Part Eighteen

  Virginia arrived home, it had been six long months since her last trip into town. James Michael felt relieved, thinking his mother would be home a while to take care of his siblings and to give him a much needed break. She cooked the entire weekend though she was also drunk the whole time. Wanting to avoid seeing Arlis, she washed her clothes and took a flight to spend time with a new boyfriend no one knew about. She took the flight and wouldn't tell anyone where she was going or when she'd return. James Michael resumed the responsibility of taking care of his siblings he'd been overloaded with. Another week went by and Arlis stopped by to drop off the child support like he usually did. James Michael not being his real son, felt bad accepting the weekly child support from Arlis but he had to have a way to feed his siblings. There were times Arlis would stare a hole through James Michael as though he'd never seen him before, though Arlis treated him as if he was his real son most of the time. This particular day Arlis had been drinking, his eyes were glassed over and he had a faraway look in his face. Somehow he'd discovered Virginia had come into town and had taken a flight somewhere. He questioned James Michael though Mike had no idea of his mother's whereabouts or when she'd return. Arlis took this moment to tell Mike that he knew Virginia had flown somewhere to meet a new boyfriend. Mike related he didn't know about the new boyfriend or who he was since he'd never seen or heard of him before. Tears in his eyes, Arlis branded a pistol that he began loading and unloading, not saying a word. Mike immediately became scared as soon as he saw Arlis with the pistol in his hands. He remembered his mother telling everyone that Arlis was mentally insane. Frozen, standing beside the driver's door, Mike just knew Arlis was about to go on a shooting rampage. There was no way or where he could run before Arlis would shoot and kill him so Mike stayed put, awaiting Arlis's next move. Mike lied to him, stating his mother had flown to be alone somewhere because the pressure of everything had gotten to her and she needed a break. Arlis began crying, telling Mike that he was going to kill himself right there on the spot because he loved Virginia and he couldn't bear living without her. Mike began crying and begged Arlis to please put the gun away, that he'd do his best to talk to his mother and try to get her to agree to try to make their marriage work. An hour went by, Mike crying and nervous, not knowing if his own life was about to be over also. He just knew if Arlis was going to kill himself that he'd shoot him first. Worried about his siblings inside the house, Mike begged and pleaded in a very soft voice for Arlis to unload the pistol and put it away. After quite a while Arlis unloaded the pistol and let Mike take it out of his hand. Mike had been holding onto the barrel of the pistol the entire time in hopes he could talk Arlis out of wanting to kill himself and more than likely killing his siblings and himself first. Heart racing like mad, Mike gently pulled the unloaded pistol out of Arlis's tight grip and walked around the other side of the car, placing the pistol and bullets inside the glovebox compartment. Mike knew very well that Arlis was on edge so he hid the bullets deep in the back of the glovebox underneath some maps and papers. Getting in the passenger side, Mike sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Arlis finally stopped crying and his anger resided a bit. Attempting to distract Arlis from his thoughts and to get him away from the house where his siblings were, Mike asked him if he could drive him to the store to pick up something for supper. Arlis cranked his car and drove him to the store, then went inside with Mike to get some groceries. Mike only picked up a few things and Arlis paid for them, refusing to allow mike to pay for them with the child support he'd given him. All the way back, Arlis kept saying over and over for Mike to talk to his mother to try to get them back together. Mike assured him that he'd do all he could to help get them back together and Arlis dropped him off at home and left. Mike was so relieved when Arlis had left, Ricky and Ronny had come outside when Arlis had been threatening to kill himself and when Arlis had his head on the steering wheel crying, Mike rushed to the back of the car and told Ricky and Ronny to get back in the house or they wouldn't be getting any ice cream after supper. They'd minded him and had went back inside when everything was happening, Mike had been through more in the last hour than he'd ever been through before in his young life and was glad his mother, he, his siblings, and Arlis were all still alive.

  Later in the week Virginia called and Mike related to her what all had transpired since she'd left on her flight. Stating she'd planned to be back home in a week, she decided she'd better stay gone a while longer. She kept telling Mike that Arlis was crazy and he'd kill everyone and himself if he wasn't locked up in jail. Virginia called the police and they came by to question Mike about the events that had happened earlier in the week. Mike told the police that nothing had happened like what his mother had told them that had happened. He felt if he'd told the truth that they'd question Arlis and he'd return and kill everyone and himself. Mike had come to the realization that Arlis wasn't crazy, it was his mother that seemed crazy to him. He'd come to the conclusion that if Arlis was crazy as she'd often said he was that Arlis would've certainly  killed him, his siblings and then turned the pistol on himself. After the police left, Mike went back inside and pulled Ricky and Ronny away from the windows they'd been staring out of. Mike hoped there was a way he could talk to his mother when she returned and he hoped she'd be sober.