Return to Skid Row
Chapter Eleven: Somewhere
* * *
The events following Patrick and Joe's arrest were fuzzy at best for Seymour to recall. The world seemed to be a blur of sights, sounds, and feelings all rushing through him at once. Martin and Joe came rather quietly, though Patrick insisted his innocence, shouting out, "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" a few times. It bewildered the officers that Skid Row's top thief and the most dangerous drunk were cohorts, let alone were out kidnapping together, but that did not seem to matter then. They surrounded Seymour without warning, asking him various questions. Was he all right? Did they take anything? What happened to the girl?
That's when Seymour remembered Julie.
He barged through the circle of police. Ignoring their persistent advice, he picked up his daughter into his arms and flipped her onto her back so that he could see her face, cradling her on his lap as he would to an infant. She showed no sign of life, except for a small gasp that escaped her lips before all fell silent, even the voices of the officers faded.
"Julie?" Seymour asked his daughter very softly, shaking her body lightly on his knee in an attempt to stir her. "Julie girl, wake up now, it's me… Daddy."
Julie did not respond to her father's pleas. In fact, she seemed to be numb to the world at this point.
Seymour continued to say her name, but more desperately than he had begged before. "Julie, please wake up..."
Seymour's voice began to fade and his body shook in disbelief and crushing realization. The smell of salty teardrops invaded his nostrils and destroyed any other senses. The body in his arms seemed cool to the touch. It chilled his hands and mind both..
Only one voice could have broken the heinous quiet, and that was the one voice that Seymour did hear above all others.
"Excuse me, 'scuse me, scuse me," Audrey said as she came out of one police car and onto the scene. "Please, please let me through!" she declared before she pushed into the circle of officers and dropped her jaw in shock. "My baby…"
Seymour wanted to respond, but could not find the words to do so. This was too much for him to handle. At last, he gave in and cried, his shoulders shaking in fear and grief that they might be losing Julie. The cop car siren blared once more, and an officer nudged Seymour's shoulder, but he did not hear as he followed them into their noisy cab with his wife crying behind him. All that he heard was his inner prayer asking for only one thing. Don't leave us, Julie…
That was all before the police rushed Julie to the paramedics for emergency treatment with Seymour holding her all the way. That was before the doctors came and took her away into their rooms, separating the family yet again. A hospital room never seemed so menacing and horrifyingly patient as it did to the Krelborn pair on that night. The injury Julie had sustained was not fatal, but due to her anxiety and asthma, she was not in the best shape to start. Seymour had seen her head hit the wall of the alley and knew that would knock the girl out cold if not cause something worse.
Audrey simply sat hunched far over in her chair, holding her face in her hands despite the fact that she was lacking tears to hide from crying so much before. Seymour was not in any better shape, staring off at the door without blinking more than twice. His shock was wearing off, but he could not let it go completely free. If he did, his heart would break just as Audrey's heart had. It was unbearable to think of Julie leaving their lives when they had been so close to having her back.
From the day that Julie was born, Seymour found himself captivated by the spell she seemed to cast. There was something special about her, something magic perhaps, in the bond that they shared as father and daughter.
* * *
It was a cool October evening, four years before the present time. The sunset reflected through the windows of the Krelborn house on Sunshine Street so that it seemed the whole interior of the home was glowing. Because of the new arrival in the family, it felt that way too.
Audrey sat on the master bed as she bottle-fed the tiny baby in her arms. She was watching the little one slowly begin to drift to sleep, basking in maternal instinct and energy. Seymour, who had just come home from work, smiled before sitting beside Audrey. He put his forehead to his wife's gently and looked down at the baby girl in her lap.
Julie was so small then, yet so amazing. Her hair was a patch of brown on her soft head, like his but different too. Her face reminded him of his own, rounded and innocent, but it had a feminine beauty to it like her mother. She also had a small button of a nose (he wasn't sure where that came from). The features that truly astounded him, however, were her eyes. They shimmered like the reflection of two green marbles when held up to the sun. Never had he seen someone quite like her.
"Hiya' Julie girl," he said, waving mostly his fingers at the baby.
"Julie girl?" Audrey asked. "Why not just call her Julie?"
"-Because she is my Julie girl," Seymour answered simply.
Audrey chuckled and pecked her husband's cheek. "She's our Julie girl," she corrected, and then continued to croon her lovely song.
Seymour sat beside her for a long time afterward, listening to his wife's song. At last, the power of sleep overtook him and he drifted away into slumber, but a strange thing happened. He continued to hear Audrey's lullaby in his dreams, no matter how much he might have tried to ignore it. It was a tune that she often sang to herself around the house in those days. It must have been a song that a person sings from the heart, as he had never heard of it. He never asked her what the words were, but he always caught the lyrics at the end that went exactly:
"Somewhere that's green…"
Time passed quickly, and Julie's baby days faded into the past. Seymour had been there for many of her major milestones, including when she first started making small steps around the house. He remembered some of her first words too, and how excited Audrey would be at each new one. They were small words like "no" and "mama", but words nonetheless. Interacting with Julie became easier because she could talk, though controlling her burning curiosity seemed to become more difficult as she grew older.
Seymour took Julie out to the park one Sunday when she was about only two and a half years old. The young girl occupied her time by watching some older boys climbing one of the oak trees, and became inspired to do the same. She clambered up the nearest tree that she could find. Seymour could have sworn that he had only turned away from her for half of a second, but when he turned around his heart skipped a beat. Somehow Julie had managed to climb onto the low branch of a nearby oak tree, and was flailing dangerously from one side to the next as if she were about to fall.
"Hang on, Julie, I gotcha'! I gotcha'!" Seymour called, and ran beneath the branch with his arms extended. Within a few seconds after his arrival there, Julie fell into his arms and he fell to the ground from the weight. After regaining his footing, Seymour reprimanded her. "Julie girl, what were ya' thinkin'? You could have really hurt yourself!"
Julie looked down ashamedly before answering as best as she could, "I'm sowy, Daddy."
He sighed. "It's okay, just… think things over next time, okay?" She nodded and looked up at him hopefully. "Let's just go home. I won't tell your ma about this." They walked home together after that, trusting each other to keep their word.
That was one of those times when Seymour had to be the parent for the little girl of his who always seemed to be prone to trouble. It wasn't to say that he always had to control Julie. In fact, he liked playing with her and seeing her happy. He rarely had time for games when he was a kid, except for a pathetic invention of his called "kick the can down the street". Julie was far more creative in her environment, always finding something to do. That made his childhood seem less lost than he had once thought. Youth had escaped him once, but he could almost find it again with Julie.
Music was an important aspect of Krelborn family time. At some point of the day, one of them would break into a song. The radio was an essential, as it provided them with the sweet tunes that they loved so much. Seymour came home one day not too long before the present time to the sounds of the radio playing loudly in the living room. His daughter was there, singing and dancing along to the song "Rocking Robin". When he made his presence known with a small chuckle, she stopped her fun suddenly.
"Why did you stop?" he asked of her reaction.
Julie chewed her lower lip, and then said quietly, "You're watching."
Seymour smiled. "You don't have to impress me, Julie girl. Music's just for fun." He demonstrated his shimmy tap dancing, and Julie fell to the floor in laughter at her father's clumsiness. Taking advantage of her moment of weakness, Seymour grabbed his daughter and tickled her until she pleaded for him to let go between gasps. "I won't stop until you try to have some fun!" he insisted.
"-Okay, okay!" Julie answered, and felt relieved when she was released from the tickle hold. She kept her promise by twirling around a few times rather like a ballerina dancer. After she got comfortable with her movement, she began to sing the backup of, "tweet, tweet". It was then that her father took her hands and spin her around in a circle, much to her apparent delight. "-C'mon Daddy, do that again!" she begged when he stopped. "Pleeeaase?"
"What's going on in here?" Audrey asked as she walked into the room from the kitchen where she had been making dinner. "-Oh, a dance?" She giggled. "-Mind if I join in?"
"-Not at all," Seymour replied kindly.
His wife's voice was so fair that Seymour found himself caught up with it and tried to harmonize. Seymour and Audrey would trade off the high part for the low part as they sang together, and it rarely surprised either of them when they did so. Their voices matched perfectly. Julie provided the backup that was needed, continually singing the "tweet, tweets". Even Rover barked along. And for several songs afterward, the family continued their little party. By the time Audrey remembered the roast in the oven, it had burned to a blackened crisp. It was no trouble though, as the family went out to eat at Denny's like they always did when their meals were overcooked.
After that long and fun day, Julie fell asleep almost instantly on the car ride home. Seymour and Audrey both shared their nightly ritual of tucking the girl into bed and making sure that she was all right.
"Goodnight, Julie," Audrey whispered without waking the girl before leaving her bedroom.
Seymour continued to watch over Julie until he felt tired that night. Before heading to bed, he walked to her side and gently stroked back her hair, then grinned. It was moments like that when Seymour could not feel happier that Julie was in the world.
* * *
Seymour had never really taken time to reflect on how much his life was affected by having Julie until that point. Through all of this mess, Julie was one of the only people that could make him smile. He understood that the forces of his own guilt and regret were what drove him into this great depressive state, but now his mind could not think about himself, only about her. He may have never caused the child physical harm, but she must have seen how he had changed from a loving parent to a cold one, and that was painful itself. His whole world would be lost, hollow, and broken if Julie was not a part of his life.
With a great crease of his brow, Seymour bent over and made a silent prayer. I promise, if she comes out of this okay I'll never let her forget that I'm here. No more moping around over nightmares and sadness. I'll do it for her. He looked over at Audrey, still sad and praying for the same thing that he was. Please, please don't let us lose her. We need our Julie girl.
In that moment of his thoughts, a doctor entered the waiting room quietly. He saw the couple sitting silently in their chairs and tiptoed beside them. "Mr. and Mrs. Krelborn?" he asked kindly.
Upon hearing their names, the pair immediately stood up. "Yes?" Audrey chirped.
"We've finished with the exam and work on your daughter Julie."
"-Work?" Seymour asked worriedly.
"Yes. Julie had a minor concussion and broke her left arm," the doctor answered gravely with a slight cough.
"Is she gonna' be okay, d-docta' Goodmun?" Audrey asked with her lip quivering slightly as she barely read his nametag.
Dr. Goodmun smiled. "Yes, Mrs. Krelborn, she'll be fine. Julie was only unconscious, but she's coming around fast. In fact, you can come in to visit her if you'd like."
"Oh, yes! Yes, that'd be wonda'ful! Wouldn't it, Seymour?" Audrey exclaimed, smiling with immense relief at her husband.
Seymour smiled back at her with the same emotion and possibly more.
The kind doctor led them down the hall. The walk seemed to go on for so irritatingly long that neither of the parents could stand it. At last, they reached a white door like all of the others, and Dr. Goodmun stepped aside for the pair to enter.
"When your done visiting you can stay in the waiting room. Just let a nurse know," he said and then turned back down the hall again as the couple entered the room.
The walls of this hospital room were a color similar to clam chowder, and a marble grey counter sat in the corner. Hospital beds white as snow rested beneath the soupy ceiling of the room. Underneath the covers of the first bed rested a small form that was Julie with her stuffed rabbit Bunny tucked under her right arm. Her eyes were closed lightly, and her breathing was somewhat labored, but other than that she appeared to be napping normally. The only thing that made the image unappealing was the cast on her arm.
"Julie?" Audrey asked softly, hoping that her daughter would answer as she walked to her bedside.
For a moment, nobody moved at all in the room. Then without warning, Julie's eyes fluttered open and she moved out from under the covers. "M-Mama?" The four-year-old said groggily. Her eyes darted from both of her parents' faces before she smiled back at her mother.
"Julie…" Audrey whispered as she gently put her arms around the girl. "Aw Julie, you're okay." She cried a grateful tear; probably the last tear she had left. "I was so worried about you, sweetheart."
"Oh, Mama..." Julie said. Once Audrey let go of her, Julie looked up at her father, still standing by the door. "Daddy?" She asked.
Seymour tried to smile as he came to his wife's side and looked into their daughter's wonderful green eyes that he remembered from even her baby days. "Hey Julie girl. You okay?"
"Uh huh, but my arm hurts," Julie replied.
"Oh, I'm-I'm so sorry," he replied, quietly tortured by the pain she was enduring. "You scared me to death back there, Julie," he admitted very softly. "I thought I might've lost you."
Julie blinked, not understanding completely. "I'm here, Daddy."
Audrey grinned at her daughter's response and kissed her cheek. "-And that's all we could ask for." Then she took a breath and sighed. "You should be gettin' back to sleep now, sweetie. Mama and Daddy have to go."
"No, don't leave yet, Mama," Julie cried before adding, "I can't sleep, Mama. I need to hear a story."
Audrey sighed. Julie's back all right, she thought. "I'm all out a' stories, honey. How about you ask your fatha'? I need to get some sleep."
"Me?" Seymour asked as his wife went out to the hall and back to the waiting room. He would have to tell the story now, though which kind to tell was the question. A thought struck him then, and he began to think on how to tell Julie. "Well, you remember that story Ma told you about how we met?" Julie nodded in response and he continued. "Well, there's more to that one, but it's kind of a scary story."
"It's okay, I'm not scared," Julie replied, instantly intrigued. "What's the story about, Daddy?"
"Oh, it's about lots of things. It's about a flower shop, a grumpy old boss, a crazy dentist, a beautiful girl, but mostly it's about a man and… a monster." He took a pause, then went on, "Now, this man wasn't your knight in shining armor, he was just a normal kind a' guy. And the monster wasn't something you'd think of everyday like Frankenstein, it was a plant."
"A plant?" Julie asked.
"-Yup, a little plant that the man named Audrey Two after the one woman he ever loved…"
The story continued on and on, longer than any story Julie could remember being told. She had never heard such an unusual story before, and it was very scary, but her father told it in a way that made her feel safe. The plot twisted over and over. The beautiful girl was a drill-happy dentist's girlfriend, the flower shop that her parents worked at was a horrible place of poverty and depression, two characters disappeared, a love story between the hero and the girl unfolded, and behind the whole thing was a giant talking plant! She might not have believed the wild tale if her father had not been so brilliant at story telling. It was as if he had been there while it had all happened.
At last Seymour concluded his story. "-But on the brink of life and death, the man defeated Audrey Two by blowing it up with an electrical wire. He and the girl were back together, and no plants could ever come between them again. The end."
"Did all a' that really happen?" Julie asked almost instantly, "Was Audrey Two really from outer space?"
"Yes, it's all true." Seymour replied. "Now go to sleep, Julie."
Julie half-shut her eyes, but blurted suddenly, "-And it really ate the dentist and the old man with the funny name?"
"Yes, it did," he answered. "Now really, you've got to go to sleep."
Seymour was just about to turn off the light when Julie interrupted him again, "Daddy, were Mama and you the girl and the man?"
Seymour froze. He never said his or Audrey's name name, nor did he think that any of it would be obvious to Julie. He was confused about whether to tell that part of the truth or not.
"Yes," he finally said, feeling horribly low all of the sudden. He could not make himself look at his daughter's face. "That's how me and your ma really got together, you could say. I've done some bad- no, horrible things, Julie girl. And I've had to live with them for a long time. I know that they were bad, and I hate myself for ever being stupid enough to do them, but you don't hate me, do ya?"
Julie stared at her father's face, and then answered, "I don't hate you, you're my Daddy."
With that sentence, Seymour lifted his head up and smiled. He felt a strange sort of pressure being released, like the immense feeling of ice melting away off his heart. He returned the favor that Julie had given him the night before and hugged her warmly. The father and daughter stayed in that embrace for what could have been an eternity. As he held his daughter in his arms again, Seymour knew that he would keep his promise.