Author's Note: Okay, here's the moment you've all been waiting for. And to make up for the delay, I'm dedicating this whole chapter to the interview. Read, review and enjoy.
Chapter 25
It was Tuesday, the fifteenth of September. Valerie's most important evening of her life, probably. She was determined to prove that her ex-husband did not deserve to live. She was mostly counting on Janet Lisbon and Dr. Susan Grenoble to help by explaining Tom's behavior's during the divorce proceedings, and how his anger in general caused Jeremy's condition. She said to herself while showering that morning, "Maybe everyone at work will leave me alone about Tom once they understand that Jeremy's wild behaviors were all his fault."
She'd been avoiding Kim Masterson and her snide remarks for the past three weeks. Remarks like, "Too bad about your husband, he was a much better parent than you ever gave him credit for." Or, "Why didn't you at least give your son to Tom temporarily, while you took parenting classes?" And, "Face it, if you hadn't used your son's condition to act all nilly willy, he'd probably still be alive. Most single mothers would want someone like him in their homes." Today, Kim was in the lunch room with most of the staff as Valerie walked in to make her announcement.
"Attention all staff, especially the firm parents among you," she said. "Tonight, I will be on ECTV with this city's most famous newslady, Whitney Morgan. We will be discussing my former husband, his behavior that caused me to leave him and get protection, my son's disabilities, and the shooting incident that killed Tom. I encourage everyone to watch and listen to what must be said, including testimonies from my former pediatrician and lawyer in Indiana. I pray that this will give you some insight about what kind of man Tom Boston really was, and help you see through the 'disciplinarian' side of him. Thank you."
The whole room was silent as most gave disinterested looks, as if they were students she couldn't get to help decorate the halls for a school dance. Finally, Kim remarked, "I still think your ex-husband was only doing his job as a parent, and his actions were justified."
Valerie just ate her lunch quickly. The comments bothered her, but she refused to start a fight.
Longarm and Elise had volunteered to look after Jeremy while Valerie and her family were away. But before dropping him off, she quickly changed into something more appropriate for television. Maybe the same blue and purple blouse she wore on her first date with Barricade, and the green velvet skirt she wore to her job interview in Empire City. She decided to add the jewelry that Sundown and Highway gave her for her birthday, to add to her striking look, and show her appreciation for their love.
As she was dropping him off, she instructed the O'Malley's, "Please don't let Jeremy or Brian watch the Eye on Empire City show tonight. Especially not Jeremy. I'm afraid he'll get all emotional hearing about his father, and some it may be a bit too mature for him to hear."
Longarm promised, "Don't worry, we'll tell our son. We're just sitting down to dinner, and after Brian finishes his homework, we'll think up something to do. Now that I think of it, I don't think they'll be watching any TV tonight. Wouldn't be a good idea."
Bart and Karen were chauffeuring her that evening, taking her out to dinner at Family Choices, along with the other friends and family who were going to be on TV with her. She met the four remaining C.O.P.S. outside, and was partially disappointed. It was official, Bowzer was gone.
They sat at a long dais-like table in the dining room area of the restaurant, and Valerie was flattered when Sundown and Highway offered for her to sit between them.
"God, but I can't git over how lovely ya look tonight," Sundown said when they started eating. "I'm guessin' yer tryin' to radiate y'self on TV, ain't ya? Or maybe yer showin' how much you love me." He touched her neck and the jewels, but Valerie quickly took his hand away.
"Not in public!" she whispered. "People will stare, and any kids will laugh, point and cat-call."
"Besides, it's really my love she's showing off," Highway said. "She's wearing the bracelet I gave her." Sundown looked at her wrist and frowned.
"Hey, not only am I showing off my love for both of you," Valerie corrected them, "but if I'm going to be on TV defending my child-rearing, I have to look serious, yet flashy. That also explains my outfit. All eyes have to be on me when the camera is."
"I ain't ever seen ya look so colorful," Mace said, sitting across from her. "Can't believe you'd get all decked out like that just to appear on TV."
"Are you saying I overdid myself?" Valerie asked.
"Nah, you look just lovely," Mace assured her. "If anyone deserves to stand out, it's you. I'm sure people will pay a lot of attention to ya." He kissed the back of her hand.
She smiled and gasped, her mouth hanging open. "Okay, that has to be the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me," she said. But she refrained from kissing him. It was one thing if she brought her chair closer to kiss him, but to lean across the table to do so would be embarrassing.
It was close to seven o'clock by the time they got to the TV station. There, Valerie reunited with Janet and Dr. Grenoble. "So glad you're here," she told them. "I don't know what I'd be able to do if you weren't here most of all."
"I'm just glad you have a lot of emotional support with you," Janet said. "But expertise will be more important in this show, I know, and maybe your personal group of nay-sayers will start to understand you once they hear what this good doctor and I have to say."
Valerie thought of dealing with Social Services in the past, the times they took Jeremy away, and she asked Janet, "Have you been able to talk to the social worker who dealt with us back in Indiana?"
"In between the cases I had and giving Ms. Morgan information for this, I'm afraid I haven't had time," Janet answered. "But I'm sure that she knows about Tom's death. When I contacted Child Protective Services to ask about the social worker who kept putting Jeremy in foster homes, they gave me her name – Pamela Warner. They told me she was living in another part of this very state. I told you I wrote to her, and never got a reply. Naturally, I assumed she was reluctant to testify with Tom in the courtroom. So I don't think she'd want to, anyway. I'm guessing she was so sick of him, he's not her favorite thing to talk about. Can't blame her, either."
Suddenly, they saw Whitney Morgan standing before the guests, dressed in a red turtleneck and pink slacks with white heels. Valerie stared at the turtleneck, believing the weather was too warm.
Whitney smiled and said, "Hello, everybody. I'm so glad you could all be here for tonight's Eye on Empire City. Now, if you'll follow me, we can you all done in makeup."
They walked past the set for the show, and Valerie stopped to examine it. The seats were arranged in a rectangle, and they looked like sofas and easychairs Karen had in her inventory. Whitney's single-seated chair on the left, and a two-cushioned seat, reserved for Janet and Dr. Grenoble on the right. In between them, there were two large sofas, both with five cushions, across from each other. One reserved for Valerie and her beaux, the other for her mother, sisters and brothers-in-law. She thought it was a nice arrangement. And suddenly, she saw Karen walking back to her. She said, "Come on, Valerie, don't dawdle. Everybody's waiting for us." Valerie nodded and followed her sister.
In the makeup room, both Valerie and Rhonda opted to put makeup on by themselves. They told the crew, "It's something we have to do every day before work. We think we can master this." It wasn't much; they covered their faces with skin foundation, applied rouge to their cheeks, one layer of blue eye shadow and mascara, and different lipsticks they carried with them. Valerie had pink, Rhonda had red.
During the meeting, the producer was giving everyone a "pep talk." Valerie didn't feel she had to pay attention, she knew how she should conduct herself on TV. Just like in a meeting, she mostly had to speak when instructed or spoken to, and watch her language most of all. She'd promised herself all this on the way to dinner. She couldn't afford to embarrass herself this evening.
After she'd used the washroom, she went back to the set and observed Whitney's chair. Logically, they were going to make her sit close to Whitney, so Valerie went to the far sofa and sat at the closest edge. She wasn't wearing a watch, and there was no clock around. So she decided to just daydream until every seat was full. She'd dreamed of her romance with Tom years ago, before she'd gotten pregnant. Her wedding didn't cost too much, but it was the "fairy tale" ceremony every girl dreamed of. The church was small, and they could only afford enough decorations for every pew. She thought of the bridal bouquet she made, with the white and purple silk lilacs. The centerpieces for her reception that she made with her mother, sisters, aunt and cousins, the bowls filled with colorful silk rose petals, with a single paper daisy in the middle of each one. Tom and Valerie's honeymoon on the Portuguese coastline. That only home they had while they were married, and all the trips and parties they went to, where they always managed to mix business and pleasure as if they were making a smoothie.
How could a love so blissful and promising turn so hellish with the birth of a child?
Suddenly, she was brought out of her fantasy by a pair of man's arms wrapping around her. She turned to see Highway sitting beside her, with Sundown beside him, then Barricade, then Mace. Highway kissed her neck and asked, "You okay? You looked like you were lost in limbo."
"Oh, I was just thinking of how Tom and I used to be, when it was just the two of us," Valerie told him. "Oh, but he was so caring, I was so sure that he really loved me. How then, could he really not want Jeremy?"
She looked at her beaux, and they were all glaring at her question instead of answering. She was glaring at them back. "Oh, come on! You were able to talk about him when you told Whitney Morgan about protecting Jeremy and me. Is that how you're going to act when she asks about your feelings towards Tom?"
"Valerie!" Polly snapped when her family sat on the other sofa. "Don't talk to them like that! You know they're that sensitive when it comes to Tom, and I don't blame them! I am, too!"
"Mom," Rhonda said. "You can't be that sensitive to avoid talking about him. And they can't, either." She leaned in closer. "I think some reputations could be lost here if this fails."
After about half an hour, and some last minute pep talks, Whitney sat down in her chair, cue cards in hand, prepared for the show to start. Valerie looked back at the remaining empty seat, and tried to find Janet and Dr. Grenoble. She could barely see them from off the set. She leaned in to Whitney and whispered, "Ms. Morgan, I'm curious, when are my former doctor and lawyer going to be out here? Around the third segment?"
"Just as soon as we get some insight from you, your family and especially your men," Whitney replied. "And by the way, you can call me Whitney." Valerie smiled
Soon, the floor director called, "Quiet on the set! Cue lights!" Then, the countdown from five, the theme music, and Whitney introducing herself. She began by saying boldly about Valerie, "Our guest of honor this evening came to Empire City from a smaller city in Indiana called Parrish, not only for advancements in her advertising career, but also to escape an abusive husband in attempt to protect her differently-abled child. Despite a salary big enough for her to raise her son without the help a new boyfriend, she chose to fall in love with several members of the Central Organization of Police Specialists. Three weeks ago, she was confronted by her former husband, which resulted in two of her lovers from C.O.P.S. shooting him dead. Now, in this controversy, she strongly believes that these actions were not police brutality. Please welcome Valerie Boston, along with the C.O.P.S. in her life, Highway Harlson, Sundown Calhoun, Mace Howards and Barricade Hide." One camera robot was focused on Valerie and her men, while the other was on her family. "Also with us are her family, her mother, Polly Slamier, and her sisters and their husbands, Rhonda and Richard Shewfelt, and Karen and Bart Lorimar."
Karen was wincing at her husband when Whitney introduced the C.O.P.S. She couldn't say it, but she thought that use of code names with surnames was expressively weird.
Whitney began by asking Valerie, "Now, Valerie, I've seen more than enough evidence from those around you that your marriage turned sour when you revealed your pregnancy. Can you tell me what it was like before?"
"Whitney, my romance with Tom was like something out of those non-trashy novels," Valerie answered. "We met in college as ambitious career people. He was in the Business Administration program, while I was in Advertising Arts. I think our love of business was what made us fall in love so quickly. Needless to say, that was the same love that won my parents' approval of him. We married about a couple of years after we graduated, just as we were getting established in our careers, and those were the best times. We spent our summer holidays traveling – South America, the Mediterranean, Australia and Japan, mostly. And we were popular figures at all the business parties."
"How early into the marriage did you and Tom start discussing children?" Whitney asked.
"I believe you mean, 'How early into the marriage did your family start nagging you about children?'" Valerie laughed. Her family was laughing a bit, too. When they calmed down, "It was no sooner than Tom and I got settled into our new home, that my parents started asking us when we would have children. Rhonda already had her daughter, Sarah, and weren't you also pregnant with Nicole at that time?"
"I think I'd just found out, yes," Rhonda said when the camera robot quickly turned on her.
"Yes, and I also had a child, my older son, Sheldon," Karen added, "and a newborn son, Drew."
Valerie continued. "Mom and Dad believed I shouldn't be any different. And since I'd already grown to love Sarah and Sheldon, I thought maybe I'd like to try for one of my own."
"What did your husband say about it?"
"He never wanted any children. Tom said that he had plans to expand his recreation store, to finally put up chains all over the state of Indiana, plans that his father said he would like to see while he was still alive. Tom told me those kinds of expansions involved a lot of money, and that we shouldn't put any of it towards another human being. He added that lots of couples were choosing to remain childless these days, and that children were just an inconvenience that complicated life plans. The only good thing out of it was that he encouraged my career. Of course, being that he was an only child, there was also that bit from his father about how he didn't care for grandchildren." Valerie rolled her eyes, remembering that confrontation with Earl Boston at the White Apple Palace.
"Now, I'd like to ask your mother some things," Whitney said, then turned to Polly, the camera focusing on the older woman. "Did your ex-son-in-law actually tell you that he didn't want to give you grandchildren? And if so, how did you feel about it?"
"Yes, he voiced his refusal to have a child," Polly said. "And, no, my husband and I weren't about to sit back and take it. In my heyday, married partners who remained childless by choice were seen as yuppie snobs who hated children. I still think that today. We knew this was not true of Valerie, and we refused to believe this about Tom. When he told us his plans, we told him that he didn't need to do all of that. We liked him well enough as a one-store businessman, and he would do better if he settled down and had a child with Valerie."
"How did he react?" Whitney asked.
"He started to get very stubborn," Polly said. "He said that we didn't understand his goals and dreams. He started talking about achieving lots of wealth and power, hiring lots of staff, retiring at forty-five, maybe fifty, and owning a large yacht. Things that his father couldn't achieve when he was growing up. We told him he had such unrealistic goals.
"When my husband and I were raising our girls, our idea of the American dream was to keep the family sheltered, fed, clothed and educated. Just the basic things in life. I stressed to my girls the importance of working out of home, even as married mothers, as I taught them that feminism was all about equality to men. But I sure as God made me did not raise them to be spoiled, materialistic women who strive for all the wealth! It's a shame that Tom obviously learned that."
Whitney turned back to Valerie and asked her, "How long was it before you started yearning for a child?"
"It was after Rhonda gave birth to her son, Caleb," Valerie answered. "At this time, some of the younger cousins were having kids of their own, too, and even my aunts and uncles were breathing down my neck for me to have one myself. I was more than willing, and I really started to feel like I was missing out, but Tom still wouldn't budge. He was still making me take birth control pills and use condoms. So what I did was I waited a few months, then secretly went off control, and destroyed all the condoms."
"Why didn't you tell your husband?"
"Simple, because I knew he would stop having sex in anger, and scream at me about breaking our agreement. Except I don't ever remember agreeing to remain childless by choice. I mean, my God, I told him about Sarah and Sheldon, and that Mom and Dad would be wanting more grandchildren." Valerie could now feel her voice squeaking a bit. "He said those kids didn't matter, and that my sisters and brothers-in-law were dealing with heaping bills and monthly payments they couldn't afford, all because of them. He said that I didn't have to be like them. As for my parents, he added that adult children were not obligated to give their parents grandchildren just because they 'demand' them!" She started to sob now. "He actually said that my beloved parents were demanding!" She began to weep and wail onto Highway's body, and the rest of the C.O.P.S. crowded around her to group-hug her.
This concerned Whitney, and she turned back to Polly. "Did Tom actually say this to you?"
"He did, that arrogant – oh, I can't say it on public television!" Polly seethed. "He said it in the same argument as us not understanding what he wants! Unbelievable that he'd have the audacity to say such a thing! Where did he get such horsewash? From the opinion columnists in the newspapers who write about the trends and affairs of young people? I've read those columns; when they get negative about something like this, they have the attitude that says, 'I'm the only sane and correct person in the world, and anyone who disagrees with me is entirely wrong.' I tend to not buy garbage like that. I'm really sorry, miss, but those kinds of things burn me to nothing else."
Whitney observed Valerie, who was still crying, and said to the camera robot, "We'll be taking a commercial break, and when we return, we'll delve into Valerie's pregnancy and her experiences as a married parent. Stay tuned."
When they went off air for commercials, Whitney called to some stagehands, "Somebody get a box of tissues for Valerie Boston!" They came back with a fresh, newly-opened box and an end table to put in between Valerie and Whitney's chairs. Whitney gave her the box, and she took a tissue. She quickly wiped her tears away to see her mascara had run so much. She was thankful no eye shadow came off. She sniffled, then blew her nose.
"Are you okay, Valerie?" Whitney asked. "Do you need some water?"
Valerie took a few deep breaths as Sundown was holding her now. "No, that's all right," she said. She handed her used tissue to a stagehand for the trash. "I should be fine for now."
Before she sat back down, Sundown said to her, "Now you see why I won't talk to you 'bout yer husband, Valerie? I know it makes ya upset an' cryin' like this."
"Well, now I'll have to force myself to keep under control, won't I?" she replied. "The worst is yet to be covered, and Whitney will be asking you some things about him, won't you?" But just as Whitney was about to answer, the floor director yelled for quiet again. Then the theme music signaled the end of commercials.
"Welcome back to Eye on Empire City, " Whitney said to the camera robot. "We're focusing on and talking with Valerie Boston, an advertising manager who escaped a tumultuous marriage to Empire City, which led to romances with the members of C.O.P.S. seen with her, who confronted and eventually gunned down her ex-husband." She looked at Valerie again. "So, Valerie, we're now a few years into the marriage after experiencing some conflict about children. You've decided yourself to try for a baby. I won't ask if you managed on the first try, but how far along were you before you learned you were pregnant?"
"Around eight, maybe nine weeks," Valerie answered. "It was a week before Christmas when I learned from my doctor. Luckily, Tom was at work when I found out, so I managed to keep my face straight for the next several days, and I told him just a few days before Christmas, as an early gift."
"Did he have any suspicions?" Whitney asked.
"No, surprisingly, I never had any nausea during the opening trimester, although Tom noticed that I was eating more than normal."
"And how did he react when you told him?"
Valerie paused and took few short breaths before answering. "You have no idea how angry he got. He might as well have slapped me. He demanded that I have the baby aborted. When I told him – I told him – that I wanted to start a family, and that my parents and sisters were going to be looking forward to it, we started having the same old family fights about how he'd rather be a wealthy businessman than a father."
"And how did you react when you made your final decision to refuse the abortion?"
"He didn't hesitate. He packed up all his things, told me he was going to his parents' place for Christmas, then he was going to see about an apartment. Yes, he abandoned me while I was pregnant." She started to cry at her thoughts of loneliness again, and wiped her eyes. "I was desperate for help, so I called my parents, Rhonda and Karen, and told them what happened. They came out for Christmas at the last minute, but could only stay until after New Year's."
Whitney turned to Valerie's family. "You couldn't stay to help Valerie throughout her pregnancy? Or take her back to your homes?"
"As much as we wanted to," Rhonda said, "we had our jobs here to come back to. And Valerie had her advertising job there in Parrish, plus we could not allow her to raise her baby without giving Tom a chance. Heck, Valerie didn't want to raise her baby alone without giving Tom a chance."
"How ironic that I was the strong-headed one in my family, and there I was, crying throughout much of my pregnancy," Valerie added when she calmed herself. "It was such a depressing experience. It was then that I was actually surprised that I didn't have any nausea. I had a hard time concentrating on my work for the first month afterwards. Thank God my boss gave me this lecture about how I couldn't let my personal emotions get in the way of my job. It's something I carry with me to this day. Anyway, it was a struggle, especially when I was about a month overdue." She smiled a little and nodded at Barricade. "Jeremy had his eleventh birthday three days before Tom was shot, and the trip to the zoo where it happened, that was a birthday present from Barricade."
Whitney nodded at her. "Right. So, after going through your pregnancy alone, how long was it before Tom returned, and what happened afterwards?"
"He came back when Jeremy was a month old," Valerie answered. "But it might as well have been better if he kept away. When I introduced him to baby Jeremy, his response was to throw him down on the carpet! Right away!" She fought desperately to keep the tears back, but prepared another tissue.
Whitney looked shocked and devastated. She asked, "Was he that serious about not wanting him?"
Valerie nodded as she cried again. "He brought up the 'obey' part in our wedding vows – again, nothing I remembered – and told me to give Jeremy up for adoption, so he could, again, focus on his business. Yeah, like he wanted me to forget that I ever gave birth to him!" She could feel Highway bringing her closer to him.
"Do you want to us to go to commercial?" Whitney asked.
"No, I feel I must get this out to everyone," Valerie answered. "Anyway, I thought that his stupid business career was all he cared about. When I asked him, he told me that his career was paying for all our basic needs. Like mine meant nothing to our household! What he failed to understand was that I took care of the clothes and grocery shopping! He reminded me that he was the one who paid the bills in the house, not me!"
Whitney looked disapproving at the alleged sexism. "He paid all the bills? Why wouldn't you help?"
"Something we discussed on our honeymoon," Valerie answered while she calmed herself again. "I told him that I wanted to help with the bills and payments, since I was making pretty good money myself. But he insisted on taking care of all the finances, because that was simply the man's role in a household." She paused again. "Anyway, when I told him he was going to stay and be a father to Jeremy, that our son was not going to grow up without one, his response was to throw Jeremy down into his crib. I was horrified, but was able to recover quick enough to take him to the hospital."
"And speaking of hospitals," Whitney said, "when I got the message from your former pediatrician agreeing to come on this show, it was stated that Jeremy was shaken repeatedly to the point where his brain was severely damaged. Can you explain this?"
"Yet another way for Tom to get his point across about not wanting children," Valerie lamented. "Most parents would get up at two in the morning for feeding. Jeremy would cry at night, and Tom would get up to shake him quiet! He'd even smack him around, too. Smacking the baby around at two to six months old! Picture that for yourself, Whitney! I tried everything to get him to stop, and he wouldn't. I tried screaming at him, I tried taking the baby, I tried pushing him away before he could get to him, nothing. He was much too strong, in both body and mind, for me to do anything. To worsen matters, he'd also started drinking while he was away, and Jeremy felt the effects, mostly.
"Tom was never the type to listen to reason, either; he always thought he was right about everything. Which would explain his refusal to go to marriage counseling and anger management courses. He argued that he was doing what responsible fathers should do the their sons, like he was a devout reader of a whacked-out bible. Needless to say, we visited the hospital so often, the staff started calling me by my first name after around three months. He was diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome after the first five times or so."
"And how long before he was declared mentally retarded?" Whitney asked.
"He was only two years old," Valerie replied. "I was surprised when they said the damage was moderate, and that he'd live through it. Most kids in his position don't generally live to see their next birthdays. Still, they declared that he'd never be able to learn much of anything, including learning right from wrong. They said he could never be disciplined through 'commando' methods. But that didn't stop Tom from smacking and belting him whenever the mood struck."
"Now, without going into details of every abusive event you went through," Whitney said, "can you tell me what Jeremy would do, and how Tom would react every time he caught him?"
"Oh, Jeremy was always running around – trotting around, rather – bumping into things, crashing and smashing into things, always by accident, I believed. He was also picking things up, going into our bedroom to take things and examine them. He never could leave anything alone. He also tended to scream and yell a lot, and call out a lot of nonsense. Tom's response – every time – was to pick up a belt, use his hand palm, or make a fist, and 'teach' him not to touch things or interrupt others using that method. It would never work, he would keep doing these things." Valerie breathed to keep from crying again. "Yes, I would defend and protect Jeremy – it's my job as a mother – but Tom would hit me the way he hit Jeremy whenever I did."
Whitney turned to her family again. "I'm assuming this something you came to deal with," she said. "When the Boston family would come to visit you people, what are some of the things he'd do, and how did you react?"
"Jeremy was mostly well-behaved when he came to visit us," Karen said. "They would always spend some time with us during summer vacation. Mind you, we always instructed one of our older children to watch him while Valerie was busy with us. If they couldn't, then either of our husbands would be with him."
"One time, when he was about to turn seven, the family was all at my house," Rhonda added, "and I was showing off a new Ming vase with a pearl in the middle, that Richard and I purchased. Some time later, when we were chatting in the dining room after dinner, we overheard Sarah and Nicole trying to get Jeremy away from the vase. He wanted to see what would happen if he could take the pearl out. When we got there, we saw Sarah down to his level, explaining that the pearl couldn't be taken out, slowly so he could understand it better. That's what you do."
Polly added to the story by explaining the "writing on the wall" incident with Laura and Barbara five years ago. "When I talked to Valerie about this, she was so upset, she vowed never to speak to them again. I was livid myself, and you know what? He kept doing it for the next five years. This is what those women refused to understand, even when they heard it from Margaret. You do not take a mentally retarded child, spank him on his bottom or anywhere else, or use a weapon on him, then expect him to learn a lesson the first time. Not only does he get stressed out and defiant, but he'll also forget what you say after a time, and do it again. Margaret's and my generation believed in spanking kids, but even we knew better than to do that to Jeremy."
"And what was Tom's behavior when he visited?"
"Pretty much the same when he was at their own home," Richard said. "The last time Tom ever came to visit us was when we buried our wives' father. He died when Jeremy was in the first grade, broken heart while worrying about that kid and his mother. Swear to God, if there was anyone in the family who hated Tom the most, it was our father-in-law. Anyway, at the funeral, Jeremy was moving his head around most of the time because of his weak neck muscles. Tom was continually grabbing onto his head to keep it still. That's something else you don't do. But Jeremy still wouldn't stop, and he started screaming mercilessly because Tom's grip was too tight. Valerie tried to get him to stop, but he shoved her aside so hard, she fell off the pew. Then, Tom screamed, 'You will not embarrass your mother and me in public!' Then he started slapping him on the head. In front of the Lord! The reverend yelled at Tom to stop the violence, but he would not listen. Finally, the ushers had to escort him out, holding onto him so tight, so he wouldn't escape. We could hear him screaming and swearing as he was leaving."
"And he still insisted on showing up at the dinner afterwards," Bart added. "He was always ruining family get-togethers with his abusive and confrontational behavior, as if he knew more about parenting than any of us. This one was no different. He was yelling at Valerie for, 'interfering in his disciplining.' Excuse me, but clutching onto a child's head so tight, it stops the blood flow to the brain, that's abuse, as is slapping children alongside their heads. I don't care what anyone says about THAT! I let him know that, and he told me that I was wrong, that Karen and I were stupid, that our boys were spoiled and undisciplined, and the next thing we knew, he took off his belt, grabbed Sheldon by his shirt collar, and attempted to demonstrate for us. Karen grabbed him away before he could, and I shoved him against the table and punched him out. Richard saw this and came over to help. Combined, the two of us are much stronger than he ever could be. By the time the melee was over, we bloodied his nose good, ruined his outfit, and had him thrown out of the mess hall. And we told him he was not welcome in either of our homes."
"As he left, he yelled at us that our children were out of control, and they would end up on the streets, prostituting and dealing drugs," Karen concluded. "What a load of garbage! And all when he was sober! Now, when our children misbehaved, we sent them to their rooms, grounded them, took things away for certain amounts of time, and we took the punishments seriously. We don't ever recall having to spank them all that much. But we would never slap them the way Tom slapped Jeremy, and we would never resort to using weapons of any kind! We'd do that to ourselves before we do that to our kids! We let him know this as he screamed at us over the phone from his hotel room. Well, we wouldn't let Valerie or Jeremy leave until we were sure he was gone. You think we'd want them on the same flight as him?"
Whitney turned to Valerie again. She said astoundingly, "And yet, you dealt with this for ten years in your son's life? Why? According to a statement from your lawyer, you only finalized your divorce this spring, just before you came to Empire City."
"I'm still kicking myself for not doing this when Jeremy was younger," Valerie assured. "But you know what happens to young boys who don't have their fathers in their lives. Even boys with stepfathers, strangers as they call them. They lash out at their mothers, call them unbelievable names, they do poorly in school, they hang out with the worst people. They totally defy the rules at homes and society. Some are even violent. I've heard people complain about this at work, and when I'm over with girlfriends; they're always venting their frustrations to me. I didn't want that for Jeremy, at least not the defiance part. So I stayed, and prayed that Tom would change. Only a pep talk from my mother after his latest report card convinced me otherwise. I spent my divorce trial living in a hotel room, just so he wouldn't get to either of us."
"One last question," Whitney began. "Did you try for another baby after Jeremy?"
"I couldn't," Valerie said. "Seeing what Tom was doing to Jeremy, I knew he would do the same things if I had any more children, whether it be by Tom or another man. Besides, our love life just crumbled to nothing after he came home. He refused to have sex with me. The whole time Jeremy had been around, the only time he'd touch was, as I said, to beat me for defending my son."
Then it was time for another commercial, so Whitney said, "And speaking of school, after this commercial break, we'll speak with attorney Janet Lisbon and Dr. Susan Grenoble about young Jeremy's symptoms of his Shaken Baby Syndrome, and how it affects his learning abilities, plus details of Valerie's divorce and other legal battles, and we'll have her men from C.O.P.S. weigh in with their opinions. Please don't go away, we'll be right back."
Kim Masterson was in the living room, watching the show while her sixteen-year-old daughter, Katrina, was folding her own laundry. During this commercial break, the mother was shaking her head, not believing anything Valerie was saying. Katrina looked equally unconvinced.
"Can you believe all these excuses and bullshit she keeps throwing about her son?" Kim asked. "She expects us to be sorry for her. Hah! Maybe if she tells about all the chores she doesn't let him do, Whitney Morgan will see what an overcompensater that bitch is. That lazy and weak mother, encouraging her son to be a sloth just because of his condition."
"Maybe she will when that doctor comes on, Mom," Katrina replied. "But here's what I don't get: if her husband was all that serious about not wanting children in the first place, then why didn't she just agree and submit? Never mind what the parents think, you think today's young adults are obligated to have kids just to soothe the so-called "granny rage?" I'm sorry, but something tells me she wouldn't be in this mess if she'd kept her legs closed to begin with."
"Good point," Kim said, then sipped her coffee. "Maybe she shouldn't have had her son at all. Like I keep telling her, she needs to give him a good dose of tough love. She's obviously not mature enough for parenthood if she's putting on the 'please feel sorry for me' dramatics to defend her actions. Bitch!"
Linda Fortense and her husband were also watching the show, the woman also not thinking again about her behavior.
"As much as I'd love to hear what symptoms Jeremy has," she said, "that's no excuse for her to not rule her home with a steel hand. Who are these doctors, anyway? You can't convince me that a child that disabled can't learn what's right from what's wrong. It's a very simple concept."
"I don't know," Wayne said. "What Valerie just described wasn't discipline, it was abuse. And her husband was obviously so focused on what could've been for him, he was too ignorant to tell the difference."
"Her husband had good intentions, and she knew it!" his wife argued. "She never should've divorced him. And what was Valerie's own mother doing defending her daughter's decisions? Pretty surprising coming from a generation that believed in physical discipline to begin with! God, if Valerie is so afraid to spank him for major infractions, then maybe she should've put him in a development center. Let the professionals take care of Jeremy while she went about her business."
Teresa Laird was showing some sympathy for Valerie as she watched. It was as if she wanted to jump through her TV screen and hold her. She went to the window and tried to find her car in the parking lot. She wanted to run out, drive to the station and hold her.
That poor, poor woman, she thought. I think her son is so nice, but God, her husband was such an asshole. First thing tomorrow morning, I should put on an announcement for all the other parents to stop coming down on her. Now, if only she could finally pick one of those C.O.P.S., I could stop gossiping.
During commercial break back at the studio, Bart was telling another story about Jeremy when he was younger. "A couple of summers ago, when he was eight," he said, "he and Valerie were staying at our house. It was very hot that day, and Valerie and Karen were watching me wrestle with the boys in the old ring we have in the backyard. Suddenly, Jeremy came trotting out of nowhere, climbed the steps and into the ring, before either of them could get him. I was on my back after Sheldon threw me down, and before I could get up, Jeremy sat down on my bare chest, and starting bouncing on it with his bottom. I could see the women were laughing, but Sheldon picked him up, told him that he had to stay out or else he could get hurt, then gave him to Karen. Minutes later, when my own boys defeated me, Jeremy came back in. I was too exhausted to get up, so he just crawled onto me, and lay there on my chest. I could see the boys didn't do anything about it, and Valerie thought it looked so sweet, she climbed in just to take a picture. I think we have it in one of our albums at home." Just as Janet Lisbon and Dr. Grenoble were joining them on the set.
A minute later, the floor director called for quiet again, and after he counted down and they went back on air, Whitney said boldly to the camera robot, "Welcome back to Eye on Empire City, where we're talking with Valerie Boston, a newly-divorced mother who left an abusive marriage to become the object of affection for some of the best members from C.O.P.S." The camera soon turned on to Janet and Dr. Grenoble. "With me now is Valerie's former family lawyer, Janet Lisbon, and pediatrician Dr. Susan Grenoble, all the way from Parrish, Indiana. Janet Lisbon was a key figure in Valerie's divorce, here to tell us of that and the other legal battles Valerie went through. Dr. Grenoble has been a pediatrician working with mostly special needs children for nearly twenty years. She says working with young Jeremy has been memorable in her career, and will inform us about his limitations. Welcome, ladies."
She focused on Dr. Grenoble first. "Dr. Grenoble, you stated that you've been Jeremy Boston's pediatrician since the day he was first born. Can you tell me how you reacted to the first time he was thrown down by his father? At only a month old, no less?"
"Well, I certainly didn't think I'd be analyzing his brain scans before he could receive his first immunization," Dr. Grenoble said. "Luckily, there wasn't much damage there, which surprised me. But something told me that he wouldn't be able to think like normal children. I was able to determine that he had the mentality of a cerebral palsic."
"When Valerie told you that her husband was responsible, what was your reaction?" Whitney asked.
"As I was with the incident itself, I was shocked. I didn't want to believe Tom would do such a thing. After all, what kind of paternal father would shake his child like that? But then, Valerie said something about him not wanting the child. Then the shock turned to hurt, and I had to force myself not to cry as I delivered her the news."
"And when Valerie started bringing him to the hospital for shakings, did she also confide into you that her husband was doing those, too?"
"No, the hospital staff told me themselves, always as I got up for work, sometimes during my work day, too. After about a month, I kind of got used to having my bedroom phone waking me up every morning instead of my alarm clock. Needless to say, when Jeremy was declared mentally retarded, I was insisting that she be the one in charge of his weekly checkups. Like her family, I was so disgusted with Tom, I dreaded seeing him in my office."
Whitney was thinking about Valerie's divorce delay again. "Then why didn't you inform Valerie to leave her husband on the spot? I'm thinking maybe Jeremy would've had fewer learning problems if she did."
"Believe me, Ms. Morgan, I would've loved to tell her so," Dr. Grenoble said. "I've even discussed this with the staff at both the hospital and the clinic where I work. Unfortunately, I was told to keep that to myself. It's not in my place to tell parents to get divorced to save their sick children. I was not trained as a marriage counselor." She paused as she had another thought. "This makes me wonder what would really possess a paternal father to do such a thing. Really, no man in this category would act this way, not even if they were dead-set against having children. Usually, the ones shaking the children are frustrated young single mothers suffering from depression. Or if they take on a boyfriend who isn't the paternal father, he might see the child as competition for the mother's love and affection. Or an incompetent nanny that the parents hire."
Whitney sat motionless for a few moments, not knowing whether to accept her answer. Then she had to move on to her next question. "Can you tell me all the symptoms you found in Jeremy Boston, specifically, learning difficulties? What subjects is he better at, and what subjects is he worse at?"
"May I answer this one?" Janet inquired, then turned to Whitney. "During proceedings, his principal revealed that he could not do Math or Science like able-bodied children could. It took him some time for him to get used to basic arithmetic, like subtraction with carrying. But he can't really do anything that's advanced, like percentages, and division with a three-digit divisor. At least, not without a calculator. Science was really hard on him; the only highlight was animals in the fourth grade. With Social Studies, it's mediocre. He's good in geography, and he shows interest in how people from other countries lived, but he doesn't have a mind for history."
Sundown grumbled lowly, thinking about that trip to the Alamo. He wondered if Jeremy had forgotten that battle already.
"Jeremy doesn't do all that well in physical education, either," Janet continued. "His teacher reported that, while he's good in certain sports despite his trotting, there are certain aspects of the obstacle course that he can't do, like the balance beam. Also, he recently dropped French because he talks very slowly, and was unable to pronounce words. I also spoke with his music teacher, who was unable to testify. He hasn't taken music since fourth grade; his speaking skills wouldn't allow him to sing with the other children, and he had difficulty with many musical instruments. He couldn't even hold a recorder properly."
The physical education part had Mace thinking of the one-on-one time he spent with Jeremy, and he spoke up. "Whitney, about Ms. Lisbon's part of physical education, when I was spendin' some alone time wit Jeremy early in the summer, I took him to a gym at the rec center. They had this obstacle course there, an' I had Jeremy do everythin', includin' the balance beam. But I saw he couldn't do it by himself, so I had to help him wit that. But around the third lap, I had him do that by himself. He nearly fell off, but I was able to catch him, so we had to skip it for the rest of the time there. He loved playing floor hockey, though, an' he beat me at it. But he couldn't beat me in badminton, an' that was because of his bad arm."
Whitney looked at Valerie, who briefly explained, "Dog attack. Its owner is not here to defend himself, and that's a show for another day."
"Of course," Whitney replied. "Back to school performance, I think I can guess how Tom would react to Jeremy bringing home school reports as described, and badly-graded tests."
"Usually with a belt across his bare skin or head, or his fist, drunk or not," Valerie said. "And he'd do the same to me for defending him, and reminding Tom that the bad school performance was his fault, which it was. He'd accuse me of not pushing him to do his best, and any advice from the teachers was pushed aside as them giving him special treatment."
Whitney nodded and turned back to Dr. Grenoble. "Now, Dr. Grenoble," she said, "I'd like to ask you about Jeremy's physical affections relating to his syndrome. What malfunctions have you noticed where movement and features concerned?"
"Besides the slow speaking that Ms. Lisbon already covered," Dr. Grenoble said, "he found it difficult to walk at first. I think he was around four years old when I saw him walking for the first time. A delay like that is pretty serious. Like all children of Shaken Baby Syndrome, Jeremy has weak muscles in his neck, which don't allow him to keep his head straight, and this causes him to move his head around a lot. I think someone in Valerie's family already covered that. Also, when his brain was bleeding as a result of the shaking, he also went partially blind. He started wearing glasses around the same time he started walking. He also lost his hearing in one ear, although he can understand what you're telling him, provided you're right close to him and talk rationally when speaking. And he tends to drool very infrequently. His principal testified that he had a knack for spitting, as well as disturbing the class by screaming, and an inability to sit still.
"Finally, there's also the matter of his clumsiness. While Jeremy doesn't tend to bump into anything, Valerie has expressed her fears of letting him do certain chores. For example, she doesn't allow him to use a vacuum cleaner, and his stunted height doesn't allow him to reach up to open a washing machine or a freezer. Especially those eight-to-twelve cubic foot chest freezers. She has also told me about time he dropped dishes and cutlery when he set the table, so she doesn't even let him wash them. Even if he were given a stepladder, it would backfire because he wouldn't be able to stand on it, and fall off. His inability to balance himself does not allow him to stand for very long, unless you hold his hand. He needs to be either sitting or moving around. And he finds it difficult to make his bed in the morning. The only chores he's allowed to do are pick up from the floor and empty the dryer."
"What special child-rearing methods do you suggest for people like Jeremy?"
"Spanking and harsh words are especially discouraged. I was listening to Valerie's mother say that spanking doesn't do much for the child, except make him defiant and stressed. She is truly right. Also, children living with Shaken Baby Syndrome won't understand you very well if you speak harshly and scream at them. I highly encourage all parents to sit down with them so that eye contact is fully established, then explain to them that what they did was wrong, using words they'll understand, using a calm, rational tone of voice. But Tom would not listen to any of this. I won't repeat what he frequently said to me, but he talked as if I didn't know my job."
"And how would this type of child adjust to the rules of society, rules like the effects on drugs and alcohol, and crimes being committed?"
"If a Shaken Baby Syndrome child is exposed to public service announcements concerning those subjects and more, chances are they will watch and take in what it's about, what's being said and done, and they will pay attention to the message. Normal children usually get the message through repetition about four or five times, but if exposed to the consequences, a brain-damaged child can get the message almost immediately. Some of my special needs patients know the law quite well, as a matter of fact. However, as Jeremy grows up, there is a good chance he won't be able to understand most new laws."
"That's fascinating," Whitney said, then turned back to Janet. "Ms. Lisbon, we've already heard about what Valerie probably told you, about the history of her marriage, and what some of Jeremy's teachers said to you during Valerie's divorce trial. Can you tell us some things that our viewers don't already know? Like what Tom said at the trial?"
"God, you don't even want to know!" Janet sighed. "Tom Boston was the most trying person I ever had to deal with. But then again, he was trying the whole time I knew him. He was telling his lawyer about how Jeremy doesn't do what he tells him to do, and how he defies his authority, and how it would help if Valerie had some authority herself. Excuse me, but last time I checked, authority did not mean screaming at the children, and barking out orders, and using force every hour of every day in the home, disabled or not. My God, even military personnel understand this. He also told about how Valerie supposedly didn't care about Jeremy's education because she wasn't helping him push Jeremy to work harder in school. When I confronted him, it was the same old song and dance. All he even talked about was what might have been for his store if it weren't for Valerie getting pregnant. Seriously, I didn't care to hear it. I won't get into what his father said when he testified, pretty much the same thing, and also that hogwash about how physical punishment is good for disabled children.
"Some of his homeroom teachers have reported seeing signs of abuse on Jeremy. His second-grade teacher said that he mooned himself to the class to show everyone his red bottom, and she even said that it bled sometimes. She even reported lashes on his chest and stomach. All of which she blamed on Tom! And you should've seen him when I asked Jeremy's fifth-grade homeroom teacher who would be better fit to raise him. Tom started screaming at her, all his accusations coming out. Valerie spoils Jeremy and treats him like a prince. He was only trying to scare him straight – this after the teacher stated that her yelling at the students scared him – and he couldn't believe that the school's toughest teacher was siding with Valerie. The last straw came when Tom turned to Valerie and told her she'd never see Jeremy again. Upon her victory, Tom was stripped of his parental rights, and told to keep a distance of a thousand feet from her. I later learned that his lawyer was fined $300 for not controlling him."
"Undoubtedly, Social Services would get involved in a situation like this," Whitney said. "Valerie, can you tell me how many times Jeremy was removed from your home? And perhaps Ms. Lisbon can fill us in on the legal activities to have him returned."
"The neighbors must've called them on us around a dozen-and-a-half times," Valerie answered. "From the time he was three, up until he was six. He was taken from us half a dozen times. They said that not only was he showing signs of physical abuse, but whenever he was beating me for shielding him, we were exposing Jeremy to an abusive situation. They told us to participate in a fourteen-week parenting program. Tom refused to do this, and vowed to strive to extreme measures to get him back. He often yelled at me to 'get Janet Lisbon on the phone.'"
"And she was always shaking and wobbling her voice when she was calling me," Janet added. "But it was so ugly when we took this to family court. We'd managed to get this done in one day, but Tom would always dominate the proceedings with the same old, same old. He'd insist on doing all the talking. Trust me, I was just as uncomfortable being in his presence as Valerie was. I had to force myself to be nice and go along with the whole discipline thing. But I could see right through him every time, and I'd hope that the judge would declare that Jeremy stay with the foster family until Valerie got enough courage to separate from Tom and get an unlisted number. But the family court system was corrupt, as the judges always declared that he return to the parents. They were old-fashioned fogies who not only believed in that 'spare the rod, spoil the child' thing, but also that mentally retarded children should not be exempt from it. I swear, they were looking down on poor Valerie, as if she wasn't doing her job as a mother. Every time, including that last time they took him away after her father's funeral."
"Thank you," Whitney replied, then a pause which led to a nod, so she said to the C.O.P.S., "We're going to be going to commercial break soon, so could one of you please summarize your thoughts on what was said here?"
Barricade volunteered to speak for the group. "Whoever was agreeing with Tom on this issue was obviously blind to what Valerie was going through. It amazes me that Indiana's family court system saw her as a poor mother raising a spoiled brat. Jeremy is not spoiled at all. He's a sweet boy, and all he's looking for in a father is someone who'll give him the same love and affection that Valerie wants. It's not too much to ask. Based on what Janet Lisbon said, I'm glad that Jeremy's old teachers could see through Tom. We all heard from one of our colleagues' wives what kind of a person Tom Boston was, Valerie obviously told her. This is the reason why we're reluctant to talk about him – we all saw him as a great big jerk. Even Bulletproof Vess does – why else would he insist that the shooting isn't police brutality?"
"Fair enough," Whitney said, then turned to the camera robot. "When we come back after this break, more from the C.O.P.S. about their involvement with Valerie Boston, plus we'll discuss the shooting incident that may put some of these men on investigation. Stay tuned, we will return."
Back at Kim Masterson's house, she continued to be disgusted with the answers the guests were giving Whitney Morgan. She was especially voicing her disagreements with Dr. Grenoble.
"Bullshit!" she commanded. "Utter, total and complete bullshit! Was that a doctor or a comedienne? There's no way a kid like Valerie's can be so physically unstable! He can't balance himself on a goddamn stepladder to do the dishes! Again, I'll say bullshit! Then build wooden guards around it so he doesn't fall off, you idiot! And how tall is this kid again? Why is he not tall enough at eleven years old to put clothes in a washing machine? Lancer and Sussex should have her bring him to work again; this I have to see!" She was so incensed, she guzzled the last of her coffee. "Oh, and spanking mentally retarded children makes them stressed and defiant? They won't understand what you're saying when you yell at them? Does she have any facts to back her statements up, or is she just spewing her opinions?"
Her daughter, Katrina, was equally unimpressed. "Here's what I don't get," she said. "What is it with Valerie, her family, and that 'mentally retarded' label? How many times have they used that during the show so far? And why? They're not doing that boy any favors by doing that. Before they can discipline him properly, they need to drop it, and quick. You would never let me or my brothers get away with that kind of thing!"
"Exactly!" said Kim, and picked up the remote. "Let's see what else is on, I'm sick of this crap!"
Another parent who worked at Lancer and Sussex, communications specialist Edwin Sams, was also watching the show with his wife, as their two young daughters were sleeping. Despite hearing rumors, Edwin had never criticized Valerie's parenting; he'd noticed when Valerie was unhappy at the office, and wouldn't say anything to avoid her wrath. Like Jeremy, Edwin's girls were mostly well-behaved, and he was never very strict, but he wanted to watch to learn about Valerie's predicament. He turned to his wife, Tracey, a family psychologist, and asked, "What do you make of this so far?"
"I disagree with Dr. Grenoble," Tracey replied. "One of the biggest mistakes a parent can make when raising a special needs child is to treat that child like an outsider. This is exactly what Valerie is doing with her son. I would argue that spanking a child as damaged as Jeremy for disobedience can give him a sense of normalcy. They crave the same discipline as a normal, healthy child, so they can feel normal as well. This is exactly what they want, so they can fit into society easier, and make more friends."
"Too bad this isn't a call-in show," Edwin said. "She'll strongly disagree with that. Just wait until Whitney Morgan asks her about work. She'll go into serious dramatics. I've overheard her during lunch, telling people about how her child will never be normal. Why, last week, when I casually told her about Alissa starting kindergarten, she replied that Jeremy was in a special school for the mentally handicapped."
Tracey shook her head. "I also disagree with that. Put him in a regular school, so he can interact and socialize with regular, normal kids. And maybe have some more involvement in his schoolwork. That's probably why he was failing in most of his subjects the last year. She's only putting him up for serious teasing and ridicule. I've never heard how Jeremy was socially in his old school. I think I'd like to know. Tomorrow, I'll give you one of my cards to give to her. Tell her I'd like her to make an appointment with me."
Edwin looked at her skeptically. "She's going to refuse, I just know it."
When they went back on air, Whitney said to the camera robot, "Welcome back to Eye on Empire City. We're still talking with Valerie Boston, a divorcée who has been carrying on many romantic relationships with the members of C.O.P.S. accompanying her, Highway Harlson, Mace Howards, Barricade Hide and Sundown Calhoun."
Again, Karen winced at Bart, but didn't say anything.
Whitney turned to Valerie again. "Now, Valerie, before we get into your relationships, and all the negative criticism you may have gone through, I'd like to talk to you about the day your ex-husband was gunned down. You've been in Empire City for only a few months at this point, and your attempt to make a new life has been threatened. How did this happen, for starters?"
"This all started when I saw my cousins, Laura and Barbara, at the family reunion at Empire City Park," Valerie explained. "I had to attend because their mother, my Aunt Margaret, had spent months planning it, and I didn't want to disappoint her. Mind you, Jeremy was out of town then, as Sundown insisted on taking him along on his vacation, and I agreed. Margaret was a bit disappointed. Anyway, all my other beaux had come along as my multiple dates, and that's when I saw my discipline-happy cousins. I hadn't spoken to them since the spanking incident my mother had told you about."
"Did you get a feeling of déjà vu at the reunion?" Whitney asked. "Is that why you agreed that Jeremy go away with Sundown?"
"Yes, I especially didn't want Laura whacking his behind, should he accidentally knock down her precious three-year-old granddaughter," Valerie said. She and Barbara had already learned about my divorce, and yet Barbara looked amazed at how quickly I got back into dating. Laura was still angry about the divorce – Aunt Margaret had warned me. Barbara was more polite about it, but I could tell she wasn't too happy, either."
"What did they say?"
She breathed again to keep from crying. "First off, let me say that Laura strongly disagrees with everything Dr. Grenoble said about discipline, and would have no problem telling her so if she had come on here. That cousin had the nerve to suggest that Tom had been the perfect husband and father all throughout our marriage. You should've heard how sarcastic I was to her. She said that I was passive-protective, and that she didn't see why Jeremy couldn't benefit from being spanked. And when Barricade tried to reason with her, she got very snide with a snotty, 'Nobody asked you!' She'd shocked everyone, including her mother. Again, Barbara was more polite about it, but she said that Tom meant well when he did what he did with Jeremy. She said she wanted to be happy for me and my new loves, but I threw Tom away for nothing." She breathed harder because she thought she was going to cry. "I put up with enough of this from the majority of parents at my workplace! I don't need this from my relatives!"
"It's all right, Valerie," Whitney assured her. "Please tell us what happened next."
When she calmed down, Valerie said, "Well, after Barbara had asked, Karen tried to assure her Jeremy does listen to me, do what he told, and doesn't throw tantrums every time I say no. I told them that certain bad behaviors were beyond his control, but Laura wouldn't buy it. She still thought I was lazy and weak, and that I was spoiling Jeremy with 'the wrong form of love.' Hah! There's no such thing! She thought I was poisoning the C.O.P.S.' minds, trying to get them to take on my parenting methods! She even asked what they saw in me, never mind that they love me! Then she called me a slut for dating five of them, a permissive mother, a drama queen, and said that I didn't deserve custody of Jeremy because I was allegedly screwing him up. They and their husbands have never shaken any of their kids, so how would they possibly know what's best for Jeremy!"
"That last part is a little harsh," Whitney commented. "How did you react?"
"Well, I wouldn't take any more abuse from her, so I shoved her down, and we engaged in a physical fight. I won't get into the grisly details, but I hit her first before she could do me, then after we wrestled each other, she pinned me to a tree and began to beat me just like Tom used to do. Our grip was too strong for the family to separate us, but I felt Highway grabbing onto me, saw Mace controlling Laura, and we were able to stop. I never talked to Laura again for the rest of the event, not even after Barbara and the C.O.P.S brought me back."
"And fast forward to the day Tom Boston arrived here in town."
Valerie felt emotionally frozen at the memories, but after a few moments, managed to speak. "I was in charge of a commercial for a sports drink, and we had just started filming. Laura kept our old e-mail address, and must've told him what happened at the reunion, because he'd brought that up when I demanded to know what he was doing here. He'd come to Empire City just to take Jeremy back, and he wouldn't leave until he'd done so."
"And what did he tell you?"
"Naturally, he was unimpressed when he learned that I hadn't changed my 'permissive' ways of parenting. I told him about how sensitive and delicate he is, and he shrugged it off as me babying him, like he always did. He brought up the same bull Laura gave me about disciplining special needs children. He was also disgusted with my multiple romances, suggesting that's not how officers should act in their off-duty time, and he said that he didn't want Jeremy thinking that way about police in general. He didn't care that they actually loved me and Jeremy, and what they did to show it."
"Did he threaten legal action?"
"He did, he said he'd get the family court involved. He told me he would successfully get his parental rights back, and get full custody of Jeremy once he exposed me. First off, if that happened, then Tom would've ended up killing Jeremy, and besides, I am a hard-working woman with a real career, not a prostitute." Then, she thought about what he said about his career. "Oh, and you remember Janet talking about his attack on Jeremy's former fifth-grade teacher? That made headlines back in Parrish, and it cost him his reputation as a businessman. Personally, I was glad that everyone saw him as the child abuser he was. But he said he'd found some land out west to start up a new store. He said that he would be able to provide for Jeremy, and that he'd never see me or the C.O.P.S again."
"Did you tell him you'd go to the police? And what did he say if you did?"
"I threatened to, he sensed it. Sic my little group of Romeos on him, that's what he said." Valerie rolled her eyes as far back as they would go. "He just said he'd tell them he was Jeremy's father, and threatened to expose me as a mother to them." She pointed at her loves. "He was determined not to let any of these men take over as Jeremy's father, and Tom added that Jeremy needed him more than he did me." She decided to add a little sarcasm. "Yeah, Jeremy really needs an abuser for a father!" When she calmed down again, "I had to leave in the middle of my assignment, take this to C.O.P.S. headquarters, and tell Karen what was going on immediately. She was caring for Jeremy at her home, and she wouldn't let him out until it was time for his birthday party. Needless to say, they sent me home early that day."
Whitney was even more curious, so she asked, "How did he find your commercial shoot location to begin with? Information like that is usually confidential."
"My secretary, who shall remain nameless, gave it to him!" Valerie griped. "I was so disgusted, I really gave it to her when I got back. She said that he looked non-threatening, that he said it couldn't wait – this was when she asked him to come back later – and that she thought he looked cute. She looked oblivious when I had to explain my past to her, and I thought my bosses were going to fire her. I think they almost did."
"What happened at the party?"
"These four attended, along with their now ex-competitor, Bowzer." Valerie frowned a little more when she thought of Bowzer. "It's too hard to talk about what happened to him. Anyway, all five of them came, along with Longarm and Blackbelt, and their young sons, Jeremy's new friends, Brian and Tyler. Things were going very well until Tom called me on my cell phone from his uncle's house. He said that he'd have his uncle give me two thousand dollars if I gave him Jeremy, or have Karen do it for me. I flatly refused, then Mace grabbed my cell, and threatened to get more police on him if he didn't leave me alone."
"All right," Whitney said, then turned to the C.O.P.S. "Would one of you please tell me what happened the day of the shooting?"
Barricade decided to speak first. "I'd decided to take Jeremy to the zoo as part of his birthday present from me. That's what I told Bulletproof when he called me from headquarters. I thought maybe we'd all go undercover there to get him, just in case he might show up. The morning of the trip, when I took Jeremy to the briefing, I saw that few were undercover as staff members, while the rest were zoo patrons. Everything was fine up until around eleven-thirty, when Blackbelt reported that he saw Tom's truck parking in the lot."
"We saw that Tom was already inside when we neared the entrance," Sundown continued, "an' the four of us an' Longarm were crowded 'round Jeremy to protect him. We were gonna confront him as a team. You should've seen him, now there was a determined man. He was mighty unimpressed to see us. The Casanova Authority Group, we were, an' he thought Longarm was part of it, too, just 'cuz he was grouped wit us."
"Tell me some of the things he said to you," Whitney said.
"Some of it was the same as what he told Valerie," Sundown said. "He said what we're doin' wit her wasn't good fer Jeremy, us groupin' up to share Valerie, to be more polite. He wanted Jeremy to have more respect fer police than that, but that didn't convince us none to give him the boy. We all knew he start whackin' poor Jeremy around whenever he felt like it, but when Mace brought it up, he just laughed it off. Authority figgers who couldn't tell discipline from abuse, that's what he said. An' he talked as if the boy was wild an' bad all the time, insistin' that he disciplined him. Talkin' to us as if we were stupid or somethin', especially since none of us have kids of our own; he said we were really messin' Jeremy up, also callin' Valerie lazy an' incompetent.
"Well, what he couldn't git through that head of his was that what he did was abuse! An' given the way he was talkin' to us, I reckoned maybe he'd talked to Valerie that same way when she was livin' wit him. Now, back where I come from, a gentleman don't talk to a lady in that same abusive, spiteful manner as Tom. Us Texas gentlemen go that extra mile to worship the women we're in love wit. An' we give kids like Jeremy extra special care that regular children wouldn't git. So I brought Jeremy forward, just to show him the very boy that was sufferin' in his hands, an' I laid all that I told 'bout mannerisms out fer Tom. But just 'fore he could respond, Bowzer an' Blitz found a gun in his back pocket, and Tom snatched it away from them an' pointed it at me!"
"And," Highway added, "he was about to tell us his version of things. So, with all of us surrounding him, we drew our weapons, and I told him he wasn't about to talk. See, we may not know much about kids, but what we do know is that being a dad means being there for your kids physically and emotionally from day one. But that didn't faze him at all, and instead of leaving like we asked, he shot Sundown's weapon out, barely missing him, snatched Jeremy from his grip and ran – all when we still wouldn't give him up."
"How close was he to getting away with the child?"
"Not as close as he wanted to," Highway said. "We were able to follow Jeremy's screaming all the way back to the truck, though he was sure running faster than we were. He had just thrown Jeremy inside, and we could hear that father screaming at his son. Just before he could go to his side, we saw Longarm get him with his Powercuff, but that wasn't enough to stop him. He had just opened his door when Sundown and I quickly shot him three times each."
Whitney looked at Sundown again. "And what made you decide to finish Tom Boston off like you did?" she asked. "Some authorities would argue that Tom was to receive medical help for being shot, then possibly brought in alive, so he could be turned in by police, and given a fair trial."
"That's true, miss, but we weren't 'bout to let Tom live," he insisted. "Or I sure wasn't, the way he tortured an' schemed against Valerie. Keep in mind that Tom wasn't gonna leave here without Jeremy in tow. He would've very well broke outta jail, tracked down Jeremy an' kidnapped him in another public place. Plus, given all that he did to him an' his mama, I sure as God blessed Texas wasn't gonna let 'em live one more day in fear of him. So Highway an' I stand by our decision to shoot to kill. If there was one thing Valerie Boston needed, it was to have her soul an' spirit set free from years of almighty hell."
Valerie looked back at Sundown. She smiled and almost sniffled at such an emotional speech. She knew his reasons for killing Tom were expressively true. She wanted to kiss him, but not while the cameras rolled. Maybe during commercials. But Whitney called her name again, and she focused her attention on the newswoman.
Whitney asked her, "Did anything happen in the days that followed? Did you see any of his family members? What did they say about it?"
Valerie thought of her threesome date with Sundown and Highway again, when Earl and Henry Boston barged in on her. "Yes," she said. "That Saturday night, Sundown and Highway both took me out to the White Apple Palace. In the middle of a musical number, I just happened to make eye contact with my former father-in-law, Earl, and his brother, Henry. Henry, the man Tom had been staying with in Empire City. I thought that they'd come to give me details of the funeral, but it turned out they'd decided to blame Tom's death entirely on me. Now, I won't repeat every word of the confrontation, because much of what they said, we already covered. Father Earl was reminding me of what could've been for the family business if I hadn't gotten pregnant in the first place. Having a family or living the American dream, I had to choose. When I told him that not everyone strives for his visions of the latter, he was quick to inform me that it's no longer just about keeping a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and so on. Totally contradicting from what my own parents had taught me. Of course, he also threw in that bit about how the world should judge a man by the amount of money he has! Now that's a ludicrous statement if I ever heard of it!
"He also accused me of having Jeremy out of my own self-importance. Mind you, this man lived not too far away, almost across the street from where Tom and I lived, maybe in a nearby city. But he would never come to see me or Jeremy, and Tom would always go to visit him without us, even on special holidays. He told me that he told Tom to do whatever he could to make sure Jeremy was not wanted in the family! Now it all made sense!"
"Did you remind the paternal grandfather of Jeremy's brain injuries?" Whitney asked. "I'm immediately suspecting that Tom never brought this up."
"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't," Valerie sighed. "I tried to, but like his son, Earl dismissed this as an excuse for me to let my son do whatever he wants! He claimed that Tom did what he did to show Jeremy that his 'wild' behavior would be intolerable! Henry was no help, telling me that Tom would still be alive if I'd handed Jeremy over to him like he asked me to when he called at the party. Henry insisted that Tom was a good provider, a good man, and would've been the better parent. Hah! My husband was only a good provider, and that's it!"
"Did he offer his opinions on how to discipline Jeremy?"
"He sure did! He said that mentally retarded children like Jeremy should be spanked for misbehavior, so they're not treated differently from other children, or 'outsiders,' as he put it! That might be sage advice for someone who has mild brain damage, I guess, but anyone who'd use that argument for someone like Jeremy is obviously living in a fantasyland! In his words, 'He must be treated like a normal child, and given the same type of punishment for any misbehavior.'" She tried to mimic Henry Boston's voice, but sounded funny doing it. She spoke normally again. "Earl gave Tom that stupid advice – and I mean stupid – when he told him that Jeremy was retarded to begin with! That said, I'd like to say something that will hopefully stop the criticism I'm getting. And that is Jeremy will never be like other normal, healthy children. Never! He'll still talk slowly, he'll still have outbursts, he'll still be too clumsy and weak to do some things that normal kids do, he'll still function like a little kid when he's a teenager. He may even die when he gets to that stage. Babies who are shaken repeatedly all the time don't generally make it to their third birthday, and those who survive through it, like Jeremy did, generally don't live long lives. If they do make it to age eighteen, they probably live only a few more weeks afterward. So why should I treat him like a normal child, and discipline him like that? I know he won't be a normal adult!
"Yes, a wise man once said, 'It is not my job to be my child's friend, it is my job as a parent to guide him to adulthood safe, sane, and in one piece.' Well, that wise man never had to care for a severely retarded child! I don't know about sane, but Jeremy wasn't safe, and he sure as hell won't get to adulthood in one piece, more like a million pieces." She was on the verge of crying for what seemed to be the tenth time, and Highway held her again.
"Thank you," Whitney said. "I believe our viewers could learn something just from that speech." Then it was time for commercial again, so she added, "When we return, we'll conclude our interview by asking the C.O.P.S. about what makes Valerie and her son special to them. Please stay with us, we'll be right back."
Valerie looked a little surprised. Whitney had no plans to ask her about the criticism and gossiping she'd been dealing with at work. She asked her this, and Whitney replied, "There's no need for us to get into that, really. You must be tired of talking about discipline. Your ex-husband had a very big link to it, I know, and it's been making you very emotional. We have one last segment to do, and I'd like to make it positive, if I can."
"She's right," Polly added. "You've said all you needed to about Tom and defending your parenting. You've shared with some of us about what you went through on your job. You don't need to do that here. Besides, it could cost some of your co-workers their jobs if you said anything about it on air."
Valerie decided they were right, and slowly nodded. Meanwhile, Sundown bit his lower lip, thinking mostly of how his brother and sister-in-law harped Jeremy at dinner on the very first day of vacation. He decided to keep quiet about it.
When they went back on air, Whitney said, "Welcome back to Eye on Empire City. In what has to be a quite emotional and dramatic hour, we've been listening to Valerie Boston discuss her former marriage, and how her ex-husband's actions toward their child drove her to make her decisions on parenting today." The camera robot was now on Valerie and the C.O.P.S. "Now, I'd like to focus on her current relationships with the members of the Central Organization of Police Specialists shown here." Whitney asked the C.O.P.S., "I'd like to ask all of you exactly what you find special about Valerie and her son, and perhaps share any special memory that you have had with them thus far. Highway, we'll start with you."
He smiled and replied, "Well, one need only to look at her and how she is with her son, and you'll see that she's very compassionate, caring, and forgiving most of all. I love how conscientious she is with Jeremy. People need to realize that she's only doing what she believes is right, given his condition. And Jeremy is not the type of person to do whatever he wants, whenever, contrary to obvious popular belief. Of course, he doesn't have enough strength to be violent towards others. Why, the closest he'd get to hitting anyone hard would be a little tap on the thigh. And he could never talk back to others, with the way he talks.
"As for special memories, I guess the most special memory I had of Valerie was when she showed me her final draft for the Neapolitan Ice Cream Puffs cereal that featured Jeremy. I thought he looked so sweet eating both the ice cream and cereal on one page. That was when I knew he would be the most special little boy I'd ever meet, if his mother was willing to put him in a project for her work. I wasn't surprised that it got accepted and put in the magazines so quick. And Jeremy, well, that would be the time I took him to the Rippin' Wild waterslides, just him and me. We went tandem on all the slides, even the ones with the large splash at the bottom. You think I was going to let him slide alone? And we did bumper boats and everything else, and after dinner, I helped him with a game of mini-golf. We were like glue that day, stuck together, and I think that was a time when we actually bonded."
Now, it was Sundown's turn. "Oh, but how can I describe Valerie in a story short enough? There ain't no way. I'm just so mystified by her beauty, I can't concentrate on much else. The way she wears her hair an' clothes would make any man fall hard fer her. Oh, but if she could speak with the same twang that I have, or musical like a belle of the Deep South, she would fit right in back in Texas. An' she'd be the envy of all the other beautiful women who live there. But she's much too precious to be taken advantage of by just any man. She'd be a complete jewel if it weren't fer her tendency to curse."
Valerie blushed off-camera. The last part about the cursing, she could admit to freely.
"Anyway," Sundown continued, "my most special memory was that of our first date, out on the beach, alone. She wore the same dress she wore to the White Apple Palace, maroon with purple stripes, and we had plans to watch the sunset 'fore we went dancin'. She went out into the ocean an' let it splash onto her dress. She tried to lure me out into it, but I wouldn't. After we watched the sunset, she decided to take me into the ocean wit her fer a swim. Oh, but I'll never forget fallin' into the drink tryin' to git her over my head, that was so funny. An' when we got out, we started makin' love on the shoreline, then sleepin' in the back of my truck underneath the stars. It was a first date I'll always treasure.
"As fer Jeremy, well, he's better behaved than most people give him an' Valerie credit fer. Given all the time I've spent wit him, I've learned that some things are just his nature. It's somethin' you learn quickly wit kids like him. My special memory wit him definitely was our vacation to the Southwest. He loved the Grand Canyon best of all. Ev'rythin' you could think of out there, we did. On his birthday, I took him for a tandem horseback ride along the trails, an' he was so taken away by the scenery. It is beautiful out there, after all." He smiled towards Valerie. "We watched the sunset along the canyon ev'ry evenin', an' once I told him how I loved his mama, and that I was determined to become his daddy, that which Tom never could be. An' on the way home, I told him that when it came time fer him to meet Jesus, he could tell Him all 'bout seein' the Grand Canyon."
Mace was trying to think up a memory with Valerie that didn't involve Nightshade. He couldn't, the way that jewel thief tried to sabotage most of their dates. Just before his turn came up, he quickly thought of the time at the park the day before her family reunion, but was it special enough? When it was his turn, he suddenly said, "I guess what I love most about Valerie an' Jeremy is that neither of them want to be spoiled rotten. I'm a big believer in physical discipline, an' I don't believe people are made of money, so when it comes to the opposite sex, expensive tastes, bad attitudes an' haughty preachiness are big turn-offs to me. Valerie only has haughty preachiness, but within good reason. Just lookin' at Jeremy the day he met us C.O.P.S. at the police picnic, I knew this was one kid I don't smack around at all. Getting' back to bein' spoiled, I'm glad that Valerie ain't like that. She don't care about gettin' diamonds every time I see her, or dinin' at four-star restaurants, or $150 tickets to a classic theater show. She's perfectly content just stayin' home fer a date, cuddled up with a DVD movie. It sure shows what kind of mother she is to her son. An' Jeremy, I like that he don't ask fer much, if anythin' out of want. I don't think there's many material things he'd be interested in anyway, other than books.
"My fondest memories of 'em? Startin' with Valerie,… well, I guess it was the night I told off my former flame, Big Boss' hired jewel thief named Nightshade, in front of her. I remember bein' over at her house with Jeremy there. After we played a game together, Valerie told me to go downstairs while she prepared Jeremy fer bed. I was listenin' to her jukebox when Nightshade appeared in the rec room, in a red nightie, all ready to seduce me. Now, we'd been on rocky ground with our romance, because I was positive she'd been up to her old tricks. But there she was, singin' and dancin' to some sexy music, strippin' me down to my underwear, givin' me those beggin' gestures an' looks, sayin' that I had to take her back. I was thinkin' of Valerie that whole time. Suddenly, Valerie appeared in the rec room when she saw Nightshade's coat, and it almost turned into a catfight. Valerie ran upstairs – I knew it was to call headquarters – with Nightshade soon comin' after her. When I got fully dressed I ran up to see them physically fightin'. It wasn't until Longarm an' Mirage arrested her that I finally got enough nerve to tell Nightshade myself that it was over. In front of Valerie, no less; she thought it was the bravest thing I could do for her.
"I have two fond memories with Jeremy. One was when I took him swimmin' at the recreation center, the same pool I'd taken Valerie to on our first date, the same day we'd spent playin' sports an' that obstacle course I told you about. He could swim by himself when we were in the shallow end, though it was only doggy' paddlin, but I had him hold onto me when we were in the deep end. Maybe it was the feelin' of his head on my upper back, but I could somehow tell he didn't want to let me go." He decided not to include seeing Nightshade, Buttons McBoomBoom and Turbo Tu-tone in the glass dome that they shattered, or punching them out to arrest them. "Another time was the day I showed up at Valerie's house to take Jeremy to the lake for the day. It was about an hour away from the city, an' it was the weekend before he and Valerie left fer their business trip. It was pretty much the same as the pool, except I had Jeremy perched on my shoulders one time as I was chest deep in the water. There I was, clutchin' onto his legs so tight, so he wouldn't fall in if he tipped himself back. We also took a ride on a motorboat that one of my buddies owned, but I had to hold on to Jeremy so he wouldn't fly off, and he was a bit too small to go raftin'. But we did find time to go fishin', and we caught two big ones. One, we had fer dinner over a campfire, an' the other we gave to Valerie, who took it to Karen, I believe." Valerie and Karen both nodded. "Too bad Highway an' I didn't get our paid vacation time, unlike Sundown an' Barricade. Then we really could've spent some time alone with Jeremy for more than just a day."
Finally, it was Barricade's turn. "What more can I say about her?" he asked. "Everyone has covered everything about what makes Valerie and Jeremy special to us. Valerie is beautiful, sweet, and worthy of any man's affection. And out of all of us, I think I've bonded with Jeremy the best. You ask if he wants to do something, and he'll jump at the chance. All he wants is a man who will spend time with him, teach him how to be the best man he can be through wisdom and gentleness. A man who give him the affection he's longed for, that his birth father wouldn't give him. That said, my most special memory involved both of them, when we brought Jeremy on our first date together, an afternoon in Empire City Park. After she showed me the set for a fashion commercial she was doing, or something, we took Jeremy on a quiet stroll through the park. We had lunch, and Valerie and I were touched that Jeremy wanted to sit beside me. Afterwards, we took him to the petting zoo, because I wanted to show him the Midas Chicken and those beautiful eggs he lays, but it got stolen, so I cheered him up by buying him ice cream." He decided to leave out that melee with Buttons and Turbo, who'd committed the theft. "Honorable mentions would be the time Jeremy and I saw the Fourth of July fireworks together, though it would've been better if Mace hadn't sat with us, and Jeremy and I returned from a five-day trip to Washington D.C. two weeks ago.
Whitney turned to Valerie again. She asked, "Having heard all that, what can you say about the decision you'll have to make? And please don't take this as pressure."
"Honestly, I still can't make up my mind," Valerie answered. "I still think they're all handsome, charming and caring most of all. I especially admire the last part. I guess that's what makes them the good guys in this town, right?" She looked at all her beaux, who didn't even know how to look at her to respond.
"All right, fair enough," Whitney said, then the show went to one last commercial break.
A minute later, the show went back on air only briefly. "I'd like to conclude tonight's show with a question that I've been thinking about during commercials." She turned to Valerie's family and said, "If all three sisters, including Valerie, are working outside the home, and the husbands are too, then who's taking care of Jeremy? Having heard his fragile condition, it sounds like he needs round-the-clock care."
Karen raised her hand and said, "I am. I actually have been staying at home for the past nine years. This came as the result of an argument our families were having. Mom and Dad were still insisting that I keep my job as an interior designer to bring in money – no daughter of theirs would be just a housewife with no income. But it was tradition in my husband's family that the man brings home the bacon, so to speak, and they kept insisting that kids do best when one parent stays at home – something my sisters weren't allowed to submit to. One night, my husband showed me an infomercial about running a business from your home. We took it to our families, and we compromised. So I run my own interiors business from my home computer. Before Valerie moved into my neighborhood, though, she and Jeremy lived under Rhonda's roof, and Mom looked after Jeremy, since both she and Richard worked.
Whitney nodded, and said to the camera robot. "And that concludes tonight's interview. I'd like to thank Valerie Boston and her family, and the members of C.O.P.S. who showed up in support, and a gracious thank you to Janet Lisbon and Dr. Susan Grenoble for their expert opinions. I'm Whitney Morgan. See you next time on Eye on Empire City." She got up to shake everyone's hand as the credits rolled. After her handshake, Valerie just stared off, thinking about work the next day. Hopefully, her critical co-workers would stop with the negative talking.
Police chief Stephen Irons had come home from work in time to watch the show. As he watched and listened to Valerie, her family, the C.O.P.S, Janet Lisbon and Dr. Grenoble, he began to understand that Tom Boston was indeed the unfeeling, abusive man that Bulletproof Vess and Commissioner Highwater lauded him as. He understood that Valerie and Jeremy were victims of unspeakable cruelty, and that Sundown and Highway did do what was right. Afterwards, he went to call Highwater.
"Highwater, it's Chief Irons," he said. "Listen, I've decided to call off the investigation of Walker "Sundown" Calhoun and David "Highway" Harlson. I'll inform my people of this in the morning."