THE INCIDENT

Life was not easy for Val. She was the oldest child of a divorcee in the 1960s. She lived with her mother and aunt in a small green house on a dirt street on the poor end of town. Her mother worked as a seamstress and made less money that the guy down the street who did the exact same job. The reason he made more money, her mother was told, was because he had to support a family. Poverty was an enemy Val and her mother lived with all of Val’s childhood.


When Val was four, Lisa moved into the neighborhood. Lisa was four years old too and her family moved only three houses down the block from Val’s house. That summer was the most fun for Val. She and Lisa played games, shared tea and teapot sets, saved the world, and mother’d their dolls.

One day when Val asked to go play with Lisa, her mother and aunt told her no. They were quiet and whispered a lot. Val did not understand why she could not go over to play with Lisa. She saw Lisa several times that day, but Lisa never waved to her. Lisa would come and go holding her mother’s hand. There was a man with them whom Val had never seen before. Several days went by and Val thought her mother and aunt were being unfair. They were not telling her something and she did not know why it was that Lisa did not come over anymore.

After three days, Val slipped away from her yard in the heat of the afternoon and walked over to Lisa’s house. She walked up the sidewalk, the stairs, and across the large front porch. The inner door was open and Val could see the man and Lisa’s mom in the living room. He was hitting Lisa’s mom. The man turned and saw Val. Suddenly Val was terribly afraid. She knew instinctively from the fear on Lisa’s mom’s face that she was in trouble. The man headed for Val, anger on his face. He was so tall. He loomed over Val. Val refused to back away. “Why are you here?” The man asked. “I came to play with Lisa.” Val said, her voice shaking. “Well, if you want to play, I will play with you.” The man reached for Val. Suddenly, Lisa’s mother was there between Val and the man. “Val, go home now.” Val turned and ran out the door as fast as she could. She looked back once and saw the man beating Lisa’s mom.

Val told her mother tearfully what had happened. Her mother blanched white, and ran to the phone. Before the police arrived, a thunderous crack was heard that reverberated throughout the neighborhood. That afternoon, Lisa’s house was a bevy of activity. The horrible man was walked out of the house and put into the back of a police car. Someone was taken out of the house on a stretcher with a white sheet hanging down. Police came and talked to Val’s mother and aunt. People came and took Lisa away.

Later that evening, Val’s mother told Val that the man was Lisa’s dad. He had been in prison and when he got out he found Lisa and her mother. Val was scolded severely for disobeying her mother and going to Lisa’s house. The man had been angry that Lisa and Lisa’s mother had made friends with Val’s family. When Val went into the house, he reached for Val to hurt her. Lisa’s mother interfered and fought back when her husband tried to go after Val. This had resulted in the man shooting his wife. Lisa’s mom was in the hospital, fighting for her life,and Lisa’s dad was in jail again. Lisa was with social services.

Val only saw Lisa two more times. Once when Lisa and her mom moved out of the house and across town, and again when she went over with her mother to say goodbye. Lisa and her mother were moving to another state. Val played with Lisa both times, but it was not the same carefree play that it had been. Lisa was different. She cried a lot and was fussy. She wanted to move from one thing to another constantly. Val felt guilty for a long time. She believed that if she had not gone over to Lisa’s and had not disobeyed her mother, Lisa’s mother would not have had to protect her. It was a long time before she realized that the man would have hurt Lisa’s mother and perhaps Lisa anyway.

There have been numerous, small moments over the years when Val wondered what ever became of Lisa and her mother.