It had come in a three fisted punch. He knew he was falling and for the first time in his life he didn’t care. It had happened so fast and so unexpectedly that he was still reeling. The speed at which it all took place was the sucker punch he never saw coming.
The cold zip of a body bag drew his attention. He couldn’t help but stiffen as the men picked up the body and placed it on another gurney. He watched it wheeled around the house out of sight. He shook his head. How many more body bags would he have to watch roll out of sight?
Reese Shores put his head in his hands and begged for it all to stop. He sat shivering in the cold night air, dressed in a towel on the steps of the balcony. Ralphie, wet and smelling like a dog sat quietly beside him, watching silently as men dressed in blue, men dressed in green and white and graying figures walked all around them.
It was a nightmare. The blood and the questions. The sirens and the questions. The needles and the wires. The condemning faces and the questions. The reporters trying to cross the police tape, the neighbors shouting what happened, and the questions.
Reese stared into the now pink water of the pool. How could something so wonderful turn so quickly into such a bloody mess? Would everything he touched always have such an unhappy ending?
“Thought you might could use these.” A disembodied hand shoved a bundle of clothes under his nose.
He looked up. “Thanks, Jess.”
His brother nodded as Reese stood and pulled on the sweat pants. He started to pull the tee over his head when he noticed the writing. He held it up for his brother to read, “It’s big and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“Sorry, dude. I just grabbed something from the drawer.” He apologized.
“Jerk.” Reese mumbled and put it on anyway. He sat back down beside Ralphie as he pulled on the sneakers. “Where’s Dad?”
“He found the cat, she tried to get in the ambulance with Ian. Dad took it over to the house.”
“Ronnie…oh God.” Reese started to panic. “Some one needs to tell Ronnie. He can’t just see this on the television.”
Jesse put his arm around his brother. “Calm down, we’ve already called Susan and Jeremy. They’re gonna go ahead and take him fishing at the crack of dawn, keep him away from anything and everything until we know something for sure.”
“But what if…” Reese started to ask.
“Don’t go there, Reese.” Jesse warned. “The little guy’s been through enough. Ian will pull through. There is no way God gave his son back to him just in time for…”
“Yeah…” Reese looked at the pool water again. “Mom?”
“Went in the ambulance with Ian. Dad and I will stay here until the police finish up. Are they through with you or do you have to go down to the station, too?”
“I have to go down in the morning and sign a statement.” Reese looked back at his brother. “I don’t understand why they carted Kellen off like that.”
“Dude, he’s a former cop. He fired a gun and killed somebody.”
“It was self defense.” Reese insisted.
“But you didn’t see the shots. The only people that did can’t verify it was self-defense. He’ll be cleared but until they get it all verified they’ll keep him in custody.”
The brothers were silent, watching the spectacle that had once been peace darting all around them.
“Reese,” Jesse finally asked. “What happened?”
Reese shook his head. “All I know is one minute it was heaven and the next bodies were falling out of the sky.”
“Man…”
“Been happening way too much for me.” Reese choked back the burning in his throat. “Afghanistan…Iraq…the funeral and now this.”
“None of that was your fault.”
“I know, bro, but how many times do I have to be in the right place at the wrong time?”
“Look, everything’s gonna work out. This will all be over with soon and things will get back to normal.”
Reese looked his brother in the eye. “Jesse, things are never going to be normal again.”
Jesse punched his brother as hard as he could in the shoulder. “Dammit, Reese, don’t you do that again! Don’t you go pulling yourself into that weird little ball. I swear Reese I will beat the ever living crap outta you.”
A man dressed in white and green came over to stand in front of them. “Which one of you is Reese?”
“I am.” Reece stood up.
The man read his tee shirt and smirked. “Figures.”
“I’m Reese Shores. Why?”
“He’s asking for you. Won’t let us take him to the hospital without you.”
Reece’s ears weren’t sure they heard correctly, “He’s awake?”
“And won’t talk to anyone but you…follow me.”
In a moment Reese was being helped into the back of an ambulance. The man got in behind him, shut the doors and banged on the windows, “Okay, let’s go…”
Reese lost his balance as the ambulance took off, siren beginning to blare. He looked at Billy, whiter than any human being should be, gauze stuffed into a hole in his shoulder, but smiling into his eyes.
“Reese…”
“Shhh…don’t talk. You’re going to be fine. We’re all gonna be fine.” Reese grabbed Billy’s hand.
“What a weekend…” Billy coughed.
“Yeah, this is one to talk about back home.”
“Reese…”
“Shh…be quiet now, just rest…”
“We’ve given him something for the pain. He’ll be out in a second.” An attendant said.
“No, no…” Billy struggled, “I gotta know…?”
“What? Billy, what?”
Billy’s eyes started to flutter, falling into the sedative drip. He slurred but Reese understood him fully, “Who the hell is Darla Hutton?”
No comments:
Post a Comment