1976
On August 9th, 1958, Wayne Munson married his childhood sweetheart, Patsy Gates, in a small ceremony at Hawkins Presbyterian Church. They lived a modest life in Hawkins where Wayne worked at the plant and Patsy worked at the public library. Patsy's dream in life was to have a baby, a little boy that she would call Wayne Jr. But luck was not on their side. They visited fertility doctor after fertility doctor looking for a solution, but one never came. Eventually, Wayne brought up the idea of adoption. If they couldn't have a baby of their own, there were plenty of them out there looking for a good family to raise them.
In the spring of 1968, Wayne and Patsy visited with an adoption agency in Indianapolis. They were told their application looked promising, and the caseworker that was assigned to them thought they had a really good chance of adopting a baby. But fortune still refused to smile on them. When they returned home from that visit with their caseworker, Wayne found his 'Notice to Report for Induction' in the mailbox. He had been drafted. Before he left for Vietnam, Wayne promised Patsy that they would try again when he got home.
Wayne came home in the summer of 1975. Patsy was just so happy to have him back after seven years that she didn't even bring up trying again to adopt a child. Those had been the longest seven years of her life, alone, the man she'd loved her whole life on the other side of the world, fighting an illegal war against an enemy that wasn't theirs. And he seemed so tired, so worn, so much older than when he'd left. He was only thirty-eight years old, but the things he'd seen had taken their toll on him.
On January 1, 1976, Wayne sat Patsy down and told her that he wanted to start the new year with a fresh start. He wanted to try again. He wanted a son. So, they went back to the adoption agency. They met with caseworkers, single pregnant women wanting to put their babies up for adoption, and so many other people that their heads were spinning. There were so many children available. Patsy would have adopted them all if they could afford it.
In February, at the agency's office, Patsy was talking to an unwed, pregnant girl in private with their caseworker, so Wayne had stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. When he came back in, he took a seat on a bench in the hallway to wait for his wife. As he waited, two police officers came in with a small boy in tow. The boy had a mop of unruly dark curls and the biggest brown eyes Wayne had ever seen. He peeked at Wayne from behind one of the cops and when Wayne smiled, the boy ducked back behind the officer's leg.
"Sit down, boy," the older cop barked at the little boy. "And don't you move a damned muscle, or I'll lock you up just like your daddy." The little boy cowered and shook, but he obeyed the officer and sat on the opposite end of the bench from Wayne. "I'm going to talk to your caseworker. Stay put, you hear me?" He nodded and the younger officer put a raggedy suitcase on the floor next to him. "Officer Purcell is going to be right here watching you. I don't want any more trouble out of you."
"I'll keep an eye on him." The older cop disappeared through a door and Officer Purcell glared at the little boy. "I'm going to the end of the hall to smoke a cigarette," he told him. "I can see you through the glass in the door. If you get off that bench or try to start any trouble, I'll cuff you to the wall."
Wayne watched the cop leave and step out the same door where he himself had gone to smoke. He knew for a fact that you couldn't see the bench they were on through that door. He watched the little boy for a moment. He looked terrified, and also like he'd been crying. But if he was in the charge of Purcell and that older cop, the mean old snakes, he knew they probably weren't showing him any kindness whatsoever. The little boy peeked up at him, his eyes innocent and scared, and Wayne's heart melted.
"Hey, kid," he said softly, not wanting to scare him. "What's your name?"
"Eddie," he whispered so low that Wayne barely heard it.
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