated exactly the
same. Two twin beds, separated by a single night stand, which held
a single lamp. There was one closet in each room and on either side
was a stand up dresser, consisting of four drawers each. A single
foot high cross hung on the wall over the night stand and a statue
was placed on either dresser. The Blessed Mother to the left, St.
Agnes on the right.

The School building was separate and directly
to the rear of the main building. The girls exited their dorms to
the rear of the building at all times. There were several smaller
buildings placed sporadically throughout the perimeter of the
school. These were for staff and supplies, laundry and medical
treatment.

Josephine felt totally lost. Antonia felt a
pinch of sorrow for Josephine. For some reason, Sister Ursula felt
confident that these two children were meant to be paired. She was
sure that God had placed each girl at precisely the right moment.
They stopped in the room already occupied by Antonia. Antonia had
chosen to sleep in the bed closest to the door, so Sister directed
Josephine to place her bag on the bed next to the window. Antonia
politely sat on the end of her own bed while Sister explained the
house rules to Josephine. Sister then excused herself, after
witnessing through the rooms only window, an incident out in the
yard. “I will be back shortly. I do not want either of you to leave
this room until I return.” She made eye contact with each girl, and
feeling confident she was heard, left them alone.

“I saw you in the hall. When I came in today,
I saw you sitting in the hall.” Josephine tried to make polite
conversation. She really had no idea what to say. She sat on her
bed facing Antonia. The two sat, for a time, and listened to each
other breathe. Josephine finally stood and started to unpack her
bag. She chatted while she unpacked about all kinds of things that
were important to her. She really didn’t put any thought into what
she was saying. She was just talking. If Antonia had not been in
the room, the conversation would have pretty much been the same.
Josephine reached for her teddy bear. Toys were not permitted at St
Agnes, but a teddy bear could find safe haven if used for security
purposes. Josephine looked long and hard at her bear then at
Antonia. The bear had been a gift from her father and Josephine
adored it. She held it out to Antonia and said, “Here, take it.”
Antonia just looked up at Josephine. “Take it,” Josephine repeated.
“I want you to have it.”

Antonia gently took the bear. It was a black
bear with a white star on its chest and a tan muzzle. She didn’t
know what to do with it, so she just let it sit in her lap, gazing
up at her. Josephine sat down next to her. “My dad gave me this
bear, when I was in the hospital. I had to have my tonsils out and
I was really scared. He told me to hold it real tight and it would
make my fears disappear. It works, honest. I hold it at night when
I have nightmares and they just go away.” Antonia looked deep into
Josephine’s eyes. She wanted desperately to believe that nightmares
could be stopped by squeezing this bear. Josephine smiled. “My name
is Josephine but you can call me Joe.”

Antonia responded. “My name is Antonia, my
mother called me Anthony, you...you could call me Anthony.”

Chapter 3

“Here, I grabbed you some coffee.” Jim
Deloryan, Josephine’s secretary, was standing by her side. “Have
they said how she is doing?” Josephine looked at him questioningly.
“Antonia, have they said how she is?” Josephine accepted the coffee
and held it in both hands, trying to absorb the heat from the cup.
She was cold. She did not respond to the question. She just stared
off into space, leaning against the doorjamb of the cubical. Jim
walked over to the nurses’ station and had a brief conversation
with the gentleman behind the counter. He returned to Josephine’s
side and placed his arm around her shoulders, gently nudging her
along. “We can go sit outside. We don’t need to be in here. Let’s
go find a place to sit, OK?” He asked the question, but did not
really require or expect a response. He was not at all comfortable
with all the beeping and dinging, attached to the emergency room
atmosphere.

Just beyond the emergency room was a waiting
room. Beyond the waiting room was the lobby of the hospital itself.
Friendlier and relaxing in appearance, Jim took Josephine into the
lobby to sit. There were several chairs, a couple sofas and plenty
of magazines and newspapers. It was dark outside as the evening had
arrived. Jim scanned the magazines and newspapers, checking for
anything that might be upsetting to his boss. He found two
questionable prints and grabbed them with the intent of removing
them from the room. Josephine found a chair and dropped down into
it. She was still clutching her cup of coffee with both hands.

“Are you all right?” Jim asked. Josephine
slowly looked up at him.

“Um...yeah, yeah just...” She let go of the
thought

Jim just shook his head. He ran his free hand
across his mouth and chin, thoughtfully. “I’ll be right back. Stay
here.” He turned from the lobby and returned to the waiting room.
Several of the party guests had arrived and were huddled together,
mulling over the happenings of the evening.

“Has anyone heard anything on Antonia’s
condition yet?” A few of the group looked up and shook their heads
no, in response. The others just looked off into their own
thoughts. “Does anyone happen to know where Billy is?” Again the
same response. Jim was starting to feel as if he was standing in
the bed of funeral parlor.

The emergency room doors opened and everyone
looked up hopefully. Nothing. The nurse at the station, witnessing
the concern, came out into the waiting room briefly and offered,
“It’s going to be a while. Why don’t you all go home and get some
rest. There is nothing you can do for her right now. She is in the
best of hands. There really is no way of knowing what is happening.
If any of you would like to call later, just ask for me and I will
give you whatever information I can.”

It had been a while since she had witnessed
such concern for a friend. There was that summer, three or four
years back, when some pre-college kids were up for vacation. One of
them had plowed his car into the side of a concrete wall and didn’t
make it. The mood of the waiting room then, had felt much like it
did now. She hoped, for all of their sakes, the outcome was not
going to be the same.

Jim spotted Bernie, off to the side, by
himself. He never especially liked Bernie, but he felt pity for him
now. Bernie looked as if someone had just gutted him and left him
to die. His feelings for Antonia surprised most people, considering
women were not his genre. But Jim understood how, even Bernie could
be attracted to Antonia. “Hey,” Jim started, “why don’t we go get a
cup of coffee.” Bernie just shook his head. “Josephine is out in
the lobby, you could...” Bernie shot Jim a fevered look and Jim
simply responded by placing a comforting hand on Bernie’s shoulder.
He patted it twice and walked back to the crowd. “What do you say
we all go and grab a bite to eat, maybe a drink.” The offer of food
had finally grabbed their attention. “We can call from the
restaurant and leave the number. If anything comes up, the nurse
can call us.”

Jim went back to the lobby to let Josephine
know he would be back in an hour. He didn’t expect to be back in an
hour, but he didn’t think she was paying him any attention anyway.
He left the hospital at seven p.m., taking several of the waiting
zombies with him. Within the next hour, the only two who remained
waiting, were Bernie and Josephine.

Josephine was still sitting in the lobby when
Dr. Kessler arrived for work. He recognized her at once. They had
gone to Yale together. Although they majored in completely
different areas, they shared a speech course their first year.
During the course of his time at Yale, he had seen her outside of
school a couple, no, a few times. It was never anything more than a
casual passing of time, but he still could feel the moment. He
walked over to where she sat and offered his hello, but felt at
once that it was not heard. “Josephine?” he spoke as he sat himself
on the small table in front of her. Placing his hand upon her knee,
he repeated himself, “Josephine,” finally she looked at him. “Is
everything OK?”

“I’m cold.” she responded. He removed his
suit coat and placed it around her shoulders. He looked into her
eyes and sat himself back down.

“Is that better?” he asked, while trying to
see if her eyes acknowledged his presence. He was wondered if she
may have a slight concussion, simply from seeing the wound on her
forehead. “Josephine, have you seen a doctor?”

She nodded her head, up and down.

“Are you waiting for someone? Is there
someone I can call for you?”

After a moment of silence, he was about to
repeat his question again. Josephine looked at him, Anthony...my
head hurts.”

“Anthony what?” Dr. Kessler asked.
“Josephine...Anthony what?”

“I think we were arguing.” Josephine babbled
mindlessly.

“And this Anthony...what...did Anthony hit
you?” Dr. Kessler had no idea who Anthony was. He was assuming
Anthony was Josephine’s boyfriend, since he saw no trace of a
wedding band.

“No, pushed... Anthony pushed me.”

Josephine was in what seemed to her, a never
ending fog. She was trying to remember, just what had happened.
‘Why had Anthony pushed her? No, now that she thought about it,
Anthony kind of threw her. Why? Why would Anthony throw her? What
were they doing?’ Josephine racked her brain. Dr Kessler was still
speaking to her. She heard nothing of what he was saying. He stood
up and went to the main desk to inquire about Josephine’s
situation. He was told to check inside the emergency room area,
since that was where she came from, just a little over two hours
earlier.