Free Of Daughter and Demon by Elias Anderson Page A

you,
Alice.
    “I’m OK,” I said. “Where were you,
Angie?”
    “When?”
    “Today. Earlier?”
    “Was I supposed to be somewhere, Harry?”
    “It’s Monday.”
    “And...”
    “And the funeral I told you about? I can’t
believe you forgot about this, Angie. Or did you just decide to
skip it cuz you’re still mad at me?”
    She sighed deep and rubbed her temples like
she was getting a headache. She did that a lot after you was taken
away, Alice.
    “Harry, have you been taking your
medication?”
    “Whattaya talking about?”
    “And I talked to Joe just yesterday
afternoon; he said he hasn’t seen you in a couple months. Now
doesn’t your doctor say it’s important for you to be social?”
    “Doctor? And Joe who? Donovan?”
    “Yes, Joe Donovan. You remember him, Harry,
your friend from the police force?”
    “Whattaya talkin’ to me that way for, Angie?
And yeah I remember Joe, Jesus, I seen him two nights ago, and this
morning, too.”
    “You saw Joe Donovan two nights ago?”
    “Yeah, I seen him right before I came to talk
to you.”
    “Harry, he told me he hasn’t seen
you.”
    “I did see him! I brought Alice’s body in to
him, and he was at the funeral today!”
    “Harry, again, dear, have you been taking
your medication ?”
    “What medication? Why weren’t you at the
funeral, Angie? I mean, it’s OK if you was too upset, we all deal
with things a little different, and--”
    “Oh! Mr. Fucking Mental Breakdown is
going to tell me how to deal with things?”
    “Mental breakdown? What the fuck--”
    “Goddammit Harry! It’s been over for four
years!”
    “I know you feel bad for giving up,
but--”
    “I never gave up! We already knew . We know she’s been dead for four years. You found the
body, in that house out on River Way. Don’t you remember that,
Harry?”
    “Sure I do! I tole ya, it was two days
ago!”
    “Harry!” she screams, and starts crying. “Two
days! It wasn’t two days ago. It was four fucking years ago
and you have to let this go!”
    “I just came from the cemetery, I put her in
the ground today, and you wasn’t there!”
    “Oh my god,” she said quietly, and then
looked at me closely. “You don’t remember seeing Bobby today?”
    “Joe said he couldn’t come to the funeral cuz
he couldn’t get his shift covered.”
    “I just got off the phone with him, Harry. He
said he stopped in at the bar and you wouldn’t talk to him,
wouldn’t even look at him! He called me because he’s your friend , Harry. He’s concerned you’re having another
episode.”
    “What? Wait, now...”
    “I know, Harry, I know you’re confused, and
it’s OK. We’re getting you help. But you have to take your
medication.”
    I got angry then, Alice, and I almost hit
her. I feel bad about almost hittin’ her, cuz nobody should ever
hit a broad, not ever, not for nothing, but I almost hit your Ma.
She was talkin’ crazy, Alice, and it was scaring me.
    “What medication!” I yell right in her
face.
    She paused for a moment; hand on her mouth,
tears in her eyes. She took me by the hand and led me to a chair,
and then she kneeled next to me, still holding my hand, and she
began to talk.
    “Listen to me, Harry. Four years ago someone
took Alice away. One day later , you walked into that house
on River Way and you found our daughter, our little Alice, and
she’d been murdered. We had a funeral. And you were right, Bobby
couldn’t get his shift covered, but that was four years ago,
not today! Today is the anniversary of her funeral ,
but Harry…Harry, it was four years ago . You tried going back
to work, but you’d changed, and no one blames you, no one thinks
any less of you. But then you killed someone, Harry. You went to a
park and arrested a man, some crippled man, one of his legs was
normal, the other was...different, it was smaller , and you
took him down to the basement where you found Alice, and you beat
him death. Do you remember that? The man with one leg smaller