Spirits and Demons

The Past Comes Alive

                                                           Part Thirty Eight

  Immediately after the wake, everyone went back to the Harmon house. Relatives came over bringing food, many were there most of the night. Linda made it a point to tell everyone Virginia sent two of her sons though one isn't a Harmon. Mike couldn't sleep a wink that night, hurt and confused as he was and he pulled a blanket over his head pretending to be asleep. The next day after the funeral, Uncle Charles and Aunt Evelyn arrived to take Jimmy Don and Mike back to Houston for the night. Jimmy Don related to them what had happened and they did their best to comfort both boys through their terrible ordeal. A great breakfast the next morning and they were on the Greyhound bus heading back home. It as a grueling fifteen hour ride yet Jimmy Don and Mike were both glad to finally be heading back home.

  Virginia picked them up at the bus station and was silent when she discovered what had happened. Arriving home she called Linda and spoke with her for what seemed like hours. Virginia allowed Mike to stay home from school the next day so she could explain everything to him when everyone else would be gone. The question was burning in Mike's mind to ask who his dad is. He'd already asked in the past only to be told his dad is also Jimmy Don's dad. Mike felt bad he was carrying Harmon as his last name and he wasn't a Harmon. He related to Jimmy Don he'd change his last name as soon as possible and Jimmy Don reassured him to not worry about it. After Jimmy Don, Ricky, and Ronny left for school, Mike waited for the talk with his mother about whom his dad is. Impatiently waiting, Mike shook her for an hour before she'd wake halfway. Drunk as a skunk she reached for the vodka bottle she had under her pillow. Undoubtedly she'd gotten drunk to build up some nerve to tell Mike what she felt she had to. Through her tears she related to Mike that his last name is Yee and his dad's name is Max Yee. She'd broken up with Max and left him in Michigan when both Jimmy Don and he were both very young. Some years later she met Arlis and married him was the reason Mike's last name was Russ when he was in elementary school. Mike sat in silence listening to every word, trying to understand. She fell back asleep a few minutes and woke up crying again, telling Mike that she'd tried to kill him before he was born. Tears rolled down Mike's face as she kept on talking between drinks of straight vodka. He felt hurt once the impact of the words she'd related struck his mind, then anger and hate welled up deep inside him. He got up to go and she grabbed his arm, telling him how her dad and brothers had molested her and her sisters when they were little girls. It was all too much for Mike to absorb yet he continued listening. She passed back out again and thoughts came to Mike's mind about all the times his mother had locked herself in the bathroom with a kitchen knife and a large pair of scissors and Jimmy Don, Mike, Ricky, and Ronny had to break the door down to stop her from committing suicide. It all started making sense to him after hearing what his mother had said. All of it except for whom his dad is since he'd already had two last names that weren't his. He took the bottle of vodka out from under her pillow to hide it from her and vowed to himself to never tell anyone about what she'd related pertaining to her dad and brothers. Try as he might he couldn't stem the flow of hatred for his mother after she'd admitted to him that she'd tried to kill him. He knew now why he he had so many health complications and near death experiences and wasn't sure if he could ever forgive her for trying to kill him. He only knew he'd have this terrible health condition for the rest of his life as he left and walked in the nearby forest the rest of the day until well after dark. He made it home after everyone was asleep, got in his bed with silent tears and swore to himself he'd leave home as soon as he'd graduate high school in a few years and could make it on his own.