by JR Thompson
She thought that love letter was lost and gone forever. Sometimes that worn old couch amazed her with how well it could hide its stolen goods. The letter brought back a flood of memories. She remembered the night when she and Collin were looking at her Uncle Bobby’s pigs out at the farm. She had been out to the ranch many times before, but not Collin. He had been more of a city boy. He thought the pigs were fascinating, even if their stench was nearly unbearable.
She remembered him pointing to a sow off in the distance and saying, “Whoa! That guy over there is enormous!”
Alayna glanced over at Mrs. Chops for a moment and when she turned back around to inform Collin the large guy over there was really a large girl, she was shocked to find Collin kneeling on one knee. He literally had his knee resting in a slush of warm pig manure when he had asked if she would marry him. What a memorable proposal that was! Surprisingly, she said yes and allowed him to slip the ring on her bony little finger.
Alayna remembered their wedding day, their honeymoon, and the day she found out she was pregnant with Remington.
Wow, was that ever an exciting day, she reminded herself. At her bridal shower, two different ladies had given Alayna home pregnancy test kits. Once before, she had told Collin she thought she was pregnant, did the test, and the results were negative. This time, she had decided to do things differently. She wasn’t going to get Collin’s hopes up. She was going to find out before saying a word about her suspicion.
While Collin was outside working on the car, she performed the test. Sure enough, it produced a blue line. Running outside, she excitedly shouted, “Collin! Collin!”
Her lover boy was so startled by her hysteria that he raised up too quickly and clonked his head on the hood.
“Ow!” he growled as he turned to face her. “What’s going on?”
“I have something to show you sweetie,” she had told him.
When Collin saw the test strip, he forgot all about his head hitting the hood. As a matter of fact, he forgot to breathe. He had passed out right there in the driveway!
Oh, the memories. It was amazing how something as small as a letter could bring so much back to a person’s mind.
Her few moments of reminiscing came to an abrupt end with Remington shouting, “Mom! Somebody’s walking up the driveway.”
Alayna put the letter down and moseyed over to the living room window. It had started raining since she looked out last. She couldn’t make out who it was, but in the distance she could see the figure of a person walking toward the house. She kept watching; in no time, his identity became clear.
Why would Brock be home so early? she wondered. He was supposed to wait until Collin got off of work so they could ride home together. Either something had gone wrong at work or — Alayna decided not to think about the other possibility.
CHAPTER 6 – OOPS!
Alayna walked out on the porch. Brock didn’t appear to be angry; he looked cold, wet, and perhaps a little on the depressed side. He didn’t appear to be planning any malicious activity, “Everything okay?” she hollered out to him.
“Sure,” Brock replied.
That wasn’t much of an answer, Alayna thought. It was pretty clear Brock didn’t want to yell back and forth through the downpour about what was bothering him; she decided to wait.
A minute or two later, he walked up on the porch and said, “My employment came to an unexpected end.”
“Oh no!” Remington said as he came out and stood next to Alayna. “What happened?”
Walking inside, the three of them stood just inside the doorway while Brock shared his horrible experience. He had gotten to Clayville News twenty minutes early, had a clear map of his route, and arrived on East Main Street at the right time. He parallel parked, grabbed the satchel of newspapers, and made his rounds.
Brock said he had been kind of nervous with it being his first day so he had exercised extreme caution in distributing the papers. He had checked his customer list many times over, making sure to only leave papers at the doors of paying customers. Instead of tossing the publications, he walked up to each house and placed them where he wanted them to go. When he saw people outside, he placed papers right in their hands.
He hadn’t encountered any problems until he arrived back at his vehicle. A short, gray-headed, exasperated woman was leaning against his car. “You the driver?” she asked impatiently.
Before Brock could answer, she continued, “I’ve a bone to pick with you, young fella!”
“Did I erroneously fail to provide you with a paper to which you are subscribed, Ma’am? If so, I am terribly sorry. This is my first day on the job,” he told her.
“If I have my way, it’ll be your last as well. Look what you did, you careless idiot!” The little old lady was getting louder. A couple of her neighbors wandered over to see what was going on.
There, where she was pointing, he saw it. He had parked the Clayville News delivery car right on top of Grandma’s Chihuahua. He could see a part of the mutt’s tongue sticking out from under one side and a smidgeon of her foot jutting out on the other. That dog was as dead as crisp brown leaves on a painted canvas.
Brock had never hit an animal before; he felt horrible. Looking at the mess beneath his tire, he couldn’t decide what to do or even to say for that matter.
“What kind of person are you? On your first day at a new job you run over somebody’s best friend and don’t even have the decency to tell them you did it? Or to at least hide the evidence? Seriously! Just leaving your car right on top of my dog! You are the rudest, most inconsiderate excuse for a human being I’ve ever met. I’ve already called the paper and it’s my understanding you’ll be getting an earful when you get back to the office.”
Brock said he got a lot more than an earful. When he arrived, his boss greeted him at the door by saying, “Give me the keys and get your behind out of this building. We told you when you got hired that we don’t put up with careless jerks here. Our paper has integrity and class. Since you don’t, we don’t need you. Get lost.”
Brock tried to apologize, but the boss wasn’t about to hear it. He did promise, however, to mail his paycheck to him within two weeks.
“I’m so sorry,” Alayna said.
“I must needs sentence myself to solitary confinement for a spell,” Brock told her before heading to his bedroom to sulk.
◆◆◆
Remington began feeling a bit discouraged. He had asked God to make it clear if Brock should stay with them. So far, he had fallen and bit his tongue and had a swollen lip and now Brock lost his job. It was certainly not looking like the kind of day where a special blessing could be born.
He didn’t say a word to Mom about his discouragement — he decided to take the optimistic approach. Perhaps, just perhaps, the good news was going to come home from work with Dad. Maybe he had gotten a promotion or a raise or something even better than that! He wished they had a telephone so he could call and check on him. He would have to practice being patient.
To keep himself busy, he got out a dull pocket knife and whittled a few sticks that had been laying out in the yard. That lasted for a whole twenty minutes before he found himself being bored out of his mind. He put the knife in his pocket, laid back, and looked up at the sky.
That one looks like a baby dinosaur. A cute one. Not too far behind that cloud, another one caught his eye. Wow. It looks like a girl is riding her bicycle right toward him.
Remmy continued cloud gazing for hours. He didn’t stop until he heard Collin’s Wagoneer coming up the road toward their driveway. It’s about time!
He rushed down to Dad’s parking space, eagerly awaiting the good news. Collin pulled in, turned the engine off, and opened his door. With a smile, he said, “Hey buddy, how was your day? And more importantly, what did you get on your shoe there, son?”
Remington hadn’t even noticed. “My day was okay, Dad. I must have gotten some blood on my shoe earlier when I fell and busted my lip. But enough about t
hat. Dad, how was your day? Did God answer our prayer? Did you get a special blessing today?”
Collin chuckled. “Slow down a little bit there, buddy. Where are your glasses?”
Nervously, Remington told him the nose piece had broken in two. Dad had just bought him new glasses three months ago after he had accidentally sat on top of them.
“Remmy, you are going to have to start being more careful.
Putting his head down, Remington mumbled, “I know, Dad. Sorry.”
“Sorry is good, but you’re going to have to be taught a lesson young man. I’m not buying you new glasses this time. We’re just going to use some duct tape and put them back together.”
Remington looked horrified. “Dad, please don’t. The kids at school will make fun of me.”
“They probably will. Maybe that will teach you to take better care of things from now on.”
Remmy was hurt. How could Dad not care if people make fun of me? I get bullied enough the way it is now!
After a brief silence, Remmy returned to his original question. “Did you get a special blessing today, Dad?” he asked.
Collin couldn’t decide if he should answer that question or not. He wasn’t sure if Remington truly understood the importance of taking better care of his things. Not only had he broken his glasses, but he gotten blood on his shoes and hadn’t even cleaned them off.
After a moment of thought, Collin chuckled, “Not unless some unexpected laughter counts as a blessing?”
Remington’s face lit up, “It might count. What happened?”
“Well, a teenage girl came into the store today and tried to pull a fast one on us. She was in the ladies’ department for at least an hour, trying on shoe after shoe. That didn’t seem that unusual; we see it all of the time.”
“Go on. Tell me about the blessing! What brought on the laughter?”
“She decided to trade the shoes she had on for a brand-new pair. She sneaked her tennis shoes into the box, put on the brand-new pair, and intended to walk right out of the store with them.”
Collin paused for effect, “The poor girl was rounding a corner getting ready to head out the door when she plowed right into a police officer. I don’t think anyone would have even noticed the theft, but the girl got so scared her face turned red; she literally peed herself right there in the middle of the store. Busted was the word!”
Even though the story was funny, disappointment overwhelmed Remington. He wanted, more than anything, to have an opportunity to help Brock. Why did God not want them to help? He just didn’t understand.
The embarrassed girl wasn’t the only one crying. Remington burst into tears and ran toward his parents’ room.
◆◆◆
Collin went inside, spoke to Alayna for a moment, and then went to check on Little Mister Sensitive. When he got to the door, he wasn’t too surprised to find Remington curled up in a corner crying and begging God to let Brock stay.
Kneeling next to him, Collin gently placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Remington didn’t even look up. Somehow Dad’s presence made him cry even harder than he had been.
Just as he started to let it all out, they heard a soft knock on the door. “Hon, can you get that?” Collin called.
“No problem. I’ve got it,” Alayna yelled back.
Remington finished up his prayer and wrapped his arms around Dad’s neck. Neither of them said a word. A moment later, Alayna came into the room. With a seriously concerned look on her face, she motioned her husband and said, “Collin, we need to speak privately.”
Collin asked what was wrong, but she insisted she couldn’t talk about it in front of the boy.
The two of them walked outside; Remington ran over to crack the window so he could listen. “A process server just dropped this off,” Alayna said, briefly flashing a piece of mail before him. “He said it’s some kind of a notice from the landlord.”
“Hon, please tell me you mailed in the rent check last month?”
Alayna buried her face in Collin’s chest and began to sob, “I meant to; I knew the money was there. But we were running low on groceries; I didn’t think it would be the end of the world. We’ve gotten behind on our rent before; I never thought in a million years that he would evict us.”
Giving her a hug, Collin all but guaranteed his wife everything was going to be okay. He was disappointed in Alayna’s decision to not pay the rent and wished she had at least discussed it with him first. Somehow, he knew God would make a way.
After a few moments of embracing and leaning on one another for support, Alayna opened the envelope and began reading the letter to herself. It was worse than she thought.
Charles, their elderly landlord, had passed away. All of his properties were being sold. Not only were they going to lose their home, but they had already lost their friend and had probably missed the funeral.
I sure hope they didn’t bury him in those old worn out loafers he was always wearing, Collin thought. I bet he bought those things when he was a teenager. He knew the timing was bad, so he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Wait a minute!” Alayna suddenly blurted out. “What’s this?”
Collin’s eyes followed along as Alayna dragged her finger beneath a portion of the text. Charles had willed the property they were staying in to them. When does that ever happen? No more paying rent!
That was a blessing no one would have expected! There was no way to deny that was a sign from God! Brock was staying,
◆◆◆
Remington scurried outside at a pace a lightning bolt would have been jealous of. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” he shouted.
Like a toad leaping off of a lily pad, Brock hopped off of his bed and made his way outside to see what the commotion was about.
The Russells all just looked at each other. What could they say? They couldn’t tell Brock they had been thinking about booting him. Nor could they tell him they had asked God to show them a miracle if he could stay.
Alayna quickly blurted out a partial truth. She told him about inheriting the house, but left out the extra details.
Looking toward his feet and not saying a word, Brock moped back to his room.
“What was that all about?” Alayna asked.
Know-It-All Remington replied, “He’s jealous. Think about it; bad things keep happening to Brock and something wonderful just happened to us. Wouldn’t you be jealous?”
Dad shrugged his shoulders. “If I was an immature little pansy, I guess.”
“Would you call Rachel a pansy then?” Remington asked sarcastically.
“Rachel? Rachel who, son?”
“Jacob’s wife — from the Bible, Dad, remember? Jacob married both Rachel and Leah, but only Leah had children. Rachel got jealous because she wanted to be a mom too.”
“Point taken.”
◆◆◆
After Brock was out of ear-shot, Alayna whispered, “Should we be scared? This is a side of Brock we haven’t seen before.”
“Mom,” Remington replied, “Don’t you trust God? God just gave us a special blessing to show us we’re supposed to let the man stay. Remember?”
“Yes,” Mom nodded. “That is true, but we weren’t very specific with our prayers, now were we? All we asked God to show us is whether or not we should allow Brock to stay; we didn’t ask Him to show us whether or not Brock was guilty. He may have murdered people in the past and eaten their bodies for all we know. Just because God wants him to stay here, doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.”
The slamming of a door interrupted their conversation. Collin and Alayna gave each other the look that said, “Please tell me Brock didn’t hear what we were talking about.”
Collin hurried inside, calling Brock’s name — the house was silent. Running through, he found the back door unlocked and quickly ran out onto the porch; Brock was nowhere in sight.
Alayna and Remington joined him out back. “Shouldn’t we go and look for him?” Remmy asked.
>
“Definitely. But let’s stay together,” Dad insisted.
The three took turns yelling Brock’s name as they walked along various trails through the woods. There was no answer. It appeared that Brock had vanished from the face of the earth.
They wandered along the creek bank, scanned the trees, and peeked inside of shallow caves, but wherever Brock was hiding, he did not intend to be found. No matter how much yelling they did, he was not answering.
After about half an hour of searching, Alayna pointed off in the distance and spoke in a loud, excited whisper, “Look! I think I see him!”
Collin followed his wife’s gaze and sure enough, there was Brock. He was lying face-first in the grass; his body looked as stiff as a board.
“Brock?” Collin yelled out. “Are you okay?”
When no answer came, Collin, followed closely by Alayna and Remington, rushed to his side. Collin checked his pulse and it seemed normal, yet Brock didn’t move. He lay motionless as if he had no idea anyone was around.
“Oh my,” Collin said.
“What?” Alayna asked.
“He stepped in dog mess somewhere. Look at the bottom of those shoes I lent him.”
Alayna gave her husband a dirty look before gently placing her hand on Brock’s shoulder, “Brock, can you hear us?”
He didn’t move. From careful observation, it was obvious he was breathing. Collin had checked his pulse and they knew his heart was beating; still, he feared something was awry.
Alayna’s womanly instincts kicked in — there is nothing wrong with that man! She was certain of it. Reaching over, she pinched the back of his knee. Sure enough, he flinched and hatefully uttered, “Just leave me alone!”
Remmy replied, “Brock, we just want to help you. What’s wrong?”
Just as before, Brock didn’t make a sound. It was like he had the ability of muting anyone and everyone around him.
“Brock, listen to me,” Collin said. “My family and I are heading home. You can stay out here as long as you need to. After you’ve had enough alone-time, you’re welcome to return to the house. We’re not going to stay out here and pester you now that we know you’re okay.”
