The Girl in White Pajamas Page 20

  The stomping and clapping started with George and Izzy clapping their hands over their heads. Then they pantomimed as Freddie Mercury and Queen sang:

  ...we will, we will rock you – Buddy, you’re a boy…

  George did a great impression of Freddie Mercury while Isabella stomped her feet, strutted and clapped her hands over her head urging the others to join in. Soon they were all stomping, clapping, and laughing. As the guitar solo started, George bowed deeply. Izzy ran to him, jumped on his back and stood with her arms outstretched as the song ended.

  They all cheered and clapped when the performance was over. Bailey and Jack laughed and hugged George and Isabella. Bogie stood laughing, and he shook his head. Rose smiled and whispered, “What’s so funny?”

  “I was just thinking that’s a long way from You are my Sunshine.” They both laughed remembering Amanda’s nervous rendition of that song when she was in kindergarten.

  After trying some birthday cake, Kim left with Jack and George. She was eager to light something up in the back yard. Rose kissed Bailey on the cheek. “Hope your next one’s a lot better.”

  After Rose left, and the festivities had ended, Bailey picked up the half-sleeping child. “Did you enjoy the birthday, Baby?”

  Isabella only nodded as she rested her head on her mother’s chest. Bogie kissed her cheek. “Good night, Isabella. You were wonderful!”

  She smiled and nodded again.

  When Bailey came back downstairs, the lights were low and music was playing. No Queen or shit-kicking Hank Hampfield music. This was Old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra, singing Strangers in The Night. Bogie opened his arms. “Wanna dance?”

  “You. You never...”

  “Even old dogs learn new tricks.” He held her as Frank sang:

  Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night.

  Up to the moment when we said our first hello –

  Lovers at first sight, in love forever…

  They stood in place holding onto each other as Frank Sinatra continued to sing. Bogie inhaled her scent, and his lips moved closer to hers until the basement door crashed open and Kim, followed by Jesus walked through.

  “Oh…oh sorry...” Kim and Jesus Hernandez almost said in unison.

  After an embarrassing pause and a lame invitation to eat leftovers and cake, Bailey said goodnight to all and went upstairs followed by Kim.

  “Hey, man, I didn’t mean to barge in like that.”

  “Forget it! We were just dancing.”

  “Yeah. You were about a minute and half away from the horizontal tango, if you know what I mean,” Jesus said as he winked.

  As Bogie walked toward Isabella’s room, he noticed that Bailey’s door was ajar. Then he heard the soft music. Edith Piaf was singing Non je ne regrette rien. That was Bailey’s favorite French singer, the music she played when they made love. He walked into her bedroom and closed the door. Bogie pulled off his jeans and tee shirt. He slid in beside her and placed his hand next to hers. He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

  She moved closer to him. “This is a big mistake. You know that, don’t you?”

  He nodded and started kissing her fingers one by one. When he rolled over and kissed her, he wasn’t gentle. His tongue probed hungrily over hers as his hands moved over her naked body. As quickly as he started the kiss, he ended it and glided down her front. He played with her nipples, sucked on them, and lightly bit them. His tongue moved slowly down her belly until she moaned. Bailey gasped when he slid down and spread her legs apart. His tongue rolled over her clitoris and drove her wild. She was gasping and moaning when he entered her. Their movements were slow then faster and faster until the lust exploded.

  After the first mistake, the second and third just rolled along.

  *****

  “Da-dee!” Isabella shrieked and she stood next to the bed where her parents lay naked entangled in sheets. “Da-dee!”

  Bogie opened one eye and smiled at her. “`Morning, Pumpkin!”

  Isabella glared at Bailey then opened her mouth and started crying. “No! No!”

  Kim stepped in behind her and softly said, “How about some Cocoa Puffs?”

  “No! No!” Isabella screeched as she ran from the room crying.

  Bailey jumped off the bed and slipped on Bogie’s tee shirt and her panties. “What?” Bogie asked.

  “I’ve got to talk to her,” Bailey said with a determined look on her face.

  “Maybe we—”

  “No, I’ve got to be the one. I’m not going to have another Amanda here.” Without another word, she turned and ran out of the room.

  42 EARLY CHILDHOOD SEX EDUCATION

  Bogie got out of bed and looked across the hall at the closed door. Woman talk. He got the message. Feeling helpless and frustrated, he knew this would be a great time to go for a run except his shorts and tee shirts were in Isabella’s room. Remembering that he threw a load of clothes in the washer the night before so that Isabella’s little karate outfit would be clean for another warrior day, he put on his boxers and sneakers. Grabbing the linens off the bed, he went down the back stairs and to the basement.

  He put last night’s wash in the drier and threw the bedding in the washer. After ten minutes, Bogie stopped the dryer and pulled his shorts and tee shirt out. Dry enough!

  Running on Loring Road, he realized that he hadn’t worn a jacket. It must be warming up around here he thought. As he glanced at furry pussy willows and yellow forsythia growing on the outer borders of neighboring homes, he knew that spring was coming to the Boston area.

  By the time he returned from his run, the washer and dryer had finished their cycles. Sweating profusely he didn’t touch the clothes, but took deep breaths and went up the basement stairs.

  Bailey, Isabella and Kim were huddled at the kitchen table with Jesus standing at the sink. Everyone stared at him. He looked around then said, “What!?”

  Bailey studied him then said, “You didn’t tell us you were leaving.”

  “You were…busy,” he said studying her then Isabella. Isabella’s bottom lip quivered, but she nodded.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” Bogie offered. “I’ll be right back.” He dashed up the stairs and went into Isabella’s room. Rather than opening his suitcase, he carried it into Bailey’s room along with his sleeping bag. He went into Bailey’s bathroom and started the shower. Bogie reminded himself to get some soap. L’Air du Temps smelled incredible on Bailey but wasn’t doing a thing for him.

  Bogie got out of the shower and stepped into a steamy bathroom. Bailey sat on the toilet with the lid down waiting for him. “Oh!” he said surprised.

  “Where’d you go?” she asked.

  “For a run,” he answered as he dried himself. “Why? What happened here?”

  “Your daughter thought you left.”

  “Geez, she’s got to get over that!” Bogie said. “Why would she think that?”

  “Probably because she was looking out her window crying and saw you running down the road. She called out to you.”

  “I never heard her, I never saw her.”

  “She’s in a very delicate place right now.”

  “Why?”

  “She thinks I stole her man.”

  Bogie’s mouth dropped open. “She couldn’t. She wouldn’t…”

  Bailey nodded. “Yes. I know that look. I saw it on Amanda’s face when she realized we were sleeping together. It was pure hatred!”

  “No!”

  “Yes! The last six months we were together were tough. She would barely speak to me, and, when she did, it was with absolute contempt. She believed I ruined our family continuity, I was supposed to go through life as her big sister and you were to continue on as a monk. She was the lady of the house. When I asked her to give you that letter, I wondered whether or not she would even bother. If she knew what was in it, she pro
bably would have handed it to you in Logan Airport.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. I was married to Olga.”

  “Did she ever find you sleeping with her?”

  Bogie shook his head. “I slept on the couch.” He considered this then asked, “So now Isabella’s pissed at you?”

  Bailey shook her head. “We talked. I explained the birds and the bees to her.”

  “Isn’t she a little young?”

  “She’s very smart. She understood.”

  “What am I supposed to say to her?”

  “Whatever you want. As long as you’re honest, she can handle it. Kids are a lot more resilient than adults think.”

  “How’d you get so smart?” Bogie said as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I used to be a kid, a long time ago.”

  43 PIECES OF MY HEART

  Weston, Massachusetts

  By the time Bogie got downstairs, everyone had finished eating breakfast. He spread peanut butter on multigrain bread and brewed a cup of herbal tea. Isabella watched him but said nothing. When he cut up fresh fruit and offered her some, she declined.

  While he ate, Isabella studied him. Finally, Bogie said, “You know I love you, Isabella, don’t you?”

  She sadly shook her head.

  “I do.” Bogie put his index finger on a spot near his heart. “This is your spot. It’s only for you.” As she continued to look at him, he pointed to a spot next to it. “This is Amanda’s spot.” He pointed to a space above those two and said, “This is Mommy’s spot.”

  “But you’re my Da-dee,” she argued.

  Bogie nodded. “I am, and I love you this much!” He stretched his arms out. “But I love your mommy, too. We loved each other so much that we made you. See your red curly hair, that’s from your mother. Your blue eyes are from me.”

  “But you’re supposed to be my—”

  “I’m your father. I will always be your father. That won’t change. I will always love you and cherish you and protect you. You are my child. You’re a part of me. Your mommy also is a part of me. We are a family.”

  Isabella studied him then asked, “Did you put your penis inside Mommy’s vagina.”

  Feeling a hot flush cross his face, Bogie watched as Jesus slapped a hand to his mouth then ran down the cellar steps so he could laugh in peace. Bogie nodded then said, “I think we should go on a field trip today.”

  The child’s eyes brightened as Bailey walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “I went on a field trip with my school, when I used to go to school. I need to wear my warrior’s clothes, though. Where are we going Da-dee?”

  “We’re going to Boston,” Bogie said as Bailey stared at him.

  “I have to meet those new clients in the office,” Bailey said. When he nodded, Bailey got up from the table. “I’ve got to take a shower. Rose will be here soon.”

  “Need help?”

  When she stopped Bogie with a wilting look, he only shrugged.

  44 SURPRISE!

  Florida

  Amanda McGruder glanced out the office window. It was Saturday, and she was bored. She’d received some ‘luv u’ text messages from Randy, but nothing more. Zoe and Tiffany were MIA. Amanda was stiff from sleeping with her neck on the armrest of the couch in Elizabeth and Ann’s apartment. When she woke up late at night and saw Ann walking through the door, Amanda almost didn’t recognize her. With her short brown hair and makeup, Ann looked just as she had when Amanda was little. Ann seemed happy, maybe a little tipsy but not drunk. Amanda sat up and stared when her aunt came into the apartment. They stared at each other until Amanda said, “You look great, fantastic!”

  Ann smiled.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the things I…” Amanda started to say.

  Ann just smiled, waved a hand and walked to her bedroom. She had more important things to do, a life to live.

  The next time Amanda looked out the window John Carpenter’s car was gone and the PBSO cruiser was in front of the Carpenter house. After she checked her hair and makeup, Amanda locked the office and walked across the street. Rather than ringing the bell, she went around back and took the spare key from inside the fake rock in the garden. Amanda smiled remembering her father’s comment about two cops living in a house with a spare key in a fake rock. ‘Dumb and dumber’ were his exact words.

  Amanda unlocked the kitchen door, stepped in and listened as the shower ran. Grinning, she slowly turned the bathroom doorknob and was pleased to find the door unlocked. Amanda took off her shorts and panties, tee shirt and bra before she quietly moved into the bathroom. She yanked the shower curtain back. John Carpenter stood naked with water bouncing off his body. They both screamed.

  45 BACK IN TIME

  Boston

  The tall man and the little girl walked up the front stairs of the Beacon Street brownstone. When James opened the door, the old man looked down at the little girl wearing a white karate outfit. He grinned. “Hello, Miss Isabella.”

  The child extended her hand and shook James’ frail one.

  When James asked her about her outfit, Isabella lit up. She took off her windbreaker and untied her sneakers. “Watch this, Mister James,” Isabella said then demonstrated all the cool moves she had learned while training with the men at R&B Security and Investigations.

  They went to the back of the house and sat at the kitchen table where Trudie served packaged cookies placed in circular designs on tiny plates. Trudie brewed a pot of tea and beamed as she watched Isabella eat. “What a beautiful child!” Trudie said over and over.

  After tea, Bogie excused himself and dashed up the stairs. When he got to the second floor, he opened what appeared to be a bedroom door. But that door opened onto another flight of stairs. That was where the servants slept. It had also been Bogie’s room. The guest room on the second floor was for guests. The ‘real’ family had their bedrooms, but the interloper was assigned a third floor room with the servants. His furnishings were the same as those of the servants, an old metal bed frame with a banged up dresser and a hook on the wall for clothes. He got the message. The room didn’t bother him that much. It was better than the little space with a cot outside the bathroom in the tenement where Bogie and his mother lived. But he wouldn’t tell the old man that.

  Bogie knew these rich Boston people didn’t want him any more than they wanted the clap, but he had no choice either. His mother was gone. Mary got her heel caught between the cobblestones and street car track on Carson Street when the street car was coming. She died on the way to St. Joseph’s Hospital. She didn’t suffer, though. She was too drunk to feel any pain.

  The boy had no one. Mary’s family had nothing to do with her or her bastard son. Although Bogie went to St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic School and attended the attached church along with other Uchenich family members, no one spoke to him or his mother.

  After Mary was buried in the church’s Carrick cemetery with no headstone, Father Bodnar brought him to his office. He told Boghdun that his mother had left an envelope that contained information about his father ‘in case anything happened to her’. Father Bodnar held a sealed white envelope in his hand. “Come here, Boycheck,” the priest instructed. As Boghdun came closer, the priest held the back of his neck and tried to force Boghdun’s head down to his unzipped fly.

  Boghdun grabbed the priest’s Roman collar and ripped it off his neck. He punched the priest in the balls then smashed his fists into the side of the man’s head as Boghdun released all his grief and pent up rage. When the Reverend Bodnar fell from the chair, Boghdun kicked him in the head, the ribs, and the crotch. Bloodied and beaten, the priest swore as Boghdun took the envelope. “I’m calling the police, you bastard!” the priest screamed after him.

  When Boghdun arrived at the South Side police station with his letter in hand, they were waiting for him. Boghdun wanted to fin
d his father. His father had been a Pittsburgh cop. But the police at the Number Seven Police Station had questions of their own. Why had he beaten up Father Bodnar? Did Boghdun know the priest was going to press charges against him for assault? It was clear the kid was a wiseass punk, but one of the cops remembered Baxter McGruder and his superior attitude. That same cop recalled a big investigation into a hunting trip that McGruder took with some other cops. That South Side cop was aware of some McGruder relatives living in Hazlewood. He made a few calls, and in less than five minutes the cop from the Number Seven Police Station was on the phone with the Boston Police Department. The Pittsburgh cop told Baxter McGruder he could get his kid out of Pittsburgh or have Boghdun go to Thorn Hill with the other juvenile delinquents. Baxter McGruder would have left the kid there but was sure those hunkies in Pittsburgh would smear his good name all over Boston. Those squareheads found him easily enough, didn’t they? Begrudgingly he agreed to wire money for the kid’s train ticket.

  There was no one to meet him at South Station when he arrived in Boston. Boghdun was told he could walk to Beacon Street but not that it would be one hell of a long walk. It was evening before he arrived at the address he was given. With his cardboard suitcase in hand, he ascended the stairs and rang the bell, disrupting the perfect lives of Baxter and Elizabeth McGruder and their two fine children, Bud and little Annie.

  Bogie felt like a hick when he walked into their richly decorated living room. He looked in awe at the well-dressed people, and they looked down on him. James, the butler, showed Bogie to his third floor room and patted him on the back. “You’ll be okay, Son.”

  After weeks of watching Bogie take out his plastic wallet to look at his mother’s picture, Baxter McGruder said, “Get rid of that picture. You have a new mother now.” By that time, Bogie knew the prick would rip up the picture or burn it if he saw it again. He covered it in plastic and placed it behind loose molding around his bedroom door.