SPACE 13-F (short story - fiction)

Of all the trailer numbers in the park, 13-F was the most well known. Adhering with common superstition, all the rows in the trailer park had skipped the number 13 except for row F. Old man Sutton had been one of the original tenants and did not believe in superstition. He insisted that his space be assigned the correct number. Everyone knew it as the “bad luck” space and many versions of the story of what happened there circulated around the park. John Sutton had gotten into a terrible fight with his son Clifford, and as a result, his son and his wife Molly left and never returned. That was the explanation given by the landlords to new tenants. The unofficial story was that he murdered his wife and son in a drunken rage and hid the bodies so well, the police couldn’t prove he did it and he got away with it. Regardless of what anybody believed, the adults avoided him and the children feared him.

Natty Baker had just celebrated her 12^th birthday and had accidentally tossed her new Frisbee into old man Sutton’s yard. As quietly as she could, she opened the gate of the 3 foot high chain link fence and entered the off limits realm of space 13-F. Still trying to be quiet, Natty ran as quickly as she could to where her Frisbee was. It had landed just a few feet from the living room window. Luckily the drapes were drawn, Natty thought. She finally reached the errant toy, reached down and picked it up. When she raised up she was startled by the sight of the old man looking directly at her through his window.

She nearly tripped several times looking back to see if he was chasing her, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even come out of his trailer. It was the first time Natty had ever had eye contact with the old man. And what she saw in his eyes was not a murderer. What she saw was a deep sadness with the pain of regret etched deeply into his face.

After that Natty didn’t feel so afraid of old man Sutton. In fact she felt sorry for him. She even gathered enough courage to say hi to him one day, but he gave no response. Realizing the stories about him being a murderer were nothing but trailer park legends, and not being one to give up easily, Natty kept up her efforts to befriend the old man. Eventually he began to soften to the young girl’s charming personality and would respond to her greetings. From time to time they would even exchange a little small talk.

As the weeks turned to months, Natty and old man Sutton became friends. She would help him with yard work. And he would tell her stories about the old days. One day Natty was helping the old man with his gardening and unable to quell her curiosity any longer, just blurted it out.

“Mr. Sutton, what ever happened to your wife and son?” The old man’s face went limp and then his eye brows furrowed and he snapped at the young girl.

“You get the hell out of here, you little snoop. Is that the reason you befriended me, so you could find out what _really_ happened? All you trailer trash are alike, anything juicy to make your boring lives more entertaining. You heard me, get out of here.”

Natty tried apologizing, but it was no use. She had obviously crossed a line with the old man she should not have. She felt really bad about upsetting her friend, but she felt even more driven to know what happened to turn John Sutton into an old bitter recluse, but how?

It had been 38 years since the incident that changed the lives of the Sutton family forever. Everyone who lived there then had moved on, except two: Old Man Sutton and Mrs. Black. Perhaps _she_ could shed some light on what took place all those years ago.

Old Mrs. Black wasn’t going to be easy to approach. She kept to herself, not accepting company of any kind. She preferred her cats to people, especially trailer park trash, as she called them. But Natty was determined, and boldly walked up to the old lady’s front door and knocked purposefully.

Natty could hear muffled shuffling noises and then the door creaked open. “What do you want, young lady?” The old woman was dressed in a knee length house muumuu with sagging nylons and leather house slippers and an old tattered red sweater around her shoulders.

“Hi, Mrs. Black. I’m Natty Baker from space 5-F, and I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to old man Sutton’s wife and son.” The old woman looked at the young girl with distain and contempt.

“You people don’t want to know what really happened to that poor old man. You’re just hoping I’ll tell you that he really did murder his wife and son, so you can brag to the rest of the trash around here. Go get your kicks somewhere else.” And with that, the old woman slammed her door.

Natty was dismayed by the old woman’s attitude. What secret did she and old man Sutton keep about what happened back in 1968? Realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere, Natty began slowly walking away from the old lady’s trailer when she heard the front door creaking open again. “Wait,” the old lady called out to the young girl.

Natty turned to see the old lady stepping out onto her small wooden deck. “You’re that young girl that made friends with John, aren’t you?” Natty responded that she was, and that the reason she was asking her was because old man Sutton wouldn’t talk about it. She also told her that her reason for wanting to know was that she did not believe that Mr. Sutton was a murderer.

Like a lot of old people, Mrs. Black was a lot more complicated than younger people gave her credit for. She had lost her husband to the Viet Nam War. It took the life out of her and with so many bad people eager to exploit and victimize a single woman, she became quite reclusive and bitter. But she saw something special in Natty and, having a lot of respect for the brave young girl who befriended her old friend, invited her inside.

After serving Natty a cup of tea, the old woman began to tell the tale of what happened to the Sutton family. It was 1968, and back then space 13-F was known as the space that _defied_ superstition. Five years earlier the Suttons had been only the fifth family to move their brand new trailer house into the Riverview Trailer Park. After that John went from working as a construction laborer to a journeyman concrete finisher. Molly went from being a stay at home mom to working as a full time nurses’ aid. And Clifford went from being a scrawny, introverted 13 year old to a 6’2”, 180 lb., quarterback of the varsity football team, student body president, and valedictorian of his class.

They were the most successful family in the park and seemed to defy any evidence that living in space 13-F was bad luck. John and Molly were very proud of their only child. Through his athletic and academic talent, he had won more than enough scholarships for college. But a dark cloud was forming over the Sutton household.

Clifford had started dating Darla Barnes, a girl his parents did not approve of. “She’s a damn hippie” was all his dad would say. Darla and Clifford had been attending some anti-Viet Nam war rallies and other meetings. Until then Clifford had shared his dad’s view that stemming the “red tide” was necessary and that it was important to support your government. But Clifford was having second thoughts about what the United States was doing there. When he tried to talk to his father about it all hell broke lose. His father was outraged, and ordered that Clifford either stop seeing Darla and recant his views or get out.

Clifford had never been the defiant type, but he loved Darla and wasn’t about to give her up. He and Darla packed up their van and moved to California, where Clifford unsuccessfully tried to transfer his scholarships to Berkley. Although he easily passed the entrance exams, they were going to have to wait a year to save enough to pay the tuition.

Clifford had kept in touch with his mom and, after a lot of nagging and motherly persuasion, decided to come home to see if he could patch things up with his dad. John didn’t know his son was coming home. As he pulled his pickup into the driveway he couldn’t imagine why he could see through the window what apparently looked like a hippie, sitting at _his_ kitchen table.

The next door neighbors said that quite a screaming match ensued when John Sutton went inside to find that this hippie was his own son. After only a few minutes things went silent and the window drapes were pulled. But the lights stayed on until nearly 2:00 AM. Things were quiet all night until about 4:30 AM, when the trailer park was filled with the flashing lights of several police cars, a paramedic truck and an ambulance.

Clifford was taken away in the ambulance with his mother riding along. John Sutton was taken away in handcuffs. For nearly a year the trailer in space 13-F stood empty. Then one day a taxi pulled up and John Sutton got out and went inside. But Molly and Clifford were never seen in the park again.

With that the old woman got up from her kitchen table where they were sitting and began putting dishes that had been drying in the rack into her cupboard.

“But what happened, Mrs. Black? Did Mr. Sutton try to kill his son?” Natty was very frustrated now. The old woman wouldn’t tell her, though. She insisted that the only proper way for her to know would be to get it directly from old man Sutton’s mouth. Natty told her that she’d already asked, and was not so sure that it may have had already ended her friendship with him. Mrs. Black told the young girl it would be up to her to figure out how to get John Sutton to tell her what actually happened that night.

Convinced Mr. Sutton would never talk to her again, Natty decided to see of she could find Clifford or Molly Sutton. It didn’t take long at all. They were right there in the city’s phone book. Natty found it very odd to find them living so close by. In fact, they were only a few minutes away by bicycle. Natty decided on the direct approach rather than trying to phone them. That would make it too easy for them to brush her off, she thought.

Natty found the address easily and parked her bike on the walkway leading to the front porch. As was her way, she walked right up and knocked on the door. Barely five seconds passed when the door was drawn open and a middle aged man, looking remarkably similar to old man Sutton, stood looking down at the young girl.

“Can I help you, young lady?” Natty wasted no time introducing herself and explaining her relationship with John Sutton and how she wanted to know what led the old man to be such a bitter and difficult person. As she was speaking, Natty noticed Clifford’s left hand. Just above his wrist was a nasty scar that went all the way around. The hand itself was gnarled and the fingers curled up tightly in his palm, obviously useless.

“You’re a friend of my father’s?” Clifford blurted out enthusiastically. “How’s he been doing these days? Is his health all right? Has he been taking care of himself?”

What in the world was going on around here, Natty thought to herself. This guy didn’t sound like a person filled with hatred for his father, unwilling to talk to or visit him. Natty stopped him mid-sentence to tell him that her impression of the situation was that the two of them were estranged and wanted nothing to do with each other. But what she learned was that things are seldom as they appear.

Clifford explained that after the incident 38 years ago, it was his father who refused to see his son or wife, not the opposite. But it wasn’t because he hated them, it was because of the guilt he felt for what he had done.

Natty was more confused than ever now. _What_ had he done? But like Mrs. Black, Clifford refused to tell her, explaining that it was up to the old man to tell her. There was one thing she wasn’t confused about, though. It was obvious that Clifford loved and missed his father and, whatever it was that he had done, he had long ago forgiven him.

“You should come and see your father. I think you all need to get it out in the open and get on with your lives.” Clifford was reluctant at first, explaining that his father long ago had ordered that he didn’t want his wife and son looking at him. But it had been a long time and Clifford was beginning to realize that his father may not be around a whole lot longer. Clifford’s mother lived with him and his wife Darla. After explaining the situation to them they all loaded up in his car and headed for the Riverview Trailer Park.

Old man Sutton was a little more than surprised to see his wife and son pull up to his driveway. He wanted to tell them to go away, but couldn’t bring himself to do that. So much of him was glad to see them now, and the emotions soon overwhelmed him. As Clifford saw his father’s face grimace, with tears beginning to stream down his cheeks, he ran to the old man embracing him, breaking into tears himself. Soon all four of them were hugging and crying and talking all at once. As the scene calmed, the old man turned to Natty and quietly thanked her for being such a busybody.

“She deserves to know the truth, John.” Mrs. Black was standing at her fence, which bordered old man Sutton’s.

“She’s right dad,” Clifford added. John Sutton just stood staring at the young friend who had brought his family back to him. Without a word he walked toward Natty, took her hand, led her over to a bench under his porch awning and sat her down, sitting down next to her.

“What I’m about to tell you will be very hard to hear for a 12 year old girl, Natty.” Natty shifted in her seat in a motion of preparation. “That night when I saw my son with long hair and wearing those hippy clothes I was furious and said some pretty harsh things. But everything changed after what I heard next. Clifford told me that he had been drafted, and because he wasn’t enrolled in college yet there was no deferment. I stayed up half the night trying to convince him to try and join the National Guard or run away to Canada. Anything but get sent to Viet Nam. But Clifford wouldn’t have it. As far as he was concerned, despite being opposed to the war, he was a patriotic American. And the law said he should serve, then that’s what he was going to do.

I finally gave up arguing with him around 2:00 AM and we all went to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned thinking about my precious baby boy dying in a war. The vision still haunts me. It’s Clifford, mortally wounded, lying on the battlefield crying out for help. But none arrives and he’s left to cry and plead in terror as life slips from his body until he lies motionless, dead.

I became overwhelmed with grief and I began to panic. It was like a dream, watching myself do it. It was like I had given an order I could not revoke. All I knew was that I had to do something to save my boy’s life. It was as if he were about to be killed right in front of me if I didn’t act. What could I do to keep them from taking him? And I did it. I went to the tool shed and then went to Clifford’s room. I looked down at Clifford and a warm blanket of satisfaction swept over me as I acted to save my son from assured death in Viet Nam. And with that I swung the axe and chopped off his left hand. That would do it. ‘They won’t want him now,’ I said to myself.”

Natty gasped with alarm and shock. Then the old man explained that it was Clifford screaming in pain that jolted him back to reality. The reality of what he had just done. “Just then Molly ran into the room and, upon seeing what I had done, fainted. I wrapped a piece of gauze tightly around Clifford’s wrist to stop the bleeding and called the police. After a few moments Molly awakened and took my place at Clifford’s bedside. I was thankful, because I was so overwhelmed with guilt I just wanted to die. Until today, that was the last time I looked my son or wife in the eye.”

Natty looked intently at the old man’s face as he sat staring at his family. Then she looked up at Clifford and his mom. Their faces were filled with joy.

“They forgave him a long time ago, Natty.” Mrs. Black, seeing that the Suttons were too overwhelmed with emotion, decided to fill in the blanks. “But John just couldn’t bring himself to face them. He had gone crazy that night, and it left him feeling insecure. He felt like he couldn’t trust himself. But I think he understands now, that love for your child is a very powerful thing. It can turn your life upside down in an instant.”

A few days later old man Sutton moved out of the Riverview Trailer Park, never to return. For the most part the tenants were relieved to be rid of the scary old man. No one in the park knew where he went, except for two. Natty Baker and Mrs. Black knew that he had gone to live with his wife, Molly and his son, Clifford. John Sutton’s eternal night was over, and he bathed in the sunlight of his family’s love until the end of his days.

The End.