Bailey

Bailey

Chapter 1


The streets of Barrington were bustling with activity. Fresh fruit markets, women gossiping, children laughing, and construction workers building a new clock. It was a rather friendly town square in the heart of America. But these aren't the typical stories I'm about to tell.

At the end of Harrison road and a long-stone driveway, sat a trailer. It was quiet here, with the only noise coming from a German Shepard chomping away at his bone.

"Ray!" Yelled, Bailey, from the living room. She was aging gracefully in her late 30's, her petite figure and blonde hair intact. She put her needle and thread down on the old velvety couch with the sunken cushions. "Come here for a sec!"

"Bailey! You're going to be "Bruisely Bailey" if you keep it up. What do you want now?"

"I can't find my pin cushion." Bailey was working on yet another sewing project. She did well making clothing for her eight-year-old daughter. Although, mostly, it seemed more of a hassle than a past-time. She usually tried to keep a positive mind with her Scriptures, but even that was an effort. When she was alone and had them at her side was her only time of peace.

"Well, hell, maybe Surge took it when he came in. I'll look outside." Ray found the pin cushion laying next to Surge in the unkempt grass next to the driveway."Surge! Quit taking things that don't belong to you! What are you going to do with this? Chew it to pieces? … pay-day Surge, then you get a bone. Lay off dog!" yelled Ray as he walked back inside.

"Thanks Ray. I can always count on you."

"Yeah, and don't take it for granted, woman. What do you need done today? I finished up the garage yesterday."

Oh, by the way, where's Haley?"

"She's at a picnic with the other girls and mothers. They picked her up at two. She'll be back around four."

"Why don't you take a load off, sit down and watch one of your shows with me? I could use the company."

"Nah, I'll head back out and finish the yard."

Bailey was more than unsettled in her current life, and she had trouble with raising her eight year old daughter. She would brood to exhaustion on how it could have gone better. But she loved her so much. When she got to this point, she'd imagine herself being swept away in The Promise of Castle Sweet, her favorite soap. As it played, she gave in to her thoughts of how she always wanted a boy. She felt incompetent to raise her daughter in comparison to the feelings she would have had with a son. She was glad to have Ray, her husband, even if he didn't talk to her much. In these eight years, she never got used to it. Although, she wished she had. Daughters were more defiant, at least, In her mind anyway,

with sons more pushovers, with being smothered and all. She tried to take her mind off of it, and looked at the TV. "Although to be fair, Haley did have a lot of love in her", she thought trying to uplift herself.

Ray came in from the yard, sweating and covered with grass. "How's the show?"

"Brooke is pregnant with Ryan's baby." Ray's laughter trails behind him as he walked out back with a bottle of beer.

"I'll finish this later, I'm covering up."she muttered to herself, pulling the quilt over her head and curling into the couch.

Bailey did have her own fantasy world, and it was the perfect time to dwell in her dreams. "Where would I pick him up?" Bailey wondered. "The market place, the field next to the firehall?". She knew it would be tough because all of the mothers practically tied a leash around their children. It was a dark fantasy, but one that would solve all of her problems.

She went through the process one step at a time. The boy she always wanted would someday be hers. Then she'd run away with him, with her life savings, crossing the country to Vancouver. She'd miss Ray, so she thought she might name the boy Ray. He would be twelve. It would be a brave, perhaps sociopathic endeavor, but she'd show that boy more love than any real mother. SHE would be his real mother. No Haley, and no stress from her temper tantrums.

"Just abandon her. She'll be fine with Ray."she thought. Scared and distracted, she rushed to the bedroom and locked the door. She packed everything she could think of, including Haley's shampoo and soap. "I need to keep him looking clean." She said to herself. "My life savings will help pay for his clothing, and anything else we need.

"Ray is capable of working. He has Haley. He'll be fine without me."


Chapter 2


It was barely dawn when she grabbed her bags, thanking God that Ray was a deep sleeper. She left a note on the fridge blackboard.

"Gone Shopping"

Bailey started her car, and took off to carry out her plot. Lucky for her, Beechnut Café opened at seven A.M.

"I take it black," she said, as she scurried to an table outside. Here she was able to sit and scan the town center with her roaming eyes.

"Mommy!" A boy yelled running up to grab his mother's hand. "Wait for me!"

Bailey fumed at the careless mother, and thought, "Most don't deserve them anyway."

"This IS going to happen." She muttered out loud, as she walked to the park.

"Mrs. Conway! Nice to see you!" Shocked, she looked up at Mr. Carnahan.

"Not feeling well today, have to get back Mr. Carnahan. Sorry, can't talk." She took her black coffee and hurried down the road.

Her impatience devoured her. She entered the park, not far from her car, and spotted two boys playing on the monkey bars.

"Your mother asked me to come get you", she said to the most precious looking one. "She's sick with pneumonia and might be dying. You have to see her quick."

"My mommy's sick? Why didn't she come get me?"

"She can't get out of bed. Come with me, quick."

The boy took her hand, as she rushed to her passenger door.

"Hurry, get in." The tires screeched as she drove North towards the border.

She knew she'd have to drive fast to get some distance. She could not wait to be able to take her boy to get pancakes and ask him all about him.

"Where are we going? My mommy's house is that way!" The boy pointed to the rear window.

Bailey's terror, kept her from noticing much about the boy at all. She glanced to her side. Blue eyes, wavy, dark, short hair, with his boy clothes. Oh, how she missed the boy clothes, after years of struggling with making Haley's.

"What's your name?" Bailey asked.

"Tommy."

"Okay. but, wouldn't it be fun if I called you a nick-name? How about Tony or Ray?"

She looked at the boy's face as he sat in silence, the noise of the road between them.

"What name do you like?", asked Bailey in a friendlier manner, hoping to egg him into conversation.

"My friend's name is Paul, but I don’t like that."

"OK, Ray it is, we'll just call you Ray then, OK?"

The hills swept by as the car traveled through Cumberland and over Barton's Landing. Bailey had only an ounce of thought for Ray and Haley. Eight dreadful years was enough of Haley. And Ray wasn't anything to miss either, she convinced herself.

This day had started her new life. Little Ray suited her perfectly. He was perfection. She marveled her terrors away, and felt all the while her Scriptures and prayers were finally coming true. God was on her side.

"I just want you to know Ray, that this will be a long drive. We'll have to play fun games along the way. Do you like games? There is nothing to worry about. I am a nice person and I am sure your mother will be fine. She just asked me to look after you for a while. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah." It was a whisper no doubt.

"Did you ever hear of the Question and Answer game?" She asked.

She continued saying, "Okay. You ask me a question and I'll answer it for you. Anything you want! Go ahead. Ask me a question."

The boy thought for a moment, looked at the pretty lady beside him and asked, "Do you like me?"

"Of course I like you. Let's keep playing. Next question!"

The road ahead was long and dusty, with Barrington forty five minutes behind them.

"Will my mom be okay?"

"She'll be fine." She said hastily." Next question. Make it a fun one."

"How do fish breathe under water?"

"They have fins that get air bubbles. Now keep going."

"Is hypnotism real?"

"It can be. You just have to be in a relaxed state. Sometimes, I think I need hypnotized." She threw her head back and laughed.

"Okay....uhm....why do pedestrians get the right of way?"

"Because it is too dangerous for them not to. A car could hit them, so the cars have to look out first for the people."

Tony got a sad look on his face. "Why is my brother a bully?"

She took compassion on him as she saw his face drop.

"You never have to see him again if you don't want to. Now let me ask you a question. Did you ever want to run away because of him?"

"Yes." He said softly.

"Let's think of this trip as running away then. I'm running from some stuff too, so we'll be partners. Kinda' like fugitives like Bonnie and Clyde. What do you say?"

"Okay."

"You hungry? How about some pancakes?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. It's about ten minutes up the road."

"What's your name?" He asked. Bailey hesitated because she had not yet thought of this question.

"Mary, but you can call me mommy. We'll pretend. Will you call me mommy?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you'll get used to it, but you can call me Mary for now."

"Let's get some pancakes Scooter-Crunch!!"


Chapter 3


The diner was empty as they took a seat near the front window.

"Two blueberry short stacks and two milks please." Bailey ordered.

"Do you like Blueberries Ray?"

"Do you like to play baseball Ray?"

The emptiness of the diner accompanied with Ray's dullness was making Bailey nervous.

"Do you know what planet we are on Ray?"

Between watching Ray slurp his milk and gobble his pancakes in utter silence, Bailey's fantasies began to wash away. Ray was sloppy with his food and Haley was NEVER sloppy with HER food. Ray's fingers were dirty and Haley ALWAYS knew to wash her hands before eating. Tony seemed uninterested in any topics. Haley always had interesting things to say about school, her friends and even fun things to do with Surge.

"Let's face it", Bailey though to herself, "Ray is boring".

Bailey stared at Ray in disbelief. Her heart sank knowing that he did not fulfil the insatiable need that she had dreamed about so many times in her fantasies. Her wanting to know anything else about him vanished like a leaf in the wind. She thought of her last interaction with Haley. "Make sure Cathy's mother brings you back by four, and have fun!", she remembered saying as she watched Haley run to her friend's car, excited for the picnic. From the boring boy, back to animated Haley. What about those Scriptures that were keeping her positive for a while? "Oh my God," "Am I missing Haley?", she thought to herself. She'd rather deal with anything other than boring, sloppy and dull. She thought of asking the boy if he liked bowling, but she lost all interest. Bailey simply did not care.

She thought of her daughter's perfectionist ways and her husband's loving attitude towards both Haley and herself. This boy wasn't going to do her any good. "I need to get back!" Bailey panicked. "Are you done? Let's go, I'm taking you back to your mother."

"Okay." How pathetic his voice was. Haley's was strong, even if defiant. At least she had guts, that Bailey knew came from her. She remembered a time when Haley tried out for gymnastics. She was so proud of her.

"I need help. I'll get hypnotized, take parenting classes. What the hell's wrong with me? I miss Haley!"

She pulled the boy to the car, and flew back to Barrington. With Ray dropped safely at his mother's doorstep, Bailey, hands clenched on the wheel, drove ferociously up her driveway.

Surge welcomed her with his usual bark as she walked to the living room, noticing her unfinished sewing project that immediately yanked her back into reality.

"God what was I thinking?" She thought, as she quickly unpacked her belongings.

She picked up the note that she wrote a week before.

Be content with what you have.

She had so much more hope for working out her problems and issues with Haley. "Everyone has problems", she thought, watching her little girl in her homemade dress jump up and down on the trampoline outside the bedroom window. "I LOVE HER." she gushed. "Haley!" She called out the window.

"Hi mommy!"

"Come in here Scooter-Crunch!!" She said with a smile. Haley came running in as Bailey scooped her up and hugged her.

Ray followed behind her. "Hey. Did you remember the buns? I got the grill going."

"Oops! I forgot. Be back in ten!"