Dentist's Chair

"Who cares?" Arthur asked.

Arthur picked up Yvonne's plate, hand touching the straw placemat and felt an overwhelming self pity and bitterness.

The three children were finally out of the house and Arthur climbed the stairs.

The bathroom door was closed and Arthur sat on Yvonne's side of the bed, the side closest to the door.

He suddenly received, when his hand came in contact with her pillow, a vision of her swallowing several pills. He couldn't see the bottle, couldn't read the label and the bottle was nowhere in sight. So he did not know if this was just a thought or if she had actually done it.

"Yvonne?" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Yvonne, I'm going to work now," he called out.

Still silence greeted him.

"Listen," he said to the closed door. "I know it seems pretty bad and well, hell, it is bad," he said. "But it's not the end of the world. We'll live through this. God, who knows? We might even be happier for it, huh?"

Chapter 9

Arthur sent Paula an email, letting her know of his need to go pick up his children for lab work. He tried to focus on that week's invoices and not think about his wife's possible suicide.

"It was just a thought," he tried to convince himself. "It was just a thought. We don't know if she..."

He looked up to see Paula Lambert standing in his doorway.

"Sorry," the attractive strawberry blonde said. "Want to talk about it?"

"Thank you," he said sincerely as he heard his outer office door open. "But in all honesty, if I need to talk about it, I've got a great AA."

"Yes you do," Paula smiled over her shoulder as Jill stood, stunned at what she'd just heard. "Good morning, Ms. Bookhammer."

"Uh, good morning, Ms. Lambert," the woman blushed hotly, and then scurried to log onto her computer.

"Jill, think it'd be a little quicker if I turned your computer on when I get in," Arthur offered.

"That, uh, that'd be great," Jill agreed, still blushing hotly.

He kept having nagging thoughts about his wife and kept pushing them back to the back of his mind.

For whatever reason, the postage meter was in his office. Jill finished stuffing a batch of invoices and brought the envelops to him.

Again, when he touched the papers at the same moment se was touching them, he felt this warmth and affection envelop him and he smiled at her. She gave him one of her face scrunching smiles and he smiled wider.

"Quit!" she laughed and scurried back to her chair, covering her face with her hand.

That afternoon, as he prepared to leave, Jill grabbed for her purse.

"Thank you, Jill, but this really is between me and the kids," he said.

Reluctantly, she put her purse back down.

AJ and Yvette somberly got into the car.

"Daddy, can we talk?" Yvette asked.

"God, please just let..." Arthur sighed, trying to negotiate around an inconsiderate driver.

"If y'all do get a divorce we want to live with you," AJ quickly said.

"Yeah," Yvette agreed, squeezing her father's arm.

"God, we really don't have to worry about all of that right now, okay?" Arthur said, trying to avoid biting down as the loutish teenager, realizing that the car behind him was in a real hurry, drove as slowly as possible.

"Ass hole," Arthur snarled and put on his turn signal to turn onto the next street.

The loutish boy did turn onto the side street and Arthur laughed as he continued straight.

Steven bounded into the car and complained that Yvette got to sit up front.

"Son, she's a girl; girls just get to do more than boys, that's all," Arthur said.

"Well, that's not fair," Steven said.

"Okay, which one of you told your brother life is fair?" Arthur demanded. "Huh? Which one? I'll let you off right here, I swear."

"Yvette did," Steven declared. "Drop her off and I'll sit up front."

"I did not!" Yvette screeched. "I'm going to kill you!"

"And that, right there, is why we need this DNA on file," Arthur smiled.

The lab assistant was quick and efficient; getting the blood samples before Steven even had a chance to react.

The woman did look at Yvette's arm, and then said she needed the other arm and drew the sample.

AJ was already ready, smiling at the attractive African American woman, his blush shining through his pimples. She made him blush even hotter when she smiled back.

"You got you some pretty eyes," she said, white teeth gleaming.

AJ stammered his thanks and told her she had a beautiful smile.

"Do I got pretty eyes?" Arthur asked as he offered his arm.

Eh, they all right, I guess," she teased.

"Now, we need," he whispered to her.

"Jill already been down here and told me," the woman whispered back. "But I be up later talk at you, hear?"

"Now, come on; come see my office," Arthur said.

When he opened the door, Yvette took one look and said "Miss Bookhammer!"

"Yvette! How you been?" Jill asked, scrunching up her face in a smile.

"You two know each other?" Arthur asked.

"Miss Bookhammer used to work at the Dance Studio," Yvette happily proclaimed.

"It wasn't work; I just kind of volunteered there," Jill explained.

"I thought she had a dancer's physique," Arthur thought to himself and smiled.

"This that desk?" Steven was already in his office.

"Yeah, see how easy it would be not to see it?" Arthur asked.

"Crash!" AJ agreed and he and Steven and Arthur shared a laugh.

"Okay, run my kids home and I'll be right back," Arthur said.

"God, I love you," Jill said to the closed door.

Arthur fought hard against the feeling of dread as he dropped the kids off at the house; suppose Steven was the one to discover his mother's body?

"It's just a thought," he told himself as AJ unlocked the front door. "It doesn't mean she actually did it; it's just a thought."

"Daquilla down in the lab said she needs to see you," Jill said when he returned, already reaching for her telephone.

"Think I know why, but please let her know I'm available," Arthur agreed.

"Knock, knock," the African American woman said, entering the office. "It all right I close this?"

"Well, Jill's my AA, I trust her with just about everything," Arthur said, earning him a look of devotion from Jill. "But if you really think it needs to be closed..."

"I uh, when your daughter rolled up her sleeves," Daquilla whispered, even though the door was firmly shut.

"I just found out she's been cutting herself," Arthur agreed.

"I mean, they was old ones; I don't know she doing it somewhere else but..." Daquilla hissed.

"I don't either, but she recently got back into dancing; she's a lot happier now," Arthur whispered. "Also, there were a couple of girls at school that were bullying her but she found out, you stand up to some bullies, they run off and find an easier target."

"Okay, just had let you know, know what I'm saying?" the woman smiled, relieved.

"Hey, Daquilla? Thanks, I appreciate it," Arthur said, offering is hand.

His cell phone rang and he answered it.

Yvette screamed something unintelligible into the phone and Arthur walked to the door of his office.

"Yes, Jill, I need you to come with me," he said. "Yvette, Yvette, quit screaming; I'm on my way home right now."

"Yes ma'am, Jill said into her cell phone. "Please send a police car to One four one seven Gimmeli Road, DeGarde. The children's' father is on his way now."

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of..." Arthur said.

"That's why you pay me the big bucks," Jill said, jogging to keep up with him.

"And how'd you know my address?" Arthur asked as he accelerated out of the parking lot.

Jill didn't answer.

"And when we got inside, none of the lights were working so I went to the garage and turned the breaker box back on," AJ was blubbering to a uniformed officer while an paramedic stepped outside and shook his head no to the other officer.

"Dad!" AJ sobbed and hugged onto Arthur.

"Where's Yvette?" Arthur asked. "Where's Steven?"

The girl's in the back of the ambulance; she fainted, sir," the paramedic said.

"Steven's hiding in the camper," AJ sobbed.

Jill went straight to the ambulance. The paramedic looked at Arthur questioningly, and then shrugged.

The police officer quietly informed Arthur that his wife was upstairs, in the master bathroom.

"Near as we can figure, she was in the tub and dropped the hair dryer in the water," he whispered. "Need the M.E. do a full..."

"Daddy!" Yvette sobbed Jill right behind her.

Arthur held the sobbing girl for a few minutes.

"Jill, please stay out here with them," he asked. "I need to find Steven."

"He's in..." AJ offered.

The camper was locked but Arthur had the key on his key ring and unlocked it.

The interior was sweltering hot and a little humid as he climbed up into it.

He found the eight year old boy sitting on the edge of the large bed, just staring into space.

"Hey, Buddy, what you doing in here?" he asked quietly.

"It's because of me, isn't it?" the boy asked.

"What? What's because of you?" Arthur asked.

"Mom killed herself because of me, didn't she?" Steven asked, now looking at his dad, the first tears beginning.

"What? No! No, son, no," Arthur said, gathering the boy into his arms.

"Is it because I got paint all over the place?" the boy now sobbed bitterly.

"I cleaned it all up, remember?" Arthur soothed.

By the time Arthur got the boy's histrionics under control, there were two more police cruisers in front of the house and a few of his neighbors milled about. Jill had Yvette and AJ by the garage, holding both their hands.

"Hey, come here," Yvette said quietly to Steven.

She hugged her brother tightly.

"Mom had an accident," Yvette said to Steven. "She had an accident and now we really need each other, okay? I really need you, and AJ needs you and you might not believe this, but you need me ..."

"I know," Steven cried, hugging her as tightly as he could.

"Dad, is it because we went to the hospital today?" AJ asked.

"Son, damn, I don't know, all right? I don't know," Arthur said. "Shit! I haven't even been inside yet! I don't know."

The St. Elizabeth Parish Coroner's van pulled up and an enormous man got out and groaned.

"Upstairs, third door on left, bathroom inside," Sheriff Bob Chastaine informed the Medical Examiner.

"Of course it's upstairs," the man complained. "None of them ever die on the ground floor."

"Sorry my wife's an inconvenience for you," Arthur spat angrily at the man.

There was no suicide note but there was very little doubt that it had been a suicide. The hair dryer was plugged into the outlet next to the vanity and Yvonne had stretched it over to the tub. An examination of the contents of her stomach would also show that she'd swallowed several prescription strength pain relievers on an almost empty stomach.

Chapter 10

"Hey, we're taking the camper out this weekend; there's this site up north, just outside of Paulton," Arthur said as Jill rapidly typed out her password.

Jill shrugged out of her heavy winter coat and looked at him.

"In the dead of winter?" she asked.

"Hey, it's been a few months since..." Arthur said, not completing that sentence. "And finally got a weekend where they don't have this or that to go to. And with Martin Luther King Day, they're out of school on Monday and all."

He smiled.

"Plus that, winter's the absolute best time to go camping," he insisted. "Makes you really appreciate a sleeping bag, appreciate half cooked half raw hot dogs, a nice roaring fire. And there's no mosquitoes."

"Oh, believe me, if there's a mosquito within a hundred miles, it'll find me," Jill assured him.

"So you want to go?" he asked as he typed something into his computer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her. Her face went through confusion, disbelief, then wonder and finally elation.

"So what, when," Jill asked.

"Need to run home and pack some thermal underwear, some sweats, some jeans, a pair of tennis shoes you just don't care about and a toothbrush, Arthur hit 'Print' on his computer and printed out the items he just named. "You do not need to worry about make up, shampoo, soap; you can do all of that when we get back on Monday night. Better hurry; we're leaving at noon."

"Food? First Aid Kit?" Jill asked, rapidly pulling her coat back on.

"Food, first aid kit, other emergency supplies, your sleeping bag and travel pillow already in the camper; you and Yvette will be sharing the big bed; Steven's got a hammock AJ gave him for Christmas; he's dying to try it out," Arthur said as Jill's face broke into a face scrunching smile.

"My sleeping bag and pillow's already in there, huh?" she asked.

"I was about to ask them and before I could even say anything Yvette was begging me to invite you," Arthur admitted.

She scurried out of the office. A moment later the outer office door closed and Arthur smiled.

She did not return to the office; Arthur sat on her goofy chair, squinted at her computer screen and typed out her password and clocked her out.

"In the dead of winter?" He heard Jill's voice as he put his hand on the chair to push himself up.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I'm going camping! With him! And the kids! Oh my god!" he heard Jill murmur and he smiled but finally let go of her chair.

He looked at his own garish green chair. Slowly, over time, the imbedded memories of Molly were being replaced with his own memories. And he had to admit, his memories were extremely boring memories. He came in, he worked, and he lusted after his twenty two year old Admin and then went home.

Arthur shut everything down and left his office. He and Paula Lambert reached the elevators at the same time.

"Ooh, I love an outdoors man," Paula Lambert teased him and Arthur laughed.

"It's a fully loaded camper; we're not really the outdoors type," he said and wished her a good weekend.

"Arthur?" she asked. "How are the kids holding up?"

"They're doing okay," Arthur said. "Steven had a lot of trouble at first but Yvette, God, now there's a shock, Yvette really stepped up and became a big sister, instead of the brooding little brat she'd been for months before then."

"And how's her dancing?" Paula smiled as they both walked toward the back door for the employee parking lot.

"She is, I mean, wow, she is just phenomenal, yeah, I know, I'm her dad and I might be just a little bit biased, but she's just so good at it," Arthur enthused.

Both braced themselves for the blast of cold air. Both raced for their cars, the conversation over.

Jill was waiting for him at his home. Out in the front yard, both she and Yvette were doing handstands to the amusement of AJ and Steven.

"Notice how the blood rushes to your head when you do that?" Arthur asked when Yvette and Jill returned to standing.

"Uh huh," Yvette agreed, smiling happily.

"Know why it doesn't rush to your feet when you stand back up?" Arthur asked as AJ picked up his acoustic guitar case.

"Daddy!" Yvette warned, knowing the answer.

"Because your feet aren't empty," Steven hooted.

"Ooh, whatever," Jill snarled at him and he stepped behind Yvette.

Nuh uh, get out of here," Yvette said. "You said it, not me."

Arthur smiled as he unlocked the camper and helped them stash their gear.

He almost dropped Jill's canvas bag; he could again feel such an overwhelming affection embedded in the fibers.

He did drop Yvette's bag; he put his hand on the mattress to stow the bag behind the bed in the cupboard.

"Oh, God, Steven!" he heard Yvonne's voice cry out and then he saw them coupled and a sweating mass.

"Oh yeah, oh God yeah, oh!" Steven Melks grunted and Arthur saw him stiffen.

"Did you, oh God, did you, I told you not to come in me! God damn! Fuck! I told you pull out, aw son of a bitch!" Yvonne shrieked.

"Dad?" Yvette asked concern all over her face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, was off in La la land there for a second," Arthur said.

"Did you send us a post card?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, said 'having a wonderful time, glad you're not here,'" Arthur said and finished helping them stow everything.

"And remember, we got to stop by Bordelon's," Steven reminded Arthur as they backed out of the driveway.

"Bordelon's?" Jill asked.

"It's this horrible little greasy spoon in Paulton where the staff is as rude as possible," Arthur explained.

"If they recognize you, first thing they say is 'oh not you again? Thought we got rid of you for good,'" Yvette told her, giggling.

"And they always say ''Hot dog and chili, extra spit' on mine," Steven laughed.

"It's truly awful," Arthur smiled.

Jill and Yvette spent much of the four hour drive huddled together, whispering and giggling. AJ listened to music on his IPod; Arthur had to laugh. The boy's IPod held damned near a thousand songs and spanned over nearly every genre. The boy even had some bluegrass and Classical songs on the device. If anyone discovered the boy's music library, they'd think he had multiple personalities. But the boy just loved music.

Steven designated himself as navigator, but really, once they were on Highway 467, it was a straight shot up to Paulton, Louisiana.

"And there it is; I'm getting the bacon burger this time," Steven yelled, pointing to the restaurant.

"Oh, it's you again," the waitress sneered as they trooped in.

"No, Jill, that's Yvette's place," Steven said when Jill sat down on Arthur's left.

"No, it's fine," Yvette smiled, sitting to Jill's left.

When their food came, Jill's plate had one solitary French fry on it.

"Oh, I knew you'd be trouble," the waitress grumbled when Jill pointed this out.

"There, happy now?" the woman said as she put a plate of French fries down.

"Okay, think you've wasted enough of my time or are y'all getting dessert too?" the woman asked as Steven helped Jill eat her French fries.

"What, you really think we can take any more food poisoning?" Arthur asked, smiling.

"I think you'll take as much as I give you," the woman sneered.

It was dark by the time they reached their camp site and Steven grumbled because Arthur nixed the idea of stringing up the hammock outdoors for him to sleep in.

"Honey, it'll be down to fifteen degrees tonight," Jill said gently. "I know you're super tough, but even you would have a pretty hard time when it's that cold."

In the morning, there was a layer of frost on the ground and Yvette pointed that out to Steven, who had to agree; it would have been too cold for him to sleep outside.

"You would have been a steven-sicle!" Jill claimed as she and Arthur fixed bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

"Hey, Strangers! I thought that was your camper," a woman in her early seventies called out.

"Audrey, how are you doing?" Arthur smiled. "Good God, you look younger every time I see you."

"Oh, you liar!" the woman laughed, slapping him on his arm.

"You," she said to Steven. "Thinking of falling into the river this time?"

"No!" Steven cried out. "It's too cold do that!"

"Hi Miss Audrey," AJ said.

"Bring your guitar?" the woman asked. "Benny's got his banjo; even got some new strings on it."

"Where's Yvonne?" Audrey asked, staring hard at Jill.

"She uh, she committed suicide a couple months back," Arthur said.

"She what?" Audrey gasped.

"Yes ma'am; AJ's one that found her," Yvette said.

"Oh, Arthur; oh Honey, I know you must be devastated," Audrey soothed.

"Well, naturally," Arthur agreed.

After breakfast, they hiked one of the trails around the campsite.

"It really is beautiful out here," Jill said, breathing deeply of the crisp pine scented air.

Yvette took Jill's hand in hers and Jill smiled at the girl.

"Mom would have stayed back at the camper, reading or something," Yvette said.

"Or dying of a headache," AJ agreed.

"Hey, that's enough," Jill said before Arthur could interject. "We're not all into Nature, all right?"