Week 395 - 1
In the hospital cafeteria, Jennifer sat nursing a coffee and staring into space.
“Jennifer!” Hope called. Jennifer jerked back to reality.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m… Abigail’s at an appointment and she kicked me out.”
“She must be doing better if she was able to talk to the doctor by herself,” Hope said.
“Yes. Yes, she is, and that is such a blessing. But…” Jennifer sighed. “I worked hard to let go of my kids after JJ started therapy, and I thought I had it down, but after Abigail’s accident she needed me so much. And it’s been five years of her memory lapses and problems with vocabulary and inability to take care of herself. It’s like I had a little girl all over again, only in a young woman’s body. So now… having to let go of her all over again is harder than it was the first time because she seems so vulnerable still, so much in need of protection.”
“I understand, believe me.” Hope put her hand over Jennifer’s. “I have two teenagers who are going to be driving soon and not treating them like babies… well, it’s hard.”
“Better they’re driving than driving us crazy, right?” Jennifer smiled slightly.
“Exactly. You know what? Since Abigail’s getting better and JJ’s been on his own for a few years, and I have two kids that are inching toward independence, maybe this July 4th should be our independence day too.”
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked.
“I mean,” Hope said, “that it’s time for us to embrace this new stage of life. Our kids are independent, so it’s time for us to enjoy our freedom too. Starting with going to the July 4th celebration in the park tonight no matter what our kids are doing.”
Meanwhile, Abigail said to the doctor, “It’s nothing… special. I just didn’t want my mom hovering. But… while she’s not here, I have an important question.”
“What’s that?” the doctor asked.
“A few years ago, I lived… in my own apartment. It was for… people with… disabilities. Do you think that maybe… I’m ready to try that again?”
The doctor said, “Let’s do your assessment and then once I have the results, I’ll make an appointment for you with a social worker to discuss your goals as far as independence and what you can do. How does that sound?”
“Let’s do it,” Abigail said. As the doctor turned his back to type something in the computer, Abby hugged herself and said under her breath, “Mom is going to be… so mad, but… I have to do this.”
“You sure you wanna do this?” JJ asked Alison and Emily. They had come over to babysit Mariposa so he and Paige could go out with Theresa and her boyfriend. JJ was wearing a suit and a striped tie in honor of Independence Day, while Paige was still in the bedroom getting ready. “My kid can be a lot of work, especially at bedtime. From the day she was born, she’s been determined to stay up all night; you might have a fight on your hands.”
“We’ll be fine, trust me,” Alison said. “Emily and I babysat a lot when we were in high school. Besides, we’re looking forward to having a little party of our own with this cutie.”
“One meant for 8-month olds, of course,” Emily said. “We’ll put on a movie for her and feed her a few baby-safe snacks.”
“Good luck keeping her still enough to watch a movie,” Paige said, coming out of the bedroom. Her hair was pinned up on the top of her head and she was wearing a dress that had red and blue stripes blended together. “How’s this for Fourth of July?”
“Amazing,” JJ said. “Doesn’t Mommy look beautiful, Mari?”
“Ma foo ga boo,” Mariposa said, and smiled.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Paige said. “Mariposa’s started crawling, which is a lot to keep up with, so I would appreciate it if you keep her in her playpen except if you’re feeding her, and of course she goes in her crib at bedtime. She still gets a bottle around 5:30 along with as much baby food as you can get her to eat, and we start putting her to bed around 7. JJ sings to her and I read her a story, but if you’re not comfortable with singing you can put on a record for her; JJ’s mom found the toy record player she used to play for him when he was a baby and it turns out Mariposa likes it as much as he did.”
“Don’t worry,” Emily said. “We’re going to have a good time.”
“And so will you, we hope,” Alison said. “Where are you guys going?”
“The July 4th Festival in the park,” Paige said. “This year, the Brady Pub is co-sponsoring with The Spicy Pig. I’ve never had Spicy Pig but my mom raves about it so it must be good.”
“There’s gonna be fireworks and music too,” JJ said. “Not me, tonight my only job is to make sure this beautiful lady has a good time.” He kissed Paige’s neck.
Paige giggled. “We haven’t had a chance for a night out on the town since before Mari was born,” she said. “But we’d better go or we’re going to be late.” She picked up Mariposa and kissed the top of her head. “Mommy and Daddy are going to miss you so much though. When you’re big maybe we’ll take you to a July 4th festival too. “
“Ba ba ba ba ba ba,” Mariposa said, and reached for Paige’s earrings. Paige took her wrists gently away. JJ hugged and kissed Mariposa and put her in the playpen. Then he and Paige left.
Mariposa began to cry as soon as the door closed. Alison picked her up and she kicked and screamed and pointed at the door.
“Mommy and Daddy’ll be back,” Alison said. “You’ll see.”
Outside the door, Paige said, “She doesn’t carry on like this when we leave her with your mom.”
“She knows my mom and Daniel way better than she knows Alison and Emily. But she’ll be all right.” JJ took Paige’s hand. “Come on. Hard as it is to leave Mari, I want to show my wife how much I love her.”
The cafe had donated some tables for the festival; they had been set up in the center of the park for people who wanted to sit and eat, and there were booths all along the side of a trail where people could buy food or souvenirs. A grassy area to the left of the booths was full of folding chairs and another on the right had been set up for people to bring their own blankets or chairs.
It was still early, but there were already a ton of people milling around. Parents were pushing baby carriages or walking with young children through the festival and some people were sitting and eating.
Theresa looked around as she came in. “How am I ever going to find Brian in this crowd?” she said to herself. She sighed. “If he even comes. Maybe he ran a background check on me and decided to ghost me when he found out the truth about my past.”
Roman came up to her. “Jeannie T!” he said.
Theresa stiffened, but she knew better than to be rude to Roman. “It’s Theresa, Uncle Roman. But don’t feel bad. Grandma Caroline could never remember either.”
“I hope you’re not calling me old,” Roman said, “cause as far as I’m concerned, age is just a number and I’m as young as I ever was in here.” He patted his chest. “By the way, a little birdie tells me that you’re bringing a date to this festival this year. I’d like to meet the lucky young man.”
Theresa’s eyes narrowed. “Who squealed? And he’s not here yet. He’s coming. Hopefully.”
“I’m sure he is. He’d have to be a fool to walk away from you.”
“And I’m no fool,” Brian said, coming up to them. “Glad to see you approve of me, sir. We miss you down at the station.”
Theresa giggled nervously. “I guess this saves me an introduction.”
“It sure does. Brian Cardoza here was one of my best officers when I was head of the department. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna keep my eye on you, though, Cardoza. Theresa’s my niece and you know how much family means to me.”
“That I do, sir. Don’t you worry, though. I’m going to treat this beautiful woman with all the respect she deserves and then some.” Brian put his arm around Theresa. “Come on. Let’s go check out the food.”
Roman smiled to himself as he watched Brian and Theresa walk off. “All right, Ma,” he said, rolling his eyes up toward the sky. “I’m as proud of Jeannie T as you are, but I’d never have gone as far as matching her up with a cop. You better hope this works out, though, cause I know how happy he’ll make her if she’ll just let him.”
Ciara and Johnny walked through the festival, eating hot dogs they had bought from one of the concession stands.
“You know what this thing is missing?” Ciara said. “Rides!”
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “I’d love to dare you to sit in the front car of the scariest roller coaster in Salem.”
“I was talking about the Ferris Wheel,” Ciara said. “When I was little Chase and I spent half an hour on the top when it stopped, but I’d much rather do that with you.”
“Same,” Johnny said. “That’s totally what I meant. Hey, I know. Soon as we get past this stupid trial tomorrow, how about I take you to Six Flags in Chicago? They’ve got all the scariest rides, and Ferris Wheels and stuff too, and since July in Salem’s hot as hell we can hit the water rides too. And, maybe I’ll even win you a bear or something at one of the games. What do you say?”
Ciara’s mouth dropped open. “I - “
Before she could finish her sentence, Claire called her name. Ciara turned and saw that she, Theo, and Vicki were standing a little ways away, holding plates of food.
“There they are!” Theresa said, gesturing toward JJ and Paige. She and Brian came over and she said, “This is my favorite niece, Paige, and her husband, JJ Deveraux.”
“Nice to meet you,” Brian said. He looked at JJ, then away, then back at him. Frowning, he said, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
JJ was squirming and fighting, trying to get the cops off him.
Brian took out his taser and pressed it against JJ’s back. “Lie still!” he said. “Final warning, if you move you’re getting tased.”
JJ went limp and allowed Brian to cuff him.
“You probably know him from the 6 o’clock news,” Paige said. “He used to anchor for Nicole Walker and now he works for SPN.”
“Is that right?” Brian said. “So you’re the guy I call when I need a positive spin on an arrest, huh?” He laughed.
JJ swallowed hard, but before he could say anything, Roman said through a megaphone, “Thank you all for coming to this Independence Day Celebration. Back when our country was young, this here was all farmland. People would come from miles around -- and for you young ones, that was a big deal in those days cause it meant a whole day’s travel by horse or a couple days by foot -- to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence while they shared food and watched fireworks together. It was a day where people set aside their differences to remember we were one country, united by our desire for freedom.” Roman glanced around the park, which was filled with people of all races. “I know that words like freedom didn’t always apply to the ancestors of some of the people who we’re proud to call citizens of this town today. I am proud that today, we now have a thriving, modern city where everyone is welcome no matter your color, where you come from, or who you love. But no matter how much we grow and change, one thing that will never go out of style is celebrating our shared history with your neighbors. So I am going to invite Doug Williams, the former Mayor of Salem, to come up and read the words of the Declaration of Independence. I invite everyone to recite them along with him and to reflect on what these words mean to you and what you can do to make the country you live in a more fair, equal, and compassionate place for people to live in.”
Doug came up to the microphone. He cleared his throat. “You know, when I think about Independence Day what I love most about it is that there were only a small number of people who were fighting for what was right back in the days of kings and queens. The colonists who fought for freedom from England fought against all odds. If it was today there’d be people taking bets and most of them would be announcing 24/7 that the colonists were going to be defeated any day now. And then the weather… snow and ice could have done us in before we even had a chance to begin. Think about that as you recite these words along with me.” He put on his reading glasses and
began:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator by certain rights, chief among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...
After he had finished, he said, “And now if you’d indulge me a moment, I’d like to lead us all in song.” He closed his eyes as he began to
sing:
O beautiful,
For spacious skies,
And amber waves of grain…
Everyone sang along. After the song, Doug said, “Happy Independence Day, Salem. While you’re enjoying the food that has been so graciously donated to us by the Brady Pub and the Spicy Pig, please turn your head to the East to enjoy the fireworks.”
JJ put his arm around Paige as a piped-in version of Stars and Stripes Forever began playing and a red, white, and blue firework exploded in the sky.
