I

[b] I met Jackie at a car wash. She was sitting on a bench out front, and she was crying. I tried to ignore her but she looked so pitiful. I finally got up the nerve to sit down beside her and ask if there was anything I could do to help. She never looked up, nor did she acknowledge me. After a few ackward minutes I got up and walked over to the observation window and watched as cars passed through the wash. I had taken the afternoon off to run some errands and fully intended to go home after getting the car washed and picking up some items at the hardware store. Funny how life can throw you a curve.
I heard a faint voice behind me say ” My name is Jackie. I’m sorry I was rude
before but I’m just having one of those bad days. Oh God, I’m really having a bad month”. We both laughed, and I introduced myself. ” My name is Mitch, and I really didn’ t mean to bother you. I just can’t bear to see a beautiful woman cry”. She laughed again and said, ” I look a mess. I have been so depressed lately and it all just caught up to me this afternoon. I have been job hunting and I’m not having any luck. I’ve been to every hospital and clinic in town and they all say the same thing – “Don’t call us we’ll call you”. I told her how sorry I was for her situation and offered to try to help. My ex-fiance’ sister is a nurse at St. Benadictines and I thought it would be a nice gesture if I could at least get her an interview. I have to admit I was enamured with her looks. We exchanged phone numbers and said goodbye.
I’m a fairly stable guy. Not bad looking, I’m 5′ 10″ and weigh in at 185 soaking wet. After graduation I went to work for an engineering firm and have been there for 11 years. I was engaged to a woman for five years and really thought I would be happily married with kids by now. My fiance’ and I lived together for the last year we were together and we found out just how incompatable we really were. I have dated for the last few years but nothing serious developed.
That’s how Jackie and I met. She did indeed get a job from my introduction to my almost sister-in-law. I wasted no time taking advantage of my heroic efforts in assisting her to get a job and hopefully back on her feet. I asked her out two weeks later. We dated several times, usually dinner and drinks and an occasional movie. I learned she has two daughters, Jessica 12 and Misty 8. Her husband died 5 years ago from a sudden heart attack. He left them with a minimum amount of insurance and she has done her best to hold things together ever since.
On occasion we would end up at my apartment and have drinks and thankfully great sex. We throughly enjoyed ourselves, typically passing out from exhaustion after our sessions. I was developing very strong feelings for Jackie. I had not as yet met her daughters. One evening I received a call from her youngest daughter Misty. She was frantic, she told me her mother was very sick and needed help. I asked her to call an immediate family member ( she has a sister and brother that live in our town ). She said she had already called them and that they refused to help. I thought this strange but agreed to come right over.
When I arrived I was shocked at the condition of the house. It looked like a tornado had just come and gone. Misty met me at the door, she was absolutely beautiful even though she was crying and on the verge of hysteria. I asked her where her sister was and she said she was in her room and wouldn’ t come out. I found Jackie in her bedroom lying on the floor between her bed and the wall. She was passed out drunk. Little Misty told me her Mom had been doing so good until tonight when she came home with a bottle of her favorite drink – vodka. I found an almost empty fifth lying under the bed. I managed to get Jackie up onto her bed and asked Misty to bring me a warm wet wash cloth. I washed her face and and cleaned her up, helped her to get into her nightgown and put her down to bed. It was around 10 PM and I told Misty I would stay until her Mom was better. I asked her if her sister was ok and could I please see her to make sure she was alright. We knocked on her door but received no response. I opened the door and saw Jessica sitting on the edge of her bed brushing her hair. When she turned to look at us I was almost taken aback. Misty is beautiful, but this girl is drop dead gorgeous. Unlike her sister, Jessica has long dark brown hair, almost black, that falls well below her shoulders. She has the biggest darkest eyes that just burn right thru you. The look she gave me told me in no uncertain terms she didn’t like me and wished I would leave. Her left cheek still bore the imprint of her mothers hand where it was obvious she had been slapped. I asked her if she was ok and she simply nodded turned away and continued brushing her hair. I closed the door and asked Misty if she would like to get ready for bed now. I assured her I would be here in the morning when she awoke and that everything was going to be ok. She hugged me and thanked me, she began crying and told me how worried she was about her mother. She told me her mother had been in and out of the hospital many times and would sometimes be gone for weeks at a time. Sometimes one of her mothers boyfriends would stay with them but usually they had to stay with their Uncle. I heard Jessica say loudly thru her bedroom door. “That’s enough Misty, no need to tell our life story to a stranger”. Misty whispered to me, “Please don’t let our Uncle come here. He just yells and makes Mom so upset. And Jessica hates him”. I told her to go and get ready for bed while I looked in on her Mother. A short whle later both of the girls bedroom lights went out and I took up an all-night vigil next to Jackies’ bed. After an extremely uncomforable night the morning was not any better. When Jackie woke up she was furious that I was there. She began to berate me and tell me I had no business meddling in her families business. She told me to get out and that she never wanted to see me again. Needless to say I left with hurt feelings, anger and a feeling of despair for the whole situation.
Several days later I received a call from a very apologetic Jackie. She told me the whole story of her addiction to alcohol and about her many stays in re-hab. She really thought she had it under control. Looking back now I realized that what little we did have to drink seemed to effect her more than it did me. She promised me she would resume her meetings at AA and would be ok. We resumed dating and everything seemed fine for about two weeks.
It was Sunday night, one of those dark, cold, rainy nights that all you wanted to do was stay indoors and read or watch TV. Misty called and was crying. She asked me to please come quick and that her Mother was drunk and fighting with Jessica.
Thus began a year long series of one episode after another of “Mitch to the rescue”. Why did I stay? Was I looking for trouble and heartache? I think I did it as much for the girls as I did for Jackie. I can’t fully explain it. I thought I loved Jackie. When she was sober things went incredeibly well. We made love, we laughed, we spent time with the girls. Misty enjoyed having a suedo family, Jessica kept all of us at arms length.