WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ben McCulloch carried a skate bag and hockey stick as he and Alison Donnelly walked up the stairs from the 59th Street subway stop to see the Columbus statue on its pillar. While eating slices at the pizzeria near campus, Ben had decided that he wanted to take a break from studying for tomorrow's circuitry test and to go skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park. He and Alison had returned to his dorm room in Wallach Hall, where he got his skate bag and hockey stick, and then took the 1 subway from 116th Street to 59th Street.

As they crossed Columbus Circle to enter Central Park, Alison took Ben's arm. He shifted his hockey stick to share his left hand with his skate bag, and then grabbed her hand. After they scurried across Central Park South, Alison started to release her hand from Ben's, but Ben held onto it tighter. When Ben turned toward her, she instead put her head down. Ben kept his gaze on her, which provoked her to then look up at him. Their eyes scanned each other and he smiled. When she smiled back, he pulled her closer to his side. They were becoming so entranced with each other that they failed to notice a well-dressed drunk bump into them.

"Sorry, sorry. Mea culpa. My fault entirely. Too much of the grain and grape at lunch," the drunk apologized. The man was in his early fifties, wearing a chesterfield overcoat and contrast collar dress shirt. He had been a handsome man in his youth before strife and disappointment had taken their toll on him. "Please forgive me."

"Of course," said Ben. Ben was repulsed by his 180-proof breath.

When the man doffed an invisible hat to Alison, she turned away from him immediately, letting Ben guide her into the park. She whispered, "He reminds me of my father."

Alison didn't need to say anything further. Ben began to understand Alison's earlier comments about her home life.

"Want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing more to say that hasn't been said. I've talked about it my whole life."

"Not to me."

"It's my reality, Ben. I live with it. I deal with it the best I know how. I recognize it as a problem that I didn't create and I get help. I have to stay away from it so it doesn't destroy me," Alison admitted. She stopped in the path leading to the ice rink and pulled Ben to the side as pedestrians, joggers, dog walkers and bicyclists passed them.

She looked him in the eyes. "The real reason I'm not going home for Thanksgiving is because I don't have a home anymore. My mother is getting a divorce. I found out at Homecoming and it was why I got so drunk. You were such a gentleman, Ben. I realized the next morning that I was doing what he does in order to deal with things."

Ben wanted to put his arm around Alison, but she resumed walking, telling him, "We're supposed to go to my uncle's family for Thanksgiving, but I'd rather stay here, see the parade and go to a Sabrett's on the corner. I'm proud of my mother for finally making the decision. She and my little brother will be fine. I just can't go back there now. It'll be bad enough at Christmas, but it'll be better than it was."

Ben didn't know what to say. When Alison took his hand again, he led them to Wollman Rink.

Ben finally said, "I guess I feel fortunate. I've never been that close to an alcoholic."

Alison continued, "When he's drunk, you never know what's going to happen."

"My oldest brother Scott had a problem with it. My mother had gone out to San Francisco to see him right after he moved out there. And when she came back, all she'd say was that Scott had a bad drinking problem. I was just a kid then, so what did I know? I thought San Francisco had something wrong with its city water system."

Alison smiled at Ben who went on, "But Mom said she got Scott to go to A.A. meetings. He was working in a small copy and print shop then. Scott told her that it was all Dad's fault."

Alison squeezed Ben's hand, answering him, "That's what they want you to believe. That their drinking is never their fault. Always blame something else or someone else."

Ben then squeezed her hand. "I go to Al Anon meetings," Alison admitted. "It helps a lot. You realize that it's not your fault and you can't change them. You just have to stay away."

"I'm so glad I never saw Scott like that. He was my hero growing up. He taught me how to ride a bike. How to skate backwards. I remember when he left home that Thanksgiving. I felt like a part of myself went with him."

Alison shifted her left hand to Ben's right arm. He went on, "I'd love it if he could watch me play hockey sometime."

"What about me? Can't I be proud of you too?"

Ben smiled to himself and then put his arm around her shoulders. Wollman Rink was directly in front of them.

Ben would refuse to rent figure skates for Alison, insisting that real skates didn't have toe picks. He would also promise not to laugh at her when she wobbled on the ice in hockey skates.