Part 8

When he returned home, Luna flew down the stairs with Red Dragon in her arms.

“Granddad’s back. Gran! Granddad’s back,” she yelled stomping down the stairs. Helen walked out of the kitchen wiping her eyes. The front door opened.

“Granddad, are you gonna bury me?”

Helen stopped in her tracks. They exchanged glances.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, and lifted her in his arms.

“You said it means to bring someone a gift.”

“Ah, I was wrong about that. That’s not what it means. But I do have something for you. Here.” He fished out a small pocketknife.

“You can learn to whittle.”

“Whittle? Who’s Whittle?”

“No, silly. It means to cut pieces of wood into shapes. You can carve a penguin, or a horse…”

“Or a dragon?” Luna shouted.

“Or a dragon. Go. Find a piece of wood, and I’ll show you how.”

Luna ran out of the house without closing the door.

***

At night, Tom and Helen sipped coffee in somber silence.

“Do you remember that night you came back with blood on your face?” asked Helen. “Duncan must have been five or six. He went straight to his room, hid under the bed, and peed himself that night and every night after that for a long time. We’ve talked about it, but I know what you did that night. I know why you did it.”

Tom looked at her and exhaled.

“I kept telling him, ‘Stay away from us, Bob Hayes; stay away,’ but he wouldn’t listen, the drunken fool. He kept coming and coming.”

“I remember. We lived above that old haberdashery in town, and he came and raised hell as he pleased, until Solomon pulled the shotgun on him, and asked us to move out. We had no money then, and no place to go. I was out of work after the sawmill closed.”

“After that night, Duncan kept telling me about the deer, and about the blood on your face, and about Bob…” her face hardened, “…Bob was never heard from again after that.”

“I had to protect us. I had to find a way for us to stay in that apartment.”

“And you did,” she sniffled.

“But that line could not be uncrossed. After that, it didn’t matter who got hurt or robbed or gunned down, as long as we were safe. When you do one evil thing, the devil follows.”

“We were so poor, so desperate. Solomon’s wife fed us all she could spare, and Solomon would beat her because they didn’t have enough either. I was so grateful to them and to you.” She squeezed his hand.

“I know.” He squeezed back.

“We owe everything to that one decision, to that night that led you to all choices that followed in your life, but also to Duncan’s ill mind. You are a good man, and I wanted to protect Duncan. And you were the best father a stepson could ask for. Better than most blood-fathers.” She caressed his face.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Helen. That’s always been the way.”

“I just wish you’d never made that choice. You could have become an ordinary man, and maybe Duncan would be healthy and still here.” Tears filled Helen’s eyes.

Tom’s face filled with anger as he remembered all the bloodthirsty things he had been forced to do in his life.

“Tom?”

“I reject it.”

“Tom!”

“No!” he raised his voice. “After that night, life led me to do things no man should ever have done. Awful, cruel, deranged things, and I chose to do them. One crime led to another, just so we would never have to live in fear of Bob Hayes, never have to live above a haberdashery and at the mercy of Solomon’s wife, or depend on anyone else’s kindness.” He paused as realization struck. “It’s you – It’s always been you. You are the one who started us down this path. That indecisive girl who couldn’t pick a single suitor. The one who stripped me of my kindness, the one who poisoned my soul.”

“Tom Stone!”

“Quiet! Accept responsibility for your part in becoming who we are. I’m the bastard father, and you are a cruel bitch-mother to us all!” Tom screamed, stood up, and walked out of the house and into the night.