David had to brace himself for courage to crawl into bed that night. After an afternoon spent avoiding his wife, hiding from Ida seemed impossible when they shared the same room. His only hope was to go to sleep quickly and get the day over with.
Ida was sitting up against the hand-carved wooden headboard, her Bible propped open in her lap. Just the sight of her reading sent a wave of nausea through David. Of course, she would have to sit there, looking so arrogant as she read the Lord’s book.
“Morning comes early,” David muttered as he pulled the covers over himself, “Better not read for too long.”
Setting her Bible aside and blowing out the lamp, Ida took a deep breath before announcing, “Well, today didn’t go as well as I had hoped.”
David raised his eyebrows. As far as he could see, the day had gone exactly as she had hoped. She had managed to make him look like the worst man on earth, so David was certain that her mission was accomplished.
“You know, I’m not happy about this either,” Ida went on. When David didn’t say anything else, Ida whispered, “I’m sorry, David. Won’t you say something?”
“I don’t know what to say,” David announced between clenched teeth, “I’m too afraid that I might say something that would hurt you. I don’t want another surprise visit from the church leaders.”
After that, Ida didn’t try to say anything else.
Lying in the darkness, David listened to his wife sniffle until exhaustion won out and she finally went to sleep.
Ida. Such a fine, upstanding woman in their community...and with such a passionate hared of any kind of drinks stronger than soda or homemade juice. Little Miss Perfect had never even touched the stuff. At first, David hadn’t minded but, as time went by, her avoidance of alcohol seemed more and more condescending. How dare she bring up his drinking now? It was all her fault that the elders even knew he drank. That was probably her plan. She had always hated alcohol and, by pointing David’s drinking out to the bishop, she was guaranteed to get her way.
Well, she might think that she knew how to keep David from drinking, but she was in for a surprise. David wasn’t going to let anyone or anything keep him from doing what he wanted.
Chapter Four
Now that Ida knew where David hid his whisky, he realized that he would have to find a different hiding spot. Since he had poured out the last of it, David had his work driver pick some up for him. After getting home from work, David took it down to the cellar where he hid it in an empty cardboard box behind a row of canned fruit. David was certain it was hidden for a while.
Although things continued to stay tense between David and Ida, he felt like he could survive as long as he was still able to do what he wanted.
“Daed, look at this,” Lucas exclaimed one night as he sat on the floor, surrounded by an assortment of farm animals, “I’ve got my cows all lined up.”
David was sitting at the table with a pile of bills spread out in front of him.
“I think I just need a barn...” Lucas continued slowly, “Or my cows might get wet in the rain.”
Ida, who was clearing away the supper dishes, motioned toward a pile of boxes by the back door, “You can use one of those. I think some of them are empty.”
David was instantly alert. Suddenly looking up, he noticed Lucas grabbing for a small cardboard box. Wasn’t that the box he had used to hide his alcohol? Surely not! But, when Lucas pulled it closer to his farm animals, David recognized the symbol on the side. It was the same box.
Jumping to his feet, David practically bounded across the room.
“Leave that alone!” David snapped. Reaching out, he grabbed Lucas by the arm and jerked him to his feet, pulling him away from the box and what was hidden inside.
“Where did you get that box?” David exclaimed, lifting Lucas up so he could stare him in the eyes.
Setting him down on the floor, David reached for the box and picked it up. It was empty.
“I got that box in town today!” Ida almost shouted as she ran to Lucas’ side, “It’s for my material.”
David realized what he had done. It wasn’t even the same box. The entire episode was unnecessary. Suddenly, he realized that Lucas was crying, his wails echoing throughout the house.
“David!” Ida exclaimed as she gathered the sobbing child in her arms, “Ach, David! What on earth is wrong with you? It is a box!”
Setting Lucas aside, Ida crossed the distance to her husband, “What are you doing? David, have you lost your mind? You nearly scared Lucas to death!”
“I didn’t know!” David stormed back, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer.
“Did know what?” Ida returned, “Didn’t know that it was okay for your child to play with a cardboard box?”
David found himself shaking with anger, suddenly overwhelmed by a desire to slap the arrogance right out of his wife.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Ida announced, “Lucas, let’s go get you ready for bed.” Although the little boy was still crying, his wailing had subsided and given way to silent sobs.
As soon as they were gone to Lucas’ room, David sat down at the table and tried to turn his attention back to the stack of bills.
He couldn’t believe that he had lashed out at his son like that. David could never remember a time when he had acted against his son in such a violent way.
If only Ida didn’t consider drinking such a big deal, he never would have done that. It was all Ida’s fault.
When David arrived home from work the next afternoon, he was surprised to find a car sitting in from of his house. The driver was out
