Phantom Scars (3 page)

Chapter 5 – Home Sweet Home

My place was small. It had two bedrooms, but one was full of junk, and the other one looked like I lived there without Emma, meaning my clothes and things were strung all over it. I quickly picked several things up, but I felt her hand on my arm, stopping me. She just shook her head no, letting me know she would do it.

I only had a twin bed, but it had a trundle hidden underneath for when my younger brother would get too drunk to walk home without momma fearing him drowning. She had found him once, hanging over the railing of the pier by his knees. He’d told her he was trying to catch a fish. Yeah, I never said my brother was bright. After that scare, she asked me to put a spare bed in the apartment for him the next day. He had only used it a few times, but at least momma knew he wasn't drowning, or fishing as he called it.

Emma walked around nervously, looking at everything timidly with wide eyes. She looked at my twin bed warily and then to me. "Where should I sleep?" she almost whispered.

I pulled out the trundle, kicking aside the dirty laundry on the floor. I really should have picked up some. When I popped the bed up, so it would be at a normal height, a magazine went flying out from under it, and Emma caught it. Of course, once she saw what it was, she tossed it as if it was on fire.

"I swear that was Clayton's. He’s my little brother, he sleeps here sometimes. I'm so sorry," I said and quickly threw it in the trash. I went to my closet and pulled out some sweatpants that tied and a sweatshirt. "These will be big, but they should be warm. I'm sorry, but I don't have any…underclothes," I said motioning to her girly areas, and she just blushed again. "Sorry," I said again nervously and started for the door. "That's the bathroom there, you can shower or whatever, and I'll be out there talking to my momma. You can come down to the restaurant, or you can stay here and wait for me. Either one is fine, okay?" I asked, and she nodded in response. I smiled reassuringly at her and slipped out the door.

It was time to go face the music.

I hurried out of there, feeling awkward in my own place.
I practically stumbled down the stairs, and my momma griped at me for sounding like a stampeding elephant and told me to sit after she hugged and kissed me. "So, who's that girl you have with you?" she asked curious.

I couldn't really think of any other way to say it, so I just said it. "She's my wife."

My momma continued chopping vegetables and asked me to repeat myself, because she didn't hear the name right.

"Her name is Emma, Momma, she's my wife," I said a little louder.

She stopped mid chop and looked up at me. "Is she in the family way?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"You know…" she said and motioned around her stomach.

"Pregnant?" I asked, and her eyes narrowed at me. "No, Ma, she's not pregnant, I swear, I've only ever kissed her cheek, and that was after we were married."

"Now don't you get smart with me, boy," she snapped pointing her knife at me.

"I promise, Momma," I said crossing my heart. "She needed help, and she's scared. I married her to be sure she wouldn't get sent back to where she came from."

"And where is that?" she asked.

"I don't know for sure, but we picked her up in Germany."

"So, she's a kraut?"

"No, she's American, and even if she was German, would you care?"

"Is she a good woman, Devin? That's all I want to know," she asked seriously.

"Yes, she is." At least from what I knew of her she was.

"Do you plan on staying married to her?" she asked, and I looked up at the ceiling, almost wishing I could see through it to see if Emma was alright.

I just shrugged. "I don't see a reason why not to, but if she wants to leave, I wouldn't stop her."

"From what little I saw of her, she seems so tiny and frail. Do you know what happened to her? Has she said why she needed help?"

"Not yet, I'm doing good right now just to be able to get near her. It's taken me weeks just to move around her without her panicking or acting like I'm going to harm her."

My momma pouted. "I want to meet this girl," she said, and I was about to stop her, but she put her hand up. "I'll be nice, Devin, just let me feel her out."

I knew there was no stopping my momma, but I tried to rush as fast as I could behind her, so she wouldn't get Emma alone. My momma burst into my apartment, and I watched as my poor little Emma jumped in shock, dropping a dustpan I didn't even know I owned. She looked at my momma wide-eyed and backed against the wall, shaking hard. I grabbed my momma's shoulders, stopping her. "Stop, Momma, you're scaring her."

"But I haven't said a word yet."

"Just wait, let me introduce you first," I said, and Emma's eyes darted from my momma to me. I walked slowly over to her, and she let me take her in my arms. She seemed to calm down right away, relaxing into my touch. "Emma, this is my momma, Abby Clemens."

She gave my momma a sad smile and then looked down at the floor. "I'm so sorry, I made a mess," she said, and tears started running down her face.

"No, no, Little One, it's fine, you're fine. We didn't mean to startle you, and this place looks so much better than when I left just a few seconds ago."

She sniffled in response.

I wiped the tears from her eyes. "I promise it's okay, I told you I’d never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you, so you know it's safe."

I pulled her back into my arms and held her tightly, and I heard another sniffle, but this time, I realized it was coming from my momma. "Oh, baby girl, welcome to the family," my momma said with tears in her eyes and came over, giving us a group hug. Emma looked at me warily, but I smiled down at her, and she relaxed a little. My momma kissed her forehead and promised to fatten her up. I laughed and said we had the same agenda. Little Emma needed to get some meat on her bones.

My momma brought up dinner for us, and we ate together. Emma was silent, but she did nod yes and no when my momma would talk to her. I kept her close to my side, so she would relax a little more, but I knew my momma wouldn't do anything to upset my Little One on purpose.

Momma left after dinner, giving us both kisses on the cheeks, and I retired to the bedroom to get ready for bed. Emma stayed in the kitchen/living/dining room. As I said, it wasn't that big of an apartment. Once I was ready for bed, I poked my head into the front room to see she had cleaned up after dinner. "Emma," I called to her, "I'm dressed, so it's safe to come to bed now."

She blushed lightly, nodded okay and came into the room. I climbed into my bed, and she walked over to hers, looking down at it nervously. She looked over at me and then to the window by her bed. "Would you rather sleep away from the window?" I asked, and she looked at it warily. She nodded yes, and so I got up and walked over to it, showing her it was locked securely.

I climbed into the bed by the window and watched her, as she carefully climbed into my bed. I could see her shaking from across the room, and I was certain it wasn't from being cold. I lay there, listening to her breathing, until it finally evened out, and she was asleep. I didn't know who had broken my girl, but I hoped to one day fix her.

Chapter 6 – Bear at the Door

I woke the next morning to the smell of bacon. I knew I didn't have any bacon in the house and wondered where it had come from. I walked out to find Emma cooking bacon and eggs.

"Smells great, Little One, did my momma bring that stuff by?" I asked.

She nodded her head yes, giving me a small smile.

I decided to be helpful and set the table. We ate in silence, and then I told her I had to go downstairs to see if momma needed any help. She just nodded okay.

I found my momma, and she hugged me, smiling widely. "It's so good to have you home. Your little Emma is so sweet as well. I brought by a box of food this morning, knowing your cupboards were bare. I was sure I heard someone up and called out, so she’d know it was me. She’s such a sweet, timid little thing. I just want to tuck her in my apron and keep her safe.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. "She’s a sweetie. I just wish I could do more for her."

"You're doing right by her so far, Devin. Just be good to her, and she'll start to get better," momma encouraged.

"I need to get her some clothes. She doesn't have anything other than some men's clothes she sewed to fit and the sweats I gave her last night."

"Oh, Devin, why didn't you tell me? I could’ve brought a few things over."

"Maybe when you get a chance tomorrow; otherwise, I was just going to take her to the store. I suspect she doesn't have any underclothes," I said, and I felt my ears burn.

"And how would you know that? You're not taking advantage of that poor girl are you?" she scolded.

"No, no, it's just, when she was on the ship, she was washing her hair in my sink, and she didn't have her…" I stopped; my momma's glare was getting to be too much. "Look, I just saw her back, and that's when I knew something bad had happened to her."

"Her back?"

"Yeah, there are scars all over it. That was all I noticed, the scars."

"Oh, that poor girl."

I let out a sigh. "Look, Ma, just let me know if you need help when your shipment comes in."

"Will do, sugar," she said kissing my cheek. "You be good now," she warned, and I promised I would.

When I returned, Emma was of course cleaning. The place was spotless. I didn't know when she’d had time to do it. I also heard the little stacked washer and dryer going in my closet.

"You've been busy," I said, and she smiled and nodded at me. "I feel kind of useless. At least before, when you were cleaning up after me, I was working on the ship, but now I'm just sitting around." She frowned and then walked into our room. She came back, handing me her book. I laughed at her and rolled my eyes. "Funny girl, I'm not into romance novels or any novels, actually," I said scratching my neck, realizing I sounded like an illiterate idiot. "But I guess I could give it a go," I said quickly, as she eyed me and then smiled, so I cracked the book open and started to read.

Thank heaven the phone rang a few minutes later, because the book was melting my eyes. I quickly answered it and found my momma was on the other end, asking me to come down and unload the farm delivery truck.

I told Emma I had to go help momma unload, and she waved goodbye, as I hurried out the door. I was met by Clayton on the boardwalk. He was already on his way to help out our momma. He lived five shops down in a duplex over a candy store. "Hey, Bro, I heard you were back in town. Good to see you again. Are you sticking around for a while?"

"Um, yeah, I suppose."

"Cool, there are some openings at the warehouse if you're interested," he offered.

"Maybe," I said, not sure if I should leave Emma. I had made enough to support us for the rest of the year on my last ship run.

"He'll be doing no such thing, he has a wife to look after now, don't you, sugar," my momma said, and my brother looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Wife?" he asked.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, she's at home right now."

My brother turned and was ready to run to my apartment, causing me to panic, but luckily, my momma grabbed his arm. "You get to work unloading the truck now, you big oaf, and then we can go and visit with Ms. Emma."

"Thanks, Momma," I said and got to work. It didn't take nearly as long as I’d hoped it would to unload. Eli, the souse chef, got to work on putting the food away, leaving my momma free to join us. She could see I was panicking. Clayton was big, loud and obnoxious. I just knew he would freak Emma out.

"Clayton, baby, you need to take it easy on little Emma, she's very timid and shy, so you need to stand back and keep your mouth shut, until Devin lets you know it's okay to talk to her," my momma instructed, and I was thankful for that.

"What? Man, that sucks."

"Hush, boy, or I'll send you to clean the toilets," she threatened, and Clayton stood quietly by the door. “That’s what I thought.”

I knocked lightly, letting Emma know I was coming in, and Clayton looked at me like I was nuts. I opened the door slowly and saw that she was switching the laundry loads. She jumped a little when she saw me and sighed in relief. She smiled, though, when she saw my momma walk in behind me.

Of course, that smile fell as soon as Clayton came into view, and I hurried to her side. "Emma, this is my brother, Clayton. He won't hurt you, I promise. He just wanted to meet you. I swear he won't hurt you, or he’d have me and my momma to deal with, and he's no match for my momma," I joked, and she cracked a small nervous smile. I let out a sigh of relief and looked up at my brother. "Clayton, this is Ms. Emma, my wife."

He took off his hat and tipped his head at her. "It’s real nice to meet you, Ms. Emma. I'm sorry if I startled you."

She nodded, letting him know it was okay, and my momma walked over to help her gather the laundry. "This place is actually looking livable, Emma. You're doing a wonderful job with it. I'm very impressed, you're quite the little homemaker," my momma complimented her. "Devin tells me you're short on clothing, and I let him know I have some things for you. I was thinking you may feel more comfortable going shopping for underclothes with me instead of him." When my momma said that, Emma blushed and nodded yes.

"Why would she want to go underwear shopping with her momma-in-law? Doesn't she want you to pick out what you like?" Clayton asked. I quickly apologized to Emma, as I shoved Clayton out of my apartment.

I was going to have to have a long talk with my brother.