Chapter 24

I have often wished my life was like a book. That way, I could always flip ahead and see what would happen if I did this. or didn’t do that.

The author would be me, of course. This would have prevented a lot of errors in my life, like my three failed marriages and other small blunders that all of us make from time to time. If something happened that I did not like, I would delete it and replace it with something better.

If there was somebody in my life that I didn't like or who was a major pain, they would be written out. Just like they are in television shows when the actor demands more money than the producer thinks the person is worth.

The Book of Michael Hunt would never be a best seller. After all, my life is not exactly exciting. Nobody else would want to read about that tense bowel movement this morning. When will it come? Will it come? And, of course, when it does come, will the EPA send in an emergency team to declare the bathroom a disaster zone?

I guess in some ways, I am a contributing writer to my life. But I can't control a lot of things that would make life better if they did not exist.

We are about to enter into a subject that I wished could be deleted.

In the family room, Mom has moved on to her third call of the evening, relaying all the exciting events of the night, and then added a few just to enhance the excitement. She is speaking really fast, trying to relay all the information. There are other people to call and receive calls from. On this night, none of her buddies can top her story.

When a woman reaches her age, it isn’t often somebody wants to peek in the window. Or it might have been some robber canvassing the house, but deciding it wasn’t a good idea after her quick reactions in calling her fearless older son and the elite law enforcement unit that is the Langford P.D.

Manny is staring at me, hard. I don’t know what to say. I remember the night all too well. For a week or so leading up to that night, Molly had sent her friends on recon missions, probing my defenses and judging my interest in her.

I had rebuffed her friends, telling them I had no interest in Molly. She was dating my brother and I would not betray him.

My parents were gone to Fort Smith for some reason. Manny was at a friend’s house, helping him work on a car. I was all alone, watching a movie on television when the doorbell rang.

Molly was at the front door. The little voice in my head was ordering me not to let her in. Turns out, I didn’t have a choice. Molly said she had just talked to Manny and was supposed to meet him here. She walked inside and sat down on the couch, right in the middle. I was sitting at the end of the couch before she arrived.

She was wearing what we used to call a halter top that left little to a person’s imagination. It was white and a lot lower in the front than the halters the other girls wore. Back in those days, everybody wore gym shorts that were too short and too tight. Molly was wearing a blue pair with white stripes running down both sides.

Her hair was in a ponytail that was almost long enough to reach her rear. She had way too much makeup on her face and sprayed on so much perfume that I could barely breathe.

Dad never liked us to sit in his recliner, but that’s where I sat, determined not to get anywhere closer to Molly than I had to get.

She had expected me to sit by her and looked a little disappointed.

“Why don’t you want anything to do with me?” she asked.

“Because you’re dating my brother,” I replied.

“I don’t want to date you.”

She smiled at me. I was not the most sophisticated person in the world, but knew what Molly meant.

“I can’t do that,” I said.

“If I dump Manny, will that make a difference?” she asked.

Molly was not the best-looking girl in Langford High School. She wasn’t the ugliest one, either, fitting somewhere in the middle along with a lot of girls. Her reputation wasn’t the best. In a high school like Langford, all the guys know how far the girls will go, and usually what it takes to get there.

For some, it was serious dating for months before a guy made any progress. Most of the other girls were pretty stingy back then. There were some with a reputation for being a little loose.

Molly fit into that small group, and I could see why. I tried to turn my attention back to the television. She sat still for a few minutes, plotting her next move. I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.

She had stood up and was removing her shirt.

“Don’t do that,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“I’m not going to do anything with you.”

She started walking toward me, her shirt half removed. Molly stood between me and the television. Her arms were above the head, raising the shirt.

That’s when the front door opened. I turned around to see who it was, knowing it was my brother even before I did.

Manny was a little upset to find a girl he was crazy about, standing in front of his brother, wearing only shorts and a bra.

We fussed and fought for days. I told him nothing happened. Molly had a different version of the story, saying that I invited her in and talked her into shedding her clothing.

If I had access to my book, I would have never allowed her in. From that day on, there was something different between the Hunt brothers.

“Manny, I never touched her,” I told my brother, for at least the thousandth time. We are back in now time. Manny and I are sitting at the kitchen table, on opposite sides. He stared at me, showing no emotion. His eyes were like bottomless pits that were boring a hole in me.

He continued to stare at me. I was starting to get a little scared when a smile slowly formed on his face.

“I know that,” he admitted. “I just wanted to gig you with it. Molly finally told me what really happened, the same thing you said.”

I nodded, wondering when he found out and why my little brother never told me before.

“You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?” he asked.

I shook my head, feeling like the village idiot.

“I couldn’t get myself to approach them that first night,” he continued. “The next day, when Molly and the girl returned home, I hollered at her. They stood on the porch until I got there. Molly lives in a nice house now, dresses good and has a new car.”

“That’s good,” I replied.

“She lured some old man with some money into her trap,” Manny added. “She’s pretty good at that.”

I never heard the swinging door behind me open, only the scream. I jumped up, so scared my bladder was almost released. It was obvious my mother had discovered that her youngest son had returned home.

Mom still cradled the phone to her shoulder and regained her poise quickly.

“No, every thing is okay,” she said. “I thought there was a bug. I have to go, bye.”

Whoever she was talking to must have not gotten all the information she needed.

“I’ll call you later,” Mom added. “Yes, I promise.”

She came and stood at the table, staring at him. I didn’t know if Mom wanted to slap him or hug him. She started to shake and I realized that Mom was about to pass out. I grabbed her and escorted her to the couch. She sat down in the middle, the same place Molly had sat so long ago on this exact couch. Her face was blank with the eyes fixed on some subject that I couldn’t make out.

Manny was standing in the doorway, biting his lower lip, slowly nodding his head.

“Are you okay?” I asked my brother.

He nodded and walked back to the table. I joined him, needing to hear how this ended.

“Molly recognized me right off,” Manny said. “She told the girl to go inside. Molly warned me that we didn’t have much time, that her husband was on his way home. Then, she told me everything, how you didn’t do anything that night, that it was all her fault. Molly also said that our father had given her money to pay for the abortion and to move away. She took the money and moved away, but never had the abortion.”

“You’re kidding,” I said. This was really starting to seem like a soap opera.

“Nope, I’m not,” Manny replied. “She had that baby. Now that girl looks like you, and a lot like me.”

“You’re a father,” I stated. It wasn’t really a question, just sounded that way. Now that was scary.

“Yeah, she’s in her twenties now. I have never seen anybody so beautiful. Her name’s Emanuel, but they call her ‘Manny’.”

My brother was smiling, but I could see the hurt. I wondered what would have happened if he had discovered this years before, back when his life was still salvageable.

Mom was moaning in the family room. I went to check on her. She was still on the couch and looked like shock had arrived or was in the vicinity.

The phone rang and Mom had a medical miracle. She snapped out of the funk and answered the call before the second ring, sounding like normal.

As she talked on the phone, her face got worse every second. This wasn’t a call from one of her friends, or if it was, there was bad news being replayed.

Mom placed the phone down without disconnecting it. I walked toward her, sat down on the couch and hit the talk button on the phone.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Uh, what?” she asked.

“Who was that on the phone?”

She looked at the phone for a few seconds. This phone had brought her so much joy over the years, but the last call certainly didn’t.

“It was, uh, the hospital,” she replied.

The hospital itself was not able to call. I wanted to tell her that, but knew this wasn’t the time.

“It’s your father,” Mom added. “They said we need to come quick. He’s about to pass on.”

“Okay, let’s go,” I said, and helped Mom up. I needed to get Manny ready so we could go.

I walked into the kitchen to tell him, but there wasn’t anybody to tell. The backdoor was wide open and Manny was gone.

Chapter 25