Line Of Scrimmage (14 page)

I was doing an excellent job of going on with my life and hiding my inner turmoil. I just wasn’t happy but I was giving an Oscar winning performance in the reality movie The Perfect Husband.
I still lived in fear. I sometimes would have dreams that I was having sex with Tess and while I was doing my thing I would accidentally call her Kari.

It had been sn
owing off and on like crazy for days. I was hoping school would be cancelled in the morning. I could take the kids sledding or we could make a snow man in the front yard. If it keeps snowing we could build an igloo. I was good at building homes out of any materials. It was only seven o’clock so I went downstairs to work out. I planned to take the snow-blower out in an hour or so and do the driveway and sidewalks before it piled up.

I had packed on some muscle in recent months. I worked out to sate my sexual appetite. Tess was not Kari. She couldn’t fill me up the way Kari could. I missed her so much but thinking of her hurt. It sucked to be in a constant state of pain so I tried to forget about her and excessive exercise and weight training helped with the burn.

It was a good forty minutes into my workout when my cell rang. I continued to peddle as I reached for the phone. It was Jimmy my mom’s husband.

I answered. “Hey Jimmy.”

“Mason, you heard from your mom?”

“Not today. Why?”

“She went up there to the Wal-Mart and she’s late coming home. I called her cell and it keeps going to that there voicemail.”

“Her cell phone battery might have died.”

“She called me and said she was in the checkout.”

“When.”

“That was about an hour ago.” There was worry in Jimmy’s voice. “You know she never misses her TV shows and it’s going on eight o’clock.

“Okay, I can drive over there and see if I see her.” I wasn’t sure what else to tell him. I didn’t want to worry him. It was obvious he was already worried.

“I’m sure she just stopped for gas or something.”

“She doesn’t get gas at night.”

I stopped pedaling and stood. “Okay I’m going to grab my keys and head out right now. I will call you back.”

“Okay Mason call me back.”

I hung up the phone and instantly called my mom’s cell phone. Shit, he was right. It went straight to voicemail. It must be dead. Mom never turns her phone off, not even when she’s in class. I showed her how to put it on silent vibrate. 

I jogged up the basement stairs and told Tess how Jimmy was worried. I grabbed my keys and left the house. While in the car I called my mom’s cell again and it went to voicemail.

It was snowing but not that heavy. The roads were pretty clear and I had just passed a snow plow truck. I took Weber Road down to Briarcliff Road. The Wal-Mart was on Briarcliff and Bolingcreek Drive. I was more than half way there when my cellphone rang.

It was my sister Karen. “Hello.”

“Mason, the hospital called me. Mom’s been in a car accident.”

“What?”

“The hospital just called me. I’m on my way. Mike went to pick up Jimmy.”

“What they say?”

“Nothing but she was in a car accident and come to the hospital. She’s at Edwards Hospital.”

“Edwards, not Bolingcreek?”

“No Edwards. Jimmy said to call you cause you were going to look for her. I just pulled into emergency.”

“Okay call me when you find out something.”

“Okay.” Karen hung up. She sounded rushed but calm. Mike’s got Jimmy. I need to turn around to get to Edwards Hospital. It’s in Naperton the next suburb over. My mind said turn the car around but I had to go to the Wal-Mart to see if I saw mom’s car or any evidence of an accident. This way I could see how bad it was. I needed to see it with my own eyes in order to feel better and tame the panic that took over as soon as Karen said mom was in an accident.

I pulled into the strip mall that housed the SuperWal-Mart. From my house all the way here there was absolutely no sign of a car accident that happened recently. Maybe she took another route. Maybe I should try a different way. There were too many possibilities. After I drove through the Wal-Mart parking lot I turned my car around and headed for the hospital. Naperton wasn’t far from Bolingcreek and the hospital was in the heart of Naperton.

Naperton had a higher cost of living, more expensive homes, better schools that ranked in the top ones in the U.S. I thought of this as I drove and hoped this also meant they had a really good hospital.

My mind was on autopilot and the car was too. I don’t remember actually driving the car. I don’t remember the speed limit, stopping at lights, turning corners or noticing any cars on the road. My cell rang as soon as I pulled into the emergency entrance parking lot.

Tess. “Hello, Tess.”

“Did you hear from your mother?”

“She was in a car accident. I just got to the hospital. I will call you back.”

“Okay.”

I ended the call, whipped my car into a vacant space. I turned off the ignition and my windshield wipers stopped in the center of my windshield. I got out and rushed through the automatic doors.

Everything after that was a blur. There was information being given that I couldn’t figure out. Karen and her husband where in this private waiting room area. Mike was there with Jimmy. The room was adjacent to the emergency room
entrance. A police officer talked to us. I heard from someone maybe Karen that the guy that hit our mom was also at the hospital. There was talk of him being intoxicated. I had this odd inner panic that made it hard to hear and understand the various things that were going on around me. Mom was in surgery. A doctor came to us and told us that much. There was nothing more, no more information.

I had never been in this
waiting room before. I had been to this hospital before but I couldn’t remember why. I had been to the emergency room plenty of times usually with my kids, fevers, colds, injuries. But this time was different.

I was sitting in a chair by myself.
Karen left the room and she had returned without me even noticing until now.

“Karen.” I
called out to her and she immediately came over. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t
know. They won’t tell us anything but she’s in surgery. Did you call Tess?”

“I texted her.” I think I did. I don’t remember. “This is fucking ridiculous they got to know more than that.”

“Shhh, keep it down. Jimmy is really upset. Mike forgot his blood pressure medicine.”

The door opened and two doctors walked in. We all stood and met them halfway as they approached us. There were two of them but for some reason my attention went to the Asian woman doctor.”

The male doctor opened his mouth and I looked at his lips and not his face. “Mr. Pyrcik?”

“Yes that’s me.” Jimmy walked to the forefront.

“I’m Dr. Martin this is Dr. Lee. We were the surgeons that worked on your wife in surgery. Katherine sustained serious critical injuries during the auto accident. There was a lot of internal bleeding that was the result of extensive damage to a lot of her major organs. We did everything we could but her injuries were life threatening. I’m sorry but Katherine didn’t make it.”

“
Ha.” An odd sound came from my sister’s mouth. Her wall of composure crumbled into a single sound.

My mind went blank. I turned my entire body on the group and I walked away. Did I hear him correctly? I don’t know. Mike is crying. I can hear him. When I got to the door I turne
d to see Jimmy had taken a seat. Karen’s husband was holding my sister in his arms and Mike was bawling out of control. My hand was on the door knob and I was out of there.

As the door closed
behind me I heard, “Go get Mason.” It was my sister Karen. I took off running and I was out the emergency room doors and in my car. I was driving with no place to go. My mom is dead.

CHAPTER 10

KARI

I
was at the Independent Baptist Church in Bolingcreek. I had to pay my respects. I couldn’t believe it when the call came in from the school. Trey’s teacher had been killed in an auto accident. She was hit by a drunk driver on Lemington Boulevard. There were so many semi-tracker trailer trucks that roared down that street but it was a forty-five year old drunk bastard in a Hyundai Sonata that rammed into her and took her life. 

Trey was really hurt. His tears hurt
my heart. He loved Mrs. Pyrcik. All he talked about was his teacher. She showed him special attention and it wasn’t until the parent teacher conference last year in October that I discovered why she had taken such an interest in my son. I sat in the rear of the church holding Trey’s hand. I was surrounded by Trey’s classmates and their parents. It looked like the entire class and all of the teachers and teachers assistants had shown up to Mrs. Pyrcik’s funeral.

I closed my eyes and remembered that cold Octob
er day when I first met Mrs. Pyrcik:

It was my third parent-teacher conference. I had one for Kindergarten and one for the first grade. Those two meetings went fine but somehow these things still made me nervous. It was that chance that some stranger was going to tell you that you are a terrible parent.

I walked into the classroom and Trey’s teacher was sitting at the rear of the classroom behind her de
sk. She was a thick older white lady with pale blue eyes and gray hair. She probably was pretty when she was young. She actually had two adult sized chairs in front of her desk for the parents. I took a seat and looked over at the vacant seat beside me to be reminded that I’m not married.

“Kari Fenderson,
Trey’s mother.” She looked down at the appointment schedule in front of her.

“Yes, nice to meet you.” I was so nervous. Trey was a good kid at home but who knows how he acts at school.

“I just want to start by saying Trey is a wonderful kid. He is kind, caring, and considerate and he has manners, very polite. He is a bit shy and not too quick to raise his hand in class but I can work on that throughout the school year. He is an excellent reader and above average in math.”

“Okay.” A good report but I was still nervous.

“I’m a pretty straight forward woman and I can’t sit here and act a certain way.” She paused after the odd words but her face stayed pleasant. What is this about?

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain. My name is Katherine Pyrcik. I have three kids, grown of course. I was married before and my first husband died. I remarried and that’s why I’m now Mrs. Pyrcik. My first husband’s last name was Rizza.”

My mouth flew open and I quickly closed it. She continued. “I know who you are. M
y son Mason told me.”

My heart stopped beating. I was caught off guard. I thought that part of my life was over. It seemed like no matter what I did I couldn’t get away from Mason.

“Mason told you?” I asked because I wasn’t going to give anything away. This was my son’s teacher.

“Mason told me what happened with you two. I know about the affair.
I am one of the few people that know who you are. Mason was conflicted about his decision concerning your relationship. He obvious cares about you and your son. He cares about Trey’s future and his wellbeing.  He asked me to request to have Trey in my class so I could look out for him. Mason knows that regardless of what went on between you and him I would be the best teacher for Trey.”

I realized I was trembling. My eyes were glossy and although I regarded myself as a tough ass bitch, this woman had broken me down to my soul with her words. I was still too fragile to hear his name, to think of him, to hear he was thinking of me and Trey even after it was over. I couldn’t hold them back, the tears starte
d to fall and run down my cheeks. My crying was never audible. I had been crying silently since I was a kid. Pain holds my tongue hostage. I don’t know why.

“I didn’t intend to make you cry. I just wanted to be honest.” Mrs. Pyrcik grabbed a Kleenex tissue from the box on the file cabinet behind her desk and handed it over to me. I took it and started dabbing away my tears.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.” My voice cracked.

“I just wanted to clear the air.”

Did she? She just put me right on front street. I mean this shit is crazy.

“I know you said Mason asked you to look out for Trey but you didn’t have to do that. Why did you?”

“Mason made it clear to me that he pursued you. I believe that. Mason has always been the type to get whatever he wanted. He isn’t spoiled. He is just determined. He is very persuasive. I’m sure that’s why he’s good in his business. My son is hard to resist but you know that already.” She smirked and I could see he got that smirk from his mother.

“I haven’t talked to Mason. I haven’t seen him. I didn’t know that hearing someone say his name and talk about him would upset me this much.
”

“
As far as I am concerned that is the past. People make mistakes. You moved on and he has moved on.”