Sorting Through Life's Puzzle Pieces

Chapter 6

          "I have been looking for you, mister." Shawna stormed into the dormitory common room. "You need to come with me."

"What's going on? Maeve is off today which she pointed out this morning. And afternoon, evening as well as during dinner."

"This isn't about her being assigned to you, this is about her."

"Is she alright?" Tom asked, thinking back to the soccer game at lunch.

"Of course, she's not, that's why I came looking for you. She may very well not even speak to you right now, but if you want her to know you have any kind of sincere interest in her, you need to see her like this."

"Is she ill? Injured?" She stopped to look at his worried expression.

"She came to us ill and injured, Tom. Tonight, just seems to be salt on the wound." When he stopped, she grabbed his arm and pulled him along behind her. If he hadn't been tall, she would have tripped him a few times, as she was now dragging him along the dark ground toward a fire at the edge of the grounds.

"Hey, Babes. I've brought you a bottle of water," Shawna handed the silent woman the bottle she had in her cargo bag. The woman could support a small country, really, with the level of items she seemed to be able to stow.

"Thank you, "Maeve responded in a small voice. "Did you bring the rest?" Tom watched as this enigma of a woman lifted a cigarette to her lips. My angel doesn't smoke! What the hell is going on?! "Do you really want to do this, Mae? I mean, what if- "

"Just give me the damn hammer, Shawna. You don't need to worry about my regrets. Lord, knows I have plenty." To surprise him even more she lifted a bottle of tequila and drank straight from it. When he moved to speak, Shawna motioned for him to stop and pointed at the box between his feet and Maeve's seat. He decided to pull one over for himself and wait for something to happen.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, reciting iambic pentameter as he waited for Maeve to even acknowledge his presence while he stared at the flames. Sometimes one of them would add a log, small though they were. He stretched a bit and when he looked down, he noticed a piece of paper had fallen out of the box. Picking it up, he looked over and saw Maeve playing with the necklace she seemed to never take off, even for a moment.

My dear daughter,

I wasn't going to tell you this, but I was told that if I held onto it, there would be more hurt later. Please understand that my intention was to protect you from this. You have been through so much and I figured I had made the right decision at the time. Here goes....

Dear God! What he read now made everything come together from the past few days.

"Maeve?" He really couldn't think of anything to say.

"He cut the brake lines." Maeve had placed the chain with the rings on the stones surrounding the fire. Her hands held the hammer, which looked heavy in her drunk hands. "He cut the goddamn BRAKE LINES!" she swung the hammer and he watched the small pieces of jewelry shatter at the blow as tears streamed down her face. When she continued swinging- he understood that this wasn't just salt, this was a fresh, new wound to the scar.

He grabbed the hammer before she hurt herself, as she screamed. "out, out darn spot!" he heard her murmur. He pulled her to him, keeping her from grabbing the hammer to break anything else. "Stop that! You know you did not kill them. Don't you dare blame yourself, for his choice. HIS! He took them. You didn't do this."

"I put them in the car, Tom. I had a bad feeling and instead of listening to it, I trusted him to keep them safe. 'I'll have them back by dinner. We'll get some ice-cream and go to the park. It'll wear them out by bedtime.' I felt like something was off. I just didn't stop them from leaving." Her sobs filled the air as she weakened from her rage.

Tom lifted her and settled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke softly into her ear. "Just because you felt something was wrong doesn't mean his choice was your fault. His choice. He did this, not you. You were a great mother."

"How do you know? You don't know me."

"No, but I'd like to. I also have been very observant and when you are with the children here, you treat them like an extension of your arm. Please, see that. Stop blaming yourself for this. I don't know how much more that beautiful soul of yours can take before your glow starts to go out."