“OK…” I tried to hide my shock at what she had said.
“Well Anton it’s been a great night with you, but I have to get going, I’ll see you tomorrow OK?” she then leaned forward in her seat and gave me a hug, squeezing tightly and lingering for a moment.
I then undid my seat belt and opened the door; I turned back to Michelle and smiled.
“Good night Michelle.” I said as I started to get out of the car, I flung my right leg and it hit the soft grass with a light thud as my foot made contact with the ground. I then moved my left synthetic leg and could feel the gears and motors turn as the leg creaked to life as I swung it out on to the grass to meet my right foot. I hosted myself out of the car, I looked down at Michelle and wished a good night again as I closed the door and made my way to the front door of my house.
I walked up the small staircase to the door and turned around and watched Michelle drive away. I unlocked my door and made my way into my house, I did not want to let Michelle know my feelings, but it had very much unsettled me that we had been together for all of this time and she was only know telling me about her brother.
“Is she hiding something from me?” I wondered. I quickly dismissed the thought and made my way to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. As I approached the sink I heard a familiar beeping sound, I lifted up my pant leg and sure enough the fuel indicator on my prosthetic was flashing.
I opened the side panel on the leg and took out the fuel container; I had been given an experimental model that had the ability to use water as a fuel source. So I removed the container and filled it in the sink, when it was full I replaced it back in its house and the beeping ceased.
I walked over to the stove and grabbed the kettle off of it; I walked back to the sink and filled the kettle then replaced it back on the stove and turned on the burner. I headed to my pantry a few meters away to retrieve my tea; I took a cup from the counter near the sink and put the tea bag in it.
I stood by the stove as the water crackled and fizzed as it slowly heated up, I kept thinking back to what Michelle had said to me in the car about her brother…
“Why had she neglected to tell me about him sooner?” I wondered.
My thoughts drifted to and fro, I then heard the familiar screeching sound of the kettle. I looked over to see a large plum of steam shooting forth as the screeching got even louder. I leaned over above the kettle and turned off the burner and removed the kettle from it.
I took my cup and poured the boiling water into it, the steam from the water rose forth as it immersed the tea bag. With my tea in hand I sauntered over to the kitchen table and pulled back the chair and placed the cup on the table and sat down. I surveyed the room; it was lit by a solitary lamp in the living room that had automatically turned on upon my arrival home.
The living room and kitchen were one giant room, separated only by the kitchen table where I sat.
I sat in silence slowly drinking my tea my thoughts drifted back to Michelle and her odd behavior in the car.
“There was a reason that she was hiding the existence of her brother from me…but why?” I pondered and sipped at the hot beverage.
I looked over at the clock on the wall, it was nearly midnight. The weight of today’s events were starting to take their toll on me so I decided to retire for the evening, I finished my tea somewhat hastily and left the cup still steaming on the table as I walked up the flight of stairs to my bedroom.
Chapter 4
I awoke the next morning in a start; something had startled me awake…a bad dream perhaps?
I lay in bed in a cold sweat; bits of images half remembered flooded my mind.
The car accident I had been in….the restaurant me and Larry often frequented….a court room, they were all a jumble I couldn’t make out a single image clearly…
I decided to just forget the awful sleep and get on with my day so I headed towards the washroom to shower and prepare for the day.
After I had showered and shaved I ate a small breakfast consisting of tea and toast, I was still mulling over the details of last night. It was around 9:30 am and the sun was flooding in from the living room and casting shadows on the wall. I sat and watched them as they slowly moved their way across the room.
The phone began to ring breaking me from my transfixed gaze. I looked over slightly startled by the sudden sound, I got up and walked over to the phone and looked at the caller display…
It was Michelle, I hastily answered.
“Good morning my dear, how are you?” I asked jovially.
“I’m fine Anton, thanks for asking, how are you this morning?” she asked.
“I’m better now that I’m talking to you!” I said
“That’s good, listen as I said yesterday, I have to pick up my brother today…but I would like it if you would come over later this afternoon, you can stay for dinner if you would like?” she asked.
I could hear a very slight tinge of fear in her voice, but could not figure out why.
“Of course, I would love to come over later and meet your brother.”
“Great, I will pick you up around 1:00 pm then. See you soon.” She said I then heard a small click as the phone disconnected.
I put the phone back on the table, and walked over to the couch and sat down and turned on the T.V.
I aimlessly flipped through the channels, to my dismay there was nothing worth my time, there was never anything on anyway.
I decided to read to pass the time before Michelle picked me later. I took the book sitting on the coffee table and removed the book marker from it; it was a book that Larry had purchased for me just after I got out of the hospital. It was some sort of detective story, not horribly interesting, but not a bad read either.
I read through the story for a couple of hours when my attention was drawn to the ringing sound on the table, I got up from the couch and made my way over to the kitchen table and picked up the phone.
I looked at the caller I.D, Larry was calling me.
“What did he want?”I speculated
I glanced at the time on the phone, it was just after noon.
“Good afternoon Larry, how are you this fine day?” I asked, somewhat surprised to hear from my friend at this time of day, given the fact that Larry usually went to the gym on Sunday mornings.
“I’m fine Anton; I’m just leaving the gym now. How are you today?”
“I’m good; did you have a good workout?” I asked, already knowing what his answer would be.
“As usual” He said
“Good to hear it.” I said with a smirk
“Listen Anton, I’m just calling to see if you would like to meet me for a beer or two over at the restaurant later?” he asked
“I wish I could Larry, but I’m meeting Michelle in under an hour. She said that she had to pick up her brother from prison. Then she would swing by my place and pick me up.”
“Oh…” Larry paused, something I had said had startled him.
“What is it Larry…did you know that Michelle had a brother….let alone one who had been in prison?” I asked somewhat suspicions.
“No…I had no idea that she had a brother, or that he was in jail for that matter.” He said
“Alright Anton, I’m going to be down at the restaurant most of the afternoon today, I’m going to be meeting some of the guys from work and maybe play some pool. So if you change your mind then you are welcome to come meet us, have a good day buddy.”
“Thanks Larry, I might take you up on the offer.” I replied, and with that I hung up the phone and put it back on the table.
“Was there something my friends were not telling me?” I wondered as I walked back over to the couch to continuing reading my book.
I sat down on the cool leather, I looked over at the clock on the wall, and I still had about 30 min before Michelle arrived. I picked up my book and started to read it, but no sooner had I opened it I heard a knock at the door. I quickly took another peek at the
clock…it was 1 pm already.
“Where has the time gone?” I thought to myself as I quickly rose to my feet to answer the knocking at the door. I put the book back on the coffee table and hurried to get to the door. I unlocked and opened it; there standing on the porch was Michelle with her usual smile upon her face.
“Good afternoon Anton, how are you today?” she asked as I motioned her in the door.
“I’m doing fairly well, all things considered.” I said as I closed the door behind her.
“I’m glad to hear it; I picked up my brother and dropped him off at my place. So whenever you’re ready to go. We can go.” She said as she leaned against the door.
“Great, just let me go retrieve a couple of things from upstairs and we can be off.” With that being said I hurried off up to my room to grab my phone and wallet.
I entered my room, and quickly located the items I had come to get, then headed back down the flight of stairs to Michelle.
“Alright, I got my stuff, shall we go now?” I asked, somewhat anxious of meeting Michelle’s brother (I had no idea just how apprehensive the meeting would be…)
“I’m good to go if you are!” Michelle said eagerly as we headed out the door.
Michelle made her way to her car as I stood out front locking my door, I then turned around and slowly descended the porch and made my way to her car.
I was both eager and anxious at meeting this man, but I was still puzzled why Michelle had never mentioned him until last night…I would soon find out.
The drive to Michelle’s house was mostly uneventful, we made light small talk, even thought the question I had about her brother didn’t dare make an appearance…I didn’t know where or how to begin to ask her…
We arrived at Michelle’s house; she stopped the car in front of her house and turned off the engine.
She sat there staring out the window, not saying a word…she looked deep in thought, about what, I was not sure of.
“Michelle…” I asked somewhat concerned with her odd behavior “Are you alright? You look nervous about something?”
That comment seemed to bring her back to the present and she quickly regained her composure and turned to me. She smiled, trying to hide her obvious nervousness.
“I’m fine Anton, shall we go inside?” she asked as her hand reached for the door handle.
“Good idea.” I said as I opened the door and stepped outside the car, closing the door behind me.
Michelle walked around the car to my side, she than did something unexpected and took my hand as we both made our way to her front door. I could feel the sweat on her hand, but could not figure out why she seemed so nervous about me meeting her brother…that was all about to change.
We approached the front door rather briskly, and clambered up the steps. She stuck out her hand to open the door but it was too late, a figure had already beaten het to it, and the door opened rather swiftly…and standing in the doorway was a tall thinly built man, he had a large unkempt beard and sunken green eyes…I had seen him before, but where?
The man ushered us into the house, and as soon as I could see him clearly in the brightly lit house a flood of memories started to pour themselves into my conscious…I know where I had seen this man before, he was in the court room…
It all started to make sense now…
Michelle’s brother was the man who had caused my accident and the loss of my leg.
I stared at the man, unable to speak; I was too racked with emotion to utter a single word.
I could feel the anger, despair…hate, all welling up inside me congealing as they soared through my very soul and erupting in a frenzied torrent. But nothing came out but a meek sputter as I tried to reconcile the sight before me.
I just stood there for several seconds looking first at the stranger in front of me, and then back at Michelle…she looked at me with deep sorrow in her eyes…then back down at the ground. Unsure of how to console or apologize for what she had done…I to did not know how to react to the situation that had unfolded before me.
“What do I say, how do I act?” were but a few of the questions that plagued my mind.
So I decided to say nothing as I turned and headed for the door, I had been betrayed by the women that I had grown to love over the last few months, as I was about the grab hold of the door knob and turn it, I heard a voice behind me beg me to stop.
“Anton…please wait…don’t go…let me to try to explain.” Michelle pleaded as I opened the door to make my exit.
I skipped down the steps. Hardly even noticing that they existed at all, the shock of what had just occurred still overwhelmed my senses.
I had been betrayed by the women I loved, she knew that her brother was the culprit but had chosen to conceal the information from me. I was dismayed to say the least…
I removed the phone from my pocket as I walked steadily down the street; I opened the phone contact list and phoned Larry.
“Larry, its Anton, is the offer to meet you at the restaurant still available?” I asked hoarsely.
“Of course Anton…what’s wrong, you seem upset about something?” Larry asked me.
I tried to hide the wave of emotion that swept over me “I’m fine, I’ll see you in a few minutes…I’m waiting for the bus now.”
I arrived at the restaurant about twenty minutes after I had spoken with Larry, all the while I was consumed with a volatile mixture of emotion…anger, sadness, guilt, fear….
I felt that I had nobody left to turn to, I had been lied to by the women I loved, and I could not figure out her motive behind it…perhaps I was to blinded by my own negativity?
I quickly made my way into the establishment and found Larry at the back of the restaurant, he was standing by one of the pool tables holding a cue and waiting to take his shot. When he saw me approach he greeted me warmly in his usual jovial manner…his smile was spread from ear to ear. He then noted the look of despair on my face and placed his pool cue against the side of the table and excused himself from the game.
“Anton,” He said his voice ringing with concern “What’s wrong…you seemed so distant on the phone. I thought that you and Michelle were going to meet her brother today?”
“She lied to me Larry,” I said somberly “She knew her brother was the man that caused my accident. Yet she said nothing about it.”
Larry gestured to one of the nearby tables and we both walked over to it and sat down.
Larry sat across from me, his hands clasped in front of his chest. He had a worrisome look on his face.
“What are you going to do Anton?” he asked his voice thick with sympathy.
“I’m not sure…” I said as I looked down at the table in front me, I took a deep breath and my gaze returned to Larry.
He placed his hand on his chin as if thinking of what he could say to console me, but at that moment it was of little use. How could I ever trust Michelle with anything ever again considering that she had kept such a thing from me for so long?
Larry then snapped his fingers as if he had come to some magical conclusion.
“Well Anton, I think that you need to maybe sit down with Michelle…and her brother and talk about this.”
Larry placed his hand back in front of him; he looked me in the eye…and continued to speak in a low warm tone.
“Have you asked Michelle or her brother to explain things to you; it seems to me that you have allowed your emotions to dictate this situation instead.”
”I know you’re angry, and as much as it feels good to hold onto that anger and rap yourself in it, forgiveness is the only way to go about this situation. It’s hard believe me Anton, but understanding and forgiveness are the only way that you can get through this right now…it’ll take time but ultimately it’s the only choice that you have if you wish to have a happy life. “
I sat there momentarily transfixed by what Larry had said, surely I had not expected him to say anything so….profound to me. I had known Larry fo
r a long time and never in the course of our friendship had I heard him speak so bluntly nor with such conviction and passion.
Larry then continued to speak, seeing the startled look on my face.
“Don’t forgive other people for their benefit, forgive for your benefit. Anger is like a poison, and if you let it fester it will grow and envelop your entire life…it can consume you. Anger can hinder every aspect your life…emotional, physical…spiritual.”
I paused…sitting there as I turned over in my mind what Larry had said to me, the full gravity of the situation was starting to reveal itself to me. Perhaps I had judged Michelle and her brother to harshly, I had allowed my emotions to gain the upper hand on me…I had not thought about the situation from any other perspective say my own.
I looked down at the table for a brief moment then returned my focus back to my friend.
“I have to go Larry; you have given me a lot to think about.”
Chapter 5
I opened my eyes, my head felt warm as it rested on the leather beneath me. It was dark out; the moonlight flooded the room from the open window. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light in the room, I grabbed my phone off of the coffee table in front of me, and it was just after midnight.
I noticed that Michelle had left a voicemail on my phone, I was hesitant to listen to its contents, but Larry’s words were still stuck in my brain. I sat up and placed my feet on the cool wooden floor, I looked at the phone and starred at the brightly lit display in front of me trying to figure out if I should listen to the message or not.
I ran my finger over the smooth glass of the phone and a moment later Michelle voice filled the room.
“Anton, Hi…it’s me…I’m sorry about what happened earlier…I never should have kept such an important piece of information from you, Larry called me earlier and told me what he had said to you…and you have every right to be angry, I just hope that you and I can patch things up…so anyway I would like you to come over for brunch tomorrow morning at my place at around 10:30 am…if that’s OK?....well it’s getting late if I see you tomorrow great…and if I don’t, well I understand…OK bye.”
I sat on the couch, deeply conflicted about what I should do…on one hand I was very angry and almost resentful of Michelle for what she had kept from me…but on the other hand, Larry’s words rung true, forgiveness was really the only path I had to happiness.
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