“I didn’t realize they were ants. They are all dead at the bottom. How many bit you?”
“Most if not all the ones in that jar, I guess. There were over two hundred bites on me. The doctor said the pain of that many bites at the same time would have probably put me into shock, if I wasn’t already in shock from blood loss.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I needed a lot of blood, fast. Luckily I’m A positive.”
“What blood type am I?”
“O negative. Universal blood donor. That’s the hardest one to get when you need it though, and you can only get O negative blood transfusions. You should donate blood when you get older. It’s a simple thing that does a lot of good.”
“Okay. I will.”
“Anyway, back to bugs. I was in the hospital for a month. I got bored, so I did a lot of reading about that type of ant. Then I read about other ants. Then I read about other bugs and I became fascinated by them all. You can’t imagine how interesting insects are. I brought the jar home and that was the start of my collection. I’ve been collecting ever since.”
“Okay. That makes sense.”
“I was honorably discharged as a wounded vet and decided to get a degree in entomology. Didn’t stop until I earned my master’s degree. Then I ended up with a full time teaching gig at the University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. You know I teach Entomology courses there. I was working on my PHD.”
“Mom wants you to go back to teaching.”
“I know.”
“She complains about you being gone all the time now. She says you love the sand in Afghanistan more than her.”
“That’s not true! I hate that sand.”
“I know. I think she’s just joking. She’s gone all the time now too, though.”
“She has an important job.”
Jax agreed as the trio continued north on the interstate the rest of the day, stopping for lunch and gas twice.
Jackson and Jax sang songs together loudly over the loud music blaring from the old truck speakers while taking breaks to discuss life in a way they never had. It was the most time they had ever spent talking in Jax’s thirteen years.
Chapter 15
“It’s getting old, Tom,” Officer Mark Biggs said to Thomas Long on the front porch of Thomas’s Seacliff, Maine home where he lived with his partner, Craig Lattimer.
Seacliff was a small town, less than a thousand residents, though people came from all over to vacation there. Their police force was small, but they got just as tired of domestic calls as did every other police department in the United States.
“You and Craig need to keep it down. The neighbors are tired of listening to your fights and I’m getting tired of coming out here.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry, Mark. I promise it won’t happen again,” Thomas said as tears formed in his eyes.
Mark and Thomas grew up together in Seacliff, next door neighbors for most of their childhood, and in the same school every year starting from kindergarten and until they walked across the Seacliff High School stage to receive their diplomas.
Mark always wanted to be a soldier. He left Seacliff for the Army after graduation and served for four years before coming back home to join the local police department.
When he and Thomas were eight, he dragged Thomas and the other kids in their neighborhood to the wooded reserve to play war games. They all had fun, everyone except Thomas, who tried in the beginning, but became less and less interested.
He was interested in a different kind of fun.
“What are you doing, Tommy?” Mark asked him one afternoon when he found Thomas standing in the woods ten feet away from his bb gun staring at a yellow butterfly that was fluttering its wings in his hand.
Thomas just started at it, enchanted by the creature. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“What are you doing?” Tom asked Thomas again one afternoon a year later when he found him and another boy mostly naked together in the woods. There was no butterfly in the vicinity. It became obvious to Mark and everyone else in Seacliff after Thomas got older that he was only interested in doing two things at the reserve: catching bugs, and making love to other boys.
“Maybe it’s time for you and Craig to call it quits, Tom. Move on.”
“Don’t say that, Mark! I love him! I need him.”
“You don’t need anyone.”
“We’re getting married.”
Mark scoffed. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
Thomas briefly put his hand over his mouth, as if that would hide the truth. “Maybe you’re right,” he confessed. “He has gotten me into so much debt with his damn gambling that I can’t afford the mortgage on this place without him.”
“Christ. Does he even work, Tom?”
“He works at the Seafarer.”
“Well, I’ve never seen him there. I don’t like him.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”
“I trust him.”
“You are a fool.”
“Maybe. But I want to be with him.”
“Why don’t you both go see a therapist then? Get some help if you really want to make it work.”
“We have talked about that. I’ll make an appointment tomorrow.”
“Today, Tommy. Make one today.”
“Okay. I will call after you leave.”
“Good.” Mark turned to leave and turned back around. “Nice shoes, by the way.” He shook his head while he eyed the bright yellow Converse shoes and then turned again to leave.
“Thanks.”
“Be safe, Tom,” Mark said without turning around as he jogged down the steps and slipped into his police cruiser, still running in the street at the end of the walkway.
With a quick wave to Thomas, he drove away.
Thomas marched back into the house and in to the kitchen where Craig was sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands.
“Damn it, Craig! I can’t believe you did this again!”
“I’m told you that I’m sorry, Tommy,” the hulking figure replied as he rose from the table, still wearing the gym shorts and black tank top that he wore to the gym a couple of hours ago.
Craig stood 6’5” and weighed close to 260 pounds. He was a walking muscle and the complete opposite of his boyfriend of just over two years in almost every way.
Tom was tall and thinner than his mother ever liked him to be, mostly because he was thinner than she was. He acted and sounded more feminine than his father could ever tolerate. That’s why he kicked Thomas out of the house at age fifteen. The only thing Thomas and Craig seemed to have in common was their passion for members of the same sex.
“How many times do I have to hear that you’re sorry, Craig? How are we going to pay the mortgage? Get food? You blew every penny we had! Again!”
“I know! I’m sorry! I’ll put in extra hours at the resort to make up for what I spent. I swear. Alright?”
“We don’t get paid for another week! How do we eat in the meantime? You have to stop gambling. You have to. We can’t keep living like this.”
“I know, Tommy. I know,” Craig said, softer with every word as he rose from the table and moved slowly over to Thomas.
They embraced, begrudgingly for Thomas, though that didn’t last long.
“I know, honey. I’m done with it. I promise,” Craig continued.
For a few seconds, Craig contemplated squeezing the life out of Thomas, but he wasn’t ready to lose his meal ticket yet, nor did he want to go back to prison. Freedom was too sweet.
“Don’t give up on us.”
“I won’t. But you have to do better.”
Craig’s bookie lived a short drive north of Seacliff, and they had been having an affair for the last three months. Craig had no plan to end it, nor did he plan to stop having sex with most of the gay men in Seacliff and t
he surrounding area, right under Thomas’s nose. Women were fair game for him too, in a pinch.
“I know I have to be. I will be.”
“I want us to go to counseling together.”
Craig hesitated. “Okay.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Craig eyed the large, glass-framed display that was leaning against the kitchen counter, his fiancé’s prized rare bug collection. “When’s the guy supposed to be here to pick that thing up?”
Thomas turned his attention to the display. “Couple days. Maybe tomorrow. I’m not quite sure.”
“How much are you selling it to him for?”
“$500.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes. Why?”
“We need money.”
“Because of you,” Thomas said nastily.
“I know.” Craig briefly pictured himself choking the life out of Thomas. “Still. Why only $500?”
“That’s a fair price.”
“Sure. But we need money right now.”
“What’s your point?”
“Tell him you want a grand for it.”
Craig was already contemplating what horse he was going to put that extra $500 on at Scarborough Downs after he sweet talked it away from his gullible lover.
“I can’t do that. We already agreed on $500.”
“So what? It’s your collection. If he wants it bad enough, he’ll pay a thousand. He is driving all the way here from Atlanta to get it.”
Thomas pondered his partner’s argument for a moment.
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right.”
“Always Special,” Craig muttered audibly.
“What?” Thomas asked.
Oops. That was the name of the horse Craig figured he’d put that money on, once he could talk Thomas into giving it to him. Craig had a bad habit of speaking his thoughts out loud. “You. You are always special to me, Tommy.”
“I love you!” Thomas said as if he fell in love with Craig all over again at that moment. His delusions for Craig raged as bad as his libido.
Craig could smell the popcorn machine at the track.
“I love you too. Now let’s talk about the price for that collection some more.”
Chapter 16
“Hey, beautiful,” Jackson said into the phone as he turned down the music blaring in the truck. “Thought I would’ve heard from you before now. How is it going?”
“I’m sorry, honey. I couldn’t get away. How’s the trip?”
“Great. Jax and I have been talking a lot. I didn’t realize how much I missed you both. Coming back home to take this trip has helped me see that. I think I’m going start teaching again. Finish my PhD. Going to work on the discharge paperwork when I get back to Delaram. Captain said he will do whatever he has to do.”
Jax smiled as he made sure the entire conversation, his father’s part at least, was filmed. He loved what he was hearing.
“Oh God, baby! That’s so awesome! I love you so much!”
“I love you too. So what’s going on there? Sounds like a big deal.”
“I’m afraid it could be. Too early to tell right now.”
“What’s the deal?”
“I wish I could talk about it.”
“Why can’t you?”
“I just can’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Not yet.”
“Not even with me?”
Jackson was rarely ever taken by surprise by anything in life anymore, but Jamie could tell that he was now. She never kept anything from him, not even the most confidential, high level FEMA business. He knew it all, and she knew everything about every operation he was involved with in Afghanistan, even though he could have been tried for treason for telling her.
It was no different than any other husband and wife. “No. Especially not on an unsecured line.”
“Unsecured line? Must be really big.”
“Did you stop and see your father?” she asked, changing the subject.
Jackson hesitantly played along, though the leery look on his face gave him away through the vantage point of Jax’s GoPro lens. “We saw him.”
“How did that go?”
“Rough.” The wary look on his face was gone, replaced by sadness. Longing. “I don’t think he has much longer, babe.”
“I’m sorry, Jackson. When you get home, if there is some time before your flight out, let’s go see him together. Okay?”
“That would be great. I’ll try to make time for it.”
“Maybe you can also carve out some time for, you know?”
The sad look on Jackson’s face subsided, replaced with a devilish smirk.
“Let’s make that happen, no matter what.”
“I can’t wait to see you again, sexy man.”
“I can’t wait to see you, gorgeous.”
Jackson looked at the photo of Jamie that he found in the truck. “Do you remember the picture I took of you in Mexico?”
She paused for a moment, thinking. “Yes. Why?”
“I found it in my dad’s truck. After all these years.”
“Oh yeah? When were you in your dad’s truck?”
“We are all in it now. We decided to take it on the trip.”
“Oh. Why?”
“Long story. Do you remember what I wrote on the back of it? The picture.”
“Ahead, take a right one quarter of a mile to your destination,” Jackson heard someone say to Jamie.
“What was that?” Jackson asked.
“Just the GPS talking to me. I really need to go honey.”
“Where are you? Two minutes to what?”
“In the car. On my way to a meeting.”
“Where?”
“I can’t say.”
“Come on! This is ridiculous, Jamie.”
“It’s at the CDC.”
“The CDC? Why?”
“I’ll tell you all about it later. Okay? Everything. I’m almost there now, and thank God, because I have to pee! I love you. Enjoy your time with our son! I’ll call you again tonight as long as it isn’t too late.”
“It’s never too late.”
“Don’t stay on the road all night. Give Jax my love and tell him I will talk to him tonight.”
“I’ll let him know. Bye. Wait! I need to tell you about…”
“Bye,” Jamie interrupted, and she was gone.
“…the mother and baby we helped.” Jackson looked hurt as he moved the phone away from his ear, and then stared at it as if he had never seen one before.
“Is mom okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. Just really busy at work. She said she will call us later when she gets home later. She said to give you her love.”
“I love her too.”
“She knows you do. You getting hungry for dinner, champ?”
“I could eat.”
“What do you feel like?”
“McDonalds.”
“McCrap.”
“Mom has me addicted to their crack fries without you around to cook.”
Jackson shook his head. “Definitely need to file the papers and get back home ASAP before you die of scurvy.”
“Scurvy?”
“Joke. If that’s what you want, I guess McDonald’s it is. What the hell? We’re on vacation, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are!”
About ten minutes later, the truck pulled into the parking lot at a McDonalds in the heart of North Carolina.
“I don’t know about you,” Jackson said to his son, “but I have to use the bathroom.”
“I’ve had to pee for like two hours.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
Jax shrugged.
“Let’s go inside, hit the head and then we’ll grab the food. We can eat on the road if that’s cool with you. I’d like to get to Virginia tonight before we turn in for the night.”
“Works for me. You want a burger?” Jax asked Jumper. “Yeah, you do.
You want a burger,” he continued and then kissed Jumper on the head. He turned and cracked the window a little, opened the truck door. “Can we get Jumper one?” he asked Jackson as he slid out of the truck and shut the door.
“We’ll see.”
A few minutes later, father and son found themselves in line ready to order. They were next in line when an enormous, round man walked up behind them and pushed them and everyone else there out of his way to get to the counter.
“I said I didn’t want any mother fucking pickles on this!”
The ambient noise in the McDonalds died. You could hear a napkin drop.
“I apologize, sir.” The counter worker was a petite, young girl. Her name tag read ‘Amy’ and she looked truly frightened by the imposing customer. Hostility oozed from his every pore.
“We’ll make you a fresh one with no pickles,” the manager said as he approached the counter.
“Hurry up!”
“Yes, sir. May I throw that one out for you?” The counter worker reached out her hand to take the messed up quarter pounder.
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” The belligerent man threw the partially wrapped sandwich at Amy. “You can’t ever get my Goddamn order right?”
“Hey, hey,” Jackson interrupted as he squared his frame and faced the irate customer while Amy studied the splotch of food she was wearing. “Calm down, dude!”
“Hey! Hey! Everybody calm down. There is no problem,” the manager said, begging.
“Oh, there’s a problem alright! You people don’t know how to read your own damn screens. No fucking pickles! How hard is that?”
“We are very sorry about the mistake, sir, but I assure you we can rectify this without issue. Please don’t throw food at the employees.”
“You’re lucky that’s all I did, asshole.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jackson asked, interrupting again, this time making sure the customer noticed.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, boy.”
“You owe this young lady an apology.” Jackson looked at the scared young girl who nodded barely enough to notice, looking as though she was about cry. “Doesn’t he, Amy?”
The giant stared at Jackson and stepped closer until their chests bumped. “You lookin’ for an ass beatin’, fella’?”
And We All Fall (Book 1) Page 13