The Castaway Hotel - 7 - 22. Chapter 22 - Family Ties

The next morning, Jake got up early to begin preparing the turkey. I started to get up too, but Jake insisted I sleep in and he would take care of everything. Rather than argue, I did as he suggested, since I figured I could use the extra time in the sack. However, good intentions oft go astray and it wasn’t long before something roused me from my bed.

Without warning, loud music began blaring from several locations upstairs and I jumped out of bed and raced into the hallway, but Jake nosed me out from reaching the stairs first. Without hesitating, we both bolted up the steps, as some of the music began to die down, but everyone was already up by then – and it was only 6:30.

The boys were all staggering out into the hall looking for Ricky. I discovered they thought he had set this up, as his way of seeking revenge. It seems Ricky, or someone else, had set all of their alarms for 6:30 and arranged it so the radio would play, instead of the regular buzzer, and then adjusted the volumes to maximum. Therefore, when the alarms went off, it had the greatest amount of shock value for the previously comatose victims.

Soon the blame shifted away from Ricky, once the boys discovered the same thing had happened to him. Not only that, but he had an extra, added surprise waiting for him. As Ricky got out of bed, he stepped on a collection of eggshells, which had been carefully arranged so he wouldn’t be able to avoid them. They didn’t hurt him or do any damage, but they did make a mess and caused him sit back on his bed quickly, to get off of them. When the boys went to accuse him, Ricky was still trying to wipe the pieces of eggshell from the soles of his feet.

Jake and I soon discovered the shells came from all the eggs we had used to make the desserts and other dishes we had prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. The culprit had obviously come down after we all went to bed, sneaked into Ricky’s room after he had fallen asleep and then gone back to his own room without being discovered. I had no idea who would go to all this trouble or who would be focusing on Ricky after he’d been away for so long. It wasn’t that the others didn’t have sufficient reason to want to do these types of things to him, but it left us all baffled. That is, everyone except for the guilty party and he obviously wasn’t going to own up to what he had done.

“Does this happen all the time?” Peter asked. I assured him it didn’t, but he looked skeptical.

At this point, some of the boys began to laugh, which quickly got everyone else laughing too. Before long, we were all giggling like a bunch of giddy schoolgirls. It was difficult to miss the ingenuity and humor in this prank, yet none of us had the slightest inkling about who might have done such a thing. It seemed all the boys had been targeted, so it left no obvious perpetrator to point the finger at.

It didn’t take long for everyone to forget about being so rudely awakened. Instead, they continued to enjoy the joke and the amount of planning it must have taken to pull it off. Even though they didn’t know who had done it, they silently tipped their hats to this mystery person.

After everyone else returned to his bed, Jake and I went downstairs, but I decided to stay up and do what I could to help. As we worked, we talked about what had happened and tried to solve the mystery of who was doing these things. First, the prankster got Ricky in particular, before zapping everyone, in general. More than half of the boys were likely suspects, which didn’t help much, so we finally gave up thinking about whom the mastermind was and, instead, began to focus on the day ahead.

The time seemed to fly as the appointed hour for dinner drew near. Jake and I took turns cleaning up and getting dressed, in preparation for our guests’ arrival, and then we went back to putting the finishing touches on the meal.

It was about 1:30 when the phone rang and I was paged to take it. “Hello, this is Josh Currie,” I said, after accepting it from one of my sons.

“Josh, it’s Albert,” the voice on the other end informed me. “I’m afraid we’re going to be late, if we make it at all today.”

“Albert, is something wrong?” I asked, deeply concerned. I knew Arlene, Little Ricky and Albert would not normally miss this for the world, so I wondered what was up. They seldom got away from the farm and had no relatives in the area, but they did like to be around others, which was difficult for them, because they lived so far out. Other than their neighbors, we were about the only other friends they were familiar enough with to visit.

“There was a problem, but it’s okay now,” he advised me. “It’s just slowed us up a bit and I’m not sure what we’ll do next.”

Albert sounded as if he was contradicting himself by telling me there was no longer a problem, but then explaining he didn’t know what they were going to do next. Sensing this incongruity, I decided to question him about this matter further.

“Albert, what happened? Is it Arlene?” There was an uneasy silence, before he replied.

“I’m afraid so. She wandered out of the house earlier and it took us a while to locate her,” he admitted. “She was nearly a mile away before we found her.”

“Is she okay now?” I was concerned and worried that maybe something more had happened.

“Yes, she seems to be fine… physically,” he added, to let me know her mental and emotional state was obviously deteriorating further. “Even though she hasn’t done anything like this before, I guess it means we’re going to have to start keeping a closer eye on her.”

“Did you find out why she left?” I followed, to see if he had questioned her about it.

“Not exactly. She was sputtering all kinds of gibberish about having to get to town and she was mad about something we’d done to her,” Albert admitted, “but I can’t remember any of those things happening over the past couple of days, except maybe in her mind. I’m afraid she’s remembering multiple past events, confusing them together and then reacting to her warped recollections. If that’s what’s happening, there’s no way we can predict what she might do next.”

“Albert, I’m truly sorry to hear this, but we’ll hold dinner for you,” I told him. “We want all of you to be here with us on this special day and I’m sure Little Ricky… I mean Richard, would benefit by being with the boys again too.”

“Josh, thanks, but I’m not sure that would be a good idea today,” Albert told me, in a hushed and slightly choked tone.

“Why do you say that, Albert?” I asked, confused by his comment.

“Richard is deeply troubled by what is happening,” Albert admitted, “so I’m not sure he’ll want to be around anyone else. I’m afraid he might not be very good company today and I’m afraid of what he might do, if someone mentions his mother’s condition.”

“Albert, I’ll pass your concerns along, so the boys don’t pressure him,” I offered, “but what about Arlene. Being with us today might jog her memory to more favorable times and that may be all that’s needed to bring her back to you and Richard, at least for a while.” There was a fairly lengthy silence at the other end of the line, so I assumed he was considering my proposal.

“I’m not sure there’s anything that can bring her back to us, Josh, but I guess it’s worth a try,” he finally answered. “I don’t see where it can do her any harm, but it might be very hard on the rest of you – seeing her this way.” It almost sounded as if he were beginning to weep.

“Albert, we aren’t just friends, you’re family, and not only during the good times,” I began in response. “You and Arlene have been with us throughout our problems and the rough times in our lives too. I’m not saying it won’t be difficult for any of us, but as family, we’re willing to take the bad with the good. Get here as soon as you can and we’ll hold dinner until you arrive. I’ll explain it to the others and I’m sure they’ll have no problem with that.”

“Thank you, Josh,” Albert replied. “This is very kind of you and we appreciate your friendship and consider you family too. We’ll get there as soon as we can, but there’s no need to hold dinner for us. We’ll just eat when we get there.”

“Nonsense! This is Thanksgiving and we’ll eat as a family,” I informed him. “I don’t think there are any of us who will have a problem waiting a little longer, and if there are, we’ll give them a snack to tide them over. We’ll see you shortly.”

We ended the phone call and I told Jake and the boys about what had happened. We were all concerned about what they were going through and I could see the boys trying to come up with some way to distract Richard when he got here. I know they thought that might make him momentarily forget about his worries, but I wasn’t sure there was much they could do that would permanently help him, at this point. I did express Albert’s concerns about Richard and told them not to put any pressure on him. I urged them to leave him alone, if that’s what he wanted. They agreed, so I felt it shouldn’t be an issue now.

If Richard wasn’t opposed to the boys trying to help, they might be successful in making him forget about his problems for a brief time. However, even if that happened, Richard still had to deal with the reality of what is happening to his mother on a daily basis. For that reason alone, I highly doubted my boys would make much of a difference. I did silently applaud their concern and efforts on Richard’s behalf and hoped they would be effective. Even if they were only successful in alleviating Richard’s fears and burden to a limited degree, it would still be a major accomplishment.

We all continued our final preparations for this get together, as we waited for our guests to arrive. Although I was looking forward to having everyone together again, this wasn’t going to be an entirely easy or pleasant time. I felt confident the others would all agree with what I was doing, but it wouldn’t lessen their shock and deep concern, once they saw how much Arlene had deteriorated.

To me, none of that mattered. I believe family bonds are the strongest bonds of all, and if the phrase ‘until death do us part’ ever applied to anything, it is to the ties between family members. Albert had already proved his devotion to his wife and I felt we could do no less. As I’ve always told the boys, friends may come and go, but family is forever. Thinking about this brought me to another issue, so now I wondered if my older children remembered me telling them this too.

Today was already altered by the fact that my older children and grandchildren weren’t going to be here, so I didn’t want to have anyone else sit this one out too. I had been trying not to think about it, but after hearing about what Albert was dealing with just brought it to the forefront again.

Once Steve and Mary Shay, Sally, John and Margaret Spence, Mark’s mother, Susan, the O’Hara’s and the Curtises, showed up, we explained to them about my phone call from Albert. They were all deeply moved and understanding about their situation, and each of them expressed their concern and support for them. Even though Susan, the O’Hara’s and Curtises didn’t know the Beckers as well as the rest of it, they still wanted to help. It was obvious this was truly a family, even though we weren’t blood related.

Jake and I put some appetizers out for our guests to nibble on and gave each of them a drink, hoping it would hold them over until the Beckers arrived. We didn’t really have to wait long, however, as Albert’s car pulled in the driveway slightly before 3:00, which made dinner less than an hour late. They must have flown through their preparations to get here and I’m sure Albert pushed the speed limit a bit along the way too, probably because he was concerned about holding the rest of us up. I hoped he and Richard would be able to relax and enjoy themselves, now that they were here and we’d be able to help them entertain and keep an eye on Arlene. I went over to greet them, as they entered.

“We’re all glad you could make it,” I told them, as they entered. “Come in, sit down, and make yourselves comfortable. Would any of you like a drink?” Albert was just about to speak and accept my offer, when his wife spoke first.

“Albert, who are all these people and where are we?” There was a deep look of concern on both Albert and Richard’s faces, as they studied Arlene. Although she didn’t know us, at least she had called her husband by name. That, in itself, seemed to be an improvement.

“Arlene, this is Josh Currie and we’re in his home,” Albert explained, while looking slightly embarrassed.

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” she stated, which caused a pained expression to show on Richard’s face. I could tell he was also embarrassed by his mother’s comment, but he needn’t be. We all understood what they were going through.

“Sure you do,” Albert assured her. “He and his boys are very good friends of ours. Surely you must remember how they helped us find and adopt Richard?”

Arlene didn’t respond and Albert gave up on trying to convince her she knew us. After asking Richard to watch over his mother, Albert walked away and I knew he was inwardly dealing with the pain of seeing his wife like this.

I followed him, to see if there was anything I could do to help, but I didn’t want to be too pushy about it. He didn’t notice me behind him when he stopped, so I walked up and put my hand on his shoulder, which caused him to turn and look at me.

“Josh,” he confided, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. We can’t possibly leave her alone any more, because she might wander off or do something inappropriate. She’s so out of it that she’s become a danger to not only herself, but to Richard and me too. Did I tell you she almost set the house on fire on several different occasions?”

“Yes, you did,” I conceded, “and I can see she’s getting worse. When making your decision, you’ll have to not only consider her welfare, but your own and Richard’s too. No decision will be easy, but you have to do what you think is best for all of you.”

I added that to let him know he couldn’t just worry about his wife, but must also consider how it will affect the two of them as well. Albert’s health was not the best and I’m sure this was taking its toll on his physical condition. Not only that, but I could see it was also emotionally draining on Richard as well. I was just trying to make sure they didn’t all go down hill together.

“I know it’s difficult for you to make such an impossible choice,” I admitted, “but we both realize you’re running out of options.” After listening to what I had to say and thinking about it for a few moments, Albert finally looked up at me and spoke.

“Josh, I hate to do it, but I’m going to have to put her in a home,” he informed me, before breaking down. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he said this and I could tell he felt as if he was betraying his wedding vows, but what else could he do?

“She needs to be supervised constantly,” he added, “and we just can’t do that for her on the farm. As it stands now, I hardly dare to fall asleep at night, because I fear she’ll get up and do something. It’s just wearing me out.”

Albert hung his head after saying this and I wasn’t sure if this was due to his regret, embarrassment or because he was just so totally exhausted. I was tempted to hug him at this point, but wasn’t sure how he’d respond to something of that nature, so I held off on the urge. Instead, I only put my arm across his shoulders.

“I know, Albert, but from what you’ve told me, it has to be done,” I suggested. “Otherwise, she’s liable to do something that might harm you and your son. She could start a fire or forget who you are and think you’re intruders trying to hurt her or something. She might even attack you with a weapon, thinking she was defending herself. What else can you do, besides try to get her in a safe, caring and supervised environment?”

“I realize that,” he agreed, “but you don’t understand how much it hurts me to even consider this option. Richard and I have talked about this possibility several times, but neither of us wants to have to do such a thing. No matter how much it bothers me to have to do this, it’s going to scar Richard worst of all. He’s already told me he feels like he’s already lost another mother, just seeing her the way she is now. Making a move such as sending her away to a nursing home will force him to accept it’s a done deal and she’s pretty much gone for good.”

“Do you think it might help if I spoke to him, Albert?” I asked, trying to help. Mr. Becker thought about this for a minute, before he responded, and then he only nodded slightly.

“It might,” he conceded, “but I’m not sure how much. Thing is, I don’t think it can do any harm.”

I acknowledged his observation and told him I’d do what I could, but it would have to wait until after we ate. I explained that I’d try to get some time alone with his son, so we could talk honestly and openly about the situation, without feeling the pressure of others being around.

Albert thanked me for my offer, but then stated we couldn’t make the others wait for dinner any longer. It was shortly after that when I had the boys get everyone moving to the tables, so we could sit down and begin our Thanksgiving tradition.