Life After College

Chapter 12


Dicky looked across the room and there was Daniel sitting against the wall. A trail of blood was on the wall, from where he had slid down after being shot in the head. His eyes were still hauntingly open with a look of shock, as was his mouth slightly. His legs were open and his arms dangled along the sides, palms up.

Jessica’s face looked absolutely calm. Which was scarey. Her eyes were half closed and her mouth was still open from where she blew her brains out no doubt. Dicky ran out and called 911 then came back and tried to pry me away from Jessica. “Drew, come on. Lets go outside and wait on the ambulance. We shouldn’t stay in here.”

I started to shake my head. “Why did she? How could she? How could she?! She was my best friend?!!!” Dicky rubbed my back, then tried to pull me away.

“Come on, baby.”

We walked outside and stood on the front porch. Through watery eyes, I stared down at my now bloody hands and shirt. Dicky wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pressed me against him.

************

The funeral was small and was held outside at a graveyard. Jessica couldn’t have been put away any better. Her cousins from Seattle came and took over the arrangements for the funeral. Even Daniel looked nice. Damon was standing in the middle of Dicky and myself, holding our hands, and looking puzzled. I hated that he had to see this because he’s so young, but I had no one to watch him. I knew that when we got back home, he would be full of questions. Dicky shed one or two tears, I shed a few more, but no one was as upset as Sofia. That’s what makes me mad as well as sad. Committing suicide is selfish. Why would you kill yourself, when you know you have a young child at home? What problem in your life is so rough, that you can’t hold on for the sake of your family? I didn’t find out what that problem was until after the service.

Dicky was standing next to me at Jessica’s grave with Damon asleep in one arm and rubbing my back with the other. “I’m going to go put him in the car.”

“All right. I’ll be on in a minute.”

“Okay. You gonna be all right?”

I looked at him and gave him a slight grin. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” He kissed my cheek and walked off.

I was alone for a while before Jessica’s older aunt, Anne, walked up to me. “You must be Jessica’s friend, Andrew Payne.”

I looked at the slightly feeble woman and nodded. “Yes ma’am.” I looked back at the grave. “I was.”

“She talked about you a lot in the letters she’d write home to me.”

I looked back at her again. “Really?”

She nodded. “She told me about how you were head over heels for Richard and y’alls son, Damon. The two which I presume were the ones that were standing next to you during the service.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“She wrote that you two were the only friends she had made down here. You two didn’t fit the traditional California mode.”

I smiled. “Well, that’s probably because we’re not from here either. Richard’s from North Carolina and I’m from New York.”

“Ah. Richard fits that southern hospitality manner. You, however........New York is no different from California. I just believe you are a special case.”

I smiled. “Did she...........Did she ever say why she..........”

“Why she was unhappy? I suppose you knew of the affairs Daniel was having behind her back?”

“But she said that she confronted him about that. That he was doing better and..............” I stopped when I saw her shaking her head.

“She confronted him about it, but he wasn’t doing any better. There were still fights, though not as bad as they once were, but fights nonetheless. Daniel started drinking and when he started drinking, he’d hit Jessica. Never in the face. Always the body so the bruises could be hidden. And poor Sofia I’m afraid, was not void of his wrath either. Verbal abuse was his forte, but he also forced her to touch him in certain places and visa versa. Jessica found out about it and threatened to call the police. He told her if she exposed him, he would kill her and Sofia without giving it a second thought.”

“So why would she kill herself if he was the problem?”

“He was the problem, but not the only problem. Jessica had no training to do any type of job. If she got rid of Daniel, she would have no way of surviving on her own. But if she didn’t get rid of him, he would continue to torture her and Sofia.”

I thought for a moment. “Why didn’t she tell me? She knew she could’ve told me.”

“She didn’t want to worry you with her problems. The bulk of it was happening during the time your son was kidnaped. She figured you had enough on your plate.”

I started to tear up. “If she just would’ve told me what was happening, I could’ve been there and told her, her life was worth living. She wouldn’t have taken her life.”

Anne reached for my hands and forced me to look at her. “Do not blame yourself for what happened. It was not your fault. You couldn’t focus on her problems and search for your missing son all at the same time. You’re not Superman.” She looked behind us at Dicky, who was sitting half out our silver Cadillac CTS with Damon sleeping in his lap. She smiled as she watched him remove the boy’s black suit jacket and rub his little head. “Go home, Andrew. Your family is waiting on you.”

“Wh.......”

She put up her hand. “Nothing spectacular is going to happen here at a cemetery that can’t wait until next week.” She gave me a soft push. “Go home. And don’t forget about Sofia.”

“I thought she was going to stay with you all until you leave tomorrow.”

“We wanted her to, but she wanted to go home with you.”

I nodded and took Sofia by the hand and walked to the car. I walked close to Dicky and once he lifted his head, I kissed him softly. “Lets all go home.”

************

After giving the kids baths and getting them in their pajamas, we all went to bed a little early that night. Until we could turn the room, which we used to keep all our junk in, into a suitable bedroom, Sofia’s bed was in Damon’s room. But she didn’t sleep there her first night living with us.

Dicky was spooning me from behind with his arm dangled over my waist, when Sofia walked in. She tip-toed across the room in her Lizzie McGuire nightgown and tapped me on my shoulder. “Uncle Drew?” She whispered.

I woke and saw Sofia staring me in the face. I rubbed my eyes and sat up on my elbow. “What’s the matter, honey?” I whispered.

“I had a bad dream and now I can’t get to sleep. Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course you can. Come’ere.” I moved Dicky’s arm from my waist and opened the sheets for her. She climbed in and snuggled under me. I covered her up with the sheet and put my arms around her protectively. Maybe the walk from Damon’s room to my room tired her out, because she was out like a light.

************

When Damon turned four, we bought him a small 20\" Nascar tv to put in his room, but he still comes in our room when he wakes up and turns our plasma tv on. That morning was no different. Damon snuck in our room and turned the tv on to Nickelodeon. I was in the realm of consciousness and unconsciousness when I felt him climb on the end of the bed and sat down. Then sitting didn’t seem to satisfy the little bugger. Especially when his favorite cartoon came on. He stood up and started jumping high on the bed, waking me and Dicky up. “SponeBob Squarepant! SponeBob Squarepant! SponeBob Squarepant!” Now that he’s a little older, his speech has gotten somewhat better, but there are times when he slips. Dicky reached up and pulled Damon down to lay between us. Damon giggled.

“Finally silence.” I murmured and turned over. Sofia, however, wasn’t disturbed by our little singing toddler.

Four years later..........

Dicky’s police station created at junior soccer team for kids in the community and Damon, eight now, jumped at the opportunity. Over the years, he had grown to love the game, so I was happy for him, because he was also making new friends. Dicky volunteered to be the coach with Dalton Jones as his assistant coach. They held their practices after school at the local park, where it had a field way in the back. So after I got off work, I had to drive there and pick up now eleven year old, Sofia. She wasn’t allowed to stay at home alone yet, so she had to ride with them.

Sofia had changed quite a bit since her time living with her parents and the suicide. The once shy, timid, little girl, has become rather popular. The phone rings off the hook now at home. Thankfully, no boys have called yet. But it’s going to happen, because she’s gorgeous.

I made it to the park after work to pick up Sofia. She sat and the bleachers with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. She looked ‘interested’. “Hey chickadee, ready to go?”

She quickly stood up. “Yes. This is so boring.”

I looked out on the field and there was Dicky going over a new drill for practice. He was wearing a white and orange stripe team shirt, white soccer shorts, orange knee high soccer socks, and a pair of black and white Addidas shoes. He looked cute, if not a bit sexy with his soccer shorts being so short you could see all of his muscular legs. He even put on his sunglasses that he used to patrol the streets with at work. The little boys were dressed similar with the orange and white stripe team shirts with the name WildCats written on them, white shorts, orange socks, and black cleats. Damon saw me and waved. I waved back.

“Lets go.” I said to Sofia. But before I knew it, she was already halfway up the trail back to the parking lot.

When we got home, she went straight to that phone. “Where are you going?” I asked her.

“To call Heather. I promised her I’d call when I got home.”

“Did you do your homework while you were at the practice?”

“No.” I pointed to the stairs. She grumbled and stomped up the steps. I had stopped by the grocery store before picking up Sofia, and was in the kitchen putting up things getting ready to make dinner when the phone rang.

“Hello?” I said as I removed my suit jacket and started to wash my hands.

“Hello. Could I speak to a Richard Taylor or Andrew Payne please.” A young woman said.

“This is Andrew.” I started to chop onions for the chicken casserole I was making.

“Hello, Mr. Payne. This is Mrs. Hunt. Damon’s math teacher. I was wondering if I could speak to you about what’s been going on in class.”

Sofia came downstairs to get her a soda. “What has he been doing in class?” Sofia smiled and sat on a stool next to the counter I was cooking from.

“It’s nothing bad, Mr. Payne. But it IS something that needs to be..........looked into.”

“Well, what is it?” I starting to become impatient with the woman. Didn’t mean to, but she was stalling in my opinion.

“During class, Damon seems like he wants to dodge doing the work. During class, he puts his head down or throws a tantrum if you try to ask him a math question. He doesn’t turn in homework. It’s not that he’s misbehaving because he wont do the work, on the contrary. He’s the quietest, sweetest one in class. But you just can’t ask him anything about the math. I’m worried he may be having trouble with it and won’t tell anyone. Has he mentioned it to you?”

I stopped chopping. “No. He always said he did it. I assumed he did, since he never neglected doing his health or spelling in front of anybody else.”

“You might want to talk to him about it, Mr. Payne.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

I hung up with the teacher and just stared at the food below me. “Oooooh.” Sofia said as she drank her soda. “He’s gonna get it, isn’t he?” She smiled.

I sighed. “Go do your homework, nosey.” She laughed and ran upstairs.

************

“We’re home!” Dicky yelled as he and Damon walked through the front door.

“And we’re hungry!” Damon chimed in.

I walked into the hall to greet them. “Well, come on in and............wow! You two smell like high heaven! Y’all can go right upstairs and get some showers.”

“But dad, I’m hungry!” Damon whined. He finally got out that ‘Mama’ stage.

“I don’t care. The food will still be here and will still be hot by the time you finish. You will not stink up my house.” As Damon was stomping upstairs, Dicky walked to me and tried to kiss me. I covered his mouth with my hand. “That goes for food as well as kisses.” I smiled. He sighed then went upstairs.

They were back a few minutes later, dressed in lounge pants and t-shirts, and carried a wonderful smell of body wash. As I was setting up the table, Dicky came up behind me and hugged me. “How do I smell now?” He whispered in my ear.

I turned my head to the side to look at him. “Delicious.” I kissed him, which turned into two kisses, which turned into three. Sofia rolled her eyes.

“Get a room.”

I looked at him. “We will........soon.” I winked back at Dicky.

After dinner, we sat at the table and talked for a bit. Though, Sofia wasn’t that involved. She got a phone call from Heather after she finished eating, so she was in her room. “Damon hon, we need to talk.”

“About what?”

“Well, I got a call from your teacher today. It seems you’re not doing so well in math.” Damon’s head hung low.

“What do you mean he’s not doing well?” Dicky asked.

“She says he puts his head down or has a tantrum every time she asks him a math problem. He’s not doing his homework.”

“What’s going on, Damon?” Dicky asked. Damon shrugged. “What’s that? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” He murmured.

“Honey, are you having trouble with math?” I asked him. He nodded. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.”

He was quiet. “Damon....” Dicky said.

“Kids in class think I’m dumb. They laugh at me when I don’t answer the question right or do good on my homework. They also say I’m dumb because I can’t understand it.”

“If you don’t understand it, have you asked the teacher for help?”

“No. I tried to ask once, but some of the other kids laughed at me, so I didn’t go.”

“Well, the next time, you ask. And if you still don’t get it, then you know you can come home and ask us. We won’t laugh at you.”

Damon nodded. “Okay.”

************

“Aaaahhhh.” I moaned softly. As I came to an orgasm. Dicky was behind me with his own. Slowly, he slid out of me and I collapsed off my hands and knees to my stomach sweating. Dicky spooned me from behind and I laced my fingers with his. “How long has it been?”

“Probably about eight months.”

“Eight months without sex? That’s terrible.”

“Couples have gone longer. Some actually stop after marriage or after children.”

“Well, eight months is too long for me. We need to get back on our regular schedule.”

“We need a vacation. That’s what we need.”

“When’s the last time we vacationed?”

“Our honeymoon, six years ago.” We both laughed.

************

“You two have fun with Grandma Vivian. And behave yourselves.” Dicky said to the kids once his mother had arrived to our house for the week. We were all in the hall by the stairs. Dicky and I decided we were going to spend a week in Australia for vacation.

“All right.”

“We will.”

Dicky hugged them both and I did the same and kissed their cheeks. “Grandma, what are we gonna eat?” Damon asked them.

“Well,” the woman said as she kneeled before him. “I happen to know that a certain young man loves my homemade country biscuits.” She tickled him. “And a certain young lady loves my gravy.” She tickled Sofia. “So, how about I fix fried porkchop, biscuits, and gravy.”

“Yeah!” Damon cheered.

“Wait a minute.” I said. “You’re making porkchop?”

Dicky grabbed my elbow. “Come on, babe. The taxi is here.”

“But she’s making.........”

“Come along, honey.” He pulled me out the house.

TBC.........Please read and review. And thank you to all the people who have reviewed, even the ones who have just been reading the story ONLY. love you all.