Roads Leading Back

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For a fleeting moment, I looked over this chapter and I was suddenly dissatisfied. That, and I had a feeling frequent readers would be as well. Recklessly, I erased it and thought I could write a better version to this chapter, but I realized afterward that adding Rebecca is a necessary thing, and, in truth, there's no real way to continue the story without James finding out about Jennifer and ending the story abruptly. So, here it is, back up and running. Chapter Eight will come up as soon as I have time for it (working overnights really kills rec time).


Roads Leading Back
Chapter Seven: Boulevards of Sacrifice, Part III


James woke with a start. He looked around and realized he was in his living room, and that he had fallen asleep on his couch. As he calmed down, he rubbed his neck, trying to relieve the strain on it from sleep.

“There’s breakfast in the kitchen,” Mitch said. “I took some of your cash and bought some more bacon. Your boys wouldn’t give up their relentless pursuit of sizzling meat on the griddle, so I bought some for them.”

“What?”

“Dude, you slept in your couch the whole damn night waiting for the precinct to call back,” Mitch replied. “You’re gonna kill yourself waiting.”

“I need to know.”

“Jimmy, I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but you’ve got to get over her! Look, I know she’s the only girl you’ve ever slept with, the girl that turned your life around, but we only get girls like that once in a blue moon. You’ll find another girl in this life, your new life, that will give you the same effect.”

“Mitch…”

“Get all pissed if you want, kick me out of the house if you want,” Mitch said, raising his palms, “but the world is moving quickly, bro, and you’re just standing in the middle of it all. You’ve got to wake up and smell breakfast. The world waits for no one, not even some guy who makes mad coin just sitting his ass in front of the computer.”

James nodded slowly, agreeing to his friend’s point.

Mitch got up and sat beside him, patting him on the shoulder. “Hey, man, for what it’s worth, you became a big name writer. You told me that was your dream, and she helped you fight for it. Look at you now. You fought for yourself, yeah, you had to do hard time for it, but look at you now. You own a nice house, you own three dogs, and you live the cushy life.”

“You’re right,” James replied. “I own all those things, but it just doesn’t feel right without her around, you know, waking me up from the couch, or telling me that I worked too hard and she made breakfast, or something.”

Mitch slapped James upside the head in mock anger. “You idiot! I did that for you just a minute ago! And if you think you’re going to get somewhere with me the way you’re thinking, boy howdy, you got another thing coming!”


* * * * *


There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened slowly, and Omi poked his head out. “Are you all right?”

Jennifer smiled with a nod. “Come in. J.J.’s eating.”

Omi nodded and stepped inside, wearing his black trenchcoat. As he took a seat at her left side to see her son better, she noticed immediately that the clothes underneath his coat weren’t the same ones she saw him in earlier that day.

“Jenny, I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

Omi pressed his lips into a thin line for a moment. “Jennifer, I just want to make sure you’ll be fine when you’re able to leave.”

She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

He lowered his head and sighed. “Here,” he said, handing her a folded sheet of paper. “This is the address to a house that one of my former girls told me of. She lives right next door.”

“I still don’t understand why you wanted to talk to me,” she said as she took the folded piece of paper.

“After what happened, I’m starting to worry about you and your sister,” he replied. “After living with you all this time, seeing you selflessly take care of the women you stayed with, seeing the conviction in your eyes when you told me that you didn’t want yourself or your sister to stay, I’ve become used to it.” He smiled wanly. “Look, after that unexpected reunion with your father, I just wanted to make sure you would be okay with striking out on your own.”

She smiled at him with mock arrogance. “Has the high and mighty Omi Cronus fallen for a young woman?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Funny, Jennifer.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Omi,” she said with a little laugh. “I’ve never seen you worry so much when it came to your other girls.”

“None of them are mothers,” Omi replied. “You never were one of my girls, but you’re the first under my wing to have a child.” He chuckled. “I just worry for your well-being, and for that of your sister and your son.”

“I don’t think I need to worry,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be next door to a friend of yours, and I’m sure you check up on the women that chose to find their own way.” She looked down at her infant son. “One thing that I’m sure of, Omi, is that you’re a true friend to the people you know. You saved myself and my sister from an abusive father, twice, gave us your home, and now you’ve given myself, my sister and my son a chance to live a happy life.”

“I know,” Omi said with a sad smile. “And that’s why it hurts so much.”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand, Jennifer.” He turned and headed for the door. “Get some rest. I’ll get a look at the house.”


* * * * *


“You know, I should be thanking you for coming out to this beach party with me, Jimmy, but personally, I think it was about damned time you crawled out from underneath your rock.”

“Ha ha,” James laughed sarcastically. “You just need someone to joke at because I have a feeling all your friends joke back at you.” He sneered. “And they probably have plenty of material I can work with.”

Mitch rolled his eyes. “Oh, great, that’s just what I need: another friend with a snippy tongue.”

He jabbed his friend playfully on the shoulder. “Aww, come on, Mitch. If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have settled as well as I have.” His expression darkened. “I would probably still be in jail if it weren’t for you.”

Mitch stared at his friend as he parked his SRV. “Hey! Don’t get dark on me like that tonight, all right? Save all that stuff for your mother next time she comes over.” He clapped James on the shoulder. “Tonight, you officially start your new life in a new town with new friends.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car. James was stepping out of his side of the vehicle as Mitch grabbed a cooler from the trunk and slammed it shut.

“Mitch, you rat bastard!”

Mitch poked his head out from the corner of his Pontiac Aztek to see someone waving at him. “Rebecca, you crazy bitch!” He ran from the trunk and grabbed the blonde approaching them in a fierce hug. “Hey! Sorry to be avoiding you guys for a while.”

“A while, Mitch? For a moment there, it seemed like you just up and left.”

“Look, baby, a guy’s got to get over a break-up his own way. My way required plenty of alone time and some time away from it all.”

She gave him a serious look. “You’re not cutting again, are you, babe?”

He laughed out loud. “I told you, I gave that up after we patched things up. I promised you that as a friend, remember?”

She looked over his shoulder. “Who’s your friend?”

He suddenly remembered James. “Oh! Becky, this is my new friend, James. He moved into town a few months ago, and I’ve been showing him around.”

She focused on him a little. “Wait a tick! You’re that guy that saved his mom from her fucked up husband, aren’t you?”

Mitch raised his hands defensively. “Whoa! Whoa! Umm, that’s still a sore spot for Jimmy. It’s probably not a good idea to talk to him about that right now.”

“No, no,” James said, gently brushing Mitch aside. “It’s all right. I’m sure your friends have never met an ex-con before.”

Rebecca snorted. “Oh, a couple of Mitch’s friends have done a year or two.” She grinned and winked at him. “They’re a lot of trouble once you get to know them.”


* * * * *


The night wore on, and James realized that he was enjoying himself, a feeling he hadn’t felt in what seemed to be a long time. Everyone had drinks and cooked food either by the fire or at the portable barbecue one of Mitch’s friends brought. As he leaned back on the beach chair and looked past the fire into the inky black water, he sighed and downed the rest of his Bailey’s in one gulp.

“Care for another?” a voice asked him. He looked up and saw that it was Rebecca waving a bottle of Bailey’s.

He nodded and offered the empty beach chair beside him. “Sure. I’m not driving.”

She chuckled as she sat down and refilled his glass. “Well, neither is Mitch. He’s had one too many tonight.”

“I know. I took his keys from him the second I saw a Corona in his hand. Last I remember, though, he asked me to unlock his car for him. He had a redhead with him.”

“Oh, Sabrina,” Rebecca corrected. “Yeah, she’s had an eye for him for a while now.”

“So how long have you known Mitch?”

“Since we were kids,” Rebecca answered. “He lived down the street from me. He was my first friend when I moved into the neighborhood. We went to different high schools, but we kept in touch often.”

“He’s a good guy,” James said, staring off once more into the dark horizon. “I don’t know where I would be without him.’

“Same here,” Rebecca said. As her voice trailed off, a heavy silence blanketed them.

“So…”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“As long as I can ask you one,” James said, anticipating her request.

“Fair enough,” she replied. “You fell in deep once, didn’t you? Mitch told me briefly about it.”

He nodded. “Honestly, yes. Mitch brought me here so I could start over.” He took a sip of his drink and looked at her. “You fell in deep with Mitch way back when, didn’t you?”

She hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I thought I fell in too deep,” she replied. “How did you get over it?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure if I really did get over it,” James replied. “Things just seemed to go too fast for me. I think I’m beginning to understand what Mitch told me when he said that I was just standing still.” He turned to her. “Did you?”

“Me?” She swirled the glass in her hand. “I got over him a long time ago. I tried to avoid him, but I learned that doing that wasn’t the right thing. Eventually, I confronted him, and we patched things up.” She glanced over her shoulder at the blue Aztek. She sighed as she noted the gentle rocking of the vehicle. “He doesn’t always think before acting, but his heart is in the right place.”

“Can I be forwardly, Rebecca?”

She came out of her reverie. “Hmm?”

“Why did you come to talk to me? Be honest.”

She sighed. “I know you, James Drake.” She looked at him. “Not only do I know that you are the author of two bestselling fantasy books, I also know that we went to high school together. I transferred out of your school when I was sixteen.”

“Really? What’s your last name?”

A shiver ran through her. “Gloverly. My name’s Rebecca Gloverly.”

“Gloverly, Gloverly…” His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. “It can’t be…” He looked at her. “No…”

She nodded. “Yes, Jimmy. It’s me.” She moved the collar of her shirt over, revealing a scar. “The girl whose life you saved.”

“I wondered where you went after…”

She looked down at her glass. “I wanted to tell you,” she said. “I wanted to let you know I was leaving.” She bit back tears. “My parents didn’t want anyone to know we were moving. They were afraid that…” She took a deep breath. “They were afraid that the person that attacked me would find out and find me.” She looked up at him, her eyes and cheeks moist. “I wanted to tell you, James. I wanted to tell you so badly.” She touched his cheek. “I so desperately wanted to say goodbye.”

He shook his head, unable to make heads or tails of the lack of emotion in his mind.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Rebecca,” he said, more to comfort himself than anything else. “I don’t know what to say or how to feel. It’s been so long.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything, James.” She looked up at him. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have forgotten you, forgotten what happened to me and what brought you into my world six years ago, but I didn’t. Every day that passed since I left, my feelings for you grew stronger. I just…” She looked away. “I was afraid to look for you. I didn’t want to face that part of my life again, but your face just kept coming back to me.

“Several months ago, my father was reading a newspaper, and without warning, he immediately tossed the paper into the fireplace and forbade me to go out. I snuck out that night and found the article about what you did to your stepfather. I’d have learned you were closer to me than I thought, but it was around that time that Mitch broke up with his latest ex…”

He put a finger to her lips. “Rebecca, I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about this.” He got up. “Talk to Mitch in the morning. He has my cellphone number. We can talk about this another time.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Maple Drive isn’t too far away. I can walk from here.”


=[ End of Chapter Seven: Boulevards of Sacrifice, Pt. III ]=

A/N: On to personal (and slightly revised) kudos...

cade: That's one hell of a tangled web that I seem to have woven, huh? In any event, everything should fall into place. And I have something special and rather unexpected for Mitch when the time comes, so don't you worry. Oh, and in regards to Omi's "recruiting", shall we say, refer to my Writer's Blog for more info on that if you haven't already.

7years: Seeing as you reviewed the last few chapters separately, they each deserve an explanation. Seeing as it would double up the space of this chapter, I will explain myself on my Writer's Blog [http://sfcomicronus.blogspot.com]. Keep watch on it between now (October 5th, 2007) and a week's time. You will not be denied.

born_to_do_it: Well, things are getting too complicated now, hee hee. Is there going to be a triangle? Does Omi know who James is? Everything will be revealed in due time, rest assured.

Anyway, I'm off to see where this story goes. See you next chapter!