It's Got a Beat, Mr. Jones

Take a Message to Mary

Mary drove up to the jail. Bobby hadn't been in jail since before Odette had been born. Mary still wasn't sure what he had done. His phone call hadn't been clear and his words were hard to understand. What had he done? Mary wondered anxiously.
Mary stepped out of the bug. She walked to the jail and entered. She walked into a kind of waiting room. There was a counter with a receptionist sat quietly.
Mary felt like she was in the middle of an Everly Brothers' song. What was she supposed to say? I'm here to get my baby out of jail? Mary scratched her head as she awkwardly thought about phrases to use.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" The receptionist asked.
"Oh, my husband got arrested and he called me and I suppose I'm here to talk to him," Mary said quickly.
"His name?"
"Bobby Rossi, I mean, Roberto Rossi," Mary said stumbling over her.
The receptionist nodded. Soon Mary was sitting outside Bobby's cell.
"What did you do?" She asked.
Bobby smiled at her grimly. "Something very wrong..." He said.
"Bobby, what was it?" Mary insisted.
Bobby wouldn't look at her. "Take a message to Mary, but don't tell what I've done..." He sang quietly.
Mary began to tear up. "What did you do?" She asked.
"I shot a man..." Bobby said quietly.
Mary began to sob. "Why?" She asked through tears.
"He said some things I couldn't deal with..." Bobby said.
"Where did you get the gun?" Mary asked shakily.
"Mario handed it to me..."
Mary leaned against the cell crying. She mumbled why over and over again. Bobby reached for her and touched her hair. She didn't ask the question on her mind. Who was Mario?
"I'm sorry, Mary," He said.
Mary continued to cry. She couldn't stop crying. A million thoughts ran through her head. How was she going to feed Odette without Bobby's money? How was she going to take care of Odette all by herself? What was going to happen to Bobby? Who was Mario?
"Mary, don't stay with me... Find someone else. I was never good for you," Bobby said.
"You won't get to see Odette grow up," Mary said crying.
"I know she'll grow up right," Bobby said. "She has a wonderful mother."
"Dammit Bobby, why?" Mary sobbed.
"I couldn't let him say all those things to us... That fucking blonde haired bastard... We get paid less than him, we work harder than him, and he insults us. I couldn't let him get away with it," Bobby said.
Mary continued to cry. Bobby wanted so desperately to comfort her, but the bars of the cell separated him from her. He touched her hair with his fingers.
"Go to Eddie," Bobby said.
Mary looked at him with her tear stained face. "What?"
"John told me what happened. Eddie's better than I am," Bobby said.
Mary rubbed her eyes. "But I love you," She said.
"Mary, take some advice my mother gave my sisters when they were younger, never love a man in prison," Bobby said.
The guard coughed. Mary turned to him. "You have to leave," He said.
Mary looked back at Bobby. She didn't want to say goodbye. Bobby smiled at her weakly. "Goodbye," He said.
Mary left crying. She drove back to her house. She walked into her house. John was sitting up on the couch. Mary walked into her bedroom and threw herself on her bed and closed her eyes. John looked into the bedroom.
"What did Bobby do?" He asked.
"He shot someone..." Mary said into the pillow.
"He what?!" John exclaimed.
Mary sat up. "He shot someone," She repeated.
John stared at her. "Oh god," He said.
John was holding Odette in his arms. Odette began to cry. Mary held her arms out for her baby. John handed Odette to Mary. Mary shushed Odette softly, but Odette wouldn't stop crying. She wasn't wet and when John tried to give her a bottle she would take it. Mary rocked her, but Odette wouldn't stop crying.
Mary couldn't take it any more and began to cry herself. John left the room awkwardly. Mary and Odette cried until neither of them had anything else left to cry. Mary went to the restroom and washed her face. Odette was now quiet.
There was a knock at the door. Mary walked to the door, hoping that she didn't look like she had been crying. She opened the door slowly. It was Eddie.
"John called me and told me what happened," He said simply. "Did he really shoot someone?"
Mary nodded her head. She couldn't find the words to explain it anymore.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mary," Eddie said.
Mary shrugged and walked back into the living room. Eddie followed her, carefully closing the door behind him. John was asleep on the couch. Mary gently moved his legs up so she could sit down then laid them over her. Eddie stood in the doorway to the living room quietly.
"Why are you so calm?" He asked.
"I've already cried for an hour," Mary said. "I don't have anything left now..."
Eddie walked over and sat on the arm of the couch beside her. "Do you want to stay with me until this is all sorted out?" He asked.
Mary shrugged.
"I've got an extra bedroom and I can buy a cradle for Odette," Eddie said.
Mary looked up at him. "Thank you, but I don't know... I think I should stay here," She said.
"You can't stay here alone," Eddie said.
"John's here with me," Mary said.
"John's just a kid," Eddie insisted.
Mary shrugged.
"I'll stay here with you," He said.
"I don't have an extra room," Mary said.
"You can't stay here by yourself," Eddie said.
"You can sleep on the couch then," Mary said.
"Where's John going to sleep?" Eddie asked.
"He can sleep on my bed with me, he's just a kid like you said," Mary said shrugging.
Eddie looked at John for a little bit. Eddie sighed. He guessed he could sleep on a couch. He hadn't done it in awhile, but it was better than letting Mary stay in a house alone.
It was getting late so Mary decided to go to bed. Odette was asleep already so Mary laid Odette down into her crib. Mary brushed her teeth and laid down in bed. Eddie popped his head into his room.
"Should I wake up John and bring him in here?" He asked.
Mary was too tired to think. "Just go to bed here," She said sighing and closing her eyes.
She felt the covers move and the mattress toss slightly, but Eddie stayed as far from her as possible, laying on the very edge of the bed. Mary fell asleep quickly. The day had taken a toll on her.
Mary woke up early in the morning. Eddie had rolled nearer to her in the night, but he still hadn't touched her. She got out of bed. Eddie moaned at the sudden movement of the bed. Mary looked at the clock on the wall. It was six in the morning. She walked into the kitchen an started to make herself a cup of coffee.
Mary heard Odette crying from in her room. Mary started to walk back to her room. She left her coffee half made in the kitchen. When she walked into the room Eddie was holding and rocking Odette. He was singing a quiet song to her. Mary crossed her arms and stood in the doorway of her room.
Eddie looked up at Mary and smiled. "She woke me up," He said.
Mary nodded and turned to walk back to the kitchen. John was still asleep. He looked so peaceful. Mary finished making her coffee.
Eddie walked into the kitchen with Odette in his arms. Mary looked over at him. "You want some coffee?" She asked.
Eddie nodded. Mary poured him some coffee into a mug. "Do you want anything in it?" She asked.
"No, that's fine," He said taking the cup from her. He took a sip of the coffee and smiled at her.
Mary smiled back. It was a small smile and slightly guarded, but a smile none the less. Eddie's smiled widened and for that instant he wanted to kiss her, but he kept himself away from her. Her husband had only been in prison for a day and she loved him a lot. He looked over at the clock on the wall to give him something to get her lips off his mind.
It was six thirty-eight.