“
I was comatose for over
three months. When I finally woke up, it was like starting all over
again. I couldn’t do anything for myself. I would need aftercare
once I was released from the hospital and I begged my parents not
to bring me back here to Surpatch. Having come to my aide on a
whim, they left everything here unmanned. So my dad came back to
pack the rest of their belongings, and tied up any loose ends,
before they found a place for us to stay in Alabama. Another two
months went by before I was released from the hospital. Even then,
I still had trouble walking. I didn’t care, though. It had been
over five months since I’d given birth, and it was time to lay my
sweet little girl to rest. Thankfully, my parents waited for me,
hoping that I would wake up from the coma to have a proper burial
service.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Veronica knew that
was all Blake wanted to hear, but she didn’t care. He’d asked her
earlier why she came back to Surpatch, and now that she’d opened
up, she wasn’t going to stop until he knew everything. While she
was telling him about their daughter’s death, he slowly slid from
the arm of the couch to the floor. His body now reflected hers,
having his long legs pulled close to his chest. The only difference
was that his forehead was resting on his knees, and he was no
longer looking at her. Veronica knew he was still listening, so she
went on.
“
My dad found a small house
for us to rent, and once I was released from the hospital we tried
our best to pick up our lives from where we left off. My parents
found jobs. I still needed round the clock assistance, so my mom
worked the A shift, and my dad worked the B shift just so I always
had someone near. We didn’t talk much about everything that
happened. I knew I hurt them deeply. I could see it in their eyes,
and I could hear it in the way they talked to me. I struggled with
depression for a while, and it got to the point that my parents
sought out help. I, of course refused. I fought it tooth and nail,
but they only pushed harder. Eventually we came to a compromise. If
I could show them I was able to get my life back in order, like
leaving the house on my own, and maybe even going back to school,
they would let me deal with the mess of a life I created on my own.
So as my body grew stronger, I re-enrolled in school. At first, it
was part-time, and I had to live at home. That was part of the
compromise. I couldn’t live on campus even if my parents only lived
ten minutes away from the college.
“
Getting back into the
swing of college was great. I was able to take my mind off of the
last year, and things became better with mom and dad. Time began to
fly by, and soon my parents felt comfortable enough to let me move
out on my own. I felt by then I was too old to stay on campus, so I
rented an apartment halfway between my parents’ house and the
school. I was able to get a job working in the school library which
I loved, since I was surrounded by books all day. That’s how I met
Arthur.
“
Arthur didn’t work at the
library, but he came in at least three times a week, if not more,
to study. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I told myself after
you, after what we shared fell apart, I didn’t ever want to go
through that again. Arthur was a good friend. Well, he started out
that way. He told me he could sense I was trying to forget
something, and he could relate, so there was no pressure from him
to drudge up the past. As our friendship grew, he would sometimes
wait for me at night to walk me to my car, or check to see if I
wanted to grab a bite to eat with him on my breaks. He was, well,
he was sweet in the beginning. The first few times he asked me out
on a date, I told him ‘no’. I explained I wasn’t interested in
dating. He would let a few months lapse before he would ask again.
As you can see, I finally said ‘yes’. It didn’t happen overnight,
but somehow he had become my best friend. We had little inside
jokes and he always seemed to be there for me. My mother and I had
become closer, too, over the years, and she knew of Arthur as a
friend. When I brought him home one night for dinner as my date,
let’s just say she was a little skeptical. My dad, well, you know
him. He didn’t have much to say about it. It came down to the fact
that I was happy, and living a normal life. Any reservations they
may have had about Arthur, my parents kept to
themselves.
“
Arthur and I were dating
for a few years before I saw the first signs of jealousy. One of my
fellow classmates liked me. He would do some of the same things
that Arthur had done in the beginning. Like talk to me while I
worked or hang around after hours to make sure I made it to my car
safe. I made it clear, on more than one occasion, that I was
involved with someone, but he claimed he wanted to just be friends,
so I didn’t push the matter. One night, Arthur and I went out to
the local bar to relax after exam week. It was a popular hangout
for the college students and my classmate was there. He was pretty
drunk and kept coming over to our table offering to buy me a drink.
Arthur seemed agitated, but I assured him the guy was drunk and not
to pay him any mind. It must have been the fourth time he came over
to ask to buy me a drink, when he put his arm around my shoulder.
Arthur snapped. He jumped to his feet and decked the guy. The whole
bar went quiet. I was so upset I couldn’t believe Arthur punched
him. He hit him hard enough to knock him out. As I got out of my
chair to check on my classmate, Arthur grabbed me by the arm and
dragged me out of the bar. We fought while he pulled me to the car.
I wanted to go back to check on the guy. I felt awful. I didn’t
know how I was going to face him again. Arthur could have cared
less. He shoved me in the car and fastened my seatbelt before
peeling down the street. Once back at my place, we fought for
hours.
“
Finally, Arthur broke down
weeping. He explained how he was worried that I was going to leave
him. He loved me too much to think about seeing me with anyone
else. I was still pissed with him, but I never saw him cry before.
I knew he was sincere for him to be crying. So I forgave him, and
things went back to normal. I think almost a year went by before
the next incident. We finished school and began looking into moving
into a house together. Where I was currently living, there were two
guys in the other apartment on my floor, and one was overly
friendly. One day Arthur came over and the guy was in my apartment.
He’d stopped by because some of my mail ended up in their box, and
he wanted to give it to me. Arthur had a fit. He accused us of
sleeping together, and was a raving lunatic. My neighbor, not
wanting any trouble, left rather quickly. Which left me with a
raging Arthur, who the moment the door shut, turned his tirade on
me. In the process of my trying to calm him down, he hit me. I was
stunned. I couldn’t believe he’d put his hands on me. However, I
think he was just as shocked. He immediately began to apologize. It
was too late, though. I told him to get out and that I never wanted
to see him again. He obliged and left without a fight. For the next
few days, he sent me flowers and letters telling me how sorry he
was, and how much he missed me. I ignored all his attempts. He hit
me hard enough to leave a mark that I needed to keep hidden from my
parents. My dad would have killed him.”
Veronica paused, taking a moment to compose
herself, she closed her eyes and took a few cleansing breaths. Her
stomach churned with what she was about to say. She felt sweat
break out all over her body. Blake shifted in his position on the
floor, and she opened her eyes. He was gazing at her, waiting to
hear the rest of the story. With a nod, she tried to speak in a
calm voice.
“
That was the week my
parents were murdered. I blame myself for not knowing sooner. You
see, by then, I talked to my mom at least four times, if not more,
a week. And I stopped by to see them at least twice a week. Because
of my face, I avoided visiting my parents. At the time, I figured
my mom was busy and that was why I hadn’t heard from her in a few
days. When the bruise faded, I felt comfortable enough to go see
them. I called a few times and received no answer. Another day went
by before I became worried. So I stopped by the house to make sure
everything was okay. I didn’t know what to think when I arrived,
and saw their cars were in the driveway. I raced to the door, and
knocked a few times before using my key to let myself in. I wasn’t
more than two feet in the house before the smell hit me. I
panicked. I wasn’t sure what to do. I stood in the hallway and
called for my parents. No one answered. I probably stood there for
five minutes before I finally got the nerve to search the whole
house. As I wandered further into the house, I saw someone had
trashed it. Things were thrown on the floor, and the furniture was
ripped with the insides spilling out. I continued to call for my
parents, with no response. I made my way upstairs to their bedroom,
and the gut-wrenching smell grew stronger. That’s where I found
them slaughtered in their bed. Someone shot them in their heads,
and well, I won’t get into details about the other ghastly things
the killer did to their bodies.”
Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat,
she took a shaky breath.
“
Over their bed and on the
surrounding walls, were racial slurs. The cops believe whoever did
it, killed my father first in his sleep. They figured my mother
woke up from the noise, and saw the killer before they pulled the
trigger. The police wanted to pin it on a local group known to be
violent, and outspoken against interracial couples, but they
couldn’t find enough evidence to make the charges stick.
“
Again, my world came
crashing down around me. I had nothing left, no one left. Before,
at least I had my parents to be my anchor. Once Arthur heard the
news, he came to be by my side. I was so lost at the time that I
had pretty much forgotten all about him hitting me. It just seemed
like none of that mattered any more. I kept thinking my baby is
dead and now my parents are dead, too. Everyone I loved was gone,
and the night terrors reminded me of that every night. Arthur
helped me get through that time in my life. He was once again the
sweet and kind man that used to be my friend. As the dark haze
began to fade, I had become to depend on Arthur. He was my rock.
He, too, didn’t have much family. He never told me what happened to
his parents, but he did tell me once that he had a brother who he
didn’t speak to anymore. In essence, we were all each other had in
the world.
“
I can’t say things really
went back to normal after my parents’ death. There was something in
me, a part of me believed things were better in Surpatch, and the
moment I decided to leave the town, everything went downhill. After
a while, I started to think, ‘maybe if I go back to Surpatch, then
my life and all the horrific things that had happened since I left,
would feel like a bad dream’. Arthur wasn’t too keen on moving
here, but he also didn’t want to lose me. Once he understood my
mind was made up, and either he came, or we called it quits, he
decided to come. He had one condition though. He wanted us to get
married within the year after moving here. I told him about my
parents’ house and we began to look for jobs. I agreed to marry him
and he agreed to move to Surpatch with me.
“
I hate to say it, but I
guess I should have seen this coming. You and I have too much
history, and Arthur can be way too jealous at times. I just hoped
things would have been different here. I wanted to walk down the
street and feel safe. I wanted to have the happy memories I had
living in my parents’ house. I wanted a place, where if we chose to
have kids, I wouldn’t constantly be worried about someone hurting
them. I figured by now, if you were not married, at least you were
in a relationship, and most of the town’s people would have
respected the fact that you and I had chosen to go our own ways. I
can only guess Arthur ran into someone who shared our past with
him. With how jealous he gets, he must have jumped to the
conclusion there was something more than a friendship between us.
That’s what we were fighting about. That’s what led to all of this.
He thought I was sneaking around with you. It’s my fault though, I
should have told him before we moved here what my life used to be
like. What I left behind.”
Veronica gasped and rocked side to side,
with the realization of the last few hours, striking her the
hardest. “Blake, I did all of this,” She sobbed. “I thought I was
making the right choice, and all I’m ending up with is nothing.
Everything I owned was in that house. In a blink of an eye, my
past, present and future were reduced to nothing but ashes.
Chapter 10
B
lake couldn’t believe his ears or eyes.
Did I hear her right? Is she crying? Veronica was pregnant,
with my child. She hadn’t stopped loving me.
He couldn’t figure out what was more overwhelming the fact
that she was pregnant or that she was crying. At first, it appeared
as if the tears were slowly running down her face, but the more she
talked the quicker they streamed. The tears hadn’t stopped falling
yet, but she seemed to have gotten her voice under control. Her
back was leaning against the wall, and her head was held high, her
eyes, however, were not focused. She wasn’t looking at him. He knew
her mind had to be far away. He wasn’t sure if he should feel
enraged that she kept the pregnancy from him or relieved. Although
he would have stood by her side, watching her and their baby die,
it probably would have killed him too.
Speaking before he fully thought it through,
he pulled Veronica out of her trance.