Page 4 of Miles. Alton & The 9:04
Chapter Two – Peck
Thom Brown wasn't anonly child.He had a brother named LeBeau.Although they shared the same mother, the two brothers were nothing alike.LeBeau was fathered by a man named Monroe LePetitmaine who lived above a diner called the Dingleberry Cafe in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.Harriet Wills, a soft-spoken woman prone to depression, enjoyed the energy of Monroe and soon found herself with child. A year into their relationship and after the birth of LeBeau, Monroe felt fatherhood cramped his roving, or rather free-loving, lifestyle.On a cold Friday evening, Monroe departed Elizabethtown with a cross-eyed waitress name Millie, who had a set of glaringly obvious uneven titties.
Left alone to fend for herself and LeBeau, Harriet replaced lopsided Millie at the diner, taking as many shifts as she could get, while LeBeau played in a laundry basket in the grease-laden kitchen.Saddened by the sudden turn in her fate, on a late night in the nearly empty diner, Harriet was working alone when a soldier arrived.He held a handful of magic beans, a smile so radiant and bright, it shone a light on the darkness in Harriet's heart.After one conversation over coffee and pie, Harriet loaded up a garbage bag with her belongings and the free car seat provided by a local charity at the hospital, and she and LeBeau were off for Ft.Leonard Wood, Missouri with Staff Sargeant Johnathan Brown.Harriet had no idea what they were getting into, but it sure as hell beat where they were currently living.
Her assessment of Johnathan Brown was dead on because a month later, the man married Harriet, adopted LeBeau, and soon after, another child was on the way.Thom arrived 18 months after LeBeau, but Harriet found trouble bouncing back after the birth.A sadness set into her that would not go away.No matter what treatments Johnathan suggested, Harriet's answer was it was simply a spell and she would come out of it soon.
She didn't come out of it.It worsened.On the day Johnathan came home early, full of exciting news of receiving orders to move on to Ft.Kit Carson in Colorado, he arrived to find Harriet on the floor, LeBeau trying to wake up his mother, and Thom bleeding at the ear.She'd only placed one bullet in his weapon—he'd secured and changed the code on the gun safe, but she'd managed to get into the cabinet.
Sgt.Brown said little as the ambulance rolled Harriet away.Ft.Kit Carson wanted him to report sooner rather than later.In the best interest of his children, his wife remained in care in Missouri, and he and the boys moved to Colorado.He was assigned to a tightknit unit where families supported each other, a new platoon sergeant who was a single father was unheard of, and the families of his soldiers surrounded him with love and support, and his sons flourished.
However, all good things have a shelf life, and it was time to move on after four years.The new stop was the Big Red One at Ft.Riley, Kansas, a miserable duty station with a unit of soldiers who despised each other, which made the job close to unbearable.Unlike Kit Carson, these families didn't support each other, and the single dad, who was still married, couldn't fully move on because he didn't see himself divorcing his mentally ill wife.He knew she wouldn't get better, and as much as he wanted to move forward, he couldn't.He said a prayer each night that she would heal so they could be a family once more.As the days waned, the weeks grew into more months, the months turned to years, and Sgt.Brown began to sink.
Jonathan began to drink.Drinking to decompress turned to weekend blackouts, and finally, at a local watering hole, he got into a fight.Neighbors noticed that after several days, the truck Johnathan drove wasn't in the drive at the home he shared with his two boys.The movement of the curtains and the peeking of a face indicated the children were inside.A woman with a warm heart checked on the children, who said they hadn't seen their father since Friday when they got out of school.Today was Thursday.
The woman called social services, who discovered Johnathan Brown had spent the weekend in the local jail.On Monday, he was transferred onto the Fort to the Brig where his assault case on Friday night turned to manslaughter on Monday.Johnathan wasn't aware of any of it or what happened.All he knew was his sons were going into foster care near Ft.Leavenworth where he was sent.
The boys, still very unlike, grew up on the farm with a woman all the kids called Aunt Sue.Thom, a lover of land, received a train set from their father one Christmas while LeBeau received a remote-controlled boat.No one is certain if this is when Thom Brown fell in love with trains.In the afternoons after school, he'd watch Mr.Rogers’ Neighborhood and became totally fascinated watching the trolley leave Mr.Roger's, living room heading to the Land of Make Believe.
At the age of 13, Thom was introduced to a friend of Aunt Sue's named Billy Burton, who worked for the Burlington Northern Railway.He paid Thom under the table to work alongside him, checking the lines.
“When I grow up, I'm going to own a train station,” Thom boasted.“I'm going to have my own caboose and train that I will drive to and from my office.”
“I imagine you're going to do a lot of great things, Thom,” Billy told him.
Thom didn't disappoint Billy.At 16, he secured his first job with Burlington Northern, learning quickly.At the tender age of 17, he rode shotgun in a SD60M three-window cab diesel engine, and he was hooked.He started with the company as an operations clerk, working part-time while he earned his associate's degree as an electrician.The associate's degree allowed Thom to move into the position of communication maintainer, and eventually he became a Technical Communication Specialist, which had a salaried role in Chicago.Thom hated the bitter cold, eventually working his way down the state and landing a job as a station clerk in Alton.Three years later, he became the station manager.
The city considered the old train station in Alton a blight and had abandoned it many years prior.When the 9:04 stopped running, the line came up for sale at a dirt-cheap price.Thom purchased the station and turned it into his home, which gave him the right of way to the tracks which he also maintained.His vision, which he only shared with his brother, was to offer a haunted train ride, along with a train museum and jazz fest for the city of Alton on the land adjacent to the train tracks.He imagined jazz greats arriving on the train, stepping off to enter the green room in the Train Museum before taking the stage to wow the audiences.
He frequently wrote the Powers that Be at Burlington Northern Santa Fe, on how this would be possible, specifically since he basically already lived in the museum he put together.He invited Aunt Sue for a visit to see his hard work, anxious to show off the memorabilia he'd been hoarding since he was 13 years old.Every train, engine, and car had a home, proudly displayed on shelves covered in plexiglass and neatly labeled.He showcased the collection and the place he called home.
“Thom,” Aunt Sue told him.“This is nice for you, but no woman is going to want this as her home.You need another normal house.”
He listened to Aunt Sue.She was one of his most favorite people in this world.He shared the comments from Aunt Sue with his foster sister Kimbrae, his second favorite person in the world, who agreed with Aunt Sue.For good measure, he called his bother LeBeau and shared his museum jazz festival idea.He also mentioned the mail-order bride scenario.
“I’m just worried I might get a fairy hunter,” he softly confessed into the line.
“A what?”
“You know, a fairy hunter,” Thom said.“One of those people who spend their lives hunting down the mythical creature, capturing it, caging it, and believing they were doing the right thing by making it their sole focus in life.”
LeBeau sighed, “and in this analogy, are you the fairy alluding capture?”
“No one likes captivity, even if it’s shrouded in what the fairy hunter believes to be love,” Thom replied.
“Stop being weird and build a damn house,” LeBeau said, ending the call.
His brother’s high-handed tactics were one reason LeBeau was not on his list of favorite people, blood related or not.However, Thom had built a normal house with three bedrooms, two and a half baths complete with a water closet, and a soaking tub for the little lady, whom he'd have to choose relatively soon since the first one would arrive tomorrow.
“This is it, Thom.This is where your actual story begins,” he said, checking the bathrooms and kitchen for house boogers that would turn a girl off.“You're going to get yourself a wife.You’re ready.”
