Josie's Chronicle

New Chapter all around

- XV-

Joe and Godsey drove slowly through the gate of Nana Jay's community. The guard house was empty, and the car was nowhere in sight. The guard was probably on his rounds or off eating dinner.
It didn't take long to reach the house. It looked alive, every light was on downstairs, and he could hear music playing. Godsey pulled up into the driveway and shut off the headlights. They sat watching the window, waiting to see a silhouette.
Instead, a young woman walked from the back of the house, closely followed by a young man.
"HEY!" Joe yelled out of the window. "What are you doing in my house?!"
The young man stopped. "You're crazy man. This is my grandpa Harold's house. You must be on the wrong street."

Joe sat staring at the house. He knew it wasn't the wrong house. He got out and walked up to the door. He knocked twice and rang the bell.
A young woman, dressed as a nurse, answered the door.
"Can I help you?" The woman appeared tired and not in the mood for visitors.

"Um, ma'am, I'm looking for my mother in law, I haven't heard from her in too many months, and I'm worried."

The nurse sighed and tried to smile. She stepped out of the door and lowered her voice.
"Sir, I was told that the woman who used to own this house has passed away. I don't have any more information than that. You may want to go to the business office in the morning. They may have more information." The woman reached out and touched Joe on the arm gently. "Again, that's all the information I have for you."
She stepped inside the door, and the men heard the lock click into place.

They stood for a moment before heading back to the car.
Dead, Nana Jay, dead. Joe shook his head. He'd hoped that the old woman could help him find her daughter and help clear his name concerning the whole shooting thing. The police were not believing anything he said.
It seems Wilamina's picture on the local news, had brought out a lot of people who had a lot of nonsense to share. One even spoke about how frightened she'd looked at the restaurant the night he told her about Josie's pregnancy. Joe frowned. Too many people in his business didn't sit right with him. Det. Stone didn't seem to be making any progress towards finding Wilamina, and no one would give him any information about Josie or the baby.
Joe had gone to the hospital to check for babies that were born during the month he'd thought his grandchild could have been born, to no avail. It was as if they'd all disappeared from the face of the earth. And now Nana Jay was dead. Joe lit a cigarette and leaned against the car. He didn't know what else to do, who else to talk to about anything. His lawyer wasn't any help, either. He did manage to keep Joe out of jail, so maybe he was good for something.
Joe flicked the cigarette butt into the yard, and a voice from out of nowhere admonished him to pick up his trash. He took a deep breath. Pulled the small flashlight from his pocket and began to search for the butt. Fifteen minutes later, he and Godsey were on their way home.
The trip had been fruitless. He hated not being in control! There had to be something he was missing, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He felt the dull ache in his head again. He rubbed his right temple with his fist, took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Godsey was startled for a split second but remained in control of the vehicle. They rode in silence the rest of the way home.

- XVI -

Wilamina and her mother had attended this group therapy session three times before today. In the beginning, it was a bit comforting to hear that other people had problems worse than yours.
Then today happened. Someone opened a box of issues that closely resembles the one you've kept closed. The woman wore dark glasses, but the bruises on her face were visible. Wilamina had a real memory of what her eyes looked like under the glasses. The woman spoke softly, weeping about her life with her abuser. The bandages on her forearms were discolored with old blood stains and needed to be changed.
Her story started out with a celebration and ended with her in the hospital. She said she truly believed that he'd have killed her if the neighbors hadn't intervened.