by D. R. Mather
Kevin stood there speechless for maybe the fourth time in his entire life, and then came up with an idea.
“Bill, how much would you charge to do a driveway this size, to anyone, not just here?”
“Wow, that’s a tough question, considering the length of this driveway and the areas that need some special work – the garage area and of course the fuel area. I’ve never thought it over actually. Off the top of my head, I’d say around one hundred bucks a whack.”
Kevin turned to Will, “Will, how much for a family of four to stay a night?”
“That’s easy,” he opened his book; “Thirty dollars a night. That includes dinner then breakfast.”
Kevin started to show his point and then stopped just as he was about to do so. Instead, he turned back in Will’s Direction, “Christ Will, you’re giving your rooms away.” Then he moved on, “And tell me Will, what you would say in an average year was the ratio between them staying here verses Bill’s plowing?”
Will hung his head, “Geeeez Kevin, you’re gonna make me look bad here.”
“No I won’t, you two had a blind arrangement, neither one of you knew the actual costs involved.”
Will looked from Kevin to Bill, “Well if I go by the figures, it seems I’m robbing Bill and his family blind.”
“No Will, you both helped out a friend in need, which is all I’m doing now.” He took Katie’s hand with the money in it and rolled her fingers around it, put his arm around her waist and brought her back to Bill. “Listen, both of you, you deserve this and much more. You’re good people and I hope to get the chance to know you. So from now on, there will always be a paycheck for services rendered here. If you want to make it fair, then we can deduct some of the cost of housing your family when the time is needed, but personally I think it needs to stay just as it is now, okay?” Kevin knew he had plans for them in the future, plans which he’d surprise them with later on.
Both Bill and Katie had their heads very slowly going up and down as they stared into Kevin’s eyes. It looked like they were hypnotized, yet they weren’t.
“Now I must head back upstairs, it was wonderful to see you all again,” said Kevin. He scrunched down and shook the little boy’s hand, “And what might your name be young man?” The boy looked at him and didn’t seem to want to talk.
Bill’s daughter turned to him and said, “Paul, tell him your name!”
“So your name is Paul. That’s a very nice name Paul.” Paul only shook his head. Kevin turned, “And what might Paul’s boss’s name be?”
“I’m Becky, but I’m not his boss, mommy and daddy are!”
“Well that’s very nice to know, and thank you, it was a pleasure meeting both of you.” He reached out both hands and shook the children’s hand at one time, then stood back up.
“Kevin, can I talk to you over here for a second?” asked Bill.
Kevin walked with Bill over to the doors, “Kevin, I don’t know what to do with the car, aren’t they going to trace it to me?”
Kevin gave a light chuckle, “Bill, enjoy your one year old car. It’s never going to come up missing or stolen, trust me, and neither is that filth who tried to destroy your life for that matter. You just take it to have all your normal paperwork done as you would any other car, and believe me, no one will see a thing, got it?”
“Ah…ah…sure…I guess?”
Kevin did a ‘buddy’ slap across Bill’s shoulder and spun him around, bringing him back to his family. He seemed to have managed to huddle them in a circle without seemingly trying to and he leaned in tight to all of them. Kevin put his arms around both Katie’s and Bill’s shoulders, “I want all of you to have the merriest little Christmas you can.” He shook Bill’s quivering hand and gave Katie and the kids a kiss on the cheek.
He stepped back and headed to the stairs. For the first time, he realized that Barb was leaning on the dining room entrance area whilst Alex, Beth, April, Marie, Cindy and Roland were all sitting on the stairs. Judy was standing where he left her, and Will was still at the desk. He glanced from left to right and noticed everyone was silent and quietly crying. When Kevin reached Judy he looked at her and she just smiled at him through her wet eyes.
“What?”
“You big sweetheart.” She reached up and kissed his cheek and they weaved their way up the stairs and out of sight. Everyone was off the stairs in an instant and heading for Bill and his family. Most knew each other; Cindy and Roland introduced themselves. Sniffling could be heard all over the bottom floor.
Bill turned to Will, “Is he staying?”
“Don’t know for how long Bill, he paid his rent through the winter and it seems when he does leave, he’ll be stealing our little fireball as well.”
Katie opened her mouth and was processing what Will had just said, then she let out an amazingly loud SQUEAL! She bolted for the stairs and double timed it up them and out of sight.
Bill looked at everyone, “Mind if we take off our hats and coats?”
Everyone laughed. Several hours later, Katie, Bill and the kids were gone. Judy walked into their room and saw Kevin sitting at what had come to be known as his ‘window thinking chair’. She saw from behind that his elbows were on the armrests, which meant he had his hands under his chin. It was what Judy called his ‘thinking’ pose. Judy made her way to the side of the chair.
“What are you thinking about honey?” She bumped his arm off the armrest so that she could sit on it, leaned over him, and put her head on his.
“Oh, I was just wondering how one race of people can be so amazingly good and yet do such horrible atrocities to one another.”
“Oh my goodness. Kevin takes the weight of the world on his shoulders. Watch out bad guys, you in for an ass whoopin’ now.”
He spun towards her more, “If you recall, I’ve taken it on more than most?”
“Yeah, I do recall. Only, when is enough, enough? When have you done your share?”
“I don’t know Judy, I really don’t.”
She got up and started to leave him to his thoughts, then spun back and leaned over the chair. “Incidentally, you just endeared yourself forever to a small group of people after what happen downstairs.” She kissed him on his head, “Dinner will be in about an hour.” She went out the door and Kevin slid back into ‘think’ mode.
***
Kevin turned the corner to go to his seat at the table and was greeted with a standing ovation.
“What? What’s this for?”
Will got up and helped Kevin to Will’s own seat, “Sit Kevin, please sit.”
Kevin sat, but it felt weird. Judy was standing in front of Kevin’s seat, which just happened to still put her next to him. She was doing her Easter bunny thump again. Kevin took one look at her and his heart just melted like hot butter on a wood stove. Everyone sat and Barb went over to the serving area and picked up a tray with a cover on it, walked over to Kevin and placed it in front of him. Kevin just stared and then looked around at everyone. He still didn’t get what was going on here.
“Go on,” Judy said, “take off the cover.” She had toned it down to a low vibration now.
Kevin opened the cover and the most beautiful cake he’d ever seen sat beneath. It was a snow scene of what looked to be the Colburn Inn.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
Judy tuned up again, “Do you like it honey?”
“It’s absolutely beautiful…Bar…….” And he got no further.
Barb was pointing at Judy, “Wrong person superhero.”
Kevin turned to his love, “Baby, you did this?”
“YIP! I made it this afternoon while you were ‘thinking’.”
Kevin reaches over to Judy and almost yanked her head off by pulling her over to him. He kissed her hard for about half minute then released her.
“Well, I’m going to need to go get a towel now, thank you very much.”
Everyone roared at that and Barb turned to get food on the table. Of course, Judy
was at her side in a flash, or rather a bunny hop.
An hour later and everyone was sitting back and shooting the breeze. The silver tray was empty in front of Kevin. He had counted heads and cut the cake into sections so that everyone had received a huge slice. Barb mentioned something about the end of a diet and Cindy came in with a, “Tell me about it”, whilst tapping her growing tummy.
Will stood up and said, “As much as I enjoyed this, and believe me I have,” he tapped his stomach, “I have to say, I want my chair back!”
Everyone stopped for a moment.
“Ah, I meant tomorrow, don’t lynch an old man now everyone! Seriously though, Kevin, for what you did, I personally owe you a world of thanks and I don’t think I could ever repay your generosity. On behalf Of Bill, Katie, Paul, and Becky, thank you with all our hearts.” Will sat back down and the tissues once again come out.
Kevin looked at each and every one in the room, one at a time. “It isn’t what I did that matters, it is with my deepest love for humanity that I hope you all get the chance to do the same thing for somebody. That’s all the thanks I need.”
The evening ended up rather somber and quiet, as everyone knew that Kevin was leaving the next morning. Most of them didn’t like it at all. Will and Barb only knew that Kevin had said he had unfinished business back in Indiana. Judy sat on Kevin’s lap for over two hours without moving once, even though Kevin had to shift her from one leg to the other several times. Judy just gave him ‘refresher’ kisses every time he moved her. At around nine thirty, everyone seemed to get edgy because that was normally the time they started heading up to their rooms. It seemed no one wanted to at the moment. Kevin decided for them because he knew what was going on; no one wanted to say bye to him.
“Ok guys, I’m done in, time to call it a day.”
He slipped Judy to a standing position and got up. Everyone looked at him like they had just seen a beheading.
“Anyone want to follow me up?” Kevin offered. Will got the surprise of his life when in about half the time it took to blink, everyone except he and Barb, were on their feet. “Well, now that’s what I call dedication!”
Everyone said their goodnights to Will and Barb and then they all headed up the stairs at once.
Barb was watching them go up, “Looks like a damn funeral precession, Will.”
Will looked over Barb’s head, “Or a marching band that forgot their instruments.”
They decided to turn in as well and Will went over to put out the main entry and living room lights. Barb was already into the dining room, heading for the back of the kitchen and then to their rooms. Will could hear everyone around the corner in the upstairs hall, he just couldn’t make out what they were saying. He shut off the lights and followed Barb, shutting off the dining room lights as he exited into the kitchen hall. Barb was tiding up a few small things in the kitchen when he caught up with her.
“Huh, weird, sounds like every one of them is standing out in the second floor hall, just talking,” said Will.
“Well, Kevin’s leaving early tomorrow morning; they just want to get their goodbyes in hun.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
***
Barb sort of hit it on the head. Yes, they were getting their goodbyes in, only with a lot of be safes, be carefuls and such too. Also, women with yet more tears. Kevin had never said why he was going back, yet it seemed to have been implied that it wasn’t anything good. Everyone had the same feeling, especially Judy. When Kevin finally managed to break them all up, he and Judy headed to their room. As he closed the door, Judy was on him in a flash.
“God honey, are you sure you’re going to be alright?”
“As much as I can be any other time sweetheart, that’s the best answer I have.”
Judy was crying full out now, her face stuffed into Kevin’s chest. “I can’t lose you Kevin, you know I can’t, you’re the only man I’ll ever love. You have to come back to me. You have to.”
She managed to push even deeper into him. He held her for a while, all the time she needed to gain control again. She finally got it down to sniffles and he pulled her back away from him a little so that he could see her face.
“You’re prettier when you smiling.”
That’s all it took. Judy moved back in for round two. Fifteen minutes later and Kevin’s said “I had no idea you women had such a large water reservoir hiding inside of you, the fire departments should know about this.”
She let out a rather wet icky sounding little chuckle then pushed back, “They can’t have it, we reserve it for moments like this, and of course, tight shoes.”
Kevin let out a hard laugh and brought Judy over to the bed, sat her down, and went over some things with her. The rest of the evening was made for love, and neither of them held back anything. They fell asleep tightly in each other’s arms.
***
In the morning Kevin was heading to his car, with Judy at his side. A very light snow had fallen the night before, but not enough to worry about. They were holding hands as Kevin got to the garage. When he walked in, Judy was looking around the yard.
“Something wrong honey?”
“Oh, nothing, I just realized I missed that big clump of trees on the side of the house when I made your cake.”
Kevin dropped his backpack and rushed to her, grabbed her and picked her up from around her waist, “You, my dear, are the single most amazing woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting,” and he kissed her for a few minutes.
He finally put her down, picked up his backpack, headed back to his car and got in it. He started the car while Judy was still blocking the door from being closed.
“Baby, I can’t leave if you don’t back up a few feet.”
“I know,” said Judy, but she managed to back up. Kevin closed the door, put the Mustang in reverse, and backed out of the garage. He swung the car to face the driveway and looked at Judy. She was still in the same spot and crying her heart out. Kevin waved and Judy was waving and balling hard at the same time. He turned forward and started to move when he saw Beth and Cindy running to his garage area, they waved but kept moving. He gave them a ‘prayer’ sign of thank you and drove off. In his rearview, he saw them enter the garage.
“They’ll take care of my Judy,” was all he said. He headed to the first curve in the driveway; all anyone heard was the sound of his Mustang and after a while, not even that.
Chapter Twenty
Kevin sat in a chair alongside a bed in a small motel room; he was just outside of Terre Haute, Indiana. The sky was darkening as evening lost its grip to hold off the night. He came here with his instructions already in order so he only needed to get a final ‘head’ call for the day, time and location. He knew what to expect. He knew it wouldn’t be tonight; this he had already been told. He got up and headed to the door, turning to look at the single bed. Something was missing. Judy. Kevin didn’t know just how much it would impact him until he had to leave her. The look on her face would haunt him forever. All he knew for sure was that someone made him hurt his baby and that someone was going to pay in the end. Kevin walked out and closed the door, heading over to his car and into the darkness of the coming night.
His first stop was a promise he made to Cindy and Roland. He didn’t need directions; he simply drove to the house. Kevin got out of the car and wasn’t half way up the walk when the door opened.
“Hello Billy, nice to see you again.”
“Well son of a gun. Please, come in, I’d love for you to meet my family.”
Kevin walked in and there was a woman and a young boy sitting at a table in the next room. Billy brought him over and told him, “This is my wife Michelle and my son Brandon.”
Kevin walked over and introduced himself, “I’m sort of a friend of Billy’s but I’m not sure I ever gave him my name. It’s Kevin, Kevin Chase.” Michelle started to stand and Kevin saw she was pregnant. “No, no, please, sit,” he reached and shook her hand.
Billy told
Michelle that this was the man, the one who had saved his life and changed his life as well. Now she was up before Kevin could stop her. She got around the corner of the table almost instantly and grabbed hold of him, “OH GOD, thank you so much!”
Kevin could already hear her crying, “You’re more than welcome,” he said. “Now please, sit, I have a few things to go over with you.” He looked at Billy and pointed to the chair in front of him.
“May I?”
“Please do.”
“The first thing I want to tell you is that Cindy is doing great. However, you must also understand that she won’t ever be returning to Indiana again. She sent her love to all of you, so that you know.”
“Cindy’s really okay?”
”More than just okay,” Kevin laughed. “She’s turning into quite a cook. She’s doing some business classes and Roland is with her. He’s teaching as well.”
“Nice. I’m so glad it’s working out for them. She hated it here, and we all knew that, we’re so glad.”
Kevin noticed they seemed to be getting on with life, but not in the greatest way. He could tell by the worn furniture and the dismal look of the house. For the first time since this all started, there seemed to be a mystery growing. Something that Kevin had to do, but that he wasn’t absolutely sure of before he had to do it. It was starting to bug him. He didn’t see the full plan for Billy. He knew what he HAD to use Billy for, but there were some grey areas. Kevin pushed it back for the time being, on with business.
“Billy, there is something I’m going to need you to do for me; something which has to do with Cindy.”
“Sure, no problem, name it, Kevin.”
“That was too easy,” laughed Kevin. ”It’s a good thing I wasn’t going to ask you to rob a bank for her.”