THE BOLAN CHRONICLES: Reading #24

24. Approximate Minutes Reading (AMR): 10

Introduction to Characters

THE BOLAN CHRONICLES

Chapter 3

A House

**The O’Malley’s Mistake**

April 2^nd, 1979. A group named America had a Billboard number one hit called A Horse With No Name, War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk was the New York Times bestseller, an Anthrax epidemic had broken out in Russia, and home life for little Dean Thomas Bolan began in the little state of Connecticut, in a little town called Trumbull, in a little house at 11 Sunset Avenue.

Donna's mom had nearly begged her to spend the first week there all day, each day, but Jake wouldn't have it. When Donna had asked him why not, he had told her that he was never interested in having someone else do the job that he'd applied for. In his words, “We applied for it when we did the nasty.” Then he'd said, “And we certainly got the job, didn't we? Head over heals!”

When she saw the sign on the door to the basement, Donna asked Jake about it. “It’s Daddy’s cave, Donna,” Then he stared at her, waiting for her response. When she said nothing, he continued, “With a kid in the house, I’m gonna need a getaway now and again, and well, I just wanted to make that crystal clear…punctuate the issue, if you knows what I’s means!” And he laughed. 

Donna's mom did help out occasionally during the first few weeks. Mostly, while Donna was taking care of Dean, she would run to the laundry mat, wash the dishes, do the housecleaning. Donna couldn't imagine having to do everything, and it had always been her belief that family members were meant to support one another. It had been something that her mother had unsuccessfully tried to convince her father of. It was her father who had once told her that no matter what happens, taking care of oneself was more important than anything else. “How the hell can you take care of anything else without looking out for number one?” 

And Jake frequently told himself that if it weren't for Donna's mother, he would probably be the one forced to the housework, and no, that wasn't going to happen. So he bit his tongue and steered clear, spending great lengths of time in the basement or at  Ken's. Donna occasionally asked him to fetch a diaper or hold the baby, and he was willing, but there was a limit, and she was learning it.

And Jake wasn't comfortable with an infant. He would do the kinds of things that a father of a newborn might be expected to do--make funny sounds, try to get the baby to smile, pinch his cheeks and grin--but the baby didn't seem to respond as much as he did with his momma. Jake chalked it up to the fact that she spent more time throughout the day with the little guy.

Over time, Donna's mom stopped by less frequently. Whereas, in the beginning she had come by just about every day, after a few months, it became two or three times a week, and within six months, her visits were reduced to once a week, sometimes less. Donna started asking Jake more often to do things around the house. At first, he didn't complain. This is the life I've chosen, he thought, and besides, things will get easier over time. 

One day, after a long and difficult shift at work, Jake began to realize that pulling into the driveway and walking through the front door was becoming rather boring and tedious, and he needed a break from it. So he pulled into a convenience store parking lot, located a payphone, and called Donna. 

"How was my wide-eyed beauty's day?"

Donna sounded tired. "It was okay. Dean is doing good. Are you at work still?"

"No. I stopped off for gas." And he paused. "And I'm going to pay a visit to the billiards bar off of White Plains. I think it's called O'Henry's or O'Learys...something like that."

Donna replied, "Oh." And she didn't know what else to say. 

"Yeah. A cop that had lunch at the restaurant today told me about it—said it was a great place to unwind after a stressful day. And God knows it's been one of those for me."

"Okay." She replied. "I see."

"C’mon, Donna. Don’t worry your pretty little self. I’m a big boy now, right? So, don't wait for me. Go ahead and have dinner, and I'll just help myself when I get back."

"Well..." She paused. "What time do you think..."

"I don't know what time, Donna. Maybe an hour, maybe two." 

"Okay. I'll just wait for you. I look forward to when you get home. And Dean does, too."

Jake chuckled, "Yeah, little Dean still doesn't know time from a tallywacker."

Donna replied, "A what?"

"Never mind, Donna. See you when I get home."

She slowly placed the phone on the receiver and looked through the living room window. She thought about what Jake had said to her, and it made her lonely. She felt something in her gut that she didn't like. Then she looked at little Dean sleeping in his crib, and she smiled. She told herself that Jake had been so good with him and that he had had so little time out and that he deserved to do something fun. Then she began to feel guilty for not having told him to have a good time. He deserved a good time, didn't he? And when he gets home, she thought, I'm going to be happy for him, and I'm not going to complain about anything. He's so good to me.

When Jake came through the door at just past midnight, Donna greeted him with a hug and a kiss and a baby in her arms. Jake was a bit surprised, but he welcomed the attention and grabbed little Dean and lifted him up and twirled him around, and Donna smiled. 

"How was O'Leary's?" She asked.

Jake laughed and said, "Well, as it turns out, it isn't O'Leary's, and it isn't O'Henry's, either. It's O'Malley's."

Jake spent a few minutes playing peek-a-boo with Dean, and he talked with Donna about his tough day at work, and she told him about how Dean smiled for the first time, and that she knew it was a smile this time, and not gas. And she had taken a few pictures that afternoon and couldn't wait to get them developed. And Donna thought to herself that her feeling of loneliness-that impending feeling of dread-was something that she’d made up.

The O'Malley's visits increased. A large group of police officers frequented the place, and Jake was gradually fitting in. All of them knew that this kid wanted badly to be a police officer, and they believed that he would be a good one. To most of them, he was a perfect fit. And from what most of them had heard about his wife, she was a perfect fit, too, compliant, quiet, unaggressive. 

One night, after they had played a couple of games of pool and were sitting around the large oak table next to the bar, Jake told the guys that he had begun calling the O'Malley's nights 'cop stops.' And the term stuck. If an officer walked into Ken's and saw Jake, he'd call out, "Cop stop tonight, Bolan?" And Jake would smile and almost always say yes. Thumbs up.

Before he left for work, Jake had begun telling Donna when he'd planned a cop stop. So on the night of August 31st, a Thursday night, she wasn't surprised when he came home late, but on that night he came home exceptionally late, and when he walked in, he wreaked of alcohol. 

"You're late tonight." She said.

He stumbled over his words, "If I'm late, Donna, is decision it’s…” He stopped himself and tried again. “It's because I decide what I'm late…not you."

Donna had never seen him drunk before, and now she was worried. She was sure that talking to him in this condition and this late would be foolish, so she turned around and said, "I'm going to check on Dean and go to bed." Then she added, "Goodnight."

Indeed, Jake had done very little drinking in his short lifetime. In high school, he and his buddies had collectively stolen enough liquor from their parents' cabinets to get themselves good and drunk upon occasion, but it hadn't been a problem for Jake. He liked the feeling of being in control of himself, and though he'd had some laughs with his friends, when he'd regained his senses, he'd determined that it wasn't a road that he was interested in taking.

Jake smiled when Donna walked away. He hoped that she wouldn't say anything more about it. He knew that he was drunk, and he knew what his being drunk could lead to, and that it wouldn't be pretty.

Donna lay in bed that night and thought about what she should do. She wondered if she should just let it go and hope that it didn't happen again. Maybe it was just a dumb mistake and Jake would learn from it. She considered her mom and how she might help. She’d figured out a way to overcome it, hadn’t she? But Donna knew that Jake wouldn't accept advice from her mom. He was hardheaded, and the idea of listening to a woman whose husband recently left her was far-fetched.

Then Donna sat up. A loud thud came from the other side of the hallway. She shot out of bed and hurried to Dean's room. Jake was on his knees, picking the infant up from the floor. There was no cry. 

She yelled, "Jake! What happened?"

Jake looked back and said, "It's okay. I just slipped. I jus’ tryin’ I…”

Donna screamed, "Get out! Get out of the room, Jake!"

"What the hell?" Jake replied.

And before he had a chance to say more, Donna grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. He rolled onto his side. He attempted to get up, but Donna pushed him out of the way and screamed, "Just stay down there, Jake!"

She held Dean tightly and walked to the bathroom and turned on the light. When she did, she saw his eyes wide open and his little round mouth pursed. Then his eyes closed quickly and he squinted. His little face wrinkled up like an old man's, and he started to whimper. When she realized that her baby was unharmed, she began to cry. 

And when Jake stumbled into the bathroom and she saw his face, her anger became rage. "God damn you, Jake! Don't you come into this bathroom! Get out! Get out!" And each time she said it louder and more intensely than the time before.

Jake backed out of the bathroom and shamefully stumbled to the living room and fell on the floor. He placed his hands over his face and rubbed it hard then he exhaled and moaned. "Oh, Jesus Christ almighty, what the hell…”

Donna waited in the bathroom until she felt her rage subside. She stared at herself in the mirror and cried, trying desperately to keep quiet. She didn't want Jake to know that she was sobbing, and she didn’t want to frighten little Dean any more than he had already been frightened. Then she looked down at little Dean, lying there in her arms, and she saw that he had closed his eyes and that he had fallen back asleep. And Donna knew that she had a special baby.

When she finally stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway, she found Jake sprawled out on the living room carpet. She quietly walked over and looked at him. He was breathing deeply. Then a fleeting thought out of nowhere crossed her mind: Why does Jake spend so much time in the basement?

She quickly dismissed the temptation to go downstairs. It was his space, she told herself, and just because we've had this bad night doesn't give me the right to invade it. And then Donna thought about how it had never occurred to her to have her own space. Why would I ever need a place of my own to go to?  

She carefully walked to their bedroom and placed little Dean on their bed. Then she lay down next to him and stared at his little face. And tears filled her eyes, and she whispered, "I'm always going to be here for you, Dean. No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you." Then she touched his little cheek and quietly said to the baby, “You have a good Daddy. He just made a mistake tonight, that’s all. He’s gonna be such a good Daddy. You’ll see.”