The Johnsons

by Harry Harris


"Five months. It's been five months since I've seen him," Jessica is
thinking while peering down the road to the north.

"I wonder what he had to tell me. He said it was very important." She
looks south, since that is the direction he is coming from. She is wearing
a beautiful white silky dress with red butterflies on it. The air makes
them come alive, flowing in the wind. She goes back inside.

"I wish he didn't have to work so far. Since his transfer I've only talked
with him. Five months," she screams in her head. "I wish that ... Charles
could be with him ... but I'm not sure he's ready for a family. Charlie ...
where is my boy. I know he's playing with Chubby. I hope they're safe."

***

"Charlie!" exclaims a 13-year-old young man. It's Chubby, a lad who lives
up to his name. He's round; reminiscent of the Michelin Man, with freckles
and dirty blond hair. He has a great spirit.

"Yeah, Chubby. I'm over here, see?" says Charles Franklin Thomas. Dr.
Charlie. 10 years old. Short. Smart. Skinny. Great spirit. He has no
freckles, but red spots on his neck. They are both playing in a fort that
they built.

"You hungry?" asks Chubby, with a hamburger in his eyes. "You know that's
the only thing our fort is missing."

"What?" asks Charlie.

"A refrigerator!!"

They laugh together.

"Okay ... okay. Let's head to my house."

"Cool," says Chubby.

"I know my mom wants to see me anyway."

***

"Jessica?"

"Kevin? Kevin, sweetie!!" She runs and nearly collapses in his arms.

A tall, good looking, well-built man with black curly hair grabs her. They
kiss for what seems forever.

"I've missed you, Jessie," Kevin says, kissing her neck.

"I've missed you, too," she says before kissing his lips, just receiving
him.

"What ... did ... you ... wanna ... tell ... me?" Kevin's hand goes up her
thigh.

They stumble through the doorway, intertwined. They bump into the walls of
the hallway, somehow knowing where they want to go: the bedroom.

Finally, they arrive, and the frenzied progression ends on the bed.

"I'll ... tell ... you ... in ... a ... minute ... but first ... I've ...
really ... missed you."

"I hope Charlie doesn't come ... home ... right now."

***

"Charlie, you know we really got to get a fridge ... this is to far to bike
everyday when we're in the fort."

"And where are we gonna plug it, Chubby?" Charlie says, laughing.

They're going around the corner, riding on the sidewalk. A station wagon
with a father, a mother, and two twin girls drives by; they're looking at
Charlie and Chubby, smiling.

From behind the two boys, going in the opposite direction on the two-lane
road, a car tries to pass a slower car. He goes into the lane of the
oncoming station wagon. The impact is thunderous ... shattering. The car
hits the station wagon right on the driver's door. The station wagon
plummets into the water, after breaking the guardrail on the passenger side.

Inside the wagon there is panic. The parents attempt to open the doors, but
the doors won't budge.

Charlie and Chubby stand lifeless -- staring as the horror unfolds.
Something tells Charlie to move.

"Charlie!"

"Chu ... Chub ... by, go get help ... quickly!"

Charlie runs toward the station wagon, past the old man in the slower car.
In the speeding car, there is no movement.

Charlie splashes into the water, and starts paddling his way to the station
wagon. He can see the girls trying to keep their heads above water.

He reaches the driver's side, and pulls at the door handle while, inside,
the dad is pushes. The doors won't budge.

Eyes are moving fast inside the car. There are screams ... crying. Charlie
sees this, and tries again. The doors won't budge.

Charlie looks again, and he can't see the girls or their mother.

The dad rolls down his window and then reaches back, still trying to help
his girls. He can get out, but his girls still need help.

"Hurry!" shouts Charlie, still trying to pull the doors open.

As soon as the window is all the way down, water overtakes the front end of
the car. Charlie screams as the car shifts. He tries opening the door
again, but the doors won't budge. He looks inside, and sees that the father
has one of the twins in the front. 

The car groans, and is pulled out of Charlie's hand violently.

"Nooo!!"

He is pulled down for a brief second. He can taste the water. Charlie
looks around frantically. He can't see the car....

***

Police sirens are wailing. Charlie opens his eyes, and touches his wet,
gritty forehead. He looks at his hand, and sees dirt.

"Charlie," Jessica says, "Charlie, are you okay?"

Charlie looks into her eyes, and nods. Jessica smiles, elated.

Charlie looks around, and sees a couple of ambulances and a crane of some
sort. There are also men dressed in Scuba gear, going into the water. 

Charlie hears yelling, and notice a crowd of people have gathered on the
sidewalk. Then he sees the police cars, with their flashing lights. One of
the policemen is talking to the old man. 

Charlie's eyes search further, and land on the body bag that lies next to
the speeding car. He looks around further, and notices the station wagon is
not around.

"Mom ... is...."

"Charlie, baby," Jessica hugs Charlie tightly.

"Charlie, you okay?" asks Kevin.

Charlie looks at Kevin, and nods. He sees Chubby and figures his best
friend must know. "Are they okay? Did they get out?"

Chubby doesn't answer. The old man hears Charlie's question, and walks
over.

"Tell me they got out," Charlie asks again.

Chubby looks down, and says, "They were trying to get out. The doors
wouldn't open."

The police sergeant would later explain what happened. The Johnson's were
coming from a church convention in the neighboring city. The impact on the
station wagon's driver's side door jammed it closed, trapping the Stephen
Johnson. Hitting the guard rail caused the passenger door to jam; Emily
Johnson didn't have a chance.

One of the twins, April, was still in her seat belt. She must have been so
scared that she didn't or couldn't undo it. The other twin, January, was
found next to her father. 

"Beautiful girls," the Sergeant would say. "God bless their souls."

***

Three nights later, Kevin is on the front porch, sitting in the swing.
Jessica comes out into the moonlit evening to join him. They look at each
other and hold hands.

"You know ... you know... you never know when life is over. When it's your
last day. The last time you laugh and play with your loved ones," Kevin
says.

She touches his face with her free hand and tightens her grip on the other
hand.

"I can't even imagine being in that station wagon," Kevin continues, "with
you and Charlie. Would I know what to do to save us, or are they lucky to
die together ... not leaving one to be alone. The police said the window on
the driver's side was down. He couldn't leave, though ... not without
making sure everything he was living for comes with him ... Charlie."

"I've talked to Charlie about the nightmares he's been having. He feels he
could've done something to save them."

"Jessie, did his father or stepfather abuse him?"

She looked surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"The cuts on his neck ... his actions ... the way he looks "discouraged"
most of the time."

"Discouraged?"

"Down, depressed ... I know that feeling. I know it first hand. I see me
in his eyes."

"Kevin, I didn't know. Your father...."

"Yeah ... me and my mother. I hated him for years: just recently I've
started to talk with him. He's apologized, but...."

"Kevin. Wow, I never knew ... but you hit nail on the head. His father
didn't want me or him and he left before there was any question of marriage.
Hank, my live-in boyfriend before you ... he was a drunk ... abusive."

"Does that explain the welt on your arm?" he asks.

"You noticed that was a welt? Yes ... it was the last night after three
years of hell ... but I didn't want to be alone. So me and...."

***

"Charlie!!! Where the $#%^ are you. Get this #$# out the way!" A big man
in a flannel shirt with a dirty hat stands by the stairs, bellowing, "Get
down here!"

"Hank," says Jessica, "Don't cuss at him. He's late and has school
tomorrow. I'll pick up ... oww ... Hank, stop ... it ... you're hurting
me...."

He's bends her arm back until she hits the ground.

"Don't tell me how to talk ... and don't pick up #$%%. That little $%^% has
got to know how to keep his $#!% clean. Char...."

Charlie appears from the kitchen, looks straight at the man, and grabs his
mom's arm.

"Let her go."

"What?"

"Let ... her ... go."

"Who the hell are...."

"Let her go now."

Charlie pulls his mom's hand away from Hank's.

"You little disrespectful shi...."

"Hank, no!" Jessica screams.

He reaches back and hits the seven and a half year old with enough force to
lift him off his feet, and through a glass table.

It shatters, with a hundred shards reflecting the little boy's pain in each.

Jessica stares at her son, the little man she loves. She then turns and
lets go of three years of pain into one strike, knocking Hank down and out.

***

"He's now in jail. Later, Charlie told me Hank was hitting him when I
wasn't home. Said he didn't want to tell me because I was happy."

She starts to cry and Kevin pulls her to him.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Remember, I said I had something to tell you."

She sniffles. "Yes...."

He gets down on one knee. "Jessie," he says, pulling out a box and....

"Oh, Kevin ... yes, yes, yes."

She flies into him, knocking him on his back. They both start laughing.

"I haven't even ... oh, well ... Jessie, you will never hurt again. You can
move to Harbordock with me, okay?" Kevin says, in-between kisses.

"Okay ... Kevin, I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Now all we have to do is ask...."

***

"Charlie is having a rough time with this, mommy. Is he going to be
alright?"

"Sure, honey ... God will make a way for him to be able to deal with this.
I promise you."

Mrs. Wilson and her son, Chubby, are driving Charlie to his home; he's
fallen asleep in the back. Chubby is sitting in the front passenger seat,
worried about his friend.

"Why don't you pray for him to be helped?"

"You think it will work, mommy?"

"Honey, I prayed for God to send me a son that me and your father could love
and he sent the best."

Chubby smiles and says, "I'm going to pray right now."

"You do that. Pray for...."

***

"Charlie. Yeah. Let's go get Charlie and tell him, Kevin."

They run to Kevin's car.

***

Chubby is done praying. Charlie is dreaming about "not being good enough",
"being dumb", and "being stupid". "Being cursed". Suddenly, the dreams
stop.

A voice inside Charlie's head says, "Wake up, Charlie." Charlie opens his
eyes just in time to see it start drizzling, and then full raining, with
rumbles of thunder.

Lightning strikes in the distance. The brilliant flash of light scares
Charlie a little. He looks toward the flash, and is amazed by what he sees.

"Chubby, do you see that? It's the wagon ... it's those people ... it's the
Johnson's. They're right in front of us ... can't you see? Chubby!"

"Charlie, I don't see anything. Maybe it was...."

"No. I see ... it's ... it's red, glowing. They are all in there, Chubby
-- right in front of us."

"Charlie," says Mrs. Wilson, "honey, I don't see anything. Are you sure of
it?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's glowing. They're glowing. Don't you see them? They're
glowing. They're back ... for what, though ... they're back."

They reach the curve where the Johnson's went into the water.

"Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh. They drove back in the water. They're back in
the water. No. Please, God, no. Stop. Please, stop. Ms. Wilson, please
stop."

Whether it was because he asked her or she just because she hopes to calm
Charlie down, she stops the car.

The voice says, "Go, Charlie." He's opens the door and jumps out the car,
running in the rain, down the hill to the water.

"Charlie, baby. Where are you going?" Chubby and his mom run after him.
Charlie is at the embankment, and stops. He looks, and his eyes open wide.

It's Hank, standing right in front of him.

"You can't save them. You're not strong enough. You can't do anything
right. Go cry to your mom. You're a punk. You can't save them. They died
because of you. You can't save them. They're going to die because...."

"Shut up!"

A thunderous boom echoes in the sky.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up. No more. No more. No more. I'm not the bad
person. You are. I'm not weak. You are. I'm going to save them now."

"You have to go through me, punk. You sorry little $%*&."

"No more."

He jumps through the image of Hank and is quickly swallowed by the water.

Just then, Jessie and Kevin are driving around the corner. They spot Mrs.
Wilson's car, and stop.

"Thank goodness you guys arrived," says Mrs. Wilson, "Charlie....

***

"Charlie, help us! You can do it." Charlie paddles up to the driver's
door.

"Charlie," Mr. Johnson says from inside the station wagon, "If we pull and
push at the same time, we can make it open, okay?

"Yes, sir. I understand."

Kevin is in the water, swimming towards Charlie.

"Okay, ready?" Mr. Johnson asks.

There is no screaming this time. The twins are looking ... peaceful.

"Yes, sir. I'm ready."

Mrs. Johnson chimes in, "You can do it, Charlie."

Together, Mr. Johnson and Charlie count, "1 ... 2 ... 3."

Mr. Johnson pushes and Charlie pulls, but the doors won't budge.

Kevin is getting closer to Charlie. "Charlie ... Charlie ..." he says.

"Charlie ... you can do it this time, " January says.

"Yeah," seconded by April.

"We're going to do it this time," Mr. Johnson admonishes, "Charlie, you know
why? Because you're strong enough. You're smart. You're good enough. You
understand, son?" Mr. Johnson asks.

"Yes, sir," Charlie responds, and tightens his grip on the door handle.

"Charlie, I ... God doesn't make mistakes or 'nothings'. You are everything
to him. You understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let's do it, then."

The Johnson family is smiling and counting in unison, "1 ... 2 ... 3!"

The door swings open. Mr. Johnson is out. Mrs. Johnson is out. The twins
are out. Charlie is grabbed by Kevin.

"I did it, Kevin. I did it."

"It's okay now, Charlie. I know."

Kevin swims back to the embankment, holding Charlie up all the while.

Mrs. Wilson grabs a towel from her trunk and wraps it around Charlie.
Jessie then reaches over and hugs her son.

Charlie looks over to the water and sees Mr. Johnson waving good-bye, rising
up to the sky. The rest of the family, Mrs. Johnson, January and April, and
a fifth, a little boy who looks like his father, follow Mr. Johnson into the
night sky. They all smile at Charlie, and then each other.

Jessie asks, "Baby, are you okay?"

"I am now, momma. I am now."