He began to think about what his son’s reaction might be, but he would never complete the thought for at that exact moment the rope snapped, sending his legs crashing into the window. Shards of glass, mirror, and metal sliced Francis’ face and legs while his arms frantically gripped the swinging wooden slat. He hung for a moment, completely helpless and very much afraid. A small amount of hope still clung to his heart giving him the faintest sense of safety, but it would be misleading for, out of his view, one of the glass shards had caught on a pulley. Just as Francis was taking a calm breath, a second rope snapped. He and the wooden slat fell as another set of boards were pulled into the air. Francis and the boards collided and swung in opposite directions – slamming into the unfinished platforms. The damage normally done by this kind of collision would be minimal; however, Francis had never completely hammered the planks into place so, when he stuck the platform, boards and nails slapped against his body and tore his skin. His arms lost their strength and he fell, headfirst, into the glass and metal. As the blood leaked out of his head and chest, he thought about Clover – how much he missed her and how it would be nice to see her one last time, then he died.
Leo Darling returned from Vega’s lumber yard feeling particularly good. For his birthday, Vega had given him a large slab of stone and a set of tools to work it. He had already thought of several things he could carve, but he was so enveloped by the thought, he didn’t notice the framed photograph on the counter or the note lying next to it. He simply hurried to the stairwell where he knew his father would be working.
He saw the blood and body. He had to take four more steps into the room before he could identify the face. It was his father.
Leo Darling leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. He hugged his knees to his chest and stared into his father’s open eyes. He remained there the entire night and a good portion of the morning. He didn’t sleep or move or eat or cry. He was too startled and sad to even think.
The death was not reported to the police until early that afternoon when Vega arrived with wood and supplies for the stairwell. He closed Francis’ eyes and sat on the floor with Leo Darling. They didn’t speak or touch, not even when the police arrived, or when the body was lifted onto a gurney and rolled out. When night came, Vega stood and began walking back to the lumber yard. Leo Darling silently followed him.
Vega took a cot from the attic and laid it out next to his bed. Leo did not want to sleep, but his body was tired and his eyes were heavy. He waited for the blind artist to quietly snore. Then he went to the garage where his gift, the stone slab, was kept. He found a sledge hammer and repeatedly struck the stone until all that remained were tiny pieces. Then he crushed the tiny pieces into dust. He angrily wept and fell asleep on the floor, the grey dust covering his clothes and skin.
The blind artist was not in fact asleep when Leo Darling left the room. His exceptional ears heard every swing of the hammer and every sob. Though the stone had been very expensive and difficult to acquire, the blind artist did not stop Leo Darling from destroying it for he knew that even its destruction was a kind of art, though not one that could be seen or lasting.
Later that week a lawyer arrived at the lumber yard explaining that no other family members could be found, and the custody and care of the boy had fallen to Leo Vega. The news was a surprise, but not a shock for Vega had already thought of the boy as his son and treated him as such.
The following month, a different set of lawyers arrived bringing with them police officers and warrants. They put the blind artist in handcuffs and led him into the back of a squad car. When the officers refused to explain what was happening, Leo Darling’s temper overtook him and he struck several of them with his carving hammer. Their wounds were painful, but not severe. Before he could grab a chisel or knife, the police struck him across the back of the head. He awoke in a hospital with a bandage around his head and an officer outside his door.
Leo Vega’s incarceration was, in fact, justified, though obviously excessive. In his eagerness to leave Mexico and the painful memories of his lost love, he had never completed the proper forms to become a United States citizen and was knowingly an illegal resident within its borders. This crime became evident when Leo Darling’s Social Security, insurance, and substantial wealth fell to a Mexican born alien. The matter would normally have been dealt with reasonably and Leo Vega would have had the opportunity to become a citizen; however, it was an election year and an example needed to be made, or at least that was the philosophy of John Davis, the sitting senator.
John Davis had entered politics as an idealist, both young and helplessly in love with his country. His first political experience occurred at the age of twelve when his older brother came home with a black eye and several bruises. John learned the damage was the result of a neighborhood bully who was nearly twice his size. Instead of telling his parents, John took his brother aside and told him to act as if everything was normal. He saved his lunch money for a month and, when he considered it a large enough sum, he found the three biggest football players in high school and hired them to pretend to be good friends with his brother, walking home with him for the next week, and once a month after that until the year was out. The results were astoundingly successful. Not only did the bully stop harassing his brother, but the three football players and his brother found it so easy being friends that they continued to do so throughout high school.
John had no interest in governmental politics; his skills came from a practical necessity. His family was lower-middle class and put more money into credit cards than a savings account. Both his parents worked and when they weren’t working, they slept from exhaustion, which left John’s three brothers and two sisters in a constant power struggle. His clothes and toys were second hand and, in many cases, once belonged to his sisters. His parents managed to scrape together enough money for one of their children to go to college, but the bank took most of it when the house payments fell behind, so John had to work two jobs to make his way through a small state college.
When hundreds of people, including his father, had their benefits cut and their pensions in jeopardy of the same, John temporarily left school to help the union organize. His work was so efficient, both for the company and the workers, that it was featured for two full days by the national media.
The senator took notice, almost immediately hiring John as a legislative assistant. John worked under the senator for four years, learning the intricacies of government and the best ways to avoid a scandal. One early afternoon, the senator’s daughter arrived for a lunch date with her father, but due to a late meeting, the senator told John to accompany her instead. John’s charm and winning smile lead to several more dates and eventually a wedding engagement. John, at first, would assume his pleasant personality and dashing good looks had won her over, and for a brief time they had, but she had grown bored of his respectful distance and unwavering ethics. When he proposed, she took three days to give him an answer.
The truth was, the senator’s meeting had not run late and, in fact, had never taken place. The senator, being a skilled manipulator, had planned for his daughter and John to meet. Over the years, he had come to respect and admire John, so much so, that he wanted John to take his senate seat. After he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, the senator knew there was no way he could run in the next election. He could not stand the thought of leaving politics and planned to live vicariously through someone. He had encouraged his daughter to be active politically, but she had never shown an interest. John, on the other hand and with a little bit of work, would be the perfect candidate, but their bond needed to be more permanent, so when the senator’s daughter told him how she planned to refuse John’s offer of marriage, the senator persuaded her to reconsider. He knew her hesitation came from the sexual exclusivity that marriage required, and so he explained that John, like all politicians, would have many affairs over the course of his career and that it was only fair for her to do the same. She accepted h
is logic and John’s offer the next day.
The marriage occurred five months later and was one of the largest social events of the year. The senator used it to announce his retirement and to endorse John as his replacement. With the senator’s money and John’s skill, the senate seat remained in the family.
John pursued the obligations of his career vehemently. He traveled through his districts often, making lasting friendships with the local business owners. He found ways of cutting costs without cutting jobs and he remained on good terms with the labor unions. He spent nearly a third of the year, regrettably, away from his wife. During that time, he never once thought about cheating. His wife, however, could not claim the same. Within the first six months of marriage she had already had fourteen sexual encounters with three different partners. After a year she was pregnant and, knowing the child was not her husband’s, she immediately bought a ticket to D.C. and abruptly had sex with him on the large wooden desk in his office. Almost a month later, full of surprise and excitement, she would tell him she was pregnant.
The ex-senator, keeping tabs on his son-in-law, was surprised to learn that John had remained loyal. He decided, for the betterment of everyone involved, John needed to sleep with someone other than his wife, and so the ex-senator hired a discreet and sophisticated call girl (from an agency he was already very familiar with) to seduce his daughter’s husband.
The call girl, disguised as a reporter, found John, alone, in his hotel room. She began the encounter by asking legitimate questions and presenting problems which she had been pondering as a constituent for some time. John answered her questions completely and without reservations. She was compelled by his candidness and genuine interest in her opinion. When she kissed him and tried to reach her hand down his pants, he gently held her back and calmly explained that he was married and very much in love with his wife. She slid down her dress, revealing her black thong and naked breasts. She smiled and stepped closer to him. He shook his head and put his hand up to stop her. She pressed it against her breast. It was warm and he could feel her heart beat. He pulled his hand away, his eyes sad, and his jaw clenched. He picked up her dress and gave it to her. Again, and calmly, he explained how much he loved his wife and how he would never do anything to hurt her. Then he offered to call and pay for a taxi because she needed to leave. The call girl’s heart was pierced by his loyalty and kindness. She began to cry because she could not imagine a man loving her with such respect and devotion. She put her dress on and apologized. The mascara ran down her cheeks and got on her fingers as she tried to hide her face. She felt like he was the last and only good man she would ever meet. She told him the truth about his father-in-law and his wife, and what they wanted her to do.
He returned home two days early, and secretly. He discovered his wife in their marriage bed with another man. He collapsed, his heart giving out. The doctors said it was a mild heart attack, but none of the damage would be permanent with a proper diet, exercise, and relaxation.
The next day he confronted his wife about the affair. She openly admitted to everything and accused him of cheating just as much as her. He denied it, but she wouldn’t believe him. He went back to work because there was nothing else he could do. She continued to have affairs and he became very sad. He took some of his son’s hair and had a DNA test done. The results remained in a manila envelope, unopened. He slept in a separate bedroom and on sleepless nights he would stare at the envelope and wonder about its contents.
It was an election year and some rumors were beginning to spread about his crumbling marriage, almost all of them implicating him as the offending party. Either way, a scandal would ruin his career. He didn’t care until a tabloid threatened to publish a DNA test they had underhandedly acquired.
John, using a political technique he learned from his father-in-law, created a sensational problem where none existed and then secretly helped the media discover it. The problem was immigration, specifically Leo Vega. With a heated political subject the press would forget the unsubstantiated rumors of his personal life and focus on the fabricated, but very important issues of illegal immigration.
John had no intention of hurting anyone and, once re-elected, planned to redact any life-changing policies he claimed were necessary. He, unfortunately, would not get the chance.
When the media discovered Leo Vega’s true identity, they immediately fell in love with his story and his art. They pronounced him to be one of the greatest artists of the age and wanted desperately to keep him in America. The resentment toward John was unanimous. He lost the election by a landslide and, shortly after, his family troubles became public. The DNA test proved his son was not actually his son and the world knew it. He was devastated and divorced his wife. He would eventually move to California to work in the private sector as a personnel manager for a tech company. He would go on to have a series of relationships, some serious, but none lasting. He would not marry a second time, nor would he have children. When he had acquired enough money, he would buy one of Vega’s sculptures, setting it on the dining room table for all of his guests to see. He would die relatively happy, successful, and only somewhat alone. In his Will, he would leave the sculpture to the boy who, for a brief time, was his son.
The blind artist and Leo Darling would never learn of these events, nor would they see each other again in this life, for the new senator, keeping his promise, had the blind artist deported.
Leo Vega would return to Mexico both famous and rich. Demand for his art would be high and its value would quadruple and continue to increase. He would spend most of his fortune searching for Leo Darling in the hopes of bringing him to Mexico, but neither he, nor his money, would find him.
Leo Darling, waking in the hospital with a guard outside his door, realized something was terribly wrong. His stubborn and combative temper overtook him. He hit the guard with a bedpan and fled the hospital, returning home to gather a few of his belongings. When he entered, he saw a framed photograph on the counter. Next to the frame was a note that read: To my son, who I love very much. Happy Birthday.
The photograph was of Francis and Clover standing outside a cabin. Clover was pregnant and smiling. Leo Darling felt a sudden joy having, for the first time, seen an image of his mother. He took the photograph and placed it in his bag, as well as a second set of clothes and a little bit of food. He left the city without saying goodbye to anyone, not even the blind artist, who he wouldn’t have been able to find anyway.
He walked for a full day, never once looking back. When night came, he curled under a tree next to the highway. His body shook from the cold air and his stomach growled. His stubbornness helped him to suppress these things and he slept for a few hours before being shaken awake. The hand shaking him belonged to a young woman. She was worried and scared. She saw Leo Darling’s body as she drove past and, thinking he was dead or convulsing uncontrollable, she turned her car around to help him. As a young child she was instilled with the idea that helping someone, no matter the circumstances, was always the right thing to do. At the age of five she had given her life over to Christ and, with the encouragement of her family, she had adopted all of his teachings with incredible fidelity. She was twenty-five and, of all the Bible’s commandments, she had broken only one.
During her first year of college she had earned a reputation for being the designated driver since she refused to drink alcohol, and it was not unusual for strangers to call her late at night for a ride. The calls sometimes aggravated her, but she always agreed to help. Late one night she received a call and drove to a party looking for its owner. Normally, the drunken person, or persons, would be waiting in the front yard, stumbling or vomiting with amusement and a weary grin. On this particular evening, she had to exit her car and walk into the house. The party was still crowded and loud. She went room to room looking for the caller. While in an upstairs bedroom, two drunken men entered and blocked her exit. She tried to explain her purpose and, if possible, get their assistance. The
y laughed and pushed her onto the bed. She tried to get up, but they pushed her back down. One of the men pulled down his pants and underwear, revealing himself. Her face turned red and she looked away, which only made the men laugh louder. One man held her while the other penetrated her, convinced that she wanted it immediately and rough. She was, at first, too confused and disoriented to cry or even move. When it was over, she picked up her panties, calmly walked to her car, and left.
She would not cry about the event until two months later when she knew, for certain, that she was pregnant. She hadn’t, nor would she ever, tell her parents of the event. She could barely even mention it to God in her prayers.
She couldn’t stand the thought of having the child because she knew looking on it would remind her of the event and so, secretly and sadly, she went to a clinic and had it removed. Her guilt was overwhelming. Her parents saw a change in her, but they could not find its source. She left the church and her home, certain that God could not love her for what she had done.
She traveled across America, working menial jobs, leaving each city after only a few months had passed. Her loyalty to Christ never wavered and she continued to help people, even when it threatened her own wellbeing.
The Last Darling Page 5
