Smokey

Eddie was finally home, and short of a few stitches and a cast on her arm, she appeared unchanged. I couldn’t help but wonder how the trauma she had been through might affect her, but as she had yet to discuss the events of that night, I had no idea what to expect.

It seemed all she remembered was a man trying to take her ring, and short of asking about it once, that night was never spoken of again.

While Sandy worked her shift at the seafood restaurant, Eddie and I sat at the kitchen table and ate apple pie.

She took a bite of the pie, and then a drink of milk. “It feels good to be home.”

“I bet. I can’t stand hospitals. Places creep me out.”

“I don’t think I like them, either.”

I admired her for a moment, and then cut a piece of pie with the edge of my fork. “Pie’s good. It was nice of Richard’s mom to send it.”

She looked up. “Do you think you and Sandy will get married?”

Her question caught me off guard. I stared at the pie for a moment, and then looked up. I knew how I felt, but had no idea how Eddie would feel knowing.

One thing I couldn’t do, however, was lie to her.

“I think we will, eventually, why?”

She shrugged. “I really like her.”

“What would you think if we did?”

She poked her pie a few times, and then looked at me. “I’d like it.”

“Would you?”

Her eyes lost focus and she gave a slow nod. “Yeah. I would.”

While I fidgeted with my pie, my questions about that night were answered.

“I uhhm. He came up behind me, and grabbed my shoulder,” she said, her voice without emotion.

I looked at her. Seeing her go through the hell of reliving that night would kill me. “Eddie, I don’t think it’s a good idea--”

“I’m okay. Let me tell you what happened.”

I wanted to know, I just didn’t want her to tell me.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

I let out a sigh and pushed myself away from the table. “Okay.”

Her eyes dropped to the table. “He asked for my ring, and I told him no. Then, he grabbed my arm. I uhhm. I hit him a few times, but it’s different. It’s not like kyorugi or shihap.”

She let out a sigh and looked up. “He uhhm. He hit me in the face and knocked me down--”

“Ed…”

She raised her good hand. “Let me talk.”

It hurt to hear it, but if she needed to rid herself of the memories, I needed to let her.

“Okay.”

“He kept trying to take it, and I poked my thumbs in his eyes, you know, like you taught me.”

I grinned and nodded. “Good for you.”

“He uhhm. So, he was hitting me and stuff, and I screamed for Sandy. And then I blacked out or something. It gets weird after that. But then, I heard her.”

“Sandy?”

“Uh huh.”

She began to poke her pie with her fork. “She uhhm. She screamed. I remember that. She uhhm. She said…”

She inhaled a long breath and looked up. “Hey mother effer. Get off my daughter.”

I chuckled and cried at the same time. I quickly wiped my eyes and looked at her. “She said mother effer?”

She shook her head. “She said the other one. She screamed it.”

I hoped it was all she remembered.

“Is that all you remember?”

She shook her head. “I remember the sound of the gun. And then of her pulling him off of. She uhhm. She pulled him off me. And she talked to me. She called me my baby. And she said she loved me.” She met my gaze. “You call me baby.”

My throat tightened.

I swallowed hard and I nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“I remember the ambulance guys. They were talking on the way to the hospital. Said the guy was dead. She shot him in the head.”

“Eddie, it’s not anything that needs to be--”

“I’m glad she shot him, dad. I hate to say it, but I really am.” She huffed a sigh and raised her cast. “Look at me. I mean, really. Yeah, he needed to be shot.”

I couldn’t agree with her more, but refrained from giving an opinion.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” I said.

She smashed her pie with the tines of her fork, and after flattening it into a pile, she looked up and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

I pushed my plate to the side.

Two months prior, marrying Sandy was unthinkable. Now, it was all I could think about. It had very little to do with Eddie’s question, though. I desperately wanted to do everything right, be married, have a family, and raise our baby in as conventional of an atmosphere as a 1%er and a former stripper could.

I looked at Eddie. “What if it was sooner, rather than later?”

“What if what was sooner?”

“Sandy and I getting married.”

She smiled. “Far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better.”