That was the beginning of the traditional Parker Saturday night. From the kids’ first weekend in Kansas, Ben had been a Saturday fixture.

~~~~~

“So, Red, what else do you have on tap today?”  Ben asked as he used his fork to dip a french fry in ketchup.

Lane’s shepherd’s pie had cooled enough to eat.  She buttered a biscuit and dipped it in the gravy.

“When does Jess head back?  Doesn’t she have an audition coming up?”

“Jess flies out next Saturday.  And yes she has an audition on Monday. Her classes don’t start until next mid-week though.  They’re all so busy it feels like we don’t all get together anymore.”

Ben smiled.  “Are we feeling some empty nest syndrome right now?”

Lane laughed.  She had a big hearty laugh.

“That’s so funny.  Jamie’s still home.  And besides, even when I don’t have anyone really at home anymore, as long as I’m still writing tuition checks, my nest is not empty.” She took a drink of her iced tea.  “You know having a close family is important to me.”

Lane’s parents both died when she was four years old and she was raised by her mother’s younger sister Marta.  It was like being raised by an older sister.  Ben was close with his family, and that was what Lane wanted for her children.

Ben smiled and reached across the table to take Lane’s hand.  “I don’t think that’s a problem.  What is it you Parkers say?  Blood may be thicker than water, but Parker blood is thicker than molasses?  Come on, let’s get out of here and get you home to spend some time with your kids.”

Ben paid the check and they walked to the parking lot.

“So, you are going to join us tonight, aren’t you?”

“Of course, it’s Saturday, isn’t it?  Meet you at Church at 4:45.”

Chapter 4

Mom needs a chaperone

Jamie would turn 18 soon and somehow he’d changed from a gangly boy into a chiseled, hard bodied man.  Although Jess and Jake still treated him like their little brother, the change wasn’t lost on Lane.  Lane entered the house via the kitchen to find the three Parker kids around the breakfast bar, talking and chowing down on left over pizza.  “Jandy.” Lane smiled.  It was almost impossible to keep track of all of the nicknames Jamison Andrew Parker had.  Lane called him Jamie.  He was Jandy to Jake, and Jams to Jess unless she felt like calling him jelly, preserves, boysenberry, strawberry or any other fruit from which jam could be made… the list goes on and on.   It was a wonder that he didn’t have an identity crisis.  It was also a wonder that he put up with the harassment from his siblings; especially from his much smaller sister.  Jamie and Jake were about the same size.  Jake was six feet four inches tall and weighed 195 pounds.  Jamie was six feet four inches tall and weighed a well-muscled 210 pounds to Jess’s five feet four inches and about 100 pounds.  Jamie could snap Jess like a twig and yet he put up with it.

They seemed to be arguing over video games, and it made no sense at all to Lane.  The game room in the basement was full of gaming systems and games.  She’d learned a long time ago that there was no way to keep up with the video gaming systems, let alone the games.  And then someone thought up on-line gaming that the kids call MMORPG (massively multi-player online role playing game).  The current argument had something to do with EQ vs. wow, whatever those things were. They caught sight of her, and the argument went silent.

Lane got a glass of ice and a Diet Dr. Pepper, and joined them at the counter.

“Guess I really can’t leave you alone, even for football practice.”  Jamie said as he leaned over and gave her a hug.

Over Memorial Day, while the kids were diving to California, Lane had done a favor for a friend by finding the friend’s kidnapped son, and in the process she’d uncovered a drug ring. In late July, when Jake and Jamie were in Omaha and Jess was at school, she found a dead body in a movie theater; at first becoming the prime suspect and eventually being taken hostage by the murderer.

Lane smiled. “Guess not, but I did have adult supervision this time.”

“Yes, but you got away from me.”  Jess added.

“Yes, yes I did.  And that, my children, is when my trouble began.”  Lane smiled and took a drink of her soda.

Jamie began singing, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.”

They all joined in. “Nobody knows the sorrow.  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.  Nobody knows but Jesus.”

Lane finished. “Glory Halleluiah”

“Actually, Jake and Jess have already filled me in.  But you’ve just come from lunch with Ben.  I suppose there’s news.”

“Yes, there’s news.  The autopsy came back.  The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and blood loss.  The skull fracture could have been made anything, so the medical examiner isn’t ready to rule on method of death yet. For now it’s just a suspicious death and the detectives will continue their investigation.  In other words, I’m not out of the woods.”

They sat and talked and laughed about school and work.  Jess talked about when she’d be home during Thanksgiving break.  Lane talked to Jake about possible vacation, speculating whether or not they could do a family vacation over Christmas.  Since it was nearly September, and Christmas break was still more than three months away, they had some time to plan and talk.

“Besides, Mom, we’ll have to pray that you’re allowed to leave town in time to do a family vacation.” Jess laughed as she said it, but there was an unspoken undertone of concern that all three Parker kids felt.

“Okay, speaking of prayer, I told Ben we’d meet him at Church at 4:45.  I have a bit of a headache and I’m going to have a little nap.  Someone please make sure I’m up by 4:00.”

Even without a headache, Lane loved an afternoon nap.  Her mother had suffered from severe migraines, and had often forced napping on her only child so that she herself could rest.  Lane was likely to get up and go walk-about, so her mother would spoon Lane and hold Lane’s little feet in her crossed legs.  Her theory was that if Lane wiggled her little feet loose that she’d wake up.  It was a good theory, but Lane had wiggled free more than once, making her way to the big overstuffed chair in her parents’ bedroom where she would sit quietly and look at books until her mother got up.  “Headaches,” she thought as she drifted off, “one more thing to thank Mom for.”

Here’s the thing about sleeping, you have no control over what goes on.  Your sub-conscience takes over and goes where ever it wants to go.  It will make up things. It will put you at a family dinner with people who have been dead for years, where you interact as though they were still alive.  Lane dreamed that she was having dinner with her parents.  She sat at the table, in the kitchen of the house that had been sold over 35 years ago.  Her parents, who died when they were in their thirties, were still the age they were when they died and she was exactly as she was now, meaning that she was several years older than either of them.   Yet, in the dream, she was deferring to her parents as though she were still a child.  One minute she was sitting at the kitchen table eating macaroni and cheese, and the next she was roller skating through the house with her mother cautioning about falling. Then she was in the bathroom looking into the mirror, wondering who had scrawled “Hell hath no fury” on it in lipstick, while her father was emptying the waste baskets and talking about taking out the trash. The whole while Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels sang “Devil with a Blue Dress on.”

The next thing she knew Jess was asking, “How’s the headache,” as she gently shook Lane into consciousness.

Some people have to wake up slowly, needing their first jolt of caffeine in order to be coherent, and others are able to be coherent immediately after opening their eyes.  Lane fell into the second category.  Lane opened her eyes and practically jumped out of bed.  “Headache’s gone.”  She looked at the clock on her nightstand.  “I’m going to take a quick shower.  I’ll be ready to go in about 20 minutes.  Will you round the boys up?”