THE MISSING LINK
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Readers who have seen "JUST SAY NO" or "COMMON THREAD" will know why Helen is so nervous. For other readers, the explanation will come a few chapters away.)
CHAPTER 2
Maid Not In Waiting
That night, as she got ready for bed, Helen was struck by how quiet the house was. In particular, no Joan chattering away. It had also been the case while the Joan went on her honeymoon and later the younger kids were in Europe, of course, but those were temporary arrangements ending in the children's return, and this seemed permanent.
Unbeknownst to her, Will had been thinking similar thoughts and going much further. "Dear, I've been thinking. Maybe we should move to a smaller dwelling now."
"Move?"
Will waved his hand to indicate the house in general. "It's too big for just the two of us. Take the bedrooms. Three empty kids' rooms on this floor, plus the room we converted downstairs for Aunt Olive. And it's not as if the house contained a lifetime of memories. We've just lived here three years."
"Maybe we shouldn't be hasty. The kids could come back, you know. I did."
"But that was --" Will began and then caught himself; that topic was taboo. "Well, we could wait and see." In a desperate attempt to change the subject, he said: "You know, there is an advantage to having all the children away. Nobody would hear us if we--"
"Not tonight, please, Will."
"All right. I suppose we'll just get to sleep." He turned out the light. Helen lay there, trying to remember her own first few days at college. Not the first time of course, but when she tried again at 19 --
The new college campus looked lovely. That was one of the things that had appealed to Helen's parents as the family was shopping around for a new school. Appearance was important to Helen, too, because wasn't she dreaming of being an artist someday? But what was more important was they had checked into security and assured themselves that the grounds were well patrolled.
It was the end of September, and the campus was Southern enough to still be warm at this time of year. Some girls were still wearing halter tops, something Helen wouldn't do, not after --. She was dressed in a modest blouse and not-too-tight jeans.
Helen saw a low wall, about three feet tall, separating the History Building courtyard from the main campus. She sat down on it and got out her mother's letter again.
Well, if you're not going to tell your room-mate, I wish that you'd at least confide in the Catholic chaplain. He would be bound by the confessional rules and the news will go no further. You must be able to unburden yourself.
Helen shook her head. That was Mom, still thinking that everything could be solved by magic words from the priest. But to Helen the words were just words, not to be compared to the terrible Deed--
"Can I sit here?" said a male voice.
Helen looked up to see a student of about her age, a little heavy-set but not athletic. She didn't want company, but after all the wall wasn't her property. She nodded.
He sat down and she returned to her thoughts. Maybe it WOULD be better to talk to her room-mate. Not because she really wanted Cathy to know, but the girl needed to understand why Helen was so uptight about safety. Besides, Helen still had nightmares, and Cathy might hear her talking in her sleep. She might as well know the whole story.
"What's your name?" asked the boy.
"Helen."
"It fits. 'Is this the face that launched a thousand ships--'"
"'And burnt the countless towers of Ilium'," Helen continued by reflex. She was taking early English drama, and apparently so was he. The quote was from Marlowe's DOCTOR FAUSTUS, the first great play of English literature..
"Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss'." The boy leaned toward her. This close, Helen realized that he had had a few beers. "That fits, too."
"Bugger off."
"Oh, come on. These are the 80's! Girls aren't supposed to be demure nowadays." Apparently he didn't know exactly what "bugger" meant. He touched her shoulder.
"I said, GO AWAY!" she shouted.
"Is this man bothering you, miss?" said a new voice. Helen turned to see a young man with a security badge. A New York style accent in his voice, and a body that was not at all fat but well-muscled.
"I was just flirting," the boy said.
"Well, the lady doesn't want flirting." Helen was a 1980's girl and it was the first time she had heard herself called a "lady", but she was relieved that the security guy was automatically taking her side. Lots of students would think that she was over-reacting, and she didn't want to explain herself. "Make yourself scarce."
"All right, all right." The boy slinked off.
"Thank you for your help," Helen told the security man.
"Just doing my job, miss."
--
After her final class, Helen set out for her dorm. Though the campus had some mixed dorms, this was an all-girl building. Helen wanted males at a distance when she settled down for the night. Of course some girls let their boyfriends in for a night, against the rules, but at least those boys were interested in one girl and knew better than to cause a fuss.
"Hey, Helen!" called a voice, just as Helen put her foot on the first step of the door. It was the boy from the wall.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"To apologize for getting out of line. Since we're both in the same English lit class, I thought I'd better clear the air. It won't happen again."
"OK, apology accepted," she said coldly.
"What are you doing here?" another familiar voice called out, and the security guard rushed up again. "Stop bothering the lady."
"Huh? Mind your own business!" said the boy.
"Protecting people is my business," said the guard. And he hit the boy so hard that he knocked him off his feet.
That got a huge amount of attention from the students hanging around the dorm. Helen knew the blow was utterly unjustified, given the boy's willingness to apologize to her. Other students may have ignored the conversation, but they were college students who were close enough to the 1960s to remember rhetoric about "police brutality". The girls gathered around in shock and amazement.
An older man with a security badge pressed his way through the crowd and looked down at the boy. Then he turned to the younger guard sternly. "That was way out of line. Come with me, Girardi."
TBC
