The Lie Behind the Postcard - Alma’s secret
Junior was driving through the Highway 26 to Yellowstone, because Alma wanted to see Ennis and talk to him. They drove for almost two hours, until hey reached the Riverton Memorial Hospital and walked to Alma’s room.
As they reached the hospital Alma awoke from a nightmare, looking at the white ceiling of her room she was depressed and when she looked through the window and saw her Ex-Husband Ennis she got pale.
“It is not yer fault Junior it is my fault, and it is time for me to face my daemons” she said to herself.
She thought in all the things she had faced through her life. She was born in a poor family, married Ennis when she was 18, when she had Alma Jr. she thought that everything would be fine but then Jenny arrived and they were having a very hard time to paying bills. But for her was Ok Ennis was her support and was all that she needed as long that she had Ennis and her daughters her miserable life wasn’t that miserable.
They lived really happy until that postcard arrived Alma went to the post office and found that there postcard sent as a general delivery to Ennis Del Mar, her husband, and she brought it home. Someone called Jack Twist send it to him and when she mentioned that to Ennis he got nervous and told her “We was fishin’ buddies”.
He was coming on June 24, and she thought that would be a good idea to hire a nanny and take Jack to a restaurant. But Ennis refused telling her that they probably would get drunk and that Jack was not the used to that. It didn’t mind to her, after all Ennis didn’t have any friends in Riverton and she was always worried for him.
‘Well, with this Jack I’ll be able to see Ennis interacting with other persons’ she thought. But how come that Ennis had never mentioned Jack Twist before? If they were really good friends as she thought at least he could have mentioned him at least once or twice. She decided to think on that and kept trying to make Junior eat her dinner.
Ennis was anxious, she never saw him like that, he was wearing her best shirt and was walking all over the house. This was a pretty funny situation he was more nervous than the day they got married.
“If ya’ keep walkin’ like that ya’ll open a hole!” she told him as she washed the dishes.
And with the noise of a car her agony started. Ennis went quickly to receive her friend and she went to clean her hands with the towel. She went to open the door to say hello to Ennis's old friend and when she opened the door what she saw make her heart broke in pieces, in just those 30 seconds she looked at a scene that destroyed her life forever..
There he was with his friend with their faces and lips together kissing each other. She immediately closed the door and tried to not open the door again.
She started shaking her eyes were filled with tears of desperation she walked to the kitchen lost on her own thoughts. “It is a dream, it is a nightmare” she said trying to breath, but she was unable to. She refused to believe that her husband was kissing his friend in the mouth like men and wife do. She thought that she should ask Ennis and when she was going to Ennis entered at the door and introduced her to Jack.
She was in shock because she saw that they were both shaking like if the train was passing nearby them.
“Alma, Jack and I is goin’ out and get a drink. Might not get back tonight, we get drinkin’ and talkin’” Ennis said to her. She pulled from her back a five dollar bill she was going to ask her to get her cigarettes, it was the best she thought to make him come early, but he told her “if you want some cigarettes there is a box on my blue shirt in the room” she was without words and start crying.
“I can’t believe that Ennis! My Ennis is a queer! It can’t be but what I saw? Was it true?” she kept telling to herself while she was in the bathroom. She thought that Ennis would be back soon, but he came back the next day to just tell her that he and Jack would go fishing she would have believed them but she saw on Ennis neck a mark that is left when you suck the skin while kissing. It was clear to her Ennis and Jack spent the night together. As soon that Ennis left the house. She started crying again as he held Alma Jr. on her hands after Ennis gave her Junior after kissing her and saying goodbye to them.
When Ennis came back he told them that they caught a lot of fishes and that they eat them all. She didn’t knew what to do or say. Two nights later, after Ennis came back from his trip with Jack, Ennis went and started kissing her and he slipped his hand up her blouse sleeve and stirring the armpit hair, moving his finger up her ribs to the jelly breast he and undressed her and entered her and did with her what she thought he did with Jack.
“Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m not seeing well. If his a queer then why he do it to me? That doesn’t make sense!” she said to herself the next morning.
She went to her job and started working, and as always there was Monroe, her boss, the owner of the store, a blonde man with a little of overweight, and baby blue eyes, asked her if she was ok and how it was her weekend. She answered to him that was ok. She answered that it was a wonderful weekend.
The years passed years and Ennis and Jack went fishing and sometimes he came with kissing marks on his skin and in some others he had nail marks on his back. Alma was getting sick of it, her husband never went on fishing she realized that because one day she left a note on her fishing equipment and she found that still have the prize there the note said “Hello Ennis, Bring some fish home, love, Alma” but when he came back and he told them that they caught plenty of them and they ate them all she checked the case and she found her not tied there. She realized that line never touched water in its life. It was enough for her; she was tired of fighting a war that she can’t won. With every fishing trip the more distant to her was Ennis and when he refused to use rubbers she realized that another kid would tied her to him.
She divorced him on 1975 and married the Monroe to provide to her daughter a better future. But she heard that Ennis kept going on fishing trips with a friend and her anger grew a lot bigger.
And it grew bigger when only two months after their divorce Jenny told her that when they were at her father’s house Jack Twist there. She confronted Ennis two years later on thanksgiving with awful results, she can’t stand it anymore she needed to divide them and stop it at all. She refused to let that Jack Twist be with Ennis.
So as the snake that fooled Eve she planned a way to get rid of Jack but it would take time a long time to do it. She thought that she should tell Jack’s wife but she need to know first where she lived and it would take some time now that she had the new baby. So in her hate she started treating hard Alma Jr. because she was the most close to Ennis, she even threat her to get of the house if she doesn’t fix her attitude problem (which was none) so Alma Jr. tried to move to his daddy trailer but he told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea.
On March 15, 1981 Ennis old brother K.E. called her full of rage
“Where’s that queer! Brother of mine!” he yelled her at the phone
“What’ya talkin’ about” she asked.
“I’ve just discovered that my mom and dad raised an fucking queer! Where’s Ennis give me his address. I’m going to kill him” he yelled back
“K.E. wait tell me what happen!” she ask but she was smiling it was perfect if Ennis brother know something he can help her to stop that relationship
“Well I was goin’ to ask work to Aguirre, ya’ know Ennis herd some sheep there on 1963 for him and he refused to hire me. He told me that he don’t want any queer of course I told him I was no queer, but he told me that my brother was and he told me that back on 1963 he saw Ennis making out with a man called Twist! He saw them fckin! My brother is a Queer like Earl and Rich!” he yelled again
“And my dad didn’t raise a queer I was goin’ to kill him now!” he continued.
“Wait! It ain’t Ennis fault!” she said “I know that already but I never said anything but I think that Aguirre won’t be the only one knowing this if this continues! We need to stop this now!” she said.
“No! I need to kill him he doesn’t deserve being called a Del Mar!” he yelled at the phone again.
It took almost two hours for Alma to convince K.E, she told him that this would fix the situation. And without Jack Ennis would be normal. He agreed and she visited him and they went to visit this older sister who couldn’t stop crying when they told her the story.
“So, we just need to talk to that Lureen! and I’ll do the job once we convince her we would proceed as planned” Alma said, K.E. and his sister nodded their heads looking each other they were going to save Ennis from that queer future.
Alma was on her bed on the hospital listening Dr. Hafeitz, he told her that she had being under emotional stress and that she had a artery spam which caused that heart attack.
“Alma, you need to take things slowly, you’ll be out of the hospital in one week once we receive the results of your test from Washington” Dr. Hafeitz said she didn’t like him he looked so arrogant and she even thought that she cause him repulsion because he always refused to touch her.
She heard Alma Jr. and Ennis outside and she started getting nervous it was not the time for her she was not ready, but she needs to say it. She need to tell Ennis her little secret