On The Run

Chapter Forty-Three - "Goodbye Yesterday"

 Fitch

If someone had told me when I was younger what my life would turn out to be, it wouldn’t have been so far-fetched.

From the day my father handed me a beer for getting an A, when I was seven years old, I had an idea that this was not the way anyone else lived, and I had no expectations for normalcy. Ever.

Even as I moved into the cottage house of the Jacksons and acquired a strong-headed little brother, I still doubted that one day, I might actually look back on my life and smile at what it turned out to be.

Then I met Chloe.

She was a dream that wouldn’t end, and one that I never wanted to end, because from the day I’d carried her out of that alley and onto my bed, all I’d been seeing were white picket fences, walks in some ridiculously picturesque park, briefcases, and breakfast on a grand oak table, with three-foot tall people running here and there. It was a fantasy I’d never imagined, and normally scoffed at, but I found myself facing it all head-on. But, jaded as I was, I knew for a fact that it was just that – fantasy. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Most of all, I knew that just when I started to come to terms with my newfound happiness, the rug would be pulled out from under me and I’d be flat on my face, as I had been, fifty percent of my childhood.

I got dressed for our date – if you’d call it that – and was feeling a little nervous. Edgy, if you will. But it wasn’t just the date; there was an apprehensive feeling I had, but I attributed it to Chloe and Chloe only. I couldn’t think of anything else.

I was taking her to the automobile screening of Taxi at the park on the other side of town. I would have loved to take her into Manhattan, to a lavish restaurant and an overpriced artifact showing or something, but as I didn’t have that kind of money, I certainly couldn’t. And somehow, I didn’t think Chloe would mind much. That’s not to say I hadn’t put in all my efforts to planning this date, and I was racked with the nervousness and worry that she might be disappointed.

Nevertheless, I headed out of Roody’s ready to meet her on the corner of Euclid Avenue, trying not to let my worry show. I mean, I’d been on dates before, but I felt like I had so much more to lose with this one.

Before I could turn the corner, I ran into Ricky, who looked wide-eyed and shaky.

I frowned at his demeanor as he continued to stare at me in dismay.

“Rick? What is it?” I asked wary.

Ricky was not one for dramatics, and with the way he looked right then, I knew something was very wrong.

His breathing was rushed and he looked like he was about to cry.

“Did something happen to Lexie?” I asked full on worried now.

His shoulders slumped and he shook his head slowly. “It’s mom. She’s dead.”

*

I froze.

“It’s mom. She’s dead.”

My heart stopped, my mind froze, and I remained stationary. I knew that if I even tried to move an inch, I would literally crumble under the weight of the grief that I could feel slowly engulfing me.

I couldn’t think. I wouldn’t allow myself to think. I focused on the tears running down Ricky’s face and only that.

He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. I didn’t want to hear him.

Like the spread of a large blotchy ink stain on off-white fabric, I was aggrieved.

“Fitch. Fitch, did you hear me?”