by W.H. Harrod
Terrance didn’t bother trying to put up a defense when Harvey knocked him flat on his back on the porch while firmly planting his paws on his chest, giving him a good face licking.
“You big dummy, get off of me, I mean it!” Harvey however, paid no attention to his best friend’s pleas as he expressed his excitement in the only way he knew how. If the truth be told, Terrance didn’t care. The sight of Jess’s pretty, smiling face was like finding out that Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy all really existed, and you were a kid again. It felt wonderful.
His inner demons, driven by thoughts of self-preservation and self-centeredness, almost caused him to step over the edge into a way of life alien to his basic notions of honesty and loyalty. Having come so close, he knew now, as he lay flat on his back, that running away and leaving Jess had about as much chance of happening as him getting this small elephant off his chest without some help. More and more he started to believe he might not be that next great do whatever it takes to win at any cost entrepreneur he imagined himself to be.
“I hope you’re enjoying this,” cried out a weakening Terrance as he lay there resigned to his fate. “I swear, I’ll always return your calls. I swear! Now will you please help me?”
If Jess thought about taking revenge, her relieved look didn’t show it. She didn’t appear to be a person concerned about not having a phone call returned. The look on her face said something else. It said, I’ve been worried about you; I’m glad you’re finally here.
“Not you, too, Fifi,” broke in Jess as the smaller half of her personal security contingent arrived at the scene hoping to get in on part of the action now that Harvey had softened up the prey. “Get back in the house, and Harvey, that’s enough. You heard me, that’s enough!”
It took more stern commands to get Harvey to break off his welcoming ritual and go back inside the house where he eagerly awaited his pal. Jess knelt down beside Terrance as he laid there flat on his back with a contented smile occupying his whole face. Usually, Jess offered some good-natured wisecrack about how he deserved this friendly mauling from Harvey, but not this time.
Terrance felt so relieved just to be on Jess’s front porch that he stayed there, reluctant to lose the moment. The culmination of so many feelings, ideas, fears, and doubts had been thrown into a big bucket to see which came out on top. For a time, it looked as if his less noble instincts prevailed, but at the last moment, from somewhere deep inside, the better parts of his nature emerged, and he avoided making another big mistake.
It has been said many times that a sucker is born every day and such looked to be the case as Jess leaned over a smidgen too far in her attempt to wipe some of the dog slobber from Terrance’s face with the dish towel she held in her hand. In extending her torso over him in order to get a better look at the damage done by Harvey, she gave Terrance the opportunity to wrap his arms around her upper body and slowly pull her down by his side. A tender kiss, most appropriate for those occasions where lovers come back together following a long absence, ensued.
“Jess,” said Terrance, relaxing his embrace.
“Yes,” replied Jess.
“Jess, I need to tell you about some things that are happening in my life.”
“I know,” said Jess calmly. “I’ve been waiting.”
Upon hearing this response, Terrance smiled.
Of course, she would be waiting; she always knows when something is not right.
“Could we go inside first? If we stay here much longer those puppies will break the screen door down to get back out here,” pleaded Jess as she rose up to a sitting position.
Terrance reluctantly agreed to leave his position now that he knew for sure how much Jess meant to him. Plus, he intended to tell her everything that happened and he wasn’t sure how she might react to certain parts of his tale. What if she told him to hit the road?
After mollifying the dogs with a variety of chew toys to keep them occupied, they faced one another in the living room. Jess stood waiting for him to begin.
“I’m going to be more honest with you right now, Jess, than I’ve ever been with anyone in my life. I’m going to tell you everything. From this point on—if you’re still with me after I finish—I never intend to live another day keeping any information about my life from you. You may want to sit over there until I’ve told you the entire story. I’m not proud of it.”
Jess took only a moment to make her decision. She walked across the room to Terrance’s side, took his hand, and sat with him on the couch. She held on to his hand and indicated with raised brows that she awaited his story.
Terrance sat for sometime before he commenced speaking. Now that he intended to do it, he wasn’t quite sure where to start. So many things must be told. In the end, he decided to divide the story into two parts. First, he must tell her about those things that had the potential of affecting her own life and safety. Then afterwards, if she chose to stay, they could deal with a number of less critical issues.
“What I want to tell you about started on Friday before last. I had just returned from a trip to Kansas City with the professor. Up until I got to work, it had been a very good day. The trouble started at work. My boss assigned me the responsibility of gathering background information and writing a story on a local individual by the name of Joseph Right.” Terrance halted as he noticed Jess’s reaction to the name. “You’ve heard of the guy?”
“Certainly, he was one of the largest donors to the shelter for years. I met him on a couple of occasions when he came to the shelter with kids to help them select a pet. He was a very nice man. I was sorry to read that he passed on. Go on with your story,” commented Jess hurriedly.
“Well, hold on, because you’re about to learn a lot more about the man,” said Terrance. “I naturally figured this would be another one of those fluff obituary stories, and I resented being charged with this responsibility. I hoped they were going to start assigning me more important subjects.”
At this point, Terrance abruptly halted the story. A little voice in his head asked him if he ought to be telling this story to Jess without her knowing the danger involved. She had a right to know what she might be getting into.
“What’s wrong? Why have you stopped?” Jess asked.
“Jess, before I tell you what I know, which has the potential to turn your entire life upside down and, very possibly, put you in physical danger, I’m going to tell you about a couple of things I came close to doing that I am not proud of. If after you hear about them, and you’re still interested in being a part of my life, we can go on with more of the story. Do you want me to continue?”
“Yes,” said Jess without hesitation.
He looked straight into her eyes as he began the first part of the story, attempting to see if her face revealed any indication of doubt. “When I left my hiding place less than an hour ago, I didn’t intend to end up here at your door step. I was on my way to a lady attorney’s home for the purpose of working out a suitable arrangement whereby she would take me along to Atlanta with her when she left town for a new job in two weeks.”
“My reason for leaving is that I feared for my life. Some violent people are, very possibly, going to try to kill me for what they think I know. This lady, from out of the blue—I swear, I never had any type of relationship with her before—left me a message on my voice mail, making me an offer to go to Atlanta with her as her assistant. She would pay me a salary, and she ensured me that her new company would provide for my law school education. Being desperate and already on the run, I had gotten as far as Omaha when her message gave me an alternative. I turned around and came back to Lawrence to a friend’s warehouse where I hid out, and I called her to express my interest in her offer. I arranged to meet with her tonight to work out the details.”
Terrance halted for a moment to gauge Jess’s reaction. He detected no change. “I asked myself over and over again if there was any other way to do this, but I could think of nothing. I didn’t want to drag you int
o this, and I felt that with those people after me we could never have a life together here, where you’re most happy. So, I did the only thing I could think of doing, I started running. I was already gone when this lady contacted me with this offer. I had by that time rationalized our relationship out of existence, and I figured it would be better to go on the run with someone helping me out as opposed to going by myself and starving. That was the plan, and until sixty seconds before I knocked on your door, that’s what I thought I was going to do.”
“The only thing,” said Terrance, “is that I didn’t know, until I was on my way there, how much I loved you. When I found myself at your door only a few minutes ago, I was never more surprised or happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m sorry, Jess.”
Terrance turned his face away, afraid of what he might see or hear next. What would she do now?
All during the silence, Jess kept holding his hand in hers as Terrance sat waiting.
“You mentioned a couple of things,” said Jess, breaking the silence. “Is there something else you’re going to tell me?”
“Yes, I—” began Terrance until Jess cut him off.
“Does it involve another woman, you murdering someone, or you robbing a bank?” asked Jess.
“No,” answered Terrance.
“Then I suggest we let this other story wait until another time,” responded Jess assertively.
“I want to remind you of something. Do you recall my academic accomplishments in school? Do you recall that I never received anything but straight A’s? Most educated people who know me consider me something of a minor genius. I’ve been offered scholarships to complete my Doctorate studies at most of the prestigious universities in the country. I have a wonderful mind, and I can figure things out. Do you recall any of this?” She finished speaking and waited for his response.
“Yes, I recall,” answered Terrance tentatively.
“Good, and for the record, what was your cumulative GPA in college?” inquired Jess.
“I maintained a B average as I recall,” answered Terrance.
“You barely had a B. You have talent, but it’s not in the academic world. I’ve told you—stick with your looks and your charm. Let nerds like me take care of life’s non-linear equations. Given your indecisiveness regarding our relationship until now, I can understand why you attempted to handle the problems in your life in the foolish way you’ve just now told me about. But now, you know how you feel. You say you love me, and I love you. So from this point on, we’re going forward together with us both involved in all the important decision making processes. Agreed?”
Terrance’s sigh of relief didn’t go unnoticed. He said nothing, only squeezed her hand tighter.
Jess made one last remark on the subject. “If you ever cut us out of the loop again, no matter what, Harvey and I will make tonight’s greeting seem pleasant. Now, tell me the part about us getting killed over some information you’ve discovered.”
Terrance, once he got started, told her every detail he could remember since the moment he first received the Joseph Right assignment, including the part where he started to run away with the professor’s winning ticket in his pocket. For the most part, Jess sat impassively until he got to the part where he chose Anthony’s warehouse as his hide out. She knew all about Anthony’s slovenliness. She cringed upon hearing that Terrance ate, slept, and showered in that place.
“You’re going to stay here with me until we get a handle on our safest course of action. No one knows about me, so they will have no reason to look for you here. The owners of this place will be gone for another month, at least. I can take that heap you arrived in back to its rightful owner, and I‘ll tell him to stay quiet about seeing you. We’ll leave the Cherokee where it is for the time being. Now about your attorney friend—I think you should call her and tell her you’ve reconsidered and won’t be able to accept the position after all. I can’t blame her for seeking your company, and she doesn’t deserve to be left hanging. While you’re doing that, I’ll fix something for you to eat. You’ve lost weight and probably only eaten junk food since this all started. I’ll be waiting for you in the kitchen in fifteen minutes.” Then without waiting for a response, she got up and, with the dogs following, went into the kitchen.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN