'Til Death Do Us Part (44 page)

“
This is it
, sweetie,
”
Deneaux
said without any soothing effect.

Cin
dy had waited behind. H
er hands had been to her mouth as she waited for Erin t
o do her route around the truck.
When
she realized no one else was getting out
,
she turned a
nd headed back the way she came.
Perla was right behind her.

BT was now coming my way.
Travis seemed to stagger off
,
lost in his own grief. Ron had a set to his jaw that would have cracked diamonds and Justin seemed to be somew
here in the middle of emotions—
from stalwart to stricken.

His arms opened up and he swallowed
me
and Gary up. His sobs were added to our own.
Erin was screaming incoherently.
I did not know it then
,
but she had gone insane
at that moment.
Something
inside of her mind snapped. Two nights later she would walk out of the house to never be heard from again. I hoped that whatever end she found was a quick and peaceful one.

It was a few hours later and everyone except for
Deneaux
and Erin were in the living room. BT related the majority of
the events as they had unfolded.
It
sounded as if we were receiving the heavily
edited version. T
hat was
fine with me, I didn
’
t need the details. As it was
,
it felt like I was walking
through the world through a fog;
the only thing
that kept me grounded was Henry.
The
dog seemed completely unaffected by all the emotions that were in that room. He knew something that none of us did, and since he was the only one that offered hope
.
I decided to throw my lot in with his.

Gary would not
pick his gaze up off the floor. H
e wouldn
’
t look Tony or
me
in the eyes. I don
’
t believe Tony blamed him
,
and I certainly didn
’
t
,
but Gary blamed himself and that was a bigger burden then he was prepared to carry. It was difficult to see someone who was always so upbeat and positive that far down in the
abyss.

Nicole had slept through the group
’
s initial homecoming
,
but she was inconsolable as she sat
t
here, her head was in my lap
.
I was absently stroking her hair as I tried to listen.
It was almost impossible
,
though
,
as I felt as if I were underwater. I had to
believe Talbot was still alive.

What
w
as the alternative?

And
the damn dog, he knew something…
and he wasn
’
t telling.

M
ike Journal Entry 8

“
Hand-
cut j
ean shorts and a white tank top,
”
I said as I picked up the clothes that Mirabelle ha
d found for me. I shook my head.
I
’
d had as much luck with clothes lately as
I
had with cars—
which pretty much meant none at all.
The only thing I could say positively about the shorts was that they fit well around my waist. Whoever had cut them lo
oked like they had severe palsy. T
he hem went up and down like a cross-eyed orangutan had
gone at
them. Add to that
the fact that they they were way too short.
Someone
was apparently very fond of
showing off their inner thighs;
the white material of the pockets hung a few inches below the frayed line of the shorts.

The shirt was a couple of sizes to
o small.
It
was something
that,
a few months ago
,
I would not have been comfortable wearing as it would have sho
wed all my years of soft living.
Now
it
displayed the hard starkness of definition. At this very moment, I longed for my poncho.

“
You look good,
”
Mirabelle said as I came down the hallway.
“
Want some breakfast?
”
s
he asked.

I was
self-conscious about my new digs
,
but in Mirabelle
’
s world I fit right in.
“
Sure what do you have?
”
I was hoping for a three-
egg cheese
omelet
, with a side of bacon or map
le breakfast sausage, maybe an E
nglish muffin or some toast slathered in butter
, a pile of hash browns and a pancake or two would be divine and
a giant gla
ss of orange juice to wash it all down with.

“
Ring Dings and
Kool-Aid
.
”
She smiled back.

My heart and stomach sank at the prospect of eating the syrupy sweet snack.
“
What flavor
Kool-Aid
?
”

“
Cherry.
”

“
Of course,
”
I responded dourly. I
’
d had an aversion to cherry flavored anything since around the age of six when I realized that every nasty tasting medicinal concoction back in my youth was c
herry flavored. Cherry flavored
cough drops, cough syrup,
and nasal
decongestant, maybe even the suppositories were cherry flavored. I don
’
t know. E
ven passing by fresh cherries in the produce section of a supermarket was cause for my gag reflex to start the process of pro
ducing excessive jets of saliva
while my stomach began to perform its Olympic gymnastics routine.

I grab
bed the Ring Ding from her hand
but left the
Kool-Aid
alone. I went to sit at the small kitchen table.
Luke
and John had passed out on the couch
. T
hey were sleeping
nearly sittin
g up, their heads were touching
keeping them propped there.

“
Cute,
”
I said pointing to them, melted chocolate now on the tips of my fingers.

“
They stayed up all night.
”
Mirabelle said as she cleaned up after
‘
preparing
’
breakfast.

“
John,
”
I said.
No
response, although I really wasn
’
t expecting any. This time I got up
and put my hand on his shoulder.
I gave him a gentle shake as I spoke his name.

“
I smell Ring Dings!
”
Luke
said excitedly.
“
Mirabelle when
’
d you pull off that small miracle?
”
h
e asked as h
e got up quickly from the couch.
John fell all the way over.
“
Man my head hurts,
”
Luke
said
,
rubbing the
connecting
spot where he had spent the night as a temporary Siamese twin.

“
I sav
ed them for a special occasion,
”
Mirabelle smiled.

“
And
Kool-Aid
? Is it our anniversary?
”
Luke
asked earnestly.

“
No it
’
s for our guests.
”

He seemed relieved that he had not forgotten something he shouldn
’
t have and extremely excited that he was the beneficiary of the bounty.

“
Ring Dings are his favorite,
”
Mirabelle said over
Luke
’
s plastic crinkling noise to get to the
snack.

“
I got that,
”
I told her.
“
John.
”
I
shook
his shoulder with a little more vigor. I wanted to put as many miles as possible under our belt tod
ay and maybe find some antacids.
The
Ring Ding was already wreaking havoc on a system that hadn
’
t seen much in the way of
‘
real
’
food in a bit.

“
S
teph
,
I left the toaster in the pool,
”
John said as I shook him again.

“
I hope it wasn
’
t plugged in,
”
Luke
snorted.

Knowing John the way I did, I was pretty certain it had been.

“
Oh
,
man
, my head hurts,
”
John said
as he sat up
rubbing his head in the opposite same spot as
Luke
.

“
Weird
,
man, mine too!
”
Luke
said as he looked around Mirabelle trying to locate the Ring Ding box, that was now nowhere in sight.
“
Hey
,
baby
,
I
’
m still a little hungry,
”
h
e said trying to maneuver around her.

“
Not a chance.
”

“
You know how angry I get when I
’
m hungry.
”
He
placed
his hands over his head.
He was shaking the
m
around crazily
,
hop
ping from one foot to the other.
Mirabelle was laughing.

She kissed him quickly.
“
No.
”

I felt guilty that I had eaten one of this man
’
s favorite treats and especially now that they were a finite commodity. I slowly pushed the wrapper into my exposed pockets
,
hoping that he would not hear the tell tale snack noise.

“
Dude
, those are some ugly shorts,
”
John said
,
his face was just about thigh level.

I stepped back.
“
Yeah well, the Gap was closed.
”

“
I thin
k you look fine,
”
Mirabelle said
,
coming to my aid.