Mark of the Beast (11 page)

Alex resumed his journey home.

Reaching the T-intersection of Sixty-first and Arizona Street, he nearly veered off the road toward the snowy parched fields on his left.

Nerves, Alex rationalized. Controlling the steering better, Alex completed the turn and made it to the house without further incident. He arrived at the wood-crafted gate at the entrance to the compound, closed the gate behind him, and then drove straight to the barn. He picked up the shovel and carefully hid it behind the dirty table where he cut different shapes of wood.

Alex was a gifted carpenter. He could take a piece of log, set it on the table, and in about three to four hours carve out a wooden bird or a wooden horse. The barn became a messy collection of Alex's different carpentry work.

On one occasion, Cathy, Alex's wife, ventured into the barn, came out, and requested that Alex clean it up and put it in some organized fashion, or she would clean it herself. That request generated a very angry look from Alex. Ever since Alex married Cathy some three years ago, he had considered her a nag. She would nag about this, and nag about that, and Alex hated nagging.

“Between your job and that stupid barn, I don't think you have enough time to get me pregnant,” Cathy angrily accused during one of their exchanges.

That was really hitting below the belt, Alex thought, and since then he had vowed to put an end to it.

*   *   *

“Wake up, sweetheart,” said Alex, nudging Cathy.

“W … hat?” came a sleepy voice under the jumbled bedcovers.

“I need you to help me at the barn,” Alex requested.

“What time is it?” inquired the sleepy voice.

“About five thirty,” replied Alex.

“What are you doing in the barn this early in the morning?” asked Cathy.

“You're the one who asked me to tidy it up,” replied Alex.

“Can't this wait till daybreak?” asked Cathy.

“It ain't gonna take that long, and I need for you to help me make a decision,” answered Alex.

That's odd! Cathy thought to herself. Alex had never before asked her to help him do anything, especially in the barn.

How many times had he yelled at her for messing around in the barn. “Snooping around,” he called it. Cathy thought the barn was off limits, a place where Alex took out his frustrations by making useless wooden caricatures.

Her curiosity awakened, Cathy got up and bundled into her thick robe, then followed her husband to the barn.

“This way, honey.” Alex directed her to the eastern corner of the barn, facing the hay.

As she turned to inquire what the hay had to do with the pile of junk on the other side, Alex swung at her with the shovel, hitting her right on her forehead. Cathy did not even have time to scream. She fell to the ground severely wounded, blood pouring out of her right eye. Alex, smirking at her face, and realizing that Cathy was now motionless, finally stopped swinging the blood-soaked shovel and sat on the pile of hay to catch his breath.

Rest over, Alex starting digging near the eastern corner of the barn. He took care not to disturb the old digs.

At 10:00
A.M.
there was some noise at the front of the compound. Alex, almost finished with the four-foot-deep hole, peered out the closed door of the barn to see who it was.

It was the mailman putting the mail in the mailbox.

Alex intently watched the mail truck drive away without incident. He picked up Cathy's limp body, dragged it into the hole, and neatly laid her down like a corpse in a coffin, hands across her chest. He covered the body with an old blanket that he purposely left in the barn, then proceeded to fill up the hole with dirt.

Alex then picked up seven bales of hay and laid them neatly over the new dig. Task completed, Alex went into the house, took a shower, cooked scrambled eggs and bacon, turned on the television, ate, and made plans for the evening at Judy's Crab House on Route 30.

 

2

J
UDY'S
C
RAB HOUSE HAD
been a popular Hobart fast food diner with a flair for the extraordinary. Decorated by different old paintings on the wall, it boasted collections of old memorabilia of popular movie stars. Everybody loved Judy's place. It became a popular eatery, not just because the food there was well prepared and tasted good, but also because the waitresses were something to behold.

Low cut, short-sleeved shirts, with cleverly exposed cleavage, must have been a requirement for waitressing at Judy's Crab house.

Lots of single women dined out there with their friends, most wanting to be picked up for a date. At 5:30
P.M.
, Alex walked into Judy's place. He sat at an end table close to the door so he could see every woman coming in. He ordered king crab legs with mashed potatoes off the dinner menu. Some female customers came in, but none were good enough for Alex. Alex settled in his chair, waiting for dinner to arrive.

Mona and two of her friends came through the door. Mona immediately noticed Alex. Mona had been a friend of Alex and Cathy for sixteen months, ever since they met at the Super Kmart store in Portage, Indiana.

*   *   *

“That will be $67.23,” said the five-foot-eight-inch-tall cashier.

“Are you paying for it?” Alex asked Cathy.

“Yeah I am,” grumbled Cathy. “Who else is gonna pay for it?”

“You folks from here?” asked the cashier.

What a beautiful smile, thought Alex.

“Yes,” Cathy said, searching for her wallet in her handbag. “This is Alex, my husband, and I'm Cathy.”

She is too pretty for this job, and what a body, Alex noted.

“I'm Mona,” the cashier said.

“Hi, Mona,” Alex said quickly.

After that first encounter Mona and the Andalusia family became good friends.

*   *   *

“Hi, Alex,” Mona said.

“Hi, Mona.”

“Where's Cathy?”

The look on Alex's face told Mona immediately that something was wrong.

“What happened?” asked Mona, as she pulled over a chair and sat down.

“Hey Mona, are you coming?” one of her companions asked.

“You guys go ahead and order. I'm gonna talk to Alex for a few.”

“So, tell me … what happened?” Mona pulled closer to Alex while looking at him straight in the eye.

“Cathy left me,” Alex said simply.

“Why?” asked Mona, resting her right hand across her chest.

“Well, she called me a slob, told me to clean the yard and the barn, or she was gonna leave.”

“I thought the … the two of you were getting along fine. I never imagined that there was any animosity or friction between the two of you.”

“Cathy has been kind of depressed lately. She blames me for us not having children, and I think that started it all,” Alex answered. He lowered his face and looked intently at the table.

“I don't know what to say.”

“There isn't … anything to say.”

“Where did she go?” Mona asked.

“She went back to New Jersey. That's where her folks are from.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Your friends will be offended if you don't join them in a minute,” Alex suggested.

“Can I drop by to see you, just for a few?” Mona asked.

“Anytime, I'm by myself now,” Alex responded.

“How about tomorrow, say two p.m.?” suggested Mona.

“Two would be perfect because that would give me time for church,” replied Alex, acutely aware of Mona's religious beliefs.

A faint smile lit up Mona's face at the mention of the word church.

*   *   *

At exactly 2:00
P.M.
Sunday afternoon there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Alex asked formally, knowing full well who it was.

“Alex, it's me.”

Opening the front door, Alex smiled and invited Mona in.

The house was as Mona remembered it. It was the same old country farmhouse sitting on its five-acre lot. There was a horse barn to the west of the house. That barn had been left unattended to since there were no more horses there after Alex's father's death six years ago.

A small stream to the Little Calumet River could be heard running several feet behind the house. Green grassy plains around the stream gave the appearance of an old English country setting near a vineyard. A wooden garage still stood near the end of the stream as it left the lot.

“Hi, Alex,” Mona smiled.

“Come in. I made some tuna sandwiches with potato chips. There's also Pepsi. I hope you like them.”

“I'm starved.”

“Come on then,” invited Alex, leading Mona to the kitchen.

Sitting down at the dining table, looking around, Mona was surprised that Alex had kept the house relatively clean.

“I haven't seen you guys in two weeks,” Mona commented.

Alex just shrugged.

“So how long has Cathy been gone?” Mona continued to make conversation.

“Oh, about ten days,” Alex said, scratching his forehead.

“You haven't heard from her since?”

“She told me she's never gonna come back. As a matter of fact, I got served divorce papers while she was leaving.”

That doesn't make any sense, Mona thought. Why would Cathy leave like that without telling anyone? That's very unlike Cathy …

But, at the same time, Mona could understand it. She had left a husband, taken the kids, and returned to Hobart.

“You know that I'm your friend as well as Cathy's,” Mona said.

“I know,” answered Alex. “That's why I'm really happy you're here, because these past few days have been brutal, and not having too many friends makes it more difficult.”

Mona placed her hand on Alex's shoulder to comfort him. Immediately, Alex grabbed the hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, then artfully led Mona to the bedroom.

Six months after that encounter, Alex married Mona.

Mona's children, Misha and Berth, were so disapproving of the union that they refused to stay in Hobart with their mother, choosing instead to live with their grandparents in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Like a hummingbird in the middle of summer, Mona communicated her love for Alex. Even though Alex's divorce papers had not been completely finalized, or even shown to her, arrangements were being made for an October wedding.

A private wedding was planned at the courthouse in Crown Point, Indiana, at the justice of the peace.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” asked Alex for the sixth time in the past two weeks.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Mona said. “Don't worry about my parents and kids; they will come around.”

“Do you wanna have kids?” Alex asked.

“I don't know! I have two already,” Mona said, guarding her answer, acutely aware of that Alex was sensitive about being childless. “And you know I'm thirty-eight years old, but if you seriously want a child, I'm willing to try.”

“I can't wait for you to be my wife.”

Mona smiled briskly.

“What are you going to do with the compound?” Mona asked.

“Oh, I don't know,” Alex said. “Maybe sell it and move to Chicago. How would that be with you?”

“Oh please, not Chicago,” Mona said. “Maybe to Munster, at least it's close to Chicago.”

“That sounds good,” Alex replied.

After the wedding, Mona moved in with Alex. During the first six months, they were happy being married.

Shortly, however, Mona began to notice that all was not well with Alex. For one thing, he would not let her roam, inquire, or tidy up that darn barn.

He claimed that the barn was for his own private use, and no matter how messy it might be, he knew where everything was. He didn't want people disturbing anything.

“That's fine,” agreed Mona.

A week after that conversation, Alex came home one day from working at the Johnson Mobile Electric Company. When supper was finished, Alex went to the barn to retrieve a hammer, which he wanted to use to fix the compound gate.

He noticed that the table to the west corner had been moved slightly and the dust on top of it had been cleaned. He quickly dropped the hammer and went back to the house.

“Have you been in my barn?” Alex demanded in a menacing voice.

“What do you mean, your barn? I thought we were married.”

“Yes, my barn,” Alex reaffirmed. “I told you to stay out of that barn.”

“I only went in to look for a hammer,” Mona stammered.

“Didn't I tell you to leave that barn alone?” Alex demanded.

“I know you did, but…”

“Ain't no buts here. It's my family's secret place.”

“I'm sorry,” Mona said, confused.

*   *   *

That was the beginning of six-months of back-and-forth bickering between them, mostly initiated by Alex, with an eventual apology by Mona.

Mona, sensing that this marriage was not exactly the way she had envisioned it, initiated routine daily phone communications with her family.

Soon, she made up with her kids, then with her parents. She would, on occasion, drive to Valparaiso to visit, and would be gone most mornings before going to work at the Super Kmart, where she still worked as a cashier.

“You seem to be getting a lot closer to your family than this family,” Alex said one day when Mona returned from a trip to Valparaiso.

“They are my family. I can't completely ignore them,” Mona replied.

“So what do we have here, a non-family?” Alex looked at Mona with clenched teeth.

“You're my husband. My parents and children are my flesh and blood,” Mona said as a matter of fact.

Alex didn't like it and demanded an explanation.

“There's nothing to explain. We are husband and wife, and they are my father, mother, and children,” Mona restated.