The McCarey Files

[FonzFan82]

Ch 8:

The McCareys heard about Fred's disappearance.

"That's nothing like Fred to do such a thing like this, Don. Why would he do a thing like this? We need to talk to his family about this, but we don't know their phone number in Milwaukee," Mrs. McCarey said.

"You're right, Shirley. We've known Fred since he moved here to Washington when he was a teenager. And we're all in our nineties now. Not like him to do such a thing. Why didn't he say something to his niece about that?" Mr. McCarey asked.

"I don't know, Don. I just don't know."

The phone rang just then. Mrs. McCarey answered the phone and it was their son, Jay.

"Hi, Mom. Heard the news about that man who committed suicide," Jay said.

"That's our neighbor, Jay. Only two weeks till Christmas left. Why would he do something like that before the holidays? He might have died!" Mrs. McCarey said.

"Does he talk at all?" Jay asked.

"Not much, more quiet than most people. He's more on the lone side. He needs help, Jay," Mrs. McCarey said.

"Get him help. Where's his doctor?" Jay asked.

"Out here."

"Tell his doctor about it."

"I'm sure he's heard."

The police brought Fred back to the house where the whole family was waiting. "Uncle Fred, how could you do such a thing? You made us worry," Kylie told him.

Kylie and the family thanked the police for bringing Fred home safely.

"Our job, Ms. Jones," the deputy said.

"You could have died!" Kylie told him.

"I wanted to die, Kylie. Since my brother is dead now, I might as well do the same thing."

"Your life isn't over yet. You still have time left," Peter told him.

Kylie told Fonzie and Chachi they could leave now, since they have Fred, but they refused, because they wanted to help Fred out and give him any advice.

"Why did you leave a note like this? You know we love you just the same as my father, Uncle Fred. You know that," Kylie told him.

"You don't."

"Uncle Fred, it is hard when someone you love passes away like that. You have to respect that," Daphne told him.

"Whom am I going to when I have a problem? He was the only person that could solve my problems!" Fred said, tears coming down hard.

"Didn't Grandma and Grandpa Jones solve those problems when Grandpa was solving mysteries or crimes?" Claudia asked.

"No! They didn't know how to solve them. Your father was the only person who could. Now he's gone and I don't have anyone to go to!" Fred screamed and tears were coming down harder than the first time.

"Fred, I heard a joke at the bar the other night. Do you want to hear it?" Hank asked.

"No! I want my brother!" was Fred's response.

He wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Go ahead and tell the joke, Hank. It might work," Kylie told him.

"Okay. Let me think on how it works."

He was quiet for a while so he could get the joke into his head.

"Okay, Fred, here's the joke. You might think it's funny but here goes. One of my customers told us the joke. It's funny," Hank said.

"I hate jokes," Fred told Hank.

"The joke goes like this: A man goes into a store and asks for a haircut, and what does the clerk tell him? The answer he gets is 'You're in the wrong store, sir. You're in a fast food resturant. If you want a haircut, go to the haircut place,'" Hank said.

The rest of the family was laughing, and Hank too. Everyone but Fred was laughing including Fonzie and Chachi.

"That's funny, isn't it, Uncle Fred? Tell another one," Kylie said to Hank.

"That's the best joke I've heard for years," Peter told Hank.

"Yeah, me, too. I'll have to tell that customer thank you for telling me that joke," Hank said.

"I hated it," Fred said.

"Hey, Fred, I've got another joke, but this one's a knock - knock. Do you like those?" Peter asked. "Those are childish," Fred said.

"Tell it," Chachi begged.

Peter made it up and made everyone laugh again, including himself and Hank until they couldn't laugh anymore. Fred was the only one not laughing.

"Keep the jokes going until Uncle Fred is laughing. This is a good start, Hank. Glad you thought of it," Kylie said.

Everyone took turns telling jokes until there were no more jokes to tell. Even Fonzie and Chachi told one. They left an hour later because it was time for them to leave and do something else with each other. The jokes didn't work on Fred's moods at all. He wanted his brother the most, not jokes. He walked away from the family members during Daphne's inside joke and walked to his room upstairs. They didn't notice he had walked out on them.

Fred pulled out his reading glasses from his suitcase that was brought back into his bedroom and wanted to read for a while. He did bring a book to read while on holiday vacation, but didn't get a chance to start it, so he brought it out of his suitcase besides his reading glasses. The book was a nonfiction one, so it was a few years old, so he didn't care how old books were. He did love to read because of the job he had at the bookstore many years back. He would read the books that first came out when they were published and he and his coworkers would recommend the books to each other. He remembered the first time he got reading glasses when he and his brother Freddy first turned eighteen years old and they graduated from high school. He first got them before he moved to Washington. They were the only pair of glasses he's owned, so his eye vision was perfect for the rest of the time, so he didn't need glasses for the rest of the time, like driving and stuff. He heard the family downstairs ask where he was, but by that time, Fonzie and Chachi were gone for ten minutes. He heard Kylie's footsteps come up the stairs.

He had been in the book for twenty minutes so far when nobody had been bothering him. He was reading about science in the nonfiction book. He heard a knock on his door. He carried the book in his hand and went up to get the door. His glasses were still on, but he didn't bother to take them off.

"There you are, Uncle Fred. We were wondering where you were," Kylie said.

"May I come in?" she asked.

He let her in the bedroom without saying anything.

"You made us worry sick about you when you disappeared like that," Kylie told him.

The door was closed.

"I did that because of Freddy's death, Kylie," Fred said.

"We thought it was suicide, but thank goodness you didn't kill yourself. We know you're not that kind of person to do that kind of thing," Kylie told her uncle.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Kylie. I just want to know who I am going to when there's a problem," he said.

"Don't be silly, Uncle Fred. You have us. We're family. You know that."

"Your father was the only person who could solve my problems. Mom and Dad didn't know how to solve my problems because it wasn't in their areas. They did try, but your father was the only person who knew the answers. If you guys try, you'll see what I mean," Fred told his niece.

"What kind of book is this you're reading?" Kylie asked him.

"A science book. It's somewhat still new. A few years old. I just started it. I checked it out of the library before I came out here," Fred told her.

"I seem to remember Dad telling me you used to have a job at that bookstore in Washington where you lived," Kylie said, remembering what her father told her.

"For several years. Cashier," Fred told his niece.

"Dad never gave me the name of that bookstore you worked for," Kylie told Fred.

"Waldenbooks," Fred told her.

"Is that why you're reading a lot?" Kylie asked.

"Yes. I've read thousands of books during my years of working at that bookstore."

Hank and Peter let with Daphne and Heather so they could be in time to pick up the kids from school. They told Claudia to Kylie good - bye for them because the kids were going to be out of school in a few minutes or so.

"All right. I'll tell her," Claudia said.