They'll Call It Treason (4 page)

January 26 at 7:40
p.m.
EST

Virginia Beach, Virginia

The shrill giggles of elementary school girls carried into the dining room. Kallie's half eaten birthday cake sat at one end of the table along with a scattering of torn wrapping paper.

Kallie was Jason’s only daughter, his little princess. Her curly brown hair hung just past her shoulders and her green eyes could melt anyone's heart. She was growing up quickly. Tonight was her eighth birthday party. That meant a handful of loud little girls swarming the house. It was one of the few things which made Jason wonder why he had wanted kids.

Ethan sat at the dining room table with the adults while the kids played in the neighboring room. Jason and his wife Amanda, a petite brunette with a freckled forehead, sat to Ethan’s left. Austin Conway sat directly across from Ethan, quiet as usual. Every strand of his fiery auburn hair was in perfect order above his brown eyes. Austin sat in his usual timid pose like he was waiting for the right moment to talk, but rarely finding it. He was the quiet one, the intellectual, always either too shy to speak or not sure when it was appropriate.

On Ethan’s right sat a man who had never had that problem, Grayson Whitaker. He was a short guy, but even at his height he was not one to trifle with. His sandy brown hair donned a disheveled look that somehow complemented his pale blue eyes and gruff, muscular features.

As usual he was talking, this time telling a story from his college days, jokingly punching his friend Dante in the shoulder. Dante Mercer was the clown of the group. At six foot two and packed with over two hundred pounds of muscle his size gave any fool reason to reconsider giving him any trouble. Yet, for those who knew him, he was a comedian.

“So I was in bed. I think I had to work early the next morning or something,” Grayson explained, his hands moving about in the air as they usually did when he spoke. “My roommates, including Dante here, were all partying it up downstairs though.”

“Ah… I know where this is going. It’s a lie, all lies,” Dante joked, lowering his head with a smile. He obviously remembered the night Ian was talking about down at Florida State.

“Ha, sure they are,” Jason laughed.

“Well, as I was saying. All of a sudden Greg, one of our other roommates,” Grayson noted, “was banging on my bedroom door, hollering for me to get up. Apparently a fight had broken out outside. So I jumped out of bed and ran out on the front porch. The party had ended, or just begun depending on how you look at it, and those idiots were all in a brawl on the front lawn.”

Dante looked away sheepishly, getting ready for what he knew was about to be told.

“There were like twenty people duking it out in the yard. The first one I saw was poor little Joe, giving it all he had, but getting the crap beat out of him. He was sore for days afterward. Then Dante over here,” Grayson leaned over and put his arm around Dante giving him a shake, smiling from ear to ear. “I catch him towering over everyone just plowing through like a rhino. He apparently had it covered. Well mostly covered. Somehow during it all, he managed to strip down to just his boxers. I’m just glad he kept those on. I think the vodka may have had something to do with that.”

They all burst out laughing, Dante caved in and joined them. “Not exactly my shining moment,” Dante admitted.

“Dante barely avoided assault charges, and almost had an indecent exposure count slapped on him. Apparently someone claimed he was streaking.” Grayson explained between laughs.

“Which I was not, though I’m sure they would have enjoyed that too,” Dante interrupted.

“Yeah, and come to find out, after it was all over, the fight was over some guy who hadn’t even been invited. He apparently got a little tipsy and decided to get a bit too frisky with Dante’s girl. Of course, as we know now, that’s a bad idea,” Grayson said emphasizing the sarcasm.

Ethan had heard this story on at least four prior occasions, but it was still entertaining. He could see Amanda looking behind them through the open doorway into the living room, checking on the kids, who were likely immersed in some new doll or dress-up clothes.  Their giggles carried into the dining room.

“Hey that was the last time he, or anyone else, ever messed with me or my women though,” Dante retorted, still chuckling.

“Of course it was, we were afraid you’d start stripping again,” Grayson joked.

“Really Gray, I thought you’d enjoy that sort of thing,” Austin finally spoke, taking a stab at Grayson, his voice a tad bewildered.

Grayson shot him a look that could kill before letting a smile break through his façade. The table burst into laughter again. Ethan leaned across the table with his fist out toward Austin, “That’s more like it, Austin!”

Austin took the praise and pounded Ethan’s fist, still cackling with the rest of the group.

“Whoa, if I wasn’t so surprised, Austin, I think I might actually be mad,” Gray said in amusement.

“Dante I’ve seen your taste in women,” Amanda jumped in, abandoning her usually passive role without Kate present. “That’s why people don’t mess with your women” feigning air quotes at “women.”

Dante started to open his mouth when Jason butted in grinning, “Choose your next words wisely, friend.”

“Well.” Dante seemed to be at a loss for words suddenly. “I think the rest of this table can agree that I have excellent taste. I’d take you out if you weren’t tied to this one,” reaching over the table to slap Jason on the shoulder.

“Okay,” Jason opened his eyes wide with a gentle laugh. “Not going to happen.”

With that usual mischievous smile, Dante redirected his attention to Ethan, “Speaking of women, where’s Kate at? She alright?”

“Oh she’s fine. She’s just back in Cary still. She has that night class every Tuesday now. She couldn’t find anyone to cover for her so she had to stay,” Ethan replied. He wished she could be here. She always enjoyed talking with the guys and taking Amanda’s side during all the clowning. “But if we are talking about women, seeing that Jason here has already beat us all on the whole marriage deal, and  I’m at least dating, are you all having problems in that department?”

Gray jumped at that one. “Hey, now! You all know that I’m not exactly thrilled about this whole long-term relationship thing. You know how well that turned out with the former Mrs. Whitaker. Plus, just ‘cause I’m single doesn’t mean I don’t like to mingle.”

Ethan chuckled, nodding his head, knowing that much was true. Gray and Dante both had a different method with the women than he did that much was for sure. Deep down, Ethan was an old-fashioned guy.  He could now admit that he wanted a long-lasting relationship, though it had taken him a long time to accept it. Gray and Dante, on the other hand, had no problem with a one-night stand here and there.

Austin defended himself. “I’m just taking it nice and slow…”

“That’s what she said!” Dante jumped in, almost hollering.

Ethan and Jason grinned and shook their heads while Amanda rolled her eyes. Gray chuckled, patting Dante on the shoulder approvingly.

“Man! Seriously?” Austin smirked. It was hard not to find Dante amusing even when you happened to be the center of his attention at the moment.

“Ah, Dante, come on!” urged Amanda in disgust, “I’m sitting right here.”

“She’s just overly sensitive,” said Jason, jokingly waving a dismissive hand at his wife. Her forced stern look quickly relaxed into a smile as they laughed. Even Austin could not help but join in.

It was getting late; the frequency of the jokes was enough to tell Ethan that, and he had a phone date with Kate. He shuffled in his chair and decided it was time to head out.

“Well it’s been good, but I need to get going. Kate is going to be expecting a call in a little bit,” Ethan explained as he got up. “I’m going to go tell Kallie bye and then I’ll be off,” he said, patting Jason on the shoulders.

Ethan pushed in his chair and exchanged goodbyes with his friends. These guys, and gal, were as good as any family to Ethan. Even with all the teasing that came along with them.

January 26 at 9:05
p.m.
EST

Virginia Beach, Virginia

The living room was littered with shredded wrapping paper, bows and boxes in a vast assortment of colors, often overtaken by shades of pink. A heap of new toys rose up in the corner of the room. Jason wondered how long it would be until they ended up broken or lost in the depths of Kallie’s toy trunk.

Jason surveyed the room. It looked like a tornado had swept through as his daughter and her friends had been playing and left its trail all over the place. He had expected no less.  Still, cleaning up the mess of a bunch of rowdy little girls after a birthday party was inevitably daunting. Luckily, the blue window drapes and Amanda’s pale yellow walls had survived unscathed. The floor, however, had not made it.

Shutting the door behind him as he waved goodbye to the last of Kallie’s friends and their parents, Jason let out a deep breath. Absently, he slid a hand through his thick brown hair. The cleanup would have to wait until Kallie was in bed.

Gently guiding Kallie down the hall, Jason bent down to his knees. He met her generous green eyes, her mother’s eyes.

“So did you have a good birthday?” he asked.

“Yes daddy, it was great!” Kallie said between tiny giggles, fidgeting a curly lock of nearly black hair.

“I’m glad,” Jason said, pushing her hair away from her eyes, uncovering another gorgeous emerald. “I’m so proud of you. You’re growing up to be a fine young lady.”

Kallie smiled and cocked her head to the side. Jason pulled her in and hugged her.

“Now it’s time for the birthday girl to go to bed though.”

Kallie’s demeanor quickly dimmed to a distraught frown.

“I wanna stay up late tonight. We can watch a movie or something,” she begged, her voice’s pitch heightening.

“Well we could, but you have school tomorrow morning. If you don’t go to bed now you won’t want to get up when your mom tells you to,” Jason reminded her. “So how about we just go to bed and you can play or watch movies tomorrow after school.”

Still not pleased with the single option, Kallie gave in, her head hung low. Jason knew this is how every kid acted when faced with the dreaded prospect of sleep, but her sad face about melted him. Jason knew he could not give in every time she cried or whined, but he wanted to keep her smiling so badly. Yet, he held his ground.

“Alright now, I’ll see you in the morning Kallie. I love you.”

Kallie finally gave in. “Love you too daddy, goodnight.” A slight smile broke on her lips with the last few words. Relieved to have her smiling again, Jason kissed her on the forehead and urged her up the stairs. As she jogged up the stairs she hollered her “I love you” and “goodnight” to them once more, and disappeared down the hallway.

A smirk on his face, Jason stood back up and looked at his wife, “Kids.”

“Well, it’s time to clean up,” Amanda began, dropping the grin she had worn the whole afternoon. “It’s amazing how much of a mess a few little girls with some presents can make of a place.”

Jason huffed, taking in the scene again. It really was a disaster. “Yeah, just be glad we didn’t let them bring their food in here.” The thought was daunting, and Jason was glad to have avoided that fiasco. Just one less problem to solve.

Amanda handed Jason a white drawstring trash bag like the one she was using. He took it and dutifully began to make the sweep of the living room. He chose his footing deliberately to avoid the sting of some small figurine or pointy toy in the bottom of his feet as he canvassed the living room. Minefield. That was the image he conjured in his mind as he chanced each footstep.

A minute or two passed in silence as the cleanup commenced. He had grown accustomed to the silence, but it still felt sour.

You could at least say something
, Jason thought, aggravated over nothing. Or was it the silence that bothered him?

“She is really growing up isn’t she? Seems like yesterday she was just a little baby.” Jason reminisced, finding something to break up the silence.

“Yeah, she is.” Amanda paused for a second, “She got an award at school for being a top reader.”

“Really? When?”

“Last week,” Amanda said with a hint of accusation, letting her voice trail off.

“Last week?” Jason asked, trying to focus on what she had said rather than her tone. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

Amanda turned to Jason derisively, “Really? She thought you were too busy. As usual.”

“Oh.” Chagrined, Jason looked back to the floor and picked up another wad of pink wrapping paper.

“’Oh?’ Is that all you’ve got, Jason?” Amanda’s freckled face redden.

Jason looked back up. Amanda was right, and he could see the anger beginning to build in her face.

“I… I’m trying. You know that.”

“Trying? You’re trying?” Amanda mocked. “You mean the extra fifteen or so minutes you spend with her a day? She needs more time with you. She needs to know you love her.”

“Of course I,” Jason bellowed back, catching himself in mid-sentence, “love her. She knows that.” How could she question his love for Kallie? He loved her to no end.

“Does she?” Amanda asked as she took a step back, not used to Jason raising his voice. “You’re always gone and when you are here you seem to be elsewhere. In your office checking on some cold case you’re never going to solve or God knows what else. She needs you. I need you,”

“I know I tend to bring my work home.” Jason admitted, still pained by the accusation. “I know I need to spend more time with her, and you, but don’t those families deserve closure, justice? Don’t they deserve that too?”

With her hands at her hips Amanda took a step closer through the trash as her expression eased.

“Yes. Yes, they deserve closure. But Kallie deserves you. Do you not think that the one thing those families wish for the most is simply to have had more time with their loved one before they were taken away? To have simply been there with them more? They’ll never get that back… You’ll never get that back.”

Jason turned away and wiped a single tear from his eye. How had he never thought of it like that? It had always been the victim’s family that deserved closure. They deserved for the culprit to be behind bars. He had to figure it out. But no, maybe the one thing they needed was the one thing he could never provide. The one thing he was missing out on.

She’s right.

His eyes still locked on a small doll, half its clothes missing, he tried to think of what to say. It was hard to accept, but he knew she was right. He would never get this time back with Kallie. He loved his little princess, and he wanted to be sure she knew it.

“I, uh…” he struggled to find the words. “I have to work on that.”

He took in a deep breath and let it out. Amanda maneuvered through the remaining debris, sneaking up behind him. She put her arms around his firm waist and laced her fingers together over the gentle rising and falling of his stomach. Her cheek rested against his back.

“I know,” she said in his ear. “We’ll work on it together.”

Even with her arms around him Jason felt distant. A large chasm seemed to separate him from her. She kissed his neck. Where was the shiver, that ecstasy he had once felt anytime she touched him? Dutifully Jason lifted a hand and blindly placed it on the side of her face, hoping for some connection. Nothing,

Pulling away, Jason bent down to pick up more trash leaving Amanda standing behind him. He kept his eyes down. He knew he loved Kallie and he would do anything for her, but where was that desire for Amanda?

Have I grown that distant?