Chapter 31: June 2, 1970 AM
“Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash played on the clock radio when Elaine opened her eyes. Her consciousness mingled with the lyrics, invoking instant tears. The thoughts of Thomas Trent’s head knocking the ground and Gino’s lethal threats, weighing her down, bubbled to awareness. Her hair stuck to her neck, and her nightgown was clammy from the restless night’s sleep. The song lyrics penetrated her ears, “four dead in ohio” as images of students, protestors, soldiers, and women dying flew into her mind. She could not help but think unthinkable thoughts. The guilt of whether to confess weighed heavily on her. If only she could just escape these men.
The protests on campuses, the erupting collective feeling, caused the cancelation of the final week’s classes. Elaine’s life was in limbo, when she thought it would move forward, out of the chaos that dreaded November night bore.
She succeeded at creating order over the winter and spring months, dropping her old friends, never calling off a night at PepsiCo even when she was so stuffy she almost passed out on the line. She stayed a dutiful daughter, but none of these orders this drills completely soothe her conscience.
But soon she would be at Crystall Beach like when she was teenager and did not have a care in the world other than the Beatles.
The weatherman’s dynamic voice announced, “A 51-year-old record high temperature for June 2 was expected to be challenged today by hot, muggy weather carrying temperatures near 90 degrees, followed by cooling showers late this evening. The temperature of Lake Erie continues to rise at 54 degrees.”
Elaine turned off the radio and sat at her desk, her stomach growling. She flicked on the slow-moving fan, but it was no help from the heat building in her tiny room with only one window. The suffocating heat forced Elaine to flee outside to the backyard, where Eleanor unpinned the crisp sheets from the clothesline.
Elaine plopped down into the lawn chair, watching her mother work.
“Good Morning, daughter,” Eleanor said with the passive aggression of a mother doing all the work. “Elaine, come and help me. You should be doing this for yourself; who knows, maybe for a family one day.”
“No, I won’t.” She grumbled a tremor from her adolescence as she leaned back the folding chair, creaking, when she crossed her arms.
Eleanor released a long sigh, allowing her aching arms to drop by her side.
“Oh, ennui Elaine, I remember thinking the same thing while watching Grandma struggle. I look forward to seeing what you will do with your life. What dreams may become you? Whether you are a sleuthing reporter or a brilliant teacher, you will have a beautiful life. And one day, you may want sun-kissed sheets for yourself or your family. And when you take off the pins and drop them into the basket, maybe you will remember my fingers and the fingers of Grandma’s,” Eleanor’s voice was filled with hope and optimism for Elaine’s future.
Elaine got up from the chair, poised. She was prideful in her choices, but regretted making her mother feel a certain way about her past. She walked barefoot into the yard, tiptoeing to reach the pin on the clothesline. She yanked it off. “I do have Grandma’s hands,” she looked smiling with a mischievous secret, like she did when she was young. “Their pierogi machines,” they both laughed, feeling a deep sense of connection and continuity with each other.
“You do. Now, walk down there. We need to get this sheet tight before folding it.” They folded the sheet with practiced precision. A dance they have been doing for over a decade. The scent of tide detergent clung to their hands. As they stretched the sheet out -taut- before folding it in half again, Elaine felt a sense of calm wash over her. Eleanor walked toward Elaine before releasing it for Elaine to finish. Elaine buried her head into the sheet and inhaled. The thought of sleeping in clean sheets excited her, a simple pleasure amidst her turbulent emotions.