Promise Me Eternity (46 page)

“Punished?” he repeated and hurried into the
bathroom. While showering, he repeated to himself, “Thank you, God,
for sending me this woman.”

Chapter 103

_______________________

That evening Dr. Lawson told Anita that his
wife had finally signed the divorce papers.

“Thank God, the witch has finally done
it.”

He didn’t like Anita calling her names. He
was lost in thought and still couldn’t understand how Valerie could
have changed so much.

Anita said, “This calls for a celebration. I
mean, we have been waiting for this for nearly a year.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Let me invite you for a drink to a new bar
called the Mysterious Ray. Apparently, that’s where all the rich
people go.”

They went out. While drinking champagne, they
laughed and joked and planned their future.

“My last name will be Lawson,” Anita
said.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Who knows if I’ll be a good mother.”

“I’m sure you will be.”

In the evening, when they lay in bed, Anita
wanted to make love. “Take me, please.”

“Honey, I think I had too much wine. I have
an unbearable headache.” He didn’t find her quite so attractive
since her stomach had grown.

She let out a sigh. “Shame. It would have
been such a perfect evening. Well, tomorrow then.” She turned over
and fell asleep almost immediately.

But Henry couldn’t sleep. His thoughts were
with Valerie and he was remembering how she’d walked toward her car
and how the wind had tousled her long, wavy hair.
Shame it
didn’t work out between us.

He had to call her the next day. He lied that
the divorce papers weren’t complete and that they’d have to sign an
amendment.

“Of course, Henry, whatever you want.”

At noon he invited her for lunch and they
talked about everything but the amendment.

“How’s your life, Henry? Are you happy?” she
asked him suddenly.

Her sand-colored dress fit her body
perfectly.

He had to take a moment to think. “It’s hard
to say. Things have gotten a bit complicated.”

“We should never have moved to Medford. We
were so happy in Los Angeles. Remember?”

“Of course I remember. Even though I worked a
lot, we did have some great times.”

Her lips curved downwards. “I’m glad you can
admit it.” She looked up. “You said something about an amendment.
Where is it, so I can read and sign it?”

“Yes, you’re right.” Grabbing his briefcase
he started rummaging through it. “I can’t believe it, I seem to
have forgotten it. I’m such an idiot. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll just have to meet up
sometime tomorrow.”

They didn’t sign the amendment the next day
either. They met at five in the afternoon. Valerie, in tight pants
and a white sweater, took Henry’s breath away. They talked until
nearly eight in the evening, when Dr. Lawson’s phone started
vibrating in his pocket. It was Anita.

“Where are you, for goodness sake?” she
asked. “Dinner is cold already.”

“I’ll be home in twenty minutes. I had
something important to take care of.” After hanging up, he
apologized to Valerie, adding, “I have to go.”

“What about the amendment? What’s it
about?”

He opened his hands. “I’m in a hurry. We
should have talked about it before. Anita will be angry if I don’t
leave now.”

They met every day the next week as well,
until one day Henry made up his mind. He told his wife that he was
sorry for everything and that he wanted to move back to Los Angeles
with her. “I love you, Valerie. I see now that the affair with
Anita was a big mistake.”

Valerie said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be
able to forgive you. You hurt me a lot.” She closed her eyes,
keeping back her tears. “But I have never stopped loving you.”

They embraced.

“And when will you tell Anita?”

“Let’s stay in each other’s arms a little
longer. I can’t let you go. I’ll go to Anita straight after.”

“Where the hell have you been?”

“Sorry, Anita, I couldn’t come sooner.” As he
was sitting at the table he noticed a half-empty bottle of wine on
the kitchen countertop.

“I want to know where you’ve been. I can’t
help but notice that lately you’ve been busy every afternoon.” Her
hair was tousled as if she’d forgotten to comb it that morning. Her
eyes were glazed from the wine.

“You’re pregnant and yet you’ve been drinking
wine?”

She angrily pushed a plate of food in front
of him and stood with her hands on her hips, facing him. “You
haven’t answered my question.”

He pushed away the plate. “I’m not hungry. I
can’t eat.”

“How come? It took me more than an hour to
cook this and now you say you’re not hungry.” She gulped some wine
from a glass on the table. Anita leveled her eyes at Henry and
said, “Who did you go to dinner with? Tell me.”

“Valerie.”

“You come straight out with it. How dare
you!”

He looked up at her. “It’s not going to
work.”

“What’s not going to work?” Her face turned
deathly pale.

“I’m leaving you, Anita. I’ve realized that
our relationship was a big mistake. I can’t divorce Valerie.”

Her wine glass fell on the floor and smashed.
Without even looking at what she’d done she took a step toward him.
Henry’s chair legs scraped across the floor tiles in his rush to
stand up and be out of Anita’s reach.

“What are you talking about?” she said, her
voice getting louder. “We’re getting married. Tell me you didn’t
just say that.”

“I can’t do this anymore. I don’t love you.
And now I know I still love my wife.”

“You’re talking nonsense. That witch has
talked you into this.” She put her hand on her abdomen. “What about
the baby? Who will raise it? No, you’re not going anywhere. We’re
getting married.”

“No we’re not. And if you don’t want to raise
the child, I will.” He slowly walked over toward the door. “I’m
sorry, Anita. I’m very sorry.”

Reaching for the doorknob, he felt something
hit him in the back. The sharp pain made him turn round. “What the
hell …”

She had thrown a heavy glass sugar bowl at
him and was now holding the large metal salt grinder. “I’ll show
you sorry. Damn you! I’ll kill you!”

“Forgive me,” he said, and barely managed to
get out in one piece.

The next day, Dr. Lawson quit his job. Within
three months he and his wife moved back to Los Angeles.

Chapter 104

_______________________

Life in prison was a sequence of repeating
scenes. Every morning the prisoners got up early and went to work.
After that, they could choose one of the leisure activities and
then they got locked in their cells, where they stayed for the
remainder of the day. The next day was the same as the one before.
The only exception was Sunday, when they could sleep longer and had
more time for relaxation.

Nearly two years had passed since Simon
Patterson’s right to freedom had been taken away. He had started
getting used to life in prison, just as Paul Tuttle had predicted.
He got weary of the depression which he lived in for the first few
months. Slowly, he got used to everything. He knew he was living
among drug dealers, thieves, murderers, and other criminals, but
this bothered him less and less.
That’s just the way they
are
, he thought. No one’s perfect.

He thought of himself as a murderer anyway.
Even though he was charged with the murder of his wife, he
considered prison to be his punishment for actually killing another
person. He thought about it a lot. He accepted the fact that God’s
eyes were everywhere and that he was being punished for the murder
he did commit. This thought he kept to himself.

Some of the prisoners were actually nice
guys, and Simon Patterson was glad to see them every day. A few
others claimed they’d been put away for something they hadn’t done.
Simon also at first said that, but then he didn’t see the point. No
one believed him anyway. He didn’t want to talk about it, but if
anyone pressed the matter, he never said he had killed her or
anything of the sort. He just said she used to get on his nerves
and provoke him. Because he wouldn’t talk about the murder, some of
the other prisoners made up stories about it. Simon Patterson heard
rumors about how he’d first cut her stomach open and then severed
her head. Some even said he’d eaten her liver.

Simon took no notice of these rumors, which
soon spread. And because of this, he had a fearsome reputation.
Though he was calm and thoughtful, some trembled at the sight of
him. They imagined him slowly cutting open his wife. Others who
weren’t afraid of him left him alone due to his willingness to
help. He had aided several prisoners with their various medical
problems and the others realized they might also need help
someday.

Whenever Simon was sad, he mused:
That’s
the way it is. It’s God’s will. Nothing can be done about it. I
need to finish serving my sentence.

His favorite part of the day was rummaging
through books in the library. Before, he had never thought about
occupying himself with meditation or spiritual things. He had never
had time. He also found other interests, such as reading books
about biology and animals, and was also interested in architecture
and art. The good side of prison was that there was always enough
time. In fact, there was too much time and he could now do things
he never used to. He always read the daily newspapers and various
weekly magazines.

One afternoon, he got a big surprise. While
flicking through the Medford
Mail
he came across an article
which he would have been better off not seeing. He took a deep
breath and looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Her eyes were staring
right at him and it seemed to him like she was smiling gently. It
was Christine, beautiful like never before. Next to her stood a few
other people, obviously having fun. The headline read:
A party
like no other
.

He swallowed hard and read the article:

It was an unforgettable and unique
experience, the likes of which this town has never seen before.
Christine Vucci, widow of Carlo Vucci, spared no expense. The
guests ate caviar from enormous silver bowls. Those wanting goose
liver pate could help themselves out of a large cooked goose
standing in the center of a long table. If you were thirsty, all
you had to do was hold your glass under a stream of champagne that
flowed from two fountains. But that’s not all. The tables were
laden with food — dozens of meat and fish dishes, pasta prepared in
a host of ways, salads, exotic desserts — enough to feed a thousand
hungry people, not just the two hundred in attendance. In addition,
to celebrate her birthday, Christine Vucci laid on various
entertainers: jugglers, comedians, singers and dancers. At
midnight, magnificent fireworks lit up the sky. It was simply
amazing and the party went on all night ….

Simon hurled the newspaper at the wall. What
he had just read sent his blood pressure soaring. He hit the table
hard with the flat of his hand, scaring Paul Tuttle, who was about
to doze off.

His eyes blinked and he said, “What’s wrong
now?”

Simon banged his hand on the table again,
cursing loudly. “That bitch! That bitch!”

Tuttle had never witnessed Simon Patterson in
such a state and sat frozen on the spot, watching him. “Dr.
Patterson, what’s happened? Why are you acting like that?”

“The bitch!”

“Please, calm down, someone will hear
you.”

Simon’s eyes shone with rage. The guard got
the feeling Simon was about to explode.

“I’ll kill the bitch!”

Tuttle didn’t know what to do. Simon
Patterson was his good friend, so he didn’t want to call for
backup. He looked around a few times, checking if anyone had heard
the outburst. In a sharp voice he said, “Calm down, now! Do you
hear me? Or I’ll have to call for help!”

Simon got control of himself. Slowly he
turned his head toward him. “Sorry, Paul. I shouldn’t have gotten
so carried away, but I got a shock.” He gathered up the strewn
sheets of the newspaper that he’d thrown down and put the community
events section back on the shelf.

Simon looked at Paul and said, “I think it’s
best you take me back to my cell. I don’t feel very well.” His face
was as pale as the wall.

“Should I call the doctor?”

“No, I want to go to my cell.”

The guard nodded. “OK, Doctor, if that’s what
you want, I’ll take you. If you want, you can talk to me, I’ll
gladly listen.”

“You’re very kind, but this time I’d really
rather be alone.”

“OK, let’s go then.”

That evening, strange noises came from Simon
Patterson’s cell.

Finally his neighbor couldn’t take it any
longer and shouted, “Simon, what’s wrong? Why are you groaning like
that?”

Simon stood up, holding his stomach. “Sorry,
buddy, I have a terrible stomachache.”

“Then why don’t you call the doctor?”

“I’ll be OK. I don’t need a doctor.”

He made himself stop groaning, but the rage
wouldn’t stop bubbling inside him, keeping him awake all night.

The bitch! The bitch!
he kept
repeating to himself.

Chapter 105

_______________________

Anita Carter gave birth to a baby girl she
named Samara. She loved her, but even so, Anita often complained
when she had to go and pick her up from the day care center,
thinking,
I don’t have any time with her around.