Enjoy!
A few minutes later, Arnold returned to his desk. He checked his clock and saw it was three in the morning.
He sighed in frustration he thought of Helga going through all the things she just confessed. Incessantly, he couldn't keep his emotions at bay. His mood kept fluctuating from anger, to disbelief, to fear, and then…to sadness.
Leaning forward on his desk, he supported his head on his arms and softly wept. He tried hard not to awaken his love. The news was just too unbearable for him to take without falling apart. As the tears flowed down from his eyes and off his face, they landed in tiny splats on a yellow manila envelope. The sound of his tears hitting paper caught his attention as it pitter pattered.
Lifting his head and wiping the remaining tears from his eyes, he grabbed the envelope. Opening it, he pulled out its contents.
In it were a typed letter, a few documents, a police report, and a tiny envelope containing a small key.
Arnold chose to read the letter first:
Dear Dr. Shortman,
I apologize for not being straight-forward with you over the phone,
it's just that I'm afraid of what might happen to me if someone finds out
what I've done by coming to you. Please I beg of you not to come looking
for me after this. I just hope my effort to produce the evidence would make up
for what I put Miss Pataki through. Hopefully, one day she can find it in her
heart to forgive me for all the misery and hurt I may have encouraged by not
coming forward sooner. It seems that… I've contributed to the
conspiracy surrounding her case by keeping quiet . And I have regretted my actions
ever since. My reason for bringing this to the forefront now is because
I felt that there was no one I could trust, until... you called.
I know that you're a trustworthy man. How do I know that, you may be wondering?
Well, during her brief stay in the hospital, Miss Pataki mentioned your name a few times.
I could tell by the look in her eyes that she trusts you completely, and
that's why I'm giving this to you. My job in this fiasco was to retrieve
the documents and dispose of them. Thankfully, my conscience got the better
of me, so I didn't. I just couldn't let injustice prevail.
I can't imagine how Miss Pataki must have felt then, helpless
and hopeless. If it had been me in this position, well...I would definitely
want someone on my side. I really do hope you find what you need in
here. Enclosed are the hospital documents, the police statement,
and a key in the small envelope.
I hope my effort will not be in vain. And I do hope that whoever is responsible
for this crime be brought to justice.
Goodbye Dr. Shortman and take care
Anonymous
Sitting at his desk after reading the letter, Arnold began piecing things together and it made sense.
He remembered Helga/Cecile mentioning someone from the hospital, helping her out.
He thought, "The woman at the hospital must've been Kristen. That must be the same woman who came here earlier and gave me the envelope. Maybe there's something in that envelope that can help prove who really did this!"
Folding up the letter, Arnold placed it back on his desk.
He rummaged through medical documents, skimming the pages to find some kind of clue or finding. He found typical medical jargon, and refused looking at the pictures they took of her body. He couldn't stomach seeing them anyway.
Before taking a glance at the police report, he took a deep breath, exhaling, trying to remove the tension and nervousness overtaking him. When he was mentally prepared to lokk he began reading the description of the culprit. His once hopeful and calm demeanor had changed. He looked into the test results and found that it matched.
What Helga said was true. All of it.
Arnold held that report, his hands shaking while his face stared at it flustered. He tried to keep a steady grip on the piece of paper, as he reread every single word only to find that the evidence seemed to point to none other than...Gerald himself.
His hands unclasped the document, letting it fall to the floor. Arnold's eyes burned with fury, his breathing was crisp and rough, and his chest heaved up and down exaggeratedly. He abruptly stood up and went to the door, leaving behind a sleeping Helga, snuggled warmly underneath his covers.
Without looking back, Arnold climbed down the stairs with a heaviness to his feet. Each step down felt like a countdown to an imminent doom…. a day of reckoning. He reached his front door, and opened it, stepping out into the warm quiet night.
His feet took him down the stoop and into the streets, directing his way, his mind… was clouded with rage. Arnold walked like he did a few days ago, his anger increasing by the minute the more he approached Gerald's home. Everything around him grew clearer as he turned the corner and into the row of newly renovated duplexes all lined up down the street. His eyes roamed ahead as he noticed the former purple house that used to belong to Big Bob Pataki. It was now a darker blue, the same one Gerald owned.
This...was the very same house he used to walk Helga home to throughout their childhood and adolescent years, the same one!
He thought angrily, "How could I have missed that?"
6 days ago.
"It's a nice house you got there." Arnold mentioned as he walked in.
Once in, Gerald began giving Arnold a tour of the place.
"Oh the house…yeah, I got it a few years ago, at a pretty sw-eet price if I do say so myself. A year and a half ago though, I had to renovate it cause it sustained some minor damage, but it was nothing serious really."
"That's great Gerald, it looks...nice", Arnold replied.
"Of course, Phoebe redesigned the inside" Arnold smiled at the couples' beautifully redecorated place.
At the thought of remembering his visit, Arnold's fists curled and his teeth clenched tightly against each other to the point where his vein on the side of his temple began to bulge.
Arnold deduced, "The place was renovated because it got burned down. He sighed, "Helga."
He bit his lip, "She was raped in there. How could I have been so dense? I should have figured this out sooner!" He thought angrily.
Coming even closer to his best friend's home, Arnold's fury grew more lethal as he began to growl under his breath. He jumped the steps of the stoop and began banging on the door.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! "GERALD" he yelled.
"GERALD" he repeated out loud as he looked up to their second floor window, waiting to see the lights come on.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! He kept banging on the door, intending to wake them up. And as soon as the lights inside came on, Phoebe, moments later opened the door.
Surprised at seeing Arnold with a face filled with rage standing in their doorway late at night, she attempted to speak.
"Arnold what-" Her sentence was cut short as she was shoved aside and the football headed man entered their home forcefully.
"Where's Gerald?" he voiced angrily.
"What's wrong Arnold?" Phoebe inquired worriedly, not understanding Arnold's behavior.
He spoke through cleched teeth, and repeated, "I said...where...is... Gerald?"
Right on cue at the mention of his name, Gerald made his way down the stairs. "Arnold man, what the heck is going on h-"
Arnold jumped his best friend as he reached the last step, punching him squarely in the face. Gerald too shocked at what was happening was unable to react as Arnold began to repeatedly pound his face in.
After a few hits, Gerald managed to hold off some of Arnold's punches blocking his punches with his forearms, protecting his face. Arnold smirked then, and moved down to punching his stomach.
Gerald felt confused, he couldn't get a word in edgewise as to what possessed his friend to react like that. Not caring anymore about his friend's welfare, Gerald's anger began to pierce through when Arnold shoved Phoebe off of him and into the wall adjacent to them. She had tried to pull him off of her husband, however, she couldn't and now she was temporarily knocked unconscious against the wall, her body listless.
When Gerald saw that he tackled Arnold to the opposite wall and began to jab him on his chest and face. It was a full out brawl fest between the longtime best friends; one that neither men would've ever imagined would occur in their lifetime. Sure, there were arguments and spats, but this...this was major unheard of for them.
Blocking Gerald's next attempt to hit him, Arnold then head-butted him on his forehead, sending him dizzying across to the living room. Arnold aimed to finish the fight, he used one of his karate moves by drop kicking Gerald to the floor.
He then bent over and grabbed the bloodied Gerald by the collar, "You-you son of a..." He turned his face away for a moment to gather himself and turned back to exclaim, "You did this to her!"
Gerald still woozy, slurring in his speech replied, "Did whaat ….to whooom?"
Arnold yelled, "You raped her! You filthy pig"
Gerald still dazed shook his head violently, not quite understanding. "Huh? I don't know what-"
Arnold became furious, releasing Gerald's collar, he dropped him on the floor as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Don't lie to me, don't you dare lie to me…I know what you did, I have proof!"
Arnold picked him up by the collar again, he harshly hissed, "You disgust me"
He felt spite, a feeling so foreign to him, he never knew he was capable of…till now.
Arnold continued his voice rising, "And to think that I used to be your best friend."
He dropped Gerald back on the floor and continued panting, "You...you violated her... and assaulted her." He choked on a sob, "I loved her Gerald and you knew that! I can't believe you would..."
Arnold couldn't control himself anymore, he began breaking whatever was around.
"AHHHHHHH" he screamed as he threw a vase on the wall.
"AHHHHHHH" he screamed once again as he knock over the china case.
" AHHHHH!" he screamed as he continued knocking over chairs and a bookshelf and whatever breakable thing was around.
He screamed bloody murder for the damage done to his beloved. Never, will she ever be the same. Never!
Arnold had finally snapped. He was deceived, and he wouldn't stand for it.
Many times Arnold tried his best to stay grounded, but what his so called friend did was beyond reasoning and settling it diplomatically. He performed a heinous action, and then covered it up.
Arnold ranted as he panted from exhaustion, "She tried...to kill herself ...but you knew that...didn't you." Arnold shook his head in disbelief as he glared at his best friend. "She tried to kill herself by burning YOUR house down, the same house she had her lousy childhood in." he stated livid. "Did you ever think to know how that would make me feel if she died? DID YOU?" Arnold spat out expecting an answer from him, but not really waiting for one. "I guess you don't!"
"What I want to know is why? Why...did you do it?" Arnold asked as he stared at Gerald with hurt and pain in his eyes. "Was it revenge? Was it some kind of payback for what she'd done to us in the past, huh? HUH?"
Gerald opened his mouth to speak, but Arnold continued, "I mean it was the perfect opportunity right, I'm not here to intervene? Did you hate her that much? Did you want to teach her a lesson, bring her down a peg? Isn't that what you used to tell me long ago?"
Arnold marched around the room, mimicking Gerald, " We gotta get her back, Arnold. We have to teach her a lesson, Arnold. Why you always let her push you around Arnold?" He stopped to look down at his injured best friend. "Hmph,Well...I guess you FINALLY found the chance to teach her a lesson! Haven't you, Gerald?" he yelled.
Gerald fully came around from his vertigo, and pleaded with Arnold. "Arnold, please...please listen to me"
Arnold yelled, "WHY, why should I? I can't believe you Gerald, you were..." He paused, and lowered his head. He looked up to the ceiling and then back at Gerald. "You were like a brother to me. You were a part of my family. Don't you realize that you and Helga were all I had left when my grandparents died?"
With tears in his eyes, he shook his head unable to fathom the extent his best friend disappointed him. His arms became limp at his side, and his shoulders slumped. He felt.. sadness as he whispered, "I trusted you."
He quickly looked away, trying to hide his tear stricken face.
Gerald's eyes welled with tears that were threatening to fall on his face. Seeing Arnold in agony tore at him.
As Phoebe came to, she ran, crying to her husband lying on the floor. She embraced him while Arnold stood there, like a post, just a few feet away. She helped her husband up and on the couch where she sat down herself, expecting Arnold to continue to vent.
But nothing was spoken, Arnold merely stood there not saying a word. Everyone quietly in contemplated what went on. It seemed as if time stood still for a few minutes as they all stayed motionless in the living room where minutes ago chaos reigned.
Moments later, Phoebe got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to get some ice packs. She handed one to Gerald who graciously took it, and applied it to his swollen eyes, bruised cheeks, and lower lip.
She also handed Arnold an ice pack, which he savagely snatched and purposefully dropped it on the floor in defiance. His eyes fixated themselves on Phoebe, "So...Phoebe...you knew about this?" He hissed as she looked to down to the floor in shame, unable to respond. She couldn't find any sort of defense as the guilt was clearly evident on her face.
Arnold taunted, "Hmph, some best friend you are!" Her eyes snapped up to Arnold in shock. He was cruel and vile, but she knew he was right. A whimper escaped her and she softly cried in her husband's arms as he consoled her.
Gerald soon found the courage to speak again. Even though, he was disgraced with himself, he pleadingly spoke, "Arnold I swear I didn't do this to Helga, please you have to believe me!"
Upon hearing Gerald's plea, Arnold laughed mockingly. "Ha-ha-ha, alright Gerald, I'll humor you. If it wasn't you, who then?"
Gerald looked to Phoebe and back to Arnold, "It was..." he repeated, "It was..."
Arnold started to get impatient. "Damn it, Gerald spit it out!" He yelled.
Gerald cleared his throat, "It was...my cousin" he uttered looking down, ashamed.
Arnold squint his eyes as he looked at Gerald skeptically, "Your…cousin?"
Avoiding Arnold's fiery gaze, Gerald quietly replied, "Yes, my cousin...His name is Gilbert Johanssen. But we -"
"Are you kidding me?" Arnold interrupted laughing in mockery. He thought, "I cannot believe him!"
"No Arnold, I'm not!" Gerald voiced aloud, his fist clenching with frustration.
Arnold looked to Phoebe, but…he was unable to make any eye contact with her. The only thing he saw were the tears escaping her eyes repeatedly. His focus returned to Gerald as he looked to him suspiciously. Gerald gulped at Arnold's expression.
Gerald calmly gathered himself and elaborated, "Gilbert Johanssen is my cousin from my father's side. He and I have always been tight. Aside from you Arnold, you could say we're pretty close. We had so much in common, and we always did things together when we were younger. Now, the reason why you never saw him was because he lived on the east side of Hillwood and he only used to come on some weekends to visit my family. According, to my mom, she said that he was like the older version of me. I guess that's why we got along so well."
Gerald looked to Arnold momentarily trying to decipher his expression. His face was unreadable. He wondered whether Arnold believed what he was saying. Regardless, he continued on with his story. "He always stood by me over the years, especially when you went away to college and then to medical school. Although he's closer to Jaime-O's age than mine, he always treated me with more respect than my own brother did. It's like…I was his equal." He sighed. "Sometimes, I used to wish that he was my brother." He paused for a moment assembling some air and then loudly exhaled to remove the pressure he was feeling, he continued. "Now, I know that he's not perfect, no one is. But…he's not a malicious man."
Gerald was aiming to get to the point, seeing that Arnold's expression began to change for the worse, "Look Arnold, what happened that day...was an accident."
Arnold stunned at Gerald's statement shouted, "An accident? An accident, Gerald? Oh No! I don't care what you say, but THAT was NOT an accident. You can't accidentally rape someone!"
Gerald noticed the rage in Arnold hasn't appeased. He was still in the state of shock due to the fact that he had never seen this side of Arnold; perhaps a glimpse, but not this. Gerald attempted to calm the man.
Gathering his breath, Gerald spoke, "Okay Arnold, I'm sorry... it was not an accident, but what I meant was that...this wasn't supposed to happen. You see... before Helga came to stay with us for a few weeks, Gilbert used to crash here for awhile. H-he was having marital problems at the time and sometimes when he needed some peace and quiet to work, he would stay here. Usually, things would get better, and then he would leave."
Gerald nervously looked to Arnold and continued. "Things were always rough with him and his wife since he got into office, but they would always work things out. I told him not knowing it then, that if he needed a place to crash anytime that… he'll always be welcomed so I never thought to ask him to return the key. A few weeks later, Phoebe told me Helga was coming to Hillwood for a book deal with a publishing company and that she needed a place to stay for a few months in order to write her new book. I saw no problem in that, after all…she is Phoebe's best friend."
He sighed as he interlocked his fingers, "I didn't expect him to come... that night almost 2 years ago. It seemed that...his wife had filed for divorce and sought for full custody of their children. She apparently kicked him out of the house. At the time, my cousin was Hillwood's City Councilman and he was planning to run for a higher office in the near future, when another candidate intent on getting ahead, began to slander his campaign with false accusations. Things were going all wrong for him and his numbers were going down for it. The media had a field day with those stories, which including with his impending divorce made it worse. He was on the verge of losing his seat and everything he held dear. He lost all hope of salvaging all that he had achieved."
At that point in time, Gerald's eyes began to dart everywhere in the room as he revealed the details. He took a look at Arnold who was tense in posture, but still intently listening; so, he continued, "That day, he was so depressed that he went into a bar and drank himself into a stupor. Now, my cousin is not the type to resort to drinking his problems away, but he was feeling really down at the time. He didn't even know what he had done that night; he was still pretty out of it. It was not until the next day when Jaime-O went to work at the police station that found an open case file on his desk with a statement of what occurred and the description of the culprit that we knew what had happened."
Looking to his wife and back to the suddenly interesting floor, he uttered. "At first, Jaime-O thought…I did it, since I look a lot like my cousin. I guess a case of mistaken identity. But, Jaime-O also knew that Helga was staying at our home, and that's why he approached me first. But...I told him that I was out of town that week for a music company's promotional party and that Phoebe wasn't there because she worked double shifts that day. I assured Jaime-O that I will look into it, and that's when I approached my cousin."
Arnold stood there his face void of expression and his arms crossed upon his chest. His teeth were clenched together and his chest slightly heaving as Gerald elaborated on what occurred a year and a half ago. He was still skeptical about Gerald's story, but he was willing to hear him out.
Gerald continued, "After he sobered up, Gilbert began to remember bits and pieces, and he panicked realizing what he had done. He was hysterical!" Gerald exclaimed as his eyes shifted back and forth. "I couldn't get him to calm down. He was rambling on and on about his future slipping away from him, that if someone found out what he had done his entire career will go down the tubes. So, he said he'll handle the situation along with my brother. A-And… he demanded that Phoebe and I, keep our mouths shut until all was settled." He sighed, his shoulders hanging down, "When Phoebe found out what happened she was furious with me, she insisted that she speak to Helga, but I explained to her that things were complicated right now and to just let him and my brother handle it. She went along for my sake. Generally, I thought that they would find a solution that would satisfy everyone, but I was...wrong."
Upon finishing Gerald looked down shamefully. "Look Arnold, I know what I did was utterly despicable and if I could go back and do it over I would've handled it much differently, but there's nothing I can do now to change that. All I can say is that…I'm sorry, I'm so..so..sorry." he said desperately.
He searched Arnold's eyes for mercy, but found none. Arnold lowly hissed, "You lied to me, Gerald." His fists clenched once again, but Gerald remained calm.
Arnold growled, "You lied to my face when I asked you about Helga. You fed me nothing but bits and pieces of truth, when you knew...you knew all along what happened to her. I sat here in this very living room just six days ago and asked you how she was and you both looked me in the eyes and …...lied."
"You...deceived me." He concluded, making both Phoebe and Gerald shrink themselves into their Victorian style loveseat. As if they couldn't go any lower, Arnold made them feel like the lowest beings on earth. More like…pond scum.
Seconds later, Arnold's composure temporarily softened and his eyes showed despair. His longtime friendship with Gerald was severed.
Although not in his nature to do so, Gerald feeling an overwhelming guilt taking over him began to weep. He must have realized it too for Arnold just stood there and watched in his own miserable bubble not even moving a muscle.
Meanwhile, Phoebe whispered words of assurance to her husband rubbing his shoulders in order to calm him down. Phoebe looked to Gerald and pressed him to speak, and he did. "I-I went back to my cousin, days later." He paused and sniffed repeatedly before speaking once again. "He told me what they had done. He got rid of the police report she filed, and all other incriminating evidence that could have lead back to him. He said that they were not going harm her…and I believed them."
Gerald took a moment to compose himself, his voice trembled when he continued to speak. "He said all they did was erase all the evidence of what happened that day, as if it… never happened. And, if she continued forward with the claim that he raped her, there won't be any proof and she would be seen as someone trying to botch a political figure's image in order to gain publicity for her new book."
Defensively, Gerald inputted, "Things were happening so fast Arnold, that...I couldn't think straight, I-I didn't know what to do? I was torn, especially knowing Phoebe's relationship with Helga, as well as yours."
Arnold harshly saidthen, "So, you said nothing? And did nothing?" Looking to Gerald in disbelief. "What about the right thing to do Gerald, huh? What of that?" he yelled flailing his arms in frustration, he brought them back down limply.
Gerald looked down as he replied, "H-he's family Arnold, he's...my blood. I-I couldn't turn my back on him. Believe me when I say that above all, I hated lying to you. I really did. In all our years of friendship I've never lied to you, but…we were in too deep already."
Looking to Arnold carefully, his eyes showing desperation, he uttered. "We're really sorry Arnold"
Arnold's head and eyes lowered, crestfallen. "Be sorry for Helga" he said with a sighed.
At the mention of Helga's name, Phoebe had a look of concern appear on her face. After the house burned down, she and Gerald never knew what became of her. They assumed she left the city for good. With fear of Arnold still in her eyes, Phoebe gathered the courage to speak up, desperately wanting to know news of her best friend, "Do you know where Helg-"
But unmindful of her inquiry, Arnold interrupted her with his own question. "How did your... cousin as you say manage to cover this up?" He narrowed his eyes at them.
It seemed as if Gerald was at an impasse. He had to make a serious decision. Either, he kept the secret he had managed to avoid spilling all of his life or…reveal it. Taking a moment to ponder his options, he wrestled inwardly. Should he redeem himself in Arnold's eyes by revealing the entire truth, or…betray his cousin.
Meanwhile, Arnold awaited his decision with restraint. Gerald spoke up answering honestly, but reluctantly, "W-Well, he is…Fuzzy Slippers. He always had connections around town along with some ties with important people in the community who may have-."
Arnold's thoughts took over. "Fuzzy Slippers? His...cousin? He did this?"
Arnold felt sick to his stomach, and completely blocked Gerald's voice from his mind. He couldn't hear anymore, not one…more…word.
He thought, "We grew up together, we did everything together, and yet… I don't know who he is anymore. How could they let this go on for so long? How could they justify such a grotesque action as rape? I...I have to get out of here!"
Arnold's faith in his friends…was gone.
Unable to stand the sight of them, Arnold turned towards the door.
Stunned, Gerald and Phoebe looked to him, taken by surprise by his action. The couple looked to each other with shame as they understood what this meant.
Arnold took a hold of the door knob and quickly pulled it open. He stood underneath their threshold, his shoulders stiff, his head forward, and his back to them.
Venomously, he spat, "I'll never forgive you for what you've done, Gerald" He spat out viciously, "Never"
And then, he walked through the door and into the break of dawn, leaving the couple's home.
With resolve, Arnold quickly ran back to the boarding house, hoping to find Helga still there...waiting for him.
It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. ~ Anonymous
(A/N: Okay, I hope you like what you read so far. And I apologize for the delay. Now! I just want to state that in no way shape or form do I encourage violence as a solution to problems; I just wanted to spice things up a little. Also, Arnold has been known to go overboard with the art of self defense, which is evident in the episode 'Mugged' (even when he was unprovoked, hence that big dude asking for the bus stop if my memory serves right. I think! So… if he found out something that ticks him off, watch out!) that's what got me to write the chapter this way. BTW, if you noticed the title you would see I'm a fan of martial arts movies especially of the Legendary Bruce Lee (Mostly introduced through the works of Jackie Chan, XD!) As for my man Fuzzy Slippers, he has always been a mystery character in the Hey Arnold series, yet the only one who really knew of his identity was Gerald out of all the kids in the gang. Which I find quite interesting! I figured that they probably saw him around, but didn't truly know that he was Fuzzy Slippers or… maybe not (At least that's my take on it). Let me know what you think on that! So, once again stay tuned b/c it's not over, not by a long shot! Most importantly, I would like to thank all those who read and most of all those who took the time to review my story (Known and Anonymous reviewers). I really appreciate them. Until next time, Deuces! And, Ciao Grasshoppers ;)K.C.W.L.