Chaos Before Freedom

Chapter 6 - Doris & Tom

In the narrative of Doris

Doris's Flashback

They were an interesting couple from the day they moved into the neighborhood. There was something not right, they didn't interact like a married couple in love with each other. More like an owner and servant, maybe slave is a better choice of words. I thought maybe the lady of the house was just one of those quiet types, that only needed her shell cracked. We made friends quickly, but that shell must have been created from iron. Boy Vira is a hard nut to crack, she doesn't let anyone close for sure. Other than living with Freddie, I don't think she actually shares anything with the man.

I remember the day they moved in on Oak Street. It was a hot summer's day and apparently, newlyweds, being married for only three or four months, they sure didn't act like a freshly married couple. Freddie was barking orders at the moving men, while Vira was unpacking and putting things in their places as the men brought them in. But she didn't look them in the eye just off to the side when addressing them. That was odd. I figured maybe she was a shy gal. I decided to make them a welcome to the neighborhood pie. I chose to make a Dutch apple pie for it. I made myself busy in the kitchen when my husband Tom came in and asked, "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

"I am making the new neighbors an apple pie." With my brows peaked up, I gave him a look of isn't it obvious what I am doing? Of course, he only chuckled, asking "Are you going to make one for us too? I sure love your pies. Heck, I will even help."

"Help? Really, the last time you helped me there was no pie, just the crust. You ate the filling."

"Well, I will try to do better this time, I promise." He said while smiling that crazy about you smile. Even his green eyes smiled, that little ditty 'when Irish eyes are smiling' that fit him to a T. He even knew every word of that song, should have, since he was the second generation of Irish decent. His hair was not a fiery red, it was more like a reddish brunette, but that red was in there for sure. Especially when the lighting was just right, then it looked even more red than brown. He was fit but not built like a steel mill worker. Maintaining a good job as the head of the engineering department. Basically, he was always looking at blueprints of machinery and searching for ways to improve them. Standing about five foot eight, so not the tallest guy out there in the world. But still taller than my five feet and five inches. He had a strong square-like jaw with almond-shaped eyes, his nose and lips went perfectly with it all. Tom and I have been married for five years we started as sweethearts in school. I have loved him from the first day I saw him. And he knew it, but at least I didn't say you are the one I am going to marry someday a month into the relationship. Being lost in my own thoughts, concentrating on that dang crust that was not cooperating at the moment. Tom, looking out the window, broke the silence. "He seems like a character, doesn't he?"

"What do you mean by that one, dear?"

"I haven't seen him smile, not once. Not even when his wife came out to speak to him. Looks a bit like a stone to tell you the truth. But then again, it might just be a bad moving day."

"True, not everyone spends three months moving." He turned to look at me with that comment. c*****g his head and giving me a smirk, retorting. "Can I help that I can't keep my hands off from you?" Moving away from the window, he came over and helped keep the mess from my pie making from spreading over our yellow kitchen. While the pies were cooling, I prepared a pot roast for dinner. One of my favorite meals to cook when baking as I can cook the side and vegetables right in the same pot. From the opened window I heard the moving truck finally leave next door. The stern man now checking around the house. He seemed disappointed with it, but by the looks of it he likes to be in the thick of it, smack dabbed in the middle of the city. I called out to Tom, "Tom, would you like to come with me?"

"Yes, dear, I think I should." I could hear him putting down the Sunday paper with his response. Should that is interesting, when the Roberts moved in on the other side, he only said that he would not should. Makes me wonder what is going on in his thinking. Tom doesn't miss judging anyone, like a blood hound. If he thinks they are no good, they probably are. As we walked over and Tom, the ever so considerate husband, decided to carry the pie for me. After we knocked, it took a good minute for someone to open the door. There stood a tall, but not quite six feet, slender, frame, his eyes were close together with the combo of his facial features put me in mind of a rat. He sounded like those Italian mobsters in the radio shows when he spoke "Hello, what can I do for you today?" He asked. Tom spoke up "Oh, we saw that you just moved in, and the Mrs. here baked you a welcoming pie." He handed it to the man, which he looked over to the left and said "Vira, would you come and put this in the kitchen. We have some guests." He took the pie from Tom and a sweat-faced lady came out of nowhere, taking it from his hand without a word. "Would you join us for a slice...?" Freddie continued.

"Oh, Tom and Doris Reilly, we live right over there." Tom said, indicating our home. "But how about a rain check, Doris has dinner on the stove, we just thought some, dessert might be a nice treat after a hard day of moving."

"I see... Well, I am Fredrick Krouse but most everyone calls me Freddie. And that is my wife, Vira." His tone about himself was full of pride, but when it came to her it was less enthused.

"Nice you meet you both." I piped up. "Welcome to the neighborhood. I hope we will become friends." Saying that last part looking right at Vira.

She was quiet in her response "Thank you, I would like that very much."

"We were about to go out for dinner. I would invite you, but as you said you had dinner on the stove?" Freddie, gesturing to the lady and himself.

"Yes, sorry for keeping you." Tom quickly responded. Taking my arm turning to go home. Before shutting the door, Freddie added "No problem, we should get together later. We know no one here and it would be good for Vira to have a friend close by." It wasn't long before the model T sedan left the drive, totting them both down the street.

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Since then, Vira and I have become good friends. I still don’t think I know all there is to know about Vira that normal friends would know. She was sort of a mystery woman her true If Freddie isn't around, she can actually speak up. I am not sure, but sometimes it seems she is two different ladies. What I'd seen she was kind of shaky around him, always quite being sure not to raise her voice. Keeping her eyes down and not making eye contact with any male. Constantly off to the side or at her own feet. Using what I call her mousy tone when she speaks. Low and quiet, not a whisper but not far from it, just an overly submissive tone. In all my life I have never seen a married woman react the way Vira did towards Freddie. Whatever Freddie ordered her to do… she did it. He would say hurtful things to her not blatantly more of a side hand way. But I sure picked up on it and so did Tom. But it was a rarity to see them both out together, and most of the time other than the market it was mostly Freddie. Vira was kept at the house like a pet, that is what it appeared to be. Vira was a constant reminder for those of us who have seen them together to be grateful to our husbands for not being a bastard. All men get testy every once in a while, some even play man of the house bull way to often. But not like Freddie he might as well have put her in shackles and kept her in the shed calling it the slave quarters.

This mentality I have seen him do first hand, as we became friends we would gather at each other’s homes for coffee and visiting sometimes even a game or two. He would order her to go get this or that, it didn’t matter that it was within his reach or not. And it also didn’t matter if she was about to take a bite. At one point during one of these gatherings when Vira was out of ear shot doing one of his orders. Freddie told us that Vira had a mental break down before they moved here. And spent some time in a sanitarium requiring medication to function at times. Alright that might make some sense if your mind didn’t work like ours did… It seemed way too fishy. When her new doctor took her off the medication Freddie was not a happy camper. Tried like hell to get her back on those medications, even tried going to other doctors but they all said the same thing. They didn’t think she needed them. Eventually he got over it, at least that is what it looked like.

Matter of fact, I have only seen her have strong eye contact with one man. The fire in her eyes just sparked up when she set eyes on him one Sunday afternoon in the cafe. Tom and I took her and Freddie too after church. I had never seen that in her before. But in her defense, that man was eye candy. Tall, broad shoulders, built like a brick house. Chiseled features and, oh, those eyes like pools of the cool green-blue sea. The man was dreamy, to say the least. I acted like I saw nothing, and when we were leaving and he gave her a grocery list, I was sure it was not even a list, but I said anything.

I was busy with all my events and group the week after. It was getting closer to the holidays coming. There were an allot of things we did for the community. It was still in that warm during the days and cold during the nights, the portion before fall gave into the winter. The guys were going on a hunting trip or fishing. They never get their cover up right. Basically, the guys would go out to a cabin and yes, there would be some hunting, but mostly it was a guy’s getaway. Where they would do what they said they were going up for, but it was a weekend-long beer feast. No one said anything about it, obviously it was illegal to drink. The owner of the cabin, being one of the men in the group, would produce the beer right there. Guess moonshine or whiskey was too obvious, small batches of beer were less noticeable. Tom told me that sometimes when Freddie would go up to Chicago the week or two before, he would sometimes bring back harder liquors. So that was probably where he was last Saturday night. He never took Vira with him on those trips either. Come to think of it, if it wasn't out to dinner, he didn't take her anywhere.

I was out doing some shopping after the guys left. I would have asked Vira to come along with me but surprisingly, she wasn't home. While walking to another shop downtown, I saw Vira storm out of a furniture store with that same handsome man following after her. Storming out that was a new one for Vira. But she looked absolutely defiant yet mortified with fear plastered on her face. He would reach out to her, and she only tore herself away. I could not hear anything, only watching from across the street. I thought about coming to her aid before she left him standing there alone. He hung his head down low, it looked like he was fighting back tears or something. They must know each other; this was odd behavior for a first meeting. He probably knows now that she's married. This is the most expression that I have ever seen out of her. From what I saw, it was a short altercation.

I decided I would invite Vira over for dinner later tonight. She probably could use a distraction from earlier events. Or maybe just an ear to bend for a minute about it. I put my things away and started preparing dinner. It was nothing much but cleaning up the leftovers from a couple of previous diners. It was pretty good even including a fruit dessert. But I kept thinking about the scene I had seen earlier.

I should keep my nose out of her business. Admittedly I was itching to know what that was all about.

When I got to her door, I found something out of place. Her flower pot from the kitchen windowsill was sitting on her front porch when I approached. I gave her pot back to her, accepted my dinner invitation. I was really glad she did, being without Tom at home it was too quiet. Tom often joked that he needed to get me a talking bird or at least a dog to talk too when he was away.

It didn't get weird until we were cleaning up the after-dinner dishes. I know I didn't bump into her that hard, but her reaction was like that is exactly what I did.

"Let me see" I told her. She resisted and tried covering it up quickly but failed. It was true what Tom, and I suspected all this time. Freddie was beating the hell out of her on a regular basis. Now all those absent church summons and socials made sense. I offered a place for her to store some cash so she could escape when possible. But there is a burning question I have to ask, "So who is the blond stud?"

"That would be Arthur. We were engaged once. But there was a mistake made that led me to believe he had moved on. So, I also moved on with life. It was cleared up after it was too late. I was already married. We moved here shortly afterwards."

"What is he doing here? Now? Is there something funny going on there?" I asked, quirking my brows up and down. She only blushed a little and responded, "I am not sure on as why yet or why right now. I believe it has something to do with my family. And no, there is nothing going on. I am sure he has moved on now."

I really enjoyed our little adventure with Arthur, it was almost like a treasure hunt. But what really surprised me was what Arthur did, I am still shocked about it. What kind of man would do something like that for a woman he no longer loved. What Vira couldn’t see I saw with bold color. He did in fact have to love her, and as much as she tried to hide it she hoped he did. It was a lovely day over all while the guys where gone and I have to admit it I enjoyed spending time with Vira, and getting to know Arthur. I think both and Arthur could not quite understand why she didn’t just leave Freddie right now. It was the perfect opportunity as far as we could see it. But not Vira she seen trouble brewing if she did. I could only imagine what was going on in her mind, what she saw coming for those who could be linked to it.

Did she see Freddie waiting for Tom to be gone then confront me for information however he thought appropriate. Would Tom get hurt because he protected me or defend my honor in the aftermath. And Arthur seemed to be a passionate person himself. Even I could see him as a man who would go after Freddie. If Freddie put her away or killed her, I am not sure Arthur would be clearly thinking. Even the calmest, smartest people can falter in their emotions. If I were to be honest, I would panic almost every day of my life if I had Vira’s life. I would be the one to try to run on nothing but needing to run. Sometimes that works for people, but often doesn’t, especially without some sort of support system or a plan. She could put so many at risk by panicking or just running on emotions. But she is here standing trying to protect others and taking on the brunt of it, instead of just taking help. She is thinking, strategically planning so the risk will be limited and those put at risk down to what she hopes is only her. They say that god only gives you what you can handle. This doesn’t seem like something God would give more like the devil. Maybe God gave her strength for what the devil threw into her life.

I am normally the happy-go-lucky type of lady, have been from the get-go. But lately it has been hard to say exactly all the emotions that have been stirred up in the pot. I felt bad for her knowing the truth and as soon as Tom got home, I planned on telling him everything I learned. I did, however, forget to tell him about Arthur, his appearance in the current moment was small and faded in the background to the bigger picture. Especially with the events that happened within the following week. I could even hear the muffled ruckus coming from Vira’s in our kitchen. My heart started to climb into my throat, my fear was only confirmed when Tom came rushing back in. He was going to call the police, but that would be precious time that she may not have.

Once that son of a b***h Freddie was toted down the street we ran into the home, first finding bits of cloth and blood on the floor. Tossed furniture my thoughts instantly wondered if we were going to find her body without out the soul inside or not. While Tom looked in other parts of the home for her, I started back in the bathroom. I found her I did, she was taking her prevention medication can’t say I blame her one bit. Who in the hell would want to have that bastard’s children. She sure was bloodied up, dress all torn and tattered. It was even stained with some splatters of blood and grease obviously from this morning’s breakfast.

Tom and I both urged her to go right now, just to leave. But she knew better, something we couldn’t prevent was Freddie hunting her down. After Tom dropped us back off, she enlightened me on just how far Freddie has gone. Things about how placid she was when they first moved in, everything started falling into place. She tried to run and was only able to obtain temporary freedom, luckily, she was in a nicer sanitarium compared to some of the other asylums available. Not only that he cut her off from her family with a treat of him physically hurting them or her. His promise if she ever left again like those other times she would find herself not in the cozy sanitarium but one of the worst women’s asylum he could find. Vira was living a live nightmare everyday of her life, she was screwed halfway to Sunday, sort of speak.

I made her go to bed for some rest that first day, while I did all the cleaning and cooked dinner for that piece of s**t husband of hers. It seemed to me that it was too little done to help my friend, sure not enough to merit the thankfulness that Vira gave in return. Everyday I left her to that monster, while I was safe with my own personal knight in shining armor in our home. It didn’t feel fair that men like Freddie were even able to have wives. She wasn’t a slave, and that is the closest description of his treatment of her. Why in a world full of opportunities and hope would villains be gifted with so much. But there inline the balance, there would be no stories of knights saving the damsel in distress. Or heroes overcoming impossible odds. As children we all want to live a fairy tale life, at least the ending portion. Very few truly live the full horrors of such tales, much less survive and still get the happy ever after. Something I really hope Vira will get, but she is a hero in my eyes.

On one of the days, I was helping her clean I was cussing Freddie under my breath, so I thought. But Vira heard everything I was saying, her question caught me off guard. “Doris? Are you from the sandhills?” I was a little bit shocked no one has ever just caught on just like that before.

“Actually, we are, how did you guess?”

“Your accent.”

“My accent? What accent?”

“Well it is most of the time really undertone, like you haven’t exposed to many that also have it. But when you get angry, I sure can hear that southern twain come out.”

I blushed slightly, it had been something I lived with all my life, I never giving it much thought. “As I have been told, after the civil war, and during the migration west many southern families moved to the area. Creating a unique accent of the habitants.”

“What about Tom? I haven’t heard it from him.”

I laughed as I answered her “He is a transplant, his father was working on the railroad and took the job for station round house.”

“That makes sense, Tom seems to be somewhat obsessed with trains.” Vira giggled out.

“You are telling me” We both laughed. I knew that was the reason he got into engineering.

“So, what is your story? We have been friends for so long but never really able to talk about our past before marriages any ways.”

“It isn’t much of a story, the area I grew up in you are from a railroad or ranch family. My father worked as a post office master; mother worked down at the diner part time. They had what one would call a hobby farm, just enough to support our little family food wise. It sure helped putting food on the table.”

“That sounds nice. How long had your parents lived up there?”

“They were born there. Guess you might say school sweethearts run in the family with mine.” I chuckled a little “On my father’s side originated from some southern state, they don’t talk about it much. But apparently great grandpa was a part of the abolitionist or sympathizers. Stuck out like a sore thumb among his peers, that included his own father. And when he took over the plantation a lot of things changed when he took over. He supposedly never legally married our grandmother, but she wore his ring with pride. Before you even ask no one knows why or even if that was true. There was a scandal around the couple in their younger days.”

“I can understand that people love to talk about things they don’t even know but think they do.”

No matter how I thought Vira probably would accept the suspicion of my grandmother being a mulatto. I was still grateful she did not ask what the scandal was. It was her that had given her children and grandchildren the lovely shade of an olive skin tone. I was often complemented on it combined with my own unique golden brunette hair and brown hazel eyes. But it was something grandmother fret over often not to tell others about the scandal she feared for our lives. Which made sense going on the southern area she married into from France. All that mattered is that my husband Tom didn’t care he loved me no matter what.

My mother blamed my father’s side for our passion, and at the same time was glad we inherited grandmother’s glow. Mom being almost as white as a sheet, her appearance was that of a fine porcelain doll. As beautiful as she was, her complaint about it was the sun burns, and during the cold winter weather she would have cherry color like rosy cheeks. For that fact she never wore rouge especially in those bitter months.

During the rest of Vira’s recovery at least the subject matter lightens up. We do discuss her plans for escape and just how we get things moving without Freddie noticing. On the weekends when he goes to… I think Chicago, we would invite her over here for the majority of meals. Plus it was a good way to move money and her belongings. But none of us seen what was coming next.