Second Chances

by David Horne

  Once we were in the living room, I could hear the person on the other side of the door yelling. It was Jim.

  “Aaron! Open the goddamn door!”

  I moved for the door, but Caleb held his arm out and blocked me. He stepped up to the door and yelled back. “You need to leave, Jim. It’s the middle of the night. Go home and cool off.”

  “Of course you’re here, and I bet sending the cops to pick me up was your brilliant idea, wasn’t it Caleb?”

  I step up next to Caleb, just on the inside of the door, and speak loud enough for Jim to hear me, “It wasn’t him; it was me.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Jim yelled back. “Everything has gone to pot since you picked him up at that bar. He’s trying to break us up!”

  “We’re not together, Jim.”

  “Our friendship. You know what I mean.”

  I opened my mouth to say something else, but Caleb slammed his fist against the door from the inside where we stood. “That’s enough! Jim, this is crazy. Go home or I’m calling the cops.”

  Caleb moved his arm in front of me, between my body and the door, and gripped my shoulder pushing me back and away from the door. I pushed his hand down and held my ground. “What are you doing?” I asked. “He’s still out there.”

  Caleb moved in closer and whispered in my ear. “He’s obsessed with you, Aaron. The more you respond to his behavior the longer he’ll stay out there. You’re feeding his need to insert himself into your life if you keep going back and forth with him, but if you walk away and ignore him he might tire of yelling at the door like an idiot and leave.” He had a point, but how was I supposed to ignore someone shouting and trying to beat down my front door?

  Caleb pulled me over to the couch and sat down, pulling me to sit next to him. He put his arm around my back. He was trying to comfort me, sure, but I also knew that he was trying to make sure that I stayed put. Jim was still beating the door and screaming my name, but Caleb kept his grip around me tight so I wouldn’t be tempted to go back to the door and argue with him more. The pounding and yelling slowly began to grow less frequent and lost their emphasis and Jim seemed to run out of steam. It took about twenty minutes, but he did finally go silent just as Caleb had expected.

  “Do you think he left?” I asked.

  Caleb shook his head slightly, looking at the door. “I hope so. He has really taken things too far tonight. I know I tried to talk you out of turning him in to the cops last night because I didn’t want to come between your friendship, but at this point I don’t think it would matter who you were with.” Caleb turned his head away from the door and looked at me. His eyes were soft, and the concern he felt was written all over his face. “He’s obsessed with you. I’m worried what he might do.”

  “Me too. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

  Caleb’s eyes grew wide and he quickly turned to me, grabbing my shoulders and staring into my eyes with the hottest look in his eyes. “Me? I’m not worried about me, Aaron. You’re the one he’s obsessed with, not me. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  I shake my head quickly back and forth. “No, no, he won’t hurt me. He might be spiraling right now, but I know he cares about me.”

  “Aaron, situations with stalkers don’t usually end well for the object of their attention. We both need to be careful. I don’t think you should stay here alone for the time being, not until we know he has gotten over this or moved on, or something.”

  I stood up quickly and darted into the kitchen. “I need a drink,” I say. I rummaged through the cabinet until I found the liquor and a glass. When I set my glass on the counter, Caleb comes up behind me and grabs his own glass and sets it right next to mine on the counter. I poured both of us a tall glass, and we each quickly drink it all.

  After we finish off our drinks I placed our empty glasses in the sink, then I walked back over to Caleb and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Let’s just go back to bed for tonight,” I say. Caleb glanced back at the door, the crease between his eyebrows a clear indication that he was worried about Jim being outside. I brought my hand up to his face and turned him toward me again. “Caleb, it’s been a while since we’ve heard a sound from out there, and all the doors and windows are locked. Let’s just go to bed. We can worry about this again tomorrow after we’ve gotten some rest.”

  “All right, but we’re locking the bedroom door too.”

  “Fine. We will lock the bedroom door. Let’s just go to sleep.”

  ***

  The first thing I noticed when I walked out of my front door the next morning was Caleb’s truck. Across the side of his truck was spray painted in bright orange paint, “cock sucker.” When I let my eyes drop down a little further I noticed that his tires had also been slashed. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him!” I ground out through my clenched teeth.

  “That’s not all,” Caleb said. His voice was shaking and he was flexing his fists when I looked back at him.

  I followed the direction of his gaze until I saw my front door. On the door, painted in the same orange spray paint said, “Ben wouldn’t love you now.”

  Tears filled my eyes and I was pretty sure my skin was vibrating with the anger that ran through me see those words. Caleb went stomping down the steps toward his truck, but he took in the flat tires on his truck and stopped to turn back to me. “I need your keys,” he said point blank.

  “What?”

  “I need your keys,” Caleb demanded. “I’m going to kill this S.O.B.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “No. I’m going. He isn’t getting away with it.”

  We headed straight for my garage to get my truck. As soon as the garage door was open enough to shed some light on my truck it became obvious that we wouldn’t be going anywhere in it either. My windshield was cracked bad enough, I knew I wouldn’t be able to see to drive, and the paint job was keyed up and down both the driver and passenger door. “I’m surprised he didn’t just go ahead and slash my tires too,” I said sarcastically. “Shit!”

  I heard a low beeping sound and looked over to see Caleb with his phone in his hand just before he brought it up to his ear. He glanced at me while he waited on the line. “I’m calling the cops. This is way beyond out of hand. They need to get him before he does something worse than this.”

  He was right and I couldn’t deny it; Jim’s behavior went from annoying to dangerous in a steadfast spiral downhill and there was no way around getting the cops involved any longer. I’d never be able to forgive myself if he were to harm Caleb. I wouldn’t let anyone get hurt just to save a friendship that was clearly failing already. I just couldn’t figure out how it had come to this. “What did I miss?”

  “What?” Caleb asked.

  I looked over at him. Apparently I’d asked myself that last question out loud. I hadn’t meant to do that, but what did it matter. “There must have been signs. I just don’t understand how I could have let myself miss Jim’s feelings for me. There had to be signs, things I should have seen earlier to stop all of this from happening now.”

  Caleb put his hand under my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. “This,” he waved his free hand toward my truck, “none of this is your fault. Jim is clearly not sane and that’s not on you. You can’t blame yourself for the actions of others.”

  I nodded my head, but I still couldn’t help feeling guilty, at least about getting Caleb caught up in Jim’s rampage. If he’d been with anyone else he probably wouldn’t need to get his truck towed for repairs because of the crazy brother-in-law. Being with me was costing him, but I had to admit that the way he was staying with me, the way he had my back through the Jim situation, it all only made me want him more. It might make me an asshole because at this point I know he’d be better off without me, but I don’t want to let him go, especially not now.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Caleb

  It took the cops twenty minutes to show up to Aaron’s house. “I’m glad you weren’t in any serious troub
le. You could have been killed before these ass hats showed up. What kind of response time is twenty minutes?”

  Two cops showed up, riding in the same patrol car, and they walked around and took pictures of all the damage Jim had caused during his meltdown. Aaron squeezed my shoulder. “It’s fine, Caleb. I’m sure they would have gotten here faster if you’d called in an active assault or something like that. You called in to report property damage; that doesn’t exactly scream, ‘I’m in danger, please hurry.’”

  “Ugh,” I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, back toward the cops and the mess that had been made of both of our trucks. Still, with all of the damage he’d done to our vehicles, the worst thing he’d done was the crap he’d painted on Aaron’s front door. That was just wrong, and the only reason I hadn’t taken off to find the jerk and knock his head off was because I knew Aaron needed me here. I saw how those words affected him. Seeing the hurt on his face when he read what Jim had painted on his front door made my own heart break completely in two. I wanted nothing more in the world than to take his pain away. In a short time, Aaron had quickly become the most important person in my life, and I just wanted to see him happy.

  After a little while the officers walked back over to where Aaron and I were standing. “We’re going to put out a bolo on Jim, and he will be taken in as soon as we get eyes on him.”

  “Wait, what are you talking about?” I interrupted. “Can’t you just pick him up at his house?”

  “We sent a car there already, but he’s nowhere to be found. We suggest the two of you find somewhere to stay until we have him in custody. You shouldn’t stay anywhere he would look for you, so both of your homes should be avoided as much as you can right now.”

  “He doesn’t know where I live,” I interject.

  “With this level of stalking, I could almost guarantee he’s seen where you live as well. We already know based on the incident when your vehicle was struck that he’s not above following you. You have come between him and the person he’s obsessed with, so I’d say you and your home are definitely targets for him.”

  “I’m not leaving my home,” Aaron interrupted.

  “Sir,” the officer pleaded, “it is for your safety. I can’t stress enough how dangerous these situations can become, and from what I see here, this is certainly escalating very fast.”

  Aaron stepped forward getting way too close to the cop’s face. “I built this house with my husband, and nobody is going to run me off, especially not Jim just because he’s lost his damn mind.”

  I reached for Aaron and tried to pull him back. “Aaron, he’s not saying you’ve got to move out. Just stay somewhere else for a night or two while they find Jim and get him off the streets. It’s for your safety.”

  Aaron glared at me, his eyes were steel. “This isn’t up for debate. I’m not letting him run me off.” Before I could get in another word he turned and stomped back toward his house, and slammed the door shut behind him.

  “Goddamnit!” I yelled. I took a couple of deep breaths and turned back to the cop. “You guys have got to find him. Aaron doesn’t think he’ll actually cause him any harm because they’ve been friends most of their lives, but I don’t believe that for a second.”

  “We will do our best.”

  “Well it better be damn good because if he shows up here again I’m not gonna sit back and let him get away with this. If I even think he’s planning to hurt Aaron, I will take him out.”

  The cop shook his head and held his hand up like he was trying to urge me to step back. I didn’t move, and I didn’t let the anger shift away. “Sir, we cannot condone you taking matters into your own hands. If either of you run into the suspect again, it is best if you just call the police right away.”

  “Ha!” I shook my head. This guy had to be screwing with me. “Oh, you mean call the police and sit back and wait, hoping this asshole doesn’t do any damage while ya’ll take your sweet ass time showing up. It took you twenty minutes to respond today. No. Not happening. We will call, but I won’t hesitate to take him out. I will not sit back twiddling my thumbs while he does this crap. Not happening again.”

  The cop starts talking again, but I don’t listen. I turn on my heel and walk away from him. I didn’t want to hear another word until they had Jim in handcuffs.

  When I walked into the house, it was quiet. Aaron wasn’t in the kitchen or living room, so I headed toward the bedroom he slept in. He wasn’t there either. “Aaron,” I called out, but there was no answer. I walked out into the hall to check the other spare room when I heard something. I stopped in my tracks and listened. It took a moment to realize where the sound was coming from. I walked toward the master bedroom and the closer I came to the bedroom door, the louder the strange sound grew.

  I opened the door slowly and called out Aaron’s name as I walked in, “Aaron? You in here?” The closet door was open, so I made my way over to see who was there. Aaron was crouched on the floor with his back to me, his shoulders shaking with his sobs. Clothes were pulled down in front of him, and when I walked around him, he had his face buried in a blue shirt, letting it soak up his tears.

  I didn’t say a word because I knew they wouldn’t ease his pain, so I dropped to the floor beside him. I spread my legs, and reached forward and pulled Aaron between my legs. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight, and just let him cry. After a few moments he turned with the shirt still clutched in his fists and he leaned into my chest. I could feel his tears staining my shirt and it broke my heart into a million pieces. How could Jim be such a dick? How could he do this to Aaron?

  “Today…today is two years,” Aaron spoke quietly into my chest. My heart clenched again, the remaining shreds of it breaking for the beautiful man in my arms, falling apart at the hands of someone he’d believed to be his best friend. Briefly, I found myself hoping that the police wouldn’t find Jim, that way I’d have the chance to run into him again so I could beat him until I was sure he knew the kind of pain he was putting Aaron through.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Aaron

  At some point, I’d fallen asleep on the floor of the closet I’d shared with Ben, while Caleb held me through my meltdown. Jim sure picked the worst time to lose his mind and go crazy stalker on me, but through all of the insanity that was happening Caleb had been there. He was a good man, and I felt myself falling for him, and falling hard.

  I sat up in bed, and it took a minute for the room to register for me when I looked around. When my eyes landed on the picture of Ben, and it became clear that I was in our room, in our bed for the first time in two years. Last time I’d been in this bed, I’d been holding Ben and telling him how much I loved him. Caleb was not in bed, and I had a feeling he had not slept in the bed with me because the other side of the comforter was still tucked in. I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the picture of Ben and me and ran my finger softly over Ben’s face. It had been my favorite picture of us, but after he died, I couldn’t bear to see it anymore, to see how in love we had been knowing I’d never have that again. Funny, considering the first time I’d brought myself to look at it again was the same time I realized that I was falling in love with Caleb. “I’ll always love you,” I said to the picture, to Ben, “but I think I have room to love Caleb too.” I placed the picture back on the nightstand and got out of bed to find Caleb.

  I went to my room to see if he was sleeping, but the bed was empty, so I checked the kitchen. The kitchen was empty, but I heard something in the living room and walked toward the room with a smile on my face. I owed Caleb a very big thank you for yesterday. When I entered the living room the first thing I noticed was that it was bright from all the sunshine lighting up the room, then I heard the sound that had drawn me to the room all over again. The front door was open and every time the wind blew the door smacked the wall behind it—the sound I’d heard—but there was no Caleb.

  “Caleb!” I called out, then I waited for a minute for him to respond. Noth
ing. My heart started beating in my throat, and my palms were sweating.

  When I walked outside to see if Caleb had left the door open I found a cell phone on the ground at the bottom of the front steps. The screen was cracked but I was still able to get it to turn on and see that it was Caleb’s phone. Panic rocketed through my body, and my heart nearly clawed its way out of my chest. Caleb’s truck was in the same place it had been the day before, slashed tires and all. I ran around the side of the house and dropped Caleb’s phone back to the ground when I saw the garage door trashed, and my truck no longer parked inside.

  My hands were shaking so bad when I bent down and picked Caleb’s phone back up that I nearly dropped it all over again. It took me three tries before I was able to dial the three numbers that would get me to the cops: 911. When the dispatcher picked up the line I heard the phone beep, and when I looked at the screen I recognized the number that was calling in. I ignored the operator who was trying to get me to tell her my emergency and clicked over and answered the incoming call. “Jim, Jim, where is he? What the hell have you done?”

  Slow, deep laughter echoed through the phone. “What have I done? I think you’re confused, Aaron. All of this is your fault. How could you screw him in my brother’s house?”

  “Jim, where’s Caleb?”

  “Everything is about Caleb now. You only met him a couple weeks ago, and suddenly you’ve pushing me out of your life like I never meant a solitary thing to you.”

  “You’re not making any sense, Jim. Caleb wasn’t going to stop us from being friends.”

  “Friends! That’s your problem, Aaron. If you weren’t so caught up with Caleb you would have seen that I’m the one for you. I’m the only person who can ever be good enough to replace Ben. How can you not see that?”

  “What? Jim, you’re not making any sense.”