Chapter 25
Alone in a run-down apartment in a Brooklyn tenement, young male hands encased in latex move across an ancient typewriter. The fingers struggle to keep up with the pace of the thoughts running through the brain that controls them. He is careful not to misspell any words. Every line is re-typed several times, so that the typeface is strong and bold, but the typist must be careful that the paper does not get torn. He has to get it perfect; it is essential that this letter be absolutely perfect.
Once he is satisfied, he pulls the paper carefully from the carriage and sets it on the table next to the typewriter. Now, he must carefully and patiently type more copies of this letter. To use a copy machine puts him at risk of discovery. He can only be discovered when the time is right, and the time is not yet right.
He sighs, shifts on his chair, and types late into the night, letter after letter. His fingers sweat inside the latex gloves; he changes them several times, washing his hands in cool water and shaking them vigorously to keep them loose and limber. When he is done, each letter is folded precisely and slid into a plain white envelope. The envelopes have already been addressed, and once filled, each is sealed by swiping a wet rag carefully over the glue strip. He has used this rag before and knows it does not leave any fibers stuck to the glue. The letters are carefully stacked to be mailed later.
Before going to bed, he re-reads an article carefully cut from a newspaper. The item tells of a warehouse explosion weeks ago and reveals that the Staten Island police still have no suspects or new leads. He is pleased that his careful planning and meticulous attention to detail have protected him so far. He loves the feeling of power that comes with being invisible, yet dangerous.
As he lies in bed that night, he thinks back over how close he had gotten to them in the theatre that afternoon. Did the petite woman, the one named Alex, suspect something? He recalls the hard, cold gaze she had given him and shuddered slightly. He knew who she was; she worked with him, the Big Man, and the Big Man was now part of the problem, for the Big Man encouraged and supported her. As he drifted off to sleep, he smiled cruelly at how he could arrange for the Big Man to be close to the solution. Destroying the Big Man would make it easier to destroy her, and she was the source of all his grief and misery.
Halloween dawned as a rare, beautiful day in New York City. Rare in that October days are either very cold, or very windy, or even dank and wet. This day was none of those things. Instead, it was a "Chamber of Commerce postcard" kind of day: 65 degree weather, very soft, gentle breezes and low humidity topped off by an endless, cloudless blue sky. Bobby thought he detected just a nip of winter as he and Amy walked out of the theatre around noon. They were heading home early to prepare for Trick or Treaters and some Halloween fun.
"So, I'm staying at the house to pass out candy with Mom and Dad and you're going with Trey to the Edwards, correct," Amy was asking him.
"Yes, that is, if you don't mind," Bobby answered. "I mean, if you really want to go out to Long Island with us, you can."
"No, I don't mind. I did Halloween with Trey, Laura and Hudson out there last year. You need a turn. Besides, Alex is bringing her nephew and sister by, and Mike is really looking forward to scaring all the kids with my dad." She chuckled softly.
"Is he really dressing up as Leatherface," Bobby asked her, referring to the chain saw-wielding villain from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie.
"Yep. Dad does it every year. Even has a chainsaw that he chases the older kids with."
"Has Mike decided what he wants to be? Last I asked, he was torn between the Headless Horseman or a zombie police officer."
They laughed as they got into the car and headed home.
Later that afternoon, Trey got Hudson dressed in his "peeceman" outfit. Bobby had pinned a junior detective badge on it, and showed Hudson a picture of himself in his uniform, explaining to the child that now he "really looked like Boppy." Hudson squealed with delight and clapped his hands. Pictures were taken, and Trey had Hudson practice Trick-or-Treating with Bobby before taking him out on the sidewalk to walk next door to Nana's (Amy's) house.
Trey rang the doorbell and stepped back to watch. Amy opened the door grinned and giggled when Hudson screamed "Ticker Teat!" and held out his plastic orange pumpkin. She oohed and aahed appropriately over his costume, took a few pictures and smiled indulgently as he examined the candy treats she had dropped into his container.
"M uh m's," Hudson exclaimed loudly as he held up the small bag of chocolate treats. "Eat," he demanded, shoving the bag at Trey.
"Later, buddy," Trey laughed. "We have to go to Mamaw and Papaw's next." Trey dropped the candy back into the plastic pumpkin.
"More candy," Hudson questioned as he looked up at his dad.
"Yep! More candy," Trey answered as he steered the child back down the steps and onto the pavement.
Hudson ran next door and clambered up the stone steps to Patty and AJ's brownstone, banging on the door and screaming "Mamaw! Papaw!"
The door opened and Patty exclaimed, "Oh, my! Papaw! The police are here!"
"No! Hudson," the boy cried as Trey caught up to him.
"Oh, Hudson," Patty sighed in relief. "You look just like a policeman."
AJ joined them at the door, camera in hand and began snapping photographs as Hudson stuck out his pumpkin and yelled, "Candy!"
"What?" Patty dragged the word out in several syllables, trying to encourage Hudson to ask correctly.
"That's not how you ask," Trey prompted from where he now crouched near his son. "What do you say?"
"Candy, PEEZE," chirped the child.
Everyone laughed and Trey prompted Hudson again. "What did you ask Nana?"
Hudson looked confused, then his face brightened and he hollered out, "Ticker Teat!"
Everyone laughed again and Hudson was rewarded with another small bag of candy in his plastic container. He immediately stuck his face down in the pumpkin, then stuck in his hand and pulled out a small red bag of Skittles©. "YAY!" was followed immediately by "Eat!"
"Not right now, Hudson," Trey said. "Tell Mamaw and Papaw 'thank you'."
"Tank ooo," said Hudson sadly. Trey picked him up and hugged him, then turned and went back down to the sidewalk, where Bobby was waiting for them. He had been taking pictures as well, and smiled and ruffled Hudson's blonde curls.
"You can eat those in the car on the way to Grandma's house," he told his grandson. This brought a smile to the child's face and relief to his father's. Trey mouthed his thanks to Bobby over his son's head and received a wink and nod in return. The two men made their way around the block to Bobby's car, stopping a few more times to allow Hudson to trick or treat at several of the neighbor's homes. They would go on to have a great time out on Long Island, with "Detective Hudson" being a hit with not only his grandparents, but their neighbors as well.
As the scene across the street played out, Dracula wove in and out of the gathering costumed crowd, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. At one point, he even crossed the street and passed right in front of Amy's home as she passed out candy, his costume affording him the proper anonymity for getting close to her.
His anger burned inside him as he watched her smile and interact with those who stopped at her door. She seemed so at ease, blissfully unaware of his presence. And that was also a bone of contention with him: she was unaware of him. She had always been unaware of him, and of those like him, instead choosing only to benefit those who didn't need benefitting.
He felt his anger begin to build, threatening to rise to the surface and bubble over. He held himself in check, however, instead moving down to the end of the block, stopping only to slyly deposit a large stack of plain, white envelopes into the mailbox before he melted into the costume crowd once more, allowing himself to be swept up in the revelry of the evening and disappearing from view.
A few days later, Amy was in her bedroom, readying for bed, when she noticed the rectangular package sitting on her pillow. It was a thin, flat rectangle and reminded her of a jeweler's necklace box. The box was wrapped in beautiful gold matte paper and bound with a wide, sheer burgundy ribbon which encircled the box and topped it with an exquisite bow.
She picked it up and studied it carefully from all sides, looking for a card. She shook it gently, and looked curiously around her room, even sticking her head out the door to glance up and down the hall, wondering if the deliverer of the package was nearby. Realizing she was all alone, she cocked her head and "Humphed" as she returned to her room, closing the door softly behind her.
Amy sank down onto the bed and very carefully unwrapped the package. It was a jeweler's box, and her hands shook slightly as her heart began to race. She slowly lifted the lid of the box and looked down at…..an iPod?
O-kaaayy, she wondered as she set the box on her lap and stared. The iPod was gracefully nestled inside, and it was obvious it had been used before being placed in the box. There were earbuds and a charger cord as well. Amy took the device out and looked at it in confusion. It had to have been custom-designed for her, as it was encased in maroon. She stared at it, then looked back in the box.
In the space beneath the iPod, there was a small envelope. She recognized the bold handwriting that had printed her name across it: Bobby's. She exhaled loudly and smiled in relief; her imagination had been starting to run away from her, and she was afraid this was another creepy message from whoever had been sending those anonymous, threatening letters.
She dropped the iPod onto the bed and took the envelope from the box. She slid the small card out and read the very neat, handwriting.
I thought my musical lady might enjoy
taking a musical journey with me.
Bobby
She smiled sweetly then, and picked the iPod back up, thumbing the power button. There on the screen were several icons, including a rose with the words 'musical journey' underneath it. Amy noticed the size of the file was quite large, so she forced herself to clean up the mess from opening her present and get herself completely ready for bed before plugging in and inserting the earbuds and opening the icon.
It was a list of songs, but the names listed were unfamiliar. Titles like "Our First Dance", and "Our First Date" immediately brought songs to mind and a smile to her face, but some of the others were a mystery to her. Settling back into the pillows on her bed, she pressed "play", closed her eyes and time travelled.
"Our First Dance" turned out to be "Lady", by Kenny Rogers, the song that was playing in the USO when Bobby first asked her to dance. Amy realized that Bobby had purposely replaced each song's title with a more meaningful phrase. She smiled dreamily and sang along softly, her head and body moving subtly as she remembered. She giggled when the music changed to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock N Roll" and jammed out where she lay on the bed. That song was followed by two more upbeat songs that had played that night at the USO, all popular hits from that time period. Tears welled in her eyes when she heard Julie Andrews sing, "I Could Have Danced All Night" from "My Fair Lady"; it was as if Bobby was peering into her soul with that song, for she had felt exactly that way for several days after they first met. She laughed riotously when a medley from the movie "Airplane" filled her head; seeing that movie had been their first date, and the beginning of something truly amazing.
Amy had to smile at his cleverness. Hall and Oates' "Kiss is on My List" and "Don't You Want Me Baby" by Human League referred to her reluctance to kiss him early on in their relationship. "I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" was obviously how he, and she, felt after they finally made love up in the hills the weekend before she left for the states. She felt the sadness of their breakup as she listened to "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" and "(I Don't Want to Live if Living is) Without You".
Several songs later, she was stunned to hear her own voice. She was singing "Someone to Watch Over Me", and Amy realized it was from that night at Jim Brickman's concert. Bobby had somehow found out that the concert had been recorded and included both this song and "Que Sera, Sera," which she had encouraged the audience to sing along with her.
Song after song filled her ears, her mind, her soul; 26 songs in all; every song carefully chosen for its meaning; the order of songs truly reflective of the past twenty-five years of Bobby's life. It really was his musical journey, and she was deeply touched that he had gone to so much effort just for her.
Each song spoke volumes; some expressed happiness, some longing, some hope; all expressed the depth of his feelings for her. The final three songs brought her to tears. They were songs of love, but full of hope for the future. He was clearly declaring his love for her and telling her outright through song what he was hesitant to tell her in person. The last song, "Let Me Be There," sung by Olivia Newton-John, was clearly putting the ball in her court.
Amy turned off the iPod and placed it gently on the nightstand. She turned off the lamp, and settled in to bed, curling up on her side and pulling the sheets up over her body. Her mind remained active for a long time, replaying the music, searching her heart, searching her soul, praying for answers.
I was asked to include the entire play list, including the artist and date of the recordings, that "Bobby" chose for Amy's iPod. I had a lot of fun putting myself inside "Bobby's brain" while I researched.
Lady
Kenny Rogers
1981
I Love Rock N Roll
Joan Jett
1982
Celebration
Kool and the Gang
1981
You Make Me Wanna Shout
Otis Day & the Knights
1978
Animal House version
I Could Have Danced All Night
Julie Andrews
1964
My Fair Lady Original Broadway recording
Call Me
Blondie
1980
Medley of songs from "Airplane"
various
1980
Kiss is on My List
Hall & Oates
1981
Don't You Want Me
Human League
1980
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Queen
1980
Endless Love
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
1981
(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All
5th Dimension
1971
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Neil Sedaka
1971
re-done slow version
(How Do I Live if Living is) Without You
Nilsson
1971
I Will Always Love You
Dolly Parton
1973
Bad Boys, Bad Boys
Inner Circle
1987
Theme from "Cops"
Drive
Cars
1984
Prelude in F# Major
Chopin
1839
The Homecoming
Hagood Hardy
1975
Live performance by Jim Brickman
Someone to Watch Over Me
Cole Porter
1926
Amy's performance with Jim Brickman
Que Sera, Sera
Livingston & Evans
1956
Sung by Doris Day/ The Man Who Knew Too Much
I Got Lost in Her Arms
Irving Berlin
1946
Fly Me to the Moon
Bart Howard
1954
Frank Sinatra 1964 recording
For Once in My Life
R. Miller & O. Murden
1967
Frank Sinatra 1969 recording
At Last
M. Gordon & H. Warren
1941
Etta James 1961 recording
Let Me Be There
Olivia Newton-John
1973