Intro to Second Shift

Twenty years ago…

“Mommy please don’t send her away!”

Ashley begs and pleads with her mom as she and Shelly hold on tight to one another.  Tears stream down their innocent childish cheeks.  Shelly holds her tight as if she were holding on to her own life.  Mr. Hanson desperately yanks the rusty strands of Shelly’s pigtails as he pries them apart.  Shelly is only six, Ashley  is only four.   Shelly cries out.

“I won’t do it anymore, I promise daddy.” 

“I’m not your father!  And you most certainly are not my daughter.  And you can’t control the demons that are inside you.  No more than I can control the power of God!”

“No daddy, please!” Ashley begs.

“Jolene, take Ashley into the other room!”

Jolene swoops little Ashley into her arms and carries her down the hallway.  Ashely kicks and screams, reaching for Shelly.  Shelly tries to go after her but Mr. Hanson swiftly picks her up over his shoulders and carries her to the brown trim station wagon.   Though she fights with every strength she has within her he shoves her into the backseat of the car.

                Ashley appears in the front room window upstairs and looks down at Shelly with tears streaming down her face.  Jolene is on the porch, arms folded over her chest.

                “Must you do this to them?” She says to Mr. Hanson.

                “Don’t give me the guilt trip, woman.  This is your mess.  You brought this upon them and yourself.  You’re lucky I’m a man of God who doesn’t believe in divorce.”

                Mr. Hanson turns to go into the house.

                “Isn’t every child a child of God?  Like you always preach?”

                Mr. Hanson crouches his shoulders and without uttering another word he heads back into the house, slamming the door behind him.

 

“Mommy, I need to go potty,” Shelly cries from the back seat.

Her face is pale and white.  The only color she shows are the red ribbons in her rusty-colored hair.  A soft motor sound rumbles from a little gray striped kitten sitting comfortably in Shelly’s little arms.  Shelly’s mom, Jolene, drives frantically down the highway without even making a rest stop.  They’ve already been on the road for an hour and a half, driving down the 101 towards Astoria, Oregon. 

“Too bad, you’re just gonna have to hold it!”

“But I can’t,” Shelly cries. 

“Don’t you start that crying!  You know what happens when you do!”

But Shelly can’t stop.  She knows how much trouble she’ll be in if she pees her pants. 

“Stop it!” Jolene yells.

Her cry turns into a high pitched squeal, Shelly’s eyes swell with tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Jolene steers the car onto the side of the highway, just north of Long Beach, Washington.  She gets out of her car and jerks the back passenger seat open.  She unbuckles Shelly’s seatbelt and allows her to scurry off

The shaking only makes Shelly cry even more and before she knows it, she shifts into a kitten; identical to the one in her lap. 

“Fine, you want to be an animal, be an animal.”

Jolene snatches both the kittens up by the collar and tosses them in a dog kennel in the trunk.  The kittens snuggle up with one another the remainder of the trip.

 

Duane is sitting on the porch, smoking his cigarette when Jolene pulls into his driveway.  It’s an unannounced visit.  Jolene gets out of the car and marches around to the trunk.

“Jolene?” He says. “What in the hell are you doing here?”

“I thought you might still be living here,” she says. “I came to drop something off for you.”

Jolene yanks the back hatch open and grabs the dog kennel with the twin kittens still huddled inside.  Duane looks at it, confused.

“Um…you shouldn’t have?”

“One of them’s your spawn, Duane!  I got pregnant with one of your demon-children!”

“What are you saying?”

Rolling her eyes at Duane, Jolene sets the kennel down and pulls out one of the kittens.  She sets them both down on the grass and in an instant, one of them shifts into a five year old little girl.

“Jesus Christ!” Duane reacts instantly, covering Shelly with his jacket.  “Are you telling me she’s my daughter?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were a freak?”

Duane searches his words. 

“I had no idea, Jolene.  I had no idea that you were pregnant with my child.”

“I was, and I got stuck with your mess.  You tricked me!”

Duane shook his head.

“You know that isn’t true.  We were both drunk when it happened.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Jolene retorts. “You should’ve told me that you were a freak.  I might have saved myself the trouble of all this drama.”

Jolene proceeds to walk back to her car, Duane chases after her.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“She’s yours now,” Jolene marches on. “You deal with her.”

“Mommy, wait!” Shelly stammers to her feet, reaching for her mom.

“You can’t just leave her here!” Duane shouts.

“She’s your responsibility now, Duane!  What in the hell am I supposed to do with a freak?  She’ll never fit in with our family.  She’s where she belongs , if not in hell!”

Duane is aghast by Jolene, shaking his head.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Jolene!  I can’t take care of a child!”

“Mommy, don’t go!” Shelly cries.

Over and over, Shelly cries out for her mom, pleading with her not to leave her.  Without a kiss, without a hug and even without a wave, Jolene pulls out of the drive way and disappears around the corner.  Shelly chases after the station wagon, hollering and wailing.  It was a cry that could break a heart into pieces.  Duane just stands in the yard, feeling useless and overwhelmed.