Accidents Happen - 2. Chapter 2 - After the rain

Chapter 2 – After the rain

The rain had ended shortly before Charlie ran out the door. He found the warm shower water did what the whole night couldn’t, make him tired. He had nearly fallen asleep standing up in the shower when the warm water ran out, and ice-cold water pelted him in the face. Climbing out quickly, he noticed his alarm clock through the open door and realized he was going to be late if he didn’t move immediately.

Charlie’s brown hair lay in curls around his head; he had no time to comb it into submission today. He didn’t feel like shaving, and with as slow as his beard and mustache grew, he doubted anyone would even notice. Like a blind man, he simply reached into his closet and pulled out a dress shirt and a dark pair of slacks. He didn’t even bother looking for a tie. He rushed from the bedroom to his dining area while still dressing, there papers still lay strewn across the table. Tossing his student’s projects back into his satchel, Charlie grabbed his wallet off the counter and raced out the door.

As he raced down the street toward the bus stop, his stomach began to growl.

“Well,” Charlie said angrily to himself, “that is what I get for skipping meals.”

If things had gone like normal, right about now Tina would be driving him across town with a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in one hand, and bagel with cream cheese in the other. The sudden thought brought forth tears he couldn’t handle at the moment. He began rushing forward without really looking where he was headed.

“Whoa, kid, watch it,” came one grunted response at Charlie’s suddenly rapid walk.

“Hey, you nearly knocked me over,” was spat in his direction as well.

Hearing how upset people were at him caused Charlie to move further and further away from the crowds, and deeper into himself. The only thing that kept him moving was the desire to see his students, who would almost magically make his mood lighter. Feeling the tears forming, he refused to let them fall. Pulling himself up he paused for moment. The crowds on the street surged around and past his small frame on their way to live their own lives.

“I’ve been through worse,” he muttered as he moved forward.

In some respects, Charlie had been through worse, much worse. He was the youngest of four children, but in most people’s minds he had been an only child. When Charlie was born his parents thought they were already finished with that part of their lives. At the time of his birth, Charlie’s oldest brother, Rick, was twenty-seven and had just had his second child. He was in construction and worked long and hard in all sorts of weather. Maria, his sister, had just finished her Masters of Fine Art in painting. At twenty-six, Maria had found a job restoring the artwork at a small museum just outside of Boston.

Bobby, Charlie’s youngest brother, was twenty, and about to finish college at the time of his birth. As his parents, Barbara and Joseph Wagner, were planning what to do with an empty house, things took a dramatic turn. Originally the two had been talking of selling their large home on Long Island, and moving into a condo, but that changed when Barbara discovered she was pregnant. When she began to show, and people realized she was having a child, she smiled and joked. Usually it started with one of her friends staring at her, unable to broach the subject of her rather dramatic weight gain.

“No, I’m not getting fat,” was how Barbara usually began her announcement while shaking her head and smiling. “Joe and I had been celebrating the last of our children about to graduate college and we had an accident. Oops, what can I tell you,” she would burst out laughing, “but this is the kind of accident one is always very happy to have happen.”

“Oh, Barbara I’m so happy for you.”

“Not as happy as I am. This baby is our happy accident.”

So as Barbara prepared to turn forty-seven, she also readied for the birth of her fourth child. Joe converted Maria’s old room into a nursery and Rick’s room became a library-office for him and Barbara. Charlie ended up growing up alone in the house with his parents.

Holidays saw the house crowded with people. Some of his nieces and nephews were older than he was, and his siblings occasionally babysat Charlie, along with their own children. Maria had married shortly after Charlie’s birth and added her daughter to the baby crowd. Bobby and his girlfriend didn’t get married, but they did end up with twins. So Charlie’s family was very large when they got together. There was always a lot of hugging and kissing but he had a hard time relating to his older siblings as he grew up due to such an age difference and was treated almost as one of their own children. There was little, though, for Charlie to complain about because everyone was always supportive.

Things probably wouldn’t have ever been too bad for Charlie if his first year in elementary school had gone well. However two things that year forced major changes on him.

“I want to go now,” yelled Tony.

“But, it isn’t your turn,” said Charlie as he prepared to go across the wooden walkway to the slide. Most of the class had already had their turn and Charlie waited patiently so he could take his. “It’s my turn on the slide,” called Charlie happily as he started across when Nita had finished crossing.

Tony wasn’t the sort of kid to wait for anything. When he wanted something he usually just took it. Seeing that Charlie wasn’t going to let him go first he walked up behind Charlie and kicked him.

“Owwwwwww. Stop it, Tony. It is my turn!” Charlie looked back and scowled. Seeing Tony getting ready to kick him again, he turned and punched him. Tony stopped and just looked daggers at Charlie. Turning, he finished going to the slide when suddenly he felt a push from behind, and flew out into the dirt. He came down hard landing on his arm and screamed. The teacher rushed to his side. The push had sent him into the hard ground and he had broken his arm. He ended up missing a week of school.

Charlie didn’t like school as much once Tony had broken his arm. At first it was cool when everyone wanted to sign his cast, but he was behind in work and hated that. It seemed like forever till the cast was off, but it was closer to about six weeks. In fact the cast came off the week after Halloween. Then, the flu had hit the area with coming of fall. Parents had been warned to get the flu vaccination, but there just wasn’t enough of it to around immediately. Charlie got it as it started to go through the whole elementary school.

“Mrs. Wagner the flu is attacking his whole body. It has gone from bronchitis to pneumonia. He has lost a lot weight as well. We have him on antibiotics for now.”

Charlie had heard the doctor talking to his parents. He was so weak he couldn’t even open his eyes. He didn’t understand it all but he knew it wasn’t good.

“Oh god. Is this my fault? I mean because I was so much older when I had him. None of the other kids ever got this sick,” cried Barbara.

“Hush, Barb. You know it has nothing to do with you,” Joe said as he pulled his wife closer. “What can we do to help Charlie?”

“I’m afraid there isn’t much you can do. We just have to wait and see how he responds. However, if you feel like saying a prayer, medically there isn’t anything else I can prescribe.”

“This isn’t right, Joe,” Barbara cried into her husband’s shoulder. “This is like some horrible dream or some sort of terrible accident. Poor Charlie, my poor baby.” Barbata broke down into sobs as Joe slowly consoled her. Holding her tight he looked across the room to where his son was hooked up to so many machines.

Charlie lay there listening. He couldn’t speak with the tube in his mouth, and he couldn’t open his eyes. His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Instead he thought about his mother. He had heard the doctor and he knew something was wrong but he felt it was his job to make it better. It took time but eventually he opened his eyes. Later the tube was removed, and after nearly three weeks in the hospital he was finally released to go home. However, because his body hadn’t totally healed he ended finishing first grade at home with a private tutor. When he returned to the school the next year Charlie was at the top of his class, but he had missed the opportunity to make the friendships his classmates had. From then on he was always the outsider, and unless someone went out of the way to include him, Charlie stayed solitary.

Charlie was lost in his thoughts. He kept thinking about the past, his students, his parents, and just about anything to keep his mind off the pain he was presently dealing with. He was so absorbed with it that he didn’t even hear the voice calling out to him.

“Hey! Hey, kid. Watch out! Kid,” came a loud deep voice from behind him.

Charlie just kept walking without really paying attention until he was suddenly ripped off his feet. Then, he heard the blaring of a car horn as he slowly fell backwards and noticed the dark coat of the person who pushed him out of the way. As Charlie fell he realized the person in dark coat had to have been hit by the car he almost walked in front of.