Chapter 4 - Still Falls the Rain

“Still falls the Rain

Dark as the world of man, black as our loss

Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails

Upon the Cross.”

Dame Edith Sitwell

It had been a horrible night. When Len wasn’t in bed with her by 6 a.m. she was scared to death that he and Jack had finally killed themselves on their New Year’s Eve climb.  Maria called Jack to see if he had arrived home.

“Hi Jack, this is Maria. Len didn’t make it home last night. Do you know where he is?”

“He dropped me off at 2:40, Maria. This is not good. You had better call the police. I’ll call the hospital.”

She immediately called the police. “Hello, this is Maria Chavez. My husband didn’t come home last night and I’m worried he may have been hurt. Can I speak to whoever it is that handles these matters?”

“I can help you Mrs. Chavez. What is your husband’s name?”

“Leonard Mahoney. He dropped his friend off last night at 2:40 and hasn’t been heard from since. I’m really worried. This isn’t like him.”

“Just a moment -- Mrs. Chavez, we have Mr. Mahoney in detention for driving under the influence. He will be released at 7:30 this morning.”

“Why didn’t he call me last night?”

“I can’t answer that question. Is there anything else?”

“No, no. There’s nothing else.”

Maria was despondent as she got off the phone with the police station. Len had never been drunk in the 24 years of their marriage. Holding him for driving under the influence was ridiculous. She moved over to the sink to look out the kitchen window at the boys. They had gotten up early and started their chore of shoveling the driveway. Len’s Rover was conspicuously missing. Jonathan was shoveling the snow off the sidewalk and Peter was doing the driveway. Maria was looking out the kitchen window watching Jonathan and his brother work.

The warm early morning mountain sun shone through the window easing her anxiety. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Should I go to the police station and get him? No, I’d better not. If he didn’t call me, there must have been a reason. I better call Jack.”

“Hi, Jack, this is Maria. I found Len. He was arrested for driving under the influence. Were you two drinking last night?”

“You know us better than that. Len takes New Year’s Eve seriously. We had two shots of schnapps a piece over a four hour period. Mostly, we were exhausted. I was worried about him on his drive home. If you’d like I can go down and get him. What time does he get out?”

“They said 7:30 this morning. I’m afraid he’s embarrassed about getting arrested last night. Why else wouldn’t he call? I’ll just wait here with the boys. Thanks, Jack.”

Maria felt a lot better. Jack would calm Len down on his drive home. Lately, Len had been so agitated. She turned on the radio and settled down into the kitchen chair to have some coffee.