The Willow Brook

The Willow Brook

By

Jim Plante

It’s been a busy week at work. Everyone in the racing industry seems to be doing business with us. We were all holding it together, but keeping the pace has been challenging. I can't tell off the top of my head how many pallets of rims we’ve shipped out this month. I’m glad I’m older now, so I don’t have to do all the grunt work like I used to. Today, I work in the office, sitting behind a desk alongside Adam, the owner. He has his private office, but I sit in what we like to call the bullpen. It’s a big open room with desks, computers, filing cabinets, printers, etc. Then, we have racing posters all over the walls of our rims mounted on Stock cars, Formula One, and higher-end sports vehicles. A giant display on one wall is filled with samples of all the rims we sell. There’s me, the inside sales guys Bill and Jack, and then Doreen.

 I can tell you right now there’s a lot of paper shuffling to push our products out the door. Sitting in a chair all day is tough when all you're doing is typing invoices, purchase orders, reports, and tax forms. Except for Doreen, we're all a bit older than the guys in the shop. She’s a young twenties-something blond, charming, good-looking Gen Z’er, and married to Adam’s son. She doesn’t put up with any crap from anyone, and she can really hold her own in a pinch, so that’s a good thing. She makes a great fit in an office full of men and a shop full of 20 or so young guys who speak like they’ve spent half their lives in the Navy. We take the work very seriously, but you have to have a sense of humor to work in a rim factory. Thankfully, almost everyone does. One of her many jobs is to answer and direct all the phone calls coming into the company. But we all get along well with one another, as hectic as it can get in there. Some days, though, I’m praying for Friday afternoons to hurry up and get here. After twenty-eight years of working my way up the ladder, from the shop floor to office manager, I’m finally in the home stretch and looking at retirement in the next few years. I’m thankful for Adam keeping me working all this time. Both of our families have become friends over the years. I’ve got a nice little nest egg, my 401K, and several investments that have paid off well. Nothing says I’m retiring in style after more than twenty years of dividends from the stock market.

“Harry, it’s Sal on the phone, Line 4,” Doreen said over her shoulder. Sal is my wife, short for Sally. We’ve been married for 44 years, and long before the movie came out. You know, When Harry Met Sally? We both got a kick out of it when it came out, and people still bring it up.

“Thanks, Dee.” We all called her Dee. That’s what she preferred, and she was not one you wanted to disagree with most of the time. She’d tear you a new one as good as any guy I’d ever come across.

“Hi, Hon, what's up?”

“Hi, sweetie, can you stop by the Osco on Archer on the way home? The Doc finally sent over my new prescription. They sent me a text saying it was ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem. How are you feeling today? Everything alright? I asked.

“I’m okay, I guess, but that pain on my side is not getting any better. It was awful today. Remember how it was when this whole thing started? Well, it’s starting to get like that again. I’m getting a little scared, Harry.”

“Don’t be scared. I’m sure it’s going to be okay.” Trying to sound confident. “And if it’s not, we’ll take care of it. I’m sorry you’re not feeling like your old self yet. Hopefully, this new medication will help. Hey, did you hear from David or Jessica?” I asked, hoping for some good news.

“No,” she said. “He’ll call when he can. I spoke to Jess earlier this morning, and she hasn’t heard from him either.”

“Yeah, I know how it is. But I can’t just sit around much longer, waiting. And I know he doesn’t have a choice in the matter, but still. Along with everything else we got going on, that’s making me even more anxious.”

“Give him time, sweetie; he’ll call. He always does.”

“Hey, listen, hon. It’s pretty crazy here today, but I’ll talk to Adam and see if I can sneak out of here early. What time is it? It’s already 3:30. I’m sure it won’t be a big deal. I want to get that medication to you as soon as possible. You shouldn’t need to suffer any more than necessary. And besides, you’re a lot more important than the rim job I’m working on.” She snickered. “Don’t take that the wrong way. That’s not how I meant it.”

“Harry, you really need some new material. But that fit right in with the conversation, didn’t it?”

“I just like to make you laugh, that’s all.”

“You do that every payday, sweetie.” She said, giggling.

“Ouch, that hurt. That’s it! No soup for you.” I said, laughing.

“Go talk to your boss, Harry. Tell Adam I need you.”

“I will, right now.”

“ Thanks, sweetie.”

“No problem. I’ll be home as quickly as I can. I love you, Sal.”

“I love you too, Harry. Bye”

“Bye”

I hung up and stared at my computer screen for a few seconds. I sat at my desk with my hands over my face and shut my eyes momentarily. Poor Sally. The doctors still can’t figure out the source of her pain, aside from the fact she’s in it. What the hell is wrong with my wife? I wondered. It’s been three months, and this is still going on? I don’t get it. And David, our youngest, he’ll be deploying to the Middle East again any day now. I hope they give him time to call his mom and old man to say bye. He’s supposed to be gone for about a year this time. Sally and I are praying hard for him to come home safe and in one piece. His wife, Jessica, has it harder than either of us. She’ll be without her husband for a year. They said they want to start a family when he gets back this time. It’s not his first deployment overseas, but it will be his last. His time with the Marines will be just about done when he comes home. So, it's perfect timing. If it all goes according to plan, I’ll be just about retired when they have their first baby. Then we can all have two more reasons to spend lots of time together. I can hardly wait, but I’m worried right now. I can’t help it. I get that way every time he deploys somewhere. Sally is the same way. She remembers when I had to do that with the Army when we were first married. As much as I loved and still miss the camaraderie, It sucked leaving home.

           I got up from my chair and walked to Adam’s office. The glass partition separating his space from ours gave us a view of his desk when the blinds were open. His door was shut, but I could see him sitting at his desk, talking on the phone. I knocked on the door, causing him to look my way when he waved me inside. When I stepped in, we locked eyes. He held up his index finger, motioning for me to hold on, so I sat in the chair in front of his desk and waited silently, looking at the pictures and plaques on the walls around him. I was distracted by my thoughts of Sally and David, so I ignored what he was saying until the end of his call.

“No, no. We have the PO’s. It shouldn’t be a problem. I should be able to ship out the first sixty by Friday next week.” Adam said, pausing for a moment and giving me a wink. “Frank, it’s always a pleasure. I’ll be in touch. Pausing again. Okay, that sounds good. Bye now.” He said.

“Harry, we just confirmed another 240 custom rims for Pirelli. We have to start shipping them out by the end of next week. That’s a little over 15K a pop and a nice profit for us. We’re eating steak next week.”

“That’s great, Adam. Who got the sale?

“Jeff. He’s been doing a great job.”

“Yeah, I heard that. Hey Adam, I’m going to need to take off for the day. Sally needs me at home. I have to pick up another new prescription for her at Osco and get it to her right away.”

“No problem, Harry. She’s still hurting, huh? It's been a few months now, hasn’t it?” he said, concerned.

“Yeah, it's been crazy. The doctors still don’t know what it is. The last pain med barely touched it. I don’t know what to do next.”

“Well, you know what, Harry? You take as much time as you need. Family first, right? Go, get out of here. We’ll be fine. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help and give Sal my regards.” he said sincerely. “And hey, I know the Osco you guys use on South Mayfield. Rough neighborhood. Be careful, brother. There’s been like three shootings there in the last few weeks. That part of Chicago is not getting any safer.”

“Don’t I know it, Adam, and thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll talk to you later.”

           When I reached my truck, it was already getting dark out, and it was starting to drizzle. My drive home would now take me out of my way a little to get to the pharmacy. That’s okay, though. It just gets iffy on some of the roads at night. Today, I have to go up 88^th Ave to Archer, which takes me past Resurrection Cemetery. I hate taking that way. It’s too quiet and not well-lit. But I can't get past the rail yard any other way.

It didn’t take long before it was a full-on rain. About halfway up 88^th, I saw a figure walking slowly on the right side of the roadway. As I got closer, I recognized the figure as a young woman, nicely dressed in a gown, clutching a tiny purse, walking with her thumb hanging out, in heels, and dragging an article of clothing behind her. I’d swear she was on her way to some ball dance somewhere. She could not have been anything but soaking wet in the rain coming down. I knew I should have just kept going. My wife was waiting for me to bring her medication. But I thought I’d offer her a ride if she were going my way. I still try to be helpful when I see someone in need, and she looks as if she is in need and doesn’t look the least bit threatening. I slowed down to a stop beside her and rolled the window down. She was drenched from head to toe.

“Hey, are you okay? Do you need a ride? I’m going up Archer for quite a ways.” I shouted from the driver's seat.

“Thank you. Yes, that would be wonderful. I could use a lift home if that’s alright.”

“Of course, hop in. Anything would be better than walking in this rain. Watch your step getting in. It’s a little bit of a climb.” I told her. “And just so you know, you'll be safe with me. No worries here. You just looked like you needed some help.” I felt like I needed to say that. It had to be stressful, thumbing in Chicago in the dark.

“I wasn’t worried. You don’t look like an axe murderer to me.” She smiled and asked, “Do you mind if I remove my heels? My feet are killing me.”

“Yeah, no problem. Have at it. I’ll turn the heat on at your feet to dry them a little.”

“Thank you.” She replied

“I know it's none of my business, and you don’t have to tell me. But I haven’t seen many people dressed like you hitchhiking on this road in the rain or otherwise. Were you coming from somewhere special? Did your car break down?”

“For a guy who doesn’t need to know anything, you ask a lot of questions. But I don’t mind. I’ve never owned a car, and I was with my boyfriend. We were having a dinner and dancing night out. After we went inside, there was some commotion. Somewhere in the confusion between the yelling and people running around, we lost track of each other. The next thing I know, you picked me up on the side of the road.”

“Wow! What was the commotion about?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember a thing except,” she paused. “Oh, wait. I think someone yelled out FIRE! It was loud, and I could smell smoke. I think it was coming from the kitchen. I have no memory after that.” She began to cry. “All I know is I couldn’t find Peter anywhere, so I must have just left alone.”

“Woah, I’m so sorry to hear all this. Did you try to call him?”

“Call him, no. I can’t find my phone.” She said sniffling. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cry. I’m just sad because I can’t talk to him. It feels like it’s been twenty-five years since we spoke. We talk every day, no matter what, you know? Do you have a girlfriend you talk to every day?”

I looked at her sad eyes and put out my hand to show her my wedding ring because I wasn’t sure where this was going. “No, but I do have a wife. We’ve been together for forty-four years. We talk every day, too.”

Before I could pull my hand back, she gently grabbed it with both hands, running her fingers back and forth over my ring. They were ice-cold, thinner, and much more frail than I imagined. Her fingernails were painted red and very long. They were freakishly too long, even for a young girl.

“So, where were you two having dinner?” changing the subject.

“We were at the Willow Brook on South Asher. We heard the food there was good and they had ballroom dancing and everything. It was supposed to be a fun night.”

“The Willow Brook, huh? Why does that sound so familiar to me? I’ve heard that name before, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe Sally and I went there once. I don’t know. We’ve been to a lot of places. But that one’s got me stumped.”

“Sally’s your wife?”

“Yes. Oh, I’m sorry. I never introduced myself. I’m Harry.”

“I’m Ruth. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Does she treat you good, Harry? Because, you know, it seems like you’re a nice guy.”

“My wife is the best and treats me very well, as I do her. We still have a good thing going on all these years.” I told her. Hey, Ruth, how far are you going? I mean, where should I drop you off?”

“Oh, I’m just up ahead.” An elongated skinny index finger with red painted nails pointed forward in the darkness. “My street is right up there.”

“On the left? I asked her as I searched for a street sign.

“No, Harry, I’m on the right.”

“On the right? There’s nothing there but a cemetery.” I turned my head to look at her; she seemed to have aged a lot in seconds, as if she turned into a middle-aged woman with thinning hair. Maybe it was the lighting. I don’t know, but she looked different. She looked back at me with a faint smile.

“Just keep going. You’ll see it. It's just up there. And thank you for the ride, Harry.”

I looked for a sign but didn’t see one. “That’s okay, Ruth. I’m glad I could help.” I turned again to look at her, but this time she was gone. She just vanished. Where did she go? I know she didn’t open the door because I would’ve heard it. The blood circulating in my veins turned cold. I hadn’t even stopped the truck yet to let her out. You gotta be kidding me. What the hell was that? I pulled over and went out to see if I could find her, but when I looked around, the only thing there was the opening in the stone wall to the cemetery. I froze up like I had just seen a ghost. I got back in my truck and drove as fast as possible to Osco and then back home. When I arrived, Sal greeted me, and I handed her the bag from Osco.

“Give me a minute, Sal. I have to check something.”

“Okay,” she said.

I did a Google search on the Willow Brook Ballroom. It burned to the ground in 2000 on January 14^th. That’s today. Eighty-one people escaped, but Six people died in the fire. Among them were a young couple named Peter and Ruth. The pictures of the building were devastating enough. But they also had photos of the victims. High school seniors and popular long-time couple Peter Williams and Ruth Taylor perished when the roof collapsed. I recognized Ruth as my hitchhiker with the red painted nails, wearing the same clothes as in the photo the night she died 25 years ago. My jaw dropped, and I was utterly shocked. I don’t know if I went back in time or if she’s been walking around for 25 years. But that was her.