A Fresh Start

Chapter 7

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Frank POV

Stephanie was tired and eager to go to bed, in her new bedroom, which I had decorated with an ocean theme. She cried when she walked into it, then hugged me.

"It's beautiful Daddy. Omigod! Are these the shells I collected over the years? You kept them for me?" I smiled and nodded. Her eyes welled up, especially when she saw her special ones, framed on the wall and some in little sets. "I love this room," she yawned, apologetically.

"Come on, bedtime." She changed into her pyjamas and brushed her teeth. Her hair was already brushed and braided. Mary Lou, or Florence, would have made sure after all that fun in the sun. I tucked her in and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Pumpkin. Tomorrow is a new day."

I knew Helen had tossed her shells in the trash, including her special treasured shells, and her pride and joy, that special seahorse, which I had framed. I just retrieved them and stored them in a box inside the garage, on the shelf above my tools. All the little shells were in a large glass vase. Lorna Juniak helped with that especially choosing the ones to frame or display on the shelves. It was quite a spiteful thing to do from Helen. That's when I started wondering about her animosity towards Stephanie.

I went downstairs to find Edna warming up some tomato soup and making grilled cheese sandwiches for our dinner. It was perfect. We ate in comfortable silence. An overwhelming sense of peace hit me with the satisfaction of making a successful escape from Chambersburg. Most importantly, saving and removing Stephanie from all the vitriol and Helen's relentless abuse, to a safe haven, with people who love her.

Edna and I agreed not to share our new address with anyone. Florence and George Molnar had my phone number now. Joe and Lorna Juniak were the only ones who knew. When I came home to decompress, he and Lorna had filled the fridge with fresh food, and some ready-made Lorna meals and bakings, stored in the freezer. Lorna helped with room décor and recommended essential items I would need, with special consideration for Stephanie. She was intuitive, knowing how much Stephanie loved Point Pleasant. Joe arranged for garden maintenance and security.

"So, Edna. What is this revelation you want to share with me? I know I won't like it."

She nodded solemnly as she set the coffee and cake on the coffee table between our armchairs. I waited while she fixed her coffee, before looking up at me after taking her first sip.

"I overheard her in conversation with Valerie, advising her on wily womanly strategies now that Valerie was married. This was the day before Valerie left for California. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Helen admitted to Valerie that she married you so that she was assured of a war service pension."

Why am I not surprised? It all fits, now that I see the big picture.

"Helen didn't realise that you were still active, after your initial five years, nor that you were promoted through the ranks over time, to such a high ranking officer. I am so glad you kept those details deliberately away from Helen, knowing she would use that to big-note herself. It was all about her. Such a selfish, conceited, money-grabbing woman who deceived you in so many ways. Yes, I do believe she loved you in the beginning. You were sort of the rebound boyfriend after Angie Morelli got pregnant and had to marry that stronzo Anthony. (asshole) But it worked and she settled happily. You were such a wonderful beau, caring and positive. You loved her. Harry and I could see that. At the same time, I have to admit that we were still wary of her intentions. Her track record speaks for itself. Helen is all about Helen, what she can get out of a relationship and how she can manipulate the situation to her advantage. But you were smarter than her in-between boyfriends."

"I sensed the change in her demeanour while she was pregnant with Stephanie."

"Yes. We noticed that as well. Her morning sickness was worse than with Valerie. Valerie was a placid baby. In utero, Stephanie was an active baby, making her assume the difference was because she was having a boy. She told everyone she was having a boy. Then she felt embarrassed that she was wrong. Once again it was all Stephanie's fault. Imagine that! Blaming a baby before she was born. Stephanie was born a month premature, as you know. It's lucky she got so far."

"How do you mean?"

Edna sighed. "Remember how I said Helen threw herself down the stairs, to cause a miscarriage? That was not the only time. It certainly was not what they now call pre-natal depression. It definitely was not a hormonal issue. It was not depression of any sort either. It was hatred. We didn't have names or labels for that in those days like post-natal depression, which she did have, because Stephanie was a girl. I suspected immediately. After her tumble down the stairs, I took her to the hospital and all the tests were fine other than some bruises. They kept her in overnight to monitor her vitals, and the baby of course, which coincidentally were both normal. You were in Georgia. They did ask many probing questions about your relationship, trying to ascertain if you might be the cause of her fall and her bruises. They even intimated domestic violence which Helen did not deny. I set them straight very firmly. I had a word in the doctor's ear, explaining Helen's desire to get rid of the baby. Initially he didn't take me seriously, but after an alleged slip in the bathroom, and then a fall out of bed, he had a nurse with her at all times, on alert watch."

Jeez. She had it in for Stephanie from before she was even born! Then later with all that relentless censure and criticising of Stephanie was annoying the hell out of me, especially with constantly comparing her to Valerie. Did she push Stephanie off the roof? It was a question I always had at the back of my mind.

When Stephanie was a little girl, she wanted to be a reindeer so she could fly. I smiled at the memory. Then one day she saw Peter Pan, and she wanted to be Peter Pan. She would run around the neighbourhood saying, "I can fly. I can fly." Then she wanted to be Wonder Woman. At age 9 she got carried away with that fantasy, and fell off the Kruzak's garage into Mrs. Kruzak's prize rose bush. Helen was visiting with Stephanie. Was Helen the reason Stephanie fell? I wouldn't put it past her. I guess we'll never know.

Edna was patiently waiting me out, watching as my mind drifted. She sipped her coffee.

"That smile? Peter Pan?"

I nodded. Tsk. Stephanie was an imaginative child, but Helen disapproved of such "silly behaviour".

"How did you go with the paternity tests?"

"Hmph. The DNA confirmed what I already suspected and knew. Stephanie is all mine, no doubt there. It was clearly evident that Valerie was not my biological daughter. Nor was she a Morelli, thankfully. But, you and I know who, with that distinctive cowlick. Michael Toblitsky, my army buddy. I had always wondered why Helen spent so much time fussing over Valerie's hair. Pfft. That's why. I trusted Blitz."

"She had become a conniving greedy bitch. Maybe she should contact Michael, since he is Valerie's biological father," Edna chuckled with a wicked glint in her eye.

"I have to admit, hindsight is an amazing thing, Edna. Helen feigned not wanting to make love to me, which I thought was due to an infection. "Women's business, or women's trouble," she replied vaguely each time. My trust in her was waning rapidly. I could tell she was lying, making me all the more suspicious. Somehow, I suspect Michael was not the only one. I felt betrayed."

"Funny you should remember that, Frank. Using my sneaky ways, I discovered that Helen was having treatment for an STD, which I confirmed when I found the hidden antibiotics, with the clinic's name labelled at the bottom. Confirmation. Silly woman. Sleeping around behind your back while you were away. That was not in the vows!'

I scowled.

"A girls' night out was a cover for flirting and getting freaky with another man. I don't know where she found them. I bet they were involved in the military, so they wouldn't get too attached. She said as much when she came home by taxi late one night, and sort of muttered that little titbit of information as I tucked her in. She smelled of men's after shave, not your Old Spice. Sometimes she had beard rash. I was disappointed in my daughter's promiscuity and dishonesty. Of course, she denied anything of the sort. Accused me of having a suspicious mind."

I sighed. Where did I go wrong?

"I see that look. You did nothing wrong. You worked hard, you provided well for your family whom you loved unconditionally."

"Yes. But I feel responsible. I didn't keep her safe."

"Frank. Her behaviour changed further when she had started to drink that "iced tea". We both know there wasn't a single tea leaf in that mug. Also, her gossip mongering simultaneously when she and Angie Morelli became friends, after Anthony died. They were all about status, their own, of course. That vicious, nasty Burg Grapevine. Before the Tasty Pastry incident, Helen was already looking for suitors for Stephanie after Valerie was engaged to Steve. All that Burg girl marries Burg boy, have babies and give grandchildren? That was all about her, her vision. She had her eyes on the Orr boy because he was going to be a lawyer like his father and join the family firm. Aspirations of grandeur. Stephanie told me she though Dickie was a creep!" She chuckled.

I was eating my cake when I saw a twinkle in her eye. I finished my espresso and looked at her expectantly, raising an eyebrow. She sipped the last of her cappuccino and smiled at me, deliberately licking the froth from her finger.

"You know," she said with a mischievous grin, "I have always been proud of Stephanie. Three years after that horrid incident, Stephanie happened to be in Trenton driving your Buick. She spotted Morelli as she was driving by, standing in front of Giovichinni's Meat Market. She just gunned the car, jumped the kerb, clipping Morelli from behind, bouncing him off the front right fender. Broke his leg she did. Checked, then drove off to the mall!"

I had heard a rumour but never had it validated. I burst out laughing.

"So, it was true? Stephanie crashed into him and broke his leg?" I was laughing so hard when Edna nodded, I had tears in my eyes. "Deliberately?" More nodding and grinning. "I just thought it was an urban myth, you know, like one of those gossip mongering things. Oh my God. That is priceless! That's my girl!" I just couldn't stop smiling. I was so proud of her bold move.

We cleaned up and went to bed, smiling.

"Proud of you, Frank. Thank you." Edna said as she went to bed.

The next day was about settling in and just enjoying our new home. I took the girls for a drive around the neighbourhood, showing Stephanie her new high school in New Brunswick where she could complete her final year. We did some shopping, having a coffee in one of the local cafés, before going home to chill. Stephanie was rapt that the bakery had a great selection of doughnuts. A quiet day was well-earned. Together we prepared dinner. Edna and Stephanie planned the week's meals with Stephanie feeling at ease learning to cook with her Grandma, in the well-appointed kitchen, was so different for her. No nagging criticising mother. Praise the Lord.

Part of me regretted not moving out earlier. But now that I have the big picture, coming home two weeks later after that horrid ordeal, that was the catalyst that spurred the move, especially that I could safely remove Stephanie from that toxic and abusive situation. I contemplated placing a restraining order, but thought living so far away from the Chambersburg, it might not be necessary.

Stephanie was so happy and relieved, repeatedly saying how much she loved her room with the view over the park. In her desk drawer she found the pencils and the sketch book. I found her sitting on the window bench, drawing her shells, with her music playing, smiling. She slept a huge chunk of the afternoon. I gave her the phone so she could talk to Mary Lou. She'd been crying, but nodded that she was okay, assuring me they were happy tears.

I was informed that the divorce papers, and the custodial papers for Stephanie, had been served promptly that morning. Apparently, Helen was a mess. The police were called because she was abusive to the server. Poor Eddie, her nephew, had to deal with her. He gave her the option of spending cell time to chill and face charges of assault, or sign the paperwork and be done with it, if she apologised to the server. Reluctantly, since she had drawn a lot of curious onlookers, she signed both documents right there and then. Thank you, Eddie Gazarra. Apparently, she had no hesitation in signing the custodial papers for Stephanie to me, as sole custodian.

I smiled thinking about that asshole Morelli. Between the three of us, Joe Juniak, George Molnar and I, we had contacted certain higher personnel in the navy, making them aware of a certain Italian Stallion's misdeeds and reputation. We look after each other's backs, and our own. Within a week we had acquired all the intel we required.

George, being a navy SEAL, now retired, discovered Morelli aspired to becoming a SEAL, but the idiot repeatedly failed the psych evaluations, definitely not through any intervention. At that stage he was not deemed officer material since he did not meet the initial criteria. Being knocked back on his applications each time rankled his ego.

His previous history of bar room brawling and scrappy fighting saw him earning Frequent Flyer points in the brig. The noob quickly earned a nickname, which irritated the hell out of Morelli. They called him Spud. Spud Morelli. I chuckled. Okay, I admit it, I laughed! They discovered that his temper was easily provoked, having a short fuse. Other than the brig, it seems Spud spent a lot of time in the galley, hence Spud or Sculler. Cleaning the scullery was another favourite pastime of his it seems. Spud was the preferred nickname and it stuck. Oh, that had to hurt his ego. I couldn't hold back the grin. Spud Morelli. I bet he hated it as much as Stephanie hated Cupcake.

Some years later, I discovered that after breaking his leg, à la Stephanie and my Buick, he was able to get out of the navy on a medical discharge, after only serving three years. He never saw any action, so he was never deployed to any war zones. How the hell did he get into the police force? Joe Juniak was Deputy Chief at the time, and through his investigations, he discovered Morelli's application was endorsed and approved by a higher authority, a judge. Judge Lorenzo Ragusto, was the brother of Bella Morelli. I scrubbed my face with both hands and sighed. Apparently, he worked hard and knuckled down, eventually becoming a detective. Pfft. Still an asshole.

I wonder what else is on Edna's mind? There was still something she wanted to share.

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