Ray Gorham - 77 Days in September

Jennifer wanted to bring up her run-in with Doug at the meeting, but wasn’t sure what, exactly, to complain about. “Doug kissed me, pays me too much attention, thinks I’m nice, and copped a feel of my boobs,” she imagined herself saying. It wasn’t something she could call the police about under normal circumstances, and besides that, he was the police. She continued toying with the idea of bringing it up, but decided against it after an extended, internal debate. She was an adult and would handle it herself. Besides, maybe Doug had gotten the message this time. She hadn’t seen him since Friday’s encounter.

Five minutes after the hour, Connie brought the meeting to order. Doug was still absent, and Jennifer was pleased that she wouldn’t have to face him. As Jennifer pulled out her notes from the last week’s meeting, Connie veered from the regular agenda. “I have some unfortunate news to relate,” she began, her tone somber. “Some of you have likely already heard this, but the Klein family was found dead two days ago.”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped, and the room went silent.

Connie continued. “Their neighbors hadn’t seen any activity at the home for a couple days, so they checked on the Kleins and found the bodies. Doug is pretty sure it was a murder-suicide, probably two or three days before they were found.” It was evident from the shocked looks that most in the room hadn’t heard the news. Jennifer didn’t know the Kleins, or even where they lived, but the news hit her hard.

“Do we know why it happened, or anything about the family?” asked Craig Reider, the community sanitarian.

Carol Jeffries spoke up in a shaky voice. “Mrs. Klein had been sick for awhile and seemed to be getting worse; she was in a lot of pain without her medications. I went over a couple of times, at her husband’s request. I couldn’t do much for her, but I sure didn’t expect something like this to happen.” Carol leaned back in her chair and wiped at her eyes.

“How many kids?” asked Jennifer.

“Two,” answered Connie. “Both boys. Ten and six. Doug said they had been smothered in their beds, same as their mother, most likely in their sleep. Mr. Klein was found hanging in the basement.”

Nobody spoke for a long time. Jennifer guessed that Emma probably knew one of the sons from school or the bus and wasn’t sure if she would tell her daughter about the deaths.

Craig Reider broke the silence. “What about burial?”

“That’s already happened,” said Connie. “Doug helped Mr. Tanaka, the neighbor, bury the family yesterday in their backyard.” She paused, and then added, almost as an apology, “We don’t have a morgue or a cemetery and needed to take care of things quickly.”

The meeting was interrupted by a noise at the door as Doug let himself in. Jennifer’s loathing for Doug softened somewhat, knowing what he had dealt with over the past few days, but her stomach still knotted at the sight of him.

“It looks like you’re discussing the Kleins,” Doug said as he approached the table. “It was a sad thing. Sorry I’m late. It took me longer to get here than I expected.” Doug sat down in an empty chair across the table from Jennifer and smiled at her as she turned away. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him watching her, but she avoided any further eye contact.

The discussion of the Kleins continued, with Doug filling in details that Connie hadn’t known. Finally, they moved on to more mundane subjects. During a discussion on heating homes, Jennifer noticed Doug bend down under the table, and just as his head disappeared, she felt a hand on her knee. She immediately clamped her legs together to try and stop his hand as it slid up her leg, but he persisted. She kicked blindly at him and felt her foot connect with some part of his body, followed immediately by the sound of his head banging against the underside of the table.

The noise caught the attention of the group, and conversation paused. Doug emerged from under the table, making a show of placing a pen on the notepad in front of him and rubbing his head. “Excuse me,” he said, with a shrug of his shoulders and a goofy look on his face.

The group turned back to Connie and the discussion resumed, with no further thought given to the disruption.

Jennifer was dumbfounded, unable to believe Doug’s audacity. Shaking and on the verge of tears, she clenched her fist and placed it in front of her mouth, forcing herself to breath slowly as she struggled to control herself. Doug joined in on the discussion, carrying on as if nothing had happened.

Jennifer felt a hand on her arm and jumped. She turned to Carol, who was sitting beside her, and Carol gave her a puzzled look.

“Are you okay?” Carol mouthed.

Jennifer nodded while blinking her eyes and trying to stymie the tears. Carol pressed further. “Are you sure?” she whispered.

Jennifer nodded again and held up a hand to reassure her. “I’ll be fine,” she mouthed back. She forced herself to pick up her pen and take notes on the discussion, but each time Doug spoke, the memory of him forcing himself on her, and his odors, and the kiss made her gag.

Finally, the meeting wrapped up and the council began to disperse. Jennifer stalled until she knew Doug was gone, then thanked Connie as she handed in her notes from the meeting and let herself out of the house. Jennifer crossed the street and waved to Craig and Carol who were visiting on the sidewalk. “See you next week,” she called to them.

Carol motioned to Jennifer. “Wait for me, would you?’ she called.

Jennifer stopped, unsure if she wanted to be questioned, but not wanting to just walk off on her friend, a friend who she needed right now. She could see Doug a block ahead, methodically making his way home. At least waiting would give her more separation from the jerk, she thought. She waited while Carol and Craig said goodbye and Carol walked over to join her.

“Sorry to make you wait,” Carol said.

“That’s fine. Beats walking home alone.” Jennifer hoped that she sounded more sincere than she felt.

“So what’s going on?”

“Oh, just the usual. Trying to find food, taking care of the kids. You know.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” said Carol. “What got you so upset at the meeting?”

Jennifer walked along, deciding if she wanted to talk about it. She watched Doug up ahead, scanning the houses as he walked, acting all official-like.

Carol followed Jennifer’s gaze. “Something happen with Doug?”

Jennifer pursed her lips and looked at the ground. “I guess you could say that.” Her voice trailed off as she spoke.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Jennifer.” Carol said, putting her hand on Jennifer’s shoulder. “Things happen. Times are tough. No one is going to blame you. He seems like a nice guy.”

“What? No. Wait.” Jennifer glared at Carol, pushing Carol’s hand off her shoulder. “You think I did something with him? With that creep?” Her eyes bugged wide, and tears welled up. “I can’t believe you’d think that. I thought you were my friend.” Jennifer turned and walked away.

“Jennifer! Jennifer!” Carol called, hurrying to catch up. “Please. I’m sorry. I guess I got it wrong. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She caught Jennifer by the arm, turning her around. Jennifer wiped at her nose and turned her head away.

For a moment, they silently stood on the side of the road while Jennifer composed herself. Jennifer didn’t know Carol all that well, but had felt a connection with the older woman from their first conversation. Carol seemed like someone she could relate to, and right now Jennifer needed to talk.

“I didn’t sleep with Doug,” Jennifer said firmly. “Although it would probably be easier if I did.”