Stolen: The Bernard G. Story

Stolen: The Bernard G. story.

 Since starting high school, I knew where I would be the Monday morning after my eighteen birthday and looked forward to it. I dreamt of punching that timecard with my name printed weirdly; last name first, first name in the middle, and middle on end; with the four columns just like my father since we toured the steel mill in the fourth grade. I wanted to be just like the gentle giant that brought me a two-liter Ne-hi Peach soda, a Slim Jim, and a massive bag of Pork Rinds every Friday evening for us to enjoy while watching WWE Smackdown and (GLOW) the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Here we are, two sons and a little princess 13 years later...

I'm an average Joe. I go to work in another man's hellhole. I spend six days a week sweating into an abyss alongside my father and several cousins. At three a.m. I wake up to start fires in the wood stoves, milk Bessie and gather the eggs before waking Gloria, my pregnant reason for smiling. That was my routine for thirteen years. She wanted to wait a year before we had any children, but like the gentle giant, I guess I was blessed with super sperm. She had been nauseous for the first week of our marriage. So much for a different kind of birth control she wanted from the doctor; she's got to wait a month for the possibility of being pregnant again. We will have to be tested again in a few weeks. An over-the-counter test may work in a week; if not, we'll have the doctor retest.

She's upset and happy! Her moodiness says that She's in the mother's way, Mom said. I don't know what to do or say to make her feel better because, yet again, we believe her plans have been derailed by pregnancy. On a chilly November morning, I roll out of bed like every other to protect my bride from a cold start. I used to see my father do this same thing before going to work in the very steel mill I'll probably keel over in. I once asked him why… he replied: "O boy, my woman doesn't need to be shivering to try to feed us; I do it to show her love." So, when Gloria and I married in 82, my sleeping-in days ended. We married on the Saturday morning after my eighteenth birthday, and on Monday, we traveled three miles to my parent's house so I could ride to work with Dad; this would be our new routine every working day. Gloria kept our car to get to her doctor's appointment at 2. Since I was still considered a newbie, I had to work until 4, but She preferred my mom to go with her because I am number 4 of 13 children.

How could it all be stolen in an instant?

She disappeared between the time that she left for another doctor's appointment and after stopping for gas. Some of my brothers and sisters are too young to be left home alone. So, Mom could not go with her today. The doctor's office called Mom's house when Gloria didn't arrive for her appointment, thinking she had forgotten or was running late. They rescheduled the appointment for any time as a walk-in for the next day.

Mom was so frazzled when Dad and I pulled up at 6 pm that she was having an asthma attack on the front porch; She could not speak. My sister Poochie had just gotten home around 4:30, thankfully. While Dad attended to Mom. Poochie filled me in about Gloria.

Unfortunately, I couldn't even report Gloria missing for another 46 hours; It was easier to register my car stolen. So, that is what I did. The store owner where we purchased our gas remembered seeing Gloria at 1:30 talking to another woman, and after paying for the gas, they drove off down US 627, which should have taken them past Mom on the porch in 10 minutes.

After he told me this, I called Mom, who confirmed that our car never passed. I called the police with his information. I knew this doctor's appointment was critical and that Gloria would not miss it for any reason. The state police were dispatched.

I thought they would take the case, and I felt some relief…Until I became subject number 1. They had found my car abandoned on a side road, torched and empty.

My Saving Grace came at 8 am when my boss verified that I worked until 5:30 pm the previous day.

We still have no clue where Gloria is, but We're praying for her safe return. Given the car's location, everyone on the only road they could have turned on has been asked to search their property. We have no idea why someone would abduct her now. She's not even showing a baby bump yet. 

If she didn't want another baby, she wouldn't disappear…she would have talked to me.

I fell in love with her candor… the first time we met, she told me off. I truly love her

Please help me bring my wife home

***********************************Update****************************

Ten months ago, I got the worst news ever. My wife had been carjacked. I'm sure she was pregnant with our fourth. 

We've been married two months shy of fourteen years, and it felt like yesterday until my life was ripped apart. We've lived in the same house for the whole time. Since my eighteenth birthday, I've worked beside the gentle giant until his retirement two months ago. We were given the news that the mill would not reopen in January. It is November, the Monday, a week before Thanksgiving. Our children are 13, 10, and 5.

(phone ringing)

Hello

(state police call)

Mr. Vuitton, it's Captain Logan from Virginia State Police. Can I come out to see you? I'm close to your location right now.

Do you have news about Gloria?

Yes, but I'd rather…

(interrupting)

No…. Our children are asleep. Tell me

Someone hunting tripped over a fresh grave near the original car burn site, and the state coroner has confirmed that it is Gloria.

(dropping phone)

Whoever took her kept her alive until she delivered. The Medical Examiner said she put up a good fight.

(Are you there, hello, hello, hello)

I'm sorry to have to tell you this way.

(tears flowing)

That's my Gloria, everything for the family.

I have a child out there somewhere. According

We have to wait…for the results of the samples from under her nails and the core blood.

Finally, some answers ….

A week has passed, and I now know I have another Prince. We had decided on Bernard Gabriel for this son.

The sample from under Gloria's fingernails reveals Bonnie Lenoir, the nurse from Doctor Washington's office. The one that lost her baby and husband to a drunk driver.

Her life was stolen, so she stole mine… My son is still out there somewhere…