Boxes by Douglas Wellman

Author:Douglas Wellman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WriteLife Publishing
Published: 2015-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

Meanwhile in Alabama

“Play dead and see who shows up at your funeral. That’s how you really know who your friends are,” Nik laughed, as he and Eva listened to reports of the burial on the radio. “If they only knew,” Eva responded, and they both smiled with amusement. This may have been the only time Nik would have appreciated a television set, as they sat in the living room of the red house in Troy, Alabama. It struck Eva the whole event seemed rushed, as though they wanted to get it over before anyone caught on.

When the news reports ended, Nik made the comparison of the Hughes funeral to that of President John F. Kennedy. “What a shame it was that the nation took a day off for the funeral of John F. Kennedy. I suppose you even took the day off.”.

“Yes, I did,” she admitted.

Nik scowled in disgust. He had sufficient contempt for Joseph Kennedy to cover the entire clan, Jack, Bobby, and Ted included. Howard’s hatred for Joseph Kennedy was well known in Washington, but it originated in Hollywood (Drosnin 255). Kennedy arrived in Hollywood about the same time as Howard, intent on showing “that bunch of pants pressers” how to make movies. He successfully used his notable financial skills to reorganize existing film companies, and created the RKO film corporation, a studio that Howard would later own. Howard and Kennedy were a lot alike. They were both ruthless businessmen and they both had an eye for the ladies. This last characteristic may have been the root of Howard’s lifelong hatred of Kennedy. It was also rumored that Kennedy was dallying with Howard’s girlfriend at the time, Billy Dove. Howard was never one to share anything, least of all a woman (Hack 268).

The funeral proved to be a real turning point in the lives of Eva and Nik. Their marriage had swung from unusual to bizarre, since they’d taken the vows, but the funeral triggered something in Nik that launched a cycle of increasingly weird behavior. All of his bad qualities were suddenly unfettered and became worse. Always private, he now became obsessed with isolation. Prior to the funeral, Eva could entice Nik to take her out for dinner or shopping. All of that ended abruptly. Instead, Nik preferred to stay on their property or spend his time alone, hiding in the woods, naked. For some reason, Nik felt compelled to shed his clothes and commune with nature at a very basic level. “Compelled” may not be the best word to describe it. He was obsessed with running in the Alabama woods alone and naked. He became a total recluse; in fact, Eva described him as “the greatest recluse of all recluses.”

Nik’s compulsion to reject clothing did not apply to gloves and boots. To the contrary, his previous habit of wearing gloves frequently now became the obsession to wear them constantly. He maintained this practice for the rest of his life. The gloves provided protection for his burned hands, and the boots for his feet, as he ran naked through the woods.

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