Jesse parked his cruiser in front of the yellow Cape Cod cottage on Peterman Drive. It was as he had last seen it, deserted and forlorn, the victim of a failing real estate market, unsold for nearly a year.
Donnie Jacobs had originally bought it for his bride, Dolly. Their daughter, Emma, grew up in it. Now it was empty.
Jesse climbed the steps to the porch, where Donnie was sitting on an ancient wicker rocking chair. He looked older than his years. He had on blue-and-yellow golf pants, a faded short-sleeved polo shirt, and a worn Red Sox windbreaker with a slight tear in the right shoulder. His large brown eyes, once full of life, now reflected the freight of an illness that was inexorably robbing him of his essence.
“Morning, Donnie,” Jesse said, resting against the porch railing.
“Jesse?”
“None other than.”
“I thought it was you.”
“What are you doing here, Donnie?”
“That’s a good question. I don’t really know.”
“You came here on your own?”
“I guess I must have.”
“You walked?”
Donnie shrugged.
“I don’t remember, Jesse. My memory’s not worth a damn these days. Why are you here?”
“I got a call from Golden Horizons saying you had disappeared. I figured this was where you might be.”
“Damn. I must not have told them. Emma’s gonna be pissed.”
“You can’t just walk off like that, Donnie.”
“I’m trying, Jesse. It’s just that I get so confused sometimes. Last week I got dressed to go to the office and then I remembered that I don’t have an office anymore. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m terrified by the thought of me sitting alone in some fucking home, not even knowing who I am.”
“No one’s going to allow that to happen, Donnie. That’s the reason you’re at Golden Horizons.”
“So that the people there can remind me of who I am?”
Jesse nodded.
“It’s so pathetic, Jesse. I used to be somebody. Everyone knew my name. Now half the time I don’t even know it myself.”
Tears started to roll down his cheeks.
“Does Emma know about this,” Donnie said.
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s so embarrassing. I’m her father, for God’s sakes. She shouldn’t have to be taking care of her father.”
“It is what it is, Donnie. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“If only Dolly were still alive, we’d still be here in the house and everything would be as it used to be.”
Donnie took a soiled handkerchief from the pocket of his golf pants and dabbed his eyes with it.
“So much for invincibility, huh, Jesse. All the years I spent as a CPA, making my living using my mind, and then it turns out that my mind is the first thing to go. God’s got some sense of humor, doesn’t he?”
Jesse smiled.
“It’s time to go back, Donnie.”
“I don’t want to go back, Jesse,” he said. “I hate it there.”
“Why would you hate it there?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes they’re not so good to me.”
“How so?”
“One of the guys there. He doesn’t like me. He does bad things to me.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“Sometimes he ties me to the bed. By my wrists and my ankles. He leaves me like that for hours.”
“Jesus.”
“He forces me to take the pills.”
“What pills?”
“The ones that make me sleep.”
“At night?”
“During the day, too. I’m confused enough as it is. The pills make it worse.”
“Can you point this man out to me,” Jesse said.
“I think so.”
“You point him out to me and I’ll have a talk with him.”
“How can that do any good?”
“Because I’m the police chief, that’s how.”
Donnie looked at him.
“How many years did I do your taxes, Jesse?”
“Except for this one, you did them every year since I’ve been in Paradise.”
“And were you ever audited?”
“Never.”
“I guess I wasn’t so bad, huh.”
“You were a wizard, Donnie.”
Donnie smiled. Jesse glanced at his watch.
“I have to go,” he said. “Get your sorry ass out of that chair and I’ll drive you back.”
Donnie stood. Jesse noticed that he’d lost considerable weight from his nearly six-foot frame, which at one time had carried more than two hundred pounds. His once full face was now gaunt-looking, and he moved slowly, exhibiting little confidence in his step.
“Jesus,” he said, stretching his arms above his head. “I’m as stiff as a board. I feel like I ran a marathon.”
“You practically did.”
“Did what?”
“You must have walked nearly ten miles.”
“I did? No wonder I’m so sore.”
Jesse smiled.
“It’s not going to get any better, is it, Jesse?”
“I don’t know, Donnie. I keep reading about all these newfangled meds that are meant to arrest the progress of the disease. Anything’s possible. I wouldn’t give up hope just yet.”
“That’s what Emma says.”
“Me, too,” Jesse said.
They headed for Jesse’s cruiser.
“Where are we going again,” Donnie said.
“Golden Horizons.”
“Is Dolly there?”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“Oh. Yeah,” Donnie said.
Jesse took hold of Donnie’s arm and gently shielded his head as he helped him into the passenger seat and belted him in. He walked around the car to the driver’s side, got in, and together they drove away.