COMMITTED
BY
SAM PEMBROKE
CHAPTER ONE
OPENING ACT
The morning of Friday, April 14th, 1911 dawned rather cold. A cold spell had entrenched itself firmly over the region. Awaking from a deep slumber in the master bedroom, the former admiral of the navy Samuel Alan Bukater sat up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and scanned the room. He noticed that his wife, Ruth was absent. He looked at the clock.
"10:30, Jesus, I've slept in too late." He thought.
Their marriage of twenty-one years was finally beyond the point of repair. He had thought of divorcing her a long time ago, but she thought that it would damage the children.
"The children, what annoyingly selfish prigs they are!" He thought. A new string of thoughts had entered his mind.
"If Ruth hadn't gone temporarily insane when Alice died, we wouldn't have had all of these problems. I loved her, but the child nearly drove us apart. Then that Langdon woman wouldn't have had to take Emily away from us. That leaves both Rose and Elizabeth. Rose, my god; she'll never get far in life. She's the worst. She was a brat from the beginning, and I helped create her. Elizabeth, I'm sorry to say will never be able to enjoy a life of her own. That 'Autism' disorder will surely kill the girl."
He donned his robe and made his way downstairs.
He wanted to tell his soon to be ex-wife of his newfound illness, but couldn't.
Two days ago, Wednesday, April 12th, Samuel had visited his doctor.
It was quite apparent that something was wrong. He had been experiencing pain just above his stomach and every time that he ate, it felt as though he had been shot three times through.
"I'm sorry admiral, but I'm afraid that you've got cancer. The cancer is dare I say it centered inside your pancreas; or somewhere thereabouts. You don't have much time, perhaps four months at the maximum. I'm sorry, admiral Bukater." The doctor said to him in a hushed tone.
He didn't want to tell Ruth, and especially not the children; even if they deserved it or not.
Something had to be done.
He found Ruth in the sitting room, reading.
"I thought that you'd be out." He said.
"Why? So you can bring in that Wentworth woman, and fuck her here in the house?" She said with venom.
"Why do you always insist that I had an affair with my secretary? I don't understand. You can be so goddamn stupid sometimes! Look at me!" He hissed.
Despite the urge to strike her, he never would have dreamt it. He had a code of honor that stated that men would never hit women. He balled his fists, but then released them.
The pain was ripping at him now.
"Where is the runt?" Samuel glowered.
"Don't call our daughter a runt. She's a human being." Ruth said, preparing for an all-out verbal attack.
"She's a human being all right. She still wets herself like a baby. She goes for days when she doesn't even fucking speak! How can you love such a damn feeble child? She'll never survive. No man would want her; dare even have a child with her. We should have given her away instead of the only child of ours that seems level headed, and I'm telling you, it isn't Rose. Rose can just go be a hoyden, good for nothing prig." He screamed at Ruth.
"Samuel Alan Bukater! Listen to yourself! When our children were brought into the world you made a vow to love them, no matter what the circumstances. You've broken your vows in more than one way. I should have known you'd do such a thing. When Alice, our ray of light died; I think your love died with her!" Ruth shrieked.
He stormed out of the room and rushed upstairs. He slammed the door.
Once inside his room he moved over to the desk.
He was searching for the bottle he kept in the desk.
He found it and opened the bottle. He tilted the fifth and began to wildly drink it.
He didn't know that Elizabeth was watching him from inside the closet. She stood behind the slatted doors. She wanted to go out there and tell him to stop, but she couldn't. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. She moved into the back of the closet and sat, her legs drawn up to her chest; if her mother had seen her doing this, she'd pull Elizabeth's skirt down to protect her modesty.
He began to scream, albeit in a slurred manner. While doing so, he ransacked the room.
"I fucking hate the world! You all can go to hell, just fucking leave me alone!"
He threw the bottle; it shattered into a million shards against the wall. The high-proof whiskey contained therein stained the white wall brown.
He moved to the desk again. He flung the drawers open. He knew it had to be in here.
He found what he was looking for.
It was a chrome plated Blodgett pistol.
He looked at it for a moment and then put it down.
Inside the closet Elizabeth was watching him play with the gun. She silently gasped and put her hand over her mouth. She could feel the sting of the tears forming.
"Papa, please don't do it. I love you, papa." She whispered to herself.
He found a scrap of paper. He took out a pen and began writing. He went at it furiously for at least fifteen minutes.
When he finished the note, he threw the pen at the window.
"Damn it! I'm only prolonging the inevitable. You all can go to hell. This world will pay for giving me cancer! Alice, I'm coming to see you!"
He shoved the pistol in his mouth.
He closed his eyes.
Finally, he pulled the trigger.
Brain matter sprayed the walls.
Elizabeth let out an ethereal shriek. A shriek Ruth had heard all the way from inside the sitting room.
She began fidgeting with the lock. Finally, she managed to exit the closet.
She shrieked again. She began to wipe the walls off with her pinafore.
The door sprang wide open.
Ruth put her hands over her mouth. Her stomach turned and she vomited.
Elizabeth couldn't look anymore. She ran over to her mother and buried her face in Ruth's chest.
Ruth couldn't let the child look at the death anymore.
She led Elizabeth to her room.
"You stay in here. I'm going to call the police. You didn't cause this. Your father's death isn't your fault. Darling please look at me." Ruth begged.
Elizabeth looked at her mother and hugged her. Ruth kissed her on the forehead.
She walked out of the room.
In a matter of seconds she was back in Samuel's former bedroom.
She found the phone and dialed the number for the police.
"My husband, Samuel Bukater has committed suicide. I'm standing in the very room he committed the act in!" She cried.
Within minutes detectives arrived at the home at 975 5th Avenue. They took Ruth aside for questioning. All Ruth could tell them was that it was Elizabeth who witnessed the tragedy.
They went to look for her.
The detectives didn't have to go far.
They found Elizabeth sitting in her camisole and bloomers on the bed.
One of the detectives cleared his throat.
She missed the social cue.
"Miss, do you mind putting on a robe; or something of the sort? Are you a prostitute?" The detective asked.
Elizabeth got up and put her robe on.
The detective began to speak.
"I'm Detective Alan Brittingham. I'd like to ask you a few questions miss." He said.
"All right, you're not going to hurt me are you?" She asked, nearly crying.
"Why on earth would we hurt a child like you?" He asked.
"Because I'm very scared; please don't hurt me. Can you get mama for me?" Elizabeth choked out.
He went to get Ruth. When she entered the room, Elizabeth seemed calmer.
"Okay, tell us all that you know." He said.
"Well, papa was drinking and he started yelling. While he was doing this, he ransacked the room. Then he got the gun and put it in his mouth. He then pulled the trigger. Please, don't punish me. Don't let mama leave. I want her here." Elizabeth sobbed.
Brittingham scanned the room.
He found the note and handed it to Ruth.
She read it.
Dearest Ruth and children,
I am very sorry for not being the husband and father I could have been. I was truly selfish, and I am terribly sorry for this. Ruth, I always loved you. I may sound like a hypocrite for saying that, but I truly did. I'm proud of you for being able to raise our daughters the way you have, and to ensure that they received the best education.
Since my retirement, I found my life to be increasingly difficult. I had no objective to look forward to. I found out I have cancer only two days ago.
I did not wish to see you fret over my failing health. I couldn't let you see me suffer, especially not the babies.
Alice says hello. She loves you too.
You stay out of trouble now, all right?
Samuel.
Ruth began to cry. The gravity set in.
"You stay out of trouble now, all right?" Ruth remembered him saying that every time he left the house to go to work, but perhaps the most memorable time he ever said it was when they first met.
Now he was gone. The children were all she had left.
Her children, the human beings she had loved the most.
Ruth was snapped out of her reverie by Detective Brittingham.
"Ma'am, should we alert the press that the admiral has died and if so should we say that he committed suicide?" He asked.
Ruth shook her head no.
"Thank you ma'am, we will be back if anything comes up." He said. He tipped his hat and walked out the door.
Now Ruth and Elizabeth were alone.
The child began to cry silently.
Ruth turned away and walked up to the room that she had called hers in the recent months.
She locked the door.
Like a child, Ruth flung herself onto her bed and wept.
"What will I do now? Emily and Rose are both in Nyack at Ravenwood. I need to do something with Elizabeth. I could send her to mother, but after what just transpired here in this house; she'd just continue to talk about it. I could send her to the hospital. If I sent her to a hospital, where would she go?" She thought.
She finished her cry and wiped away the tears.
Suddenly she heard the doorbell as well as a murmur outside the front door.
A maid opened the door and the tsunami of reporters pushed themselves inside.
Ruth blanched.
They seemed to push her into the sitting room, her domain.
"Mrs. Bukater! Mrs. Bukater! Can you tell us why your husband committed suicide?" One of the reporters shouted.
She shook her head.
"Mrs. Bukater! There have been whispers that your husband was having an affair. Is this true?" Another reporter shouted above the din.
"Is it true that your youngest child is feeble, and if it is, will she be institutionalized because your husband is no longer alive?" A reporter from a prominent society publication asked.
Ruth began to scream.
"Get out! All of you! Do not ever come into my house and accuse me of anything!"
The reporters left empty handed.
The phone began to ring. The ringing echoed inside Ruth's head.
She answered. It was a familiar voice.
It was Rose and she was frantic.
"Mother, what will happen to us now? The other girls are talking. Please do something!" She demanded.
Something inside Ruth's head snapped.
"You will NOT talk to me in that tone! You've been spoiled too much. Your father and I have spoiled you for years, and you're acting as though I owe you something. Rose, I owe you nothing. You've been too snobby; perhaps you need to be brought back to your senses. Emily has no problems with me, especially after the way you treat her." Ruth said with much venom.
"You say you want the best for ME. I believe you owe me the best; the best of everything. I want ALL of papa's money. You shouldn't get anything, because you're feeble; just like Elizabeth!"
Ruth then did something she had never done before. She released a stream of words that would make even the most prim and proper woman faint.
"Rose Elizabeth Bukater, I swear to god that you will be punished for the way you have talked to me. You've always been difficult. Perhaps Rose, maybe you'll marry someone who'll perhaps have all of the money in the world; then you'll be happy because money is the only thing that makes you happy. When you were a little girl, you always had to have the most pocket money. You always had to be difficult, and you always had to question your father and I. No more, you selfish greedy child. You're not a young woman; you're still just a little girl. When you were twelve and that pathetic excuse for a child named Millicent King pushed you down the stairs; it did something to you. Before the incident, you were slightly snobbish; after the incident, you became greedy and expectant. If you think that I'll visit you while you're out there, you're sadly mistaken. I will visit and buy things for Emily because she's a good girl. I wish to wash my hands of you completely." She said.
Rose hung up the phone. The telltale tone on the line gave it away.
Ruth put up the receiver.
"My god, he hasn't even been dead two hours and already people are demanding things. Rose has the gall to act like this. I think her surroundings make her like this. She does always have to be difficult. She takes advantage of me. I hate her for it. I wish she wasn't like this, I didn't raise her to be this way." She thought.
The family attorney, Jacob Blodgett arrived an hour later.
It was just what Ruth needed.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Bukater. I'm deeply sorry for your loss. We have business we must attend to." He said.
"Is it bad?" Ruth asked.
"Not really." He replied.
They walked into the study.
Ruth sat down, but quickly writhed in a short burst of pain as her corset bit into her side.
"Mrs. Bukater today is a very, very good day for you and the children." He began.
"What do you mean?" She asked, curiously.
"Well, we have to talk about the assets first. It seems your husband has left quite an estate. When your husband passed on, he was worth about ten billion dollars. He had made quite a handsome amount of money over the past fifty or so years." He added.
Ruth's eyes grew large.
"First, we'll discuss what you get. The admiral left you over half of his pension, as well as half of the life insurance policy among other things, a grand total of 9 billion dollars. The children are to receive as follows: Emily Lovejoy Langdon, $116,000. Rose Elizabeth Bukater, $108,000. Finally, Elizabeth Campbell Bukater will receive $100,000. Emily, when she becomes married will receive the property on Makonikey Head in the town of Tisbury. Rose will receive the property in Milton on Randolph Avenue. Finally, Elizabeth will receive the property on Oak Street in Fall River. You will not only get to keep this house, but also the properties in Newport, Nantucket, and Hyannis." He said.
"Are there any outstanding debts that must be paid?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, there are three debts to be exact." He said.
"How much does he owe?" She asked.
"He has two large debts. The first is a debt of $2,000. This debt is owed to his father's estate. The second debt is also $2,000. This is owed to Governor Creedon. The third and final debt is $1.00. This is the adoption license fee that is owed to the state of Pittsylvania for the adoption of Emily." He replied.
The rest of the meeting was rather uneventful, at least until Elizabeth was brought into the conversation.
"Your husband requested that Elizabeth be admitted into an institution for a year, or perhaps less. He is not doing this out of hatred, but only because he cared for her. You are to call the psychiatrist over this matter. He thinks that Taunton State would make a good place for her. I have heard they have an excellent adolescent ward there. The child is now an adolescent, is that correct?" He asked.
"Yes, she is an adolescent. She turned thirteen last June. Emotionally however, Elizabeth is still very much a young girl, about age eight and a half." She replied.
"Oh my, eight and a half you say?" He added.
Ruth nodded her head; a look of hurt in her eyes.
She seemed to be embarrassed by this. She shifted her eyes towards the door.
Elizabeth was waiting outside, but walked away. Ruth saw this going on and excused herself for a brief moment.
She opened the door to the study and walked to where Elizabeth was.
"Elizabeth, whatever is the matter?" Ruth said kneeling to Elizabeth's level.
"I want to go outside to be alone. Do not send anyone to look for me." She said with a distinct whine.
"Elizabeth, if you wish to be alone; go outside in the back yard. You'll be safer there. Nobody will see you." She calmly said as she put her arms around the child.
"Elizabeth, make sure you put on your coat. It is quite cold outside."
She donned her coat and hat and went into the backyard.
Ruth went back into the study to face Mr. Blodgett once more.