by Naomi Niles
“Dwayne,” I pointed at the sign that said, Exit 1. “I thought we were going to Lorenzos?”
He hit the gas.
“Dwayne? What’s going on?”
He was about to hit a truck.
“Dwayne?”
He hit the blinker and swerve into the left lane to avoid it, then threw the car forward until we were behind a semi-truck. He whipped the car to the right, flew past it, and turned into the right lane.
“What are you doing?”
He took the next exit and stayed as quiet as possible as we drove through the quiet city streets. He didn’t answer no matter how much I pleaded with him, and I was starting to get scared. He was one of the most predictable men I’d ever met. The idea of him doing something like this terrified me.
He threw the car into a space next to the shore of the river and turned to me. “Get out.”
“What?”
“Come on,” he opened my door.
“Dwayne…”
He got out and walked around so he could offer me his hand.
“What is going on?” I refused to take it.
“I thought you might like to take a walk with me by the river. That’s all.”
I looked back at the water, then up at him. “We’re going to be late for dinner.”
“No, we’re not.” He kept his hand held out.
“Fine.” I took his hand and he led me closer to the sidewalk lining the water. The sun was setting behind the bridge. The sky spread out in bands of orange, rose, then indigo, and finally a navy blue, spotted with specks of light growing brighter by the minute.
Dwayne dropped my hand and, I turned to watch the water lapping at the shore. “Gillian…” There was something in his tone.
“What?” I turned around and covered my mouth. Tears were flying down my face. He was on one knee holding out a black, velvet ring box.
“I know you’re hungry,” his voice broke, “and you’re probably eager to get to dinner.”
“No.”
“You haven’t let me finish yet.”
“No,” I shuddered, “I mean, I don’t care about dinner.”
“Good, because you’re the most amazing, beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You’ve brought me back from the edge of madness, taken a risk on me, and I want to spend the rest of my life thanking you for it. Will you marry me?”
I reached down and pulled him up by the collar, then crashed our lips together. “Yes.” I kissed him again. “Dear God, yes.” I kissed him again, and this time he reached back and nudged my head forward, so he could take control. I barely noticed when he took my hand and slipped the ring on until I looked down and saw it.
“Come on,” he said and motioned for me to follow him to the car.
“I thought you said we weren’t going to be late.”
“I lied.” He hopped in.
When we got to the restaurant, I noticed his back stiffen, his shoulders rolled back and his movements went stiff. I wasn’t sure to make of it at first, but as we walked through the lot, I realized that it was a sign of respect for a person that he honored.
The waiter led us out onto the back patio where a middle-aged woman was sitting in back. She caught my eye immediately. She wasn’t stiff or mean looking. Her lips weren’t pursed. She was casual, graceful, and extremely well composed. I noticed when we got closer that her short black hair was perfectly arranged, not one single hair out of place.
She stood up, smiling, and said, “Dwayne, you look ridiculous. At ease.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Jacobs, this is my fiancée, Gillian.”
“Fiancée? I thought you said she was your girlfriend.” Jacobs looked at me and nodded her head. “You just proposed, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“Hey,” she called out to the waiter behind me. He turned around, shocked that she was calling out. “Bring us your best merlot.”
He nodded and ran off.
“Sit down. Sit down.”
Dwayne pulled out my chair so I could take a seat and gave me a look of sheer satisfaction. “I was surprised when you called me,” he said. “I can’t believe you left.”
“It was time. I’d been holding onto my sanity for so long. I couldn’t keep up the struggle any longer, and it started to lose its luster. The war was a sham from the beginning,” she said. “We all know that, and we weren’t making any difference. I got tired of it.”
“Was there ever a time when you believed in it?” Dwayne asked.
“Of course. When I saw how they lived, and what the Taliban was doing to the people — we had to do something.”
“But what changed?”
“Nothing changed.” The waiter brought out the bottle and poured our drinks. When he walked away, she began again.
“We were there to help them, but they didn’t want our help. They wanted us to leave, so they kept trying to kill us. Then of course, we had to retaliate; we just kept going back and forth until it was too tense for us to even be there. I’m glad I got out when I did, things are getting ugly – but enough about that. I want to know about Harris.”
Dwayne took a drink of his wine. “He’s doing well. The DA dropped the charges and reduced them to one count of assault and battery. He should be out next year. I went to visit him last month and he said that he hasn’t been having any flashbacks.”
“Is it the medication?” Jacobs asked.
“It doesn’t look like it. He’s sharp and hasn’t gained any weight. He looks like he’s come back to himself.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” she said. “Why did he do it, Dwayne? You never told me.”
He swished his drink around, took a sip, then swished it around a little more. “You want to know where he went?”
“I do.”
“Why?” He sounded unsettled.
“Because I didn’t like having him there, to be honest with you. I’ve had my concerns about a lot of men, but he’s the one that worried me the most. He was strong and capable, but mentally, I didn’t think he could handle the war, and it scared me. I tried to harden him up. You saw.” Dwayne nodded. “But it didn’t work.”
“I think he was probably better than most of us,” he said after a moment.
“Why?”
“It takes a certain kind of person to do the kinds of things we did without it getting to your head. We all felt the shock one way or the other. It’s like you told me that you used to have flashbacks.”
Jacobs nodded.
“But we all did what we knew we had to do, even if we couldn’t stand it.”
“You knew that I’d have to court-martial you if you didn’t follow orders. I didn’t have a choice.”
“But that’s where it gets murky. At some point, we saw following orders as the right thing to do. We didn’t question things. We were patriots doing our duty. Even when it got hard, and we felt like we simply couldn’t do what we were asked, we still did what we were told because we knew the consequences.
“Jason didn’t care about that. He wanted to do the right thing, and he was willing to risk anything to do that. I think that’s why he was so sensitive. He had a stronger moral compass than the rest of us, and he couldn’t move past it.”
“I remember when he was standing in my office, begging me to let him stay back, the time I sent you out after those kids.”
Dwayne nodded.
“I wanted to run around the desk and shake him and say, ‘What are you doing here?’ I think at that point, I realized that he was going to crack, so I put in his orders for discharge. I’ll bet that’s where he goes when he has flashbacks.” Dwayne didn’t confirm or deny it. Something told me that he didn’t think Jason would want him to say, but Jacobs knew. “I didn’t think they’d send you back, though.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t say anything, but I was worried.”
“You didn’t have to worry,” I said. “Dwayne doesn’t see it, but I know that he would’ve been fine.”
“No,” Jacobs sai
d. “It was you. I could tell from the moment I saw you. He was a completely different person when he was in my unit. He was stiff and mean, even aggressive, though he didn’t show it much.”
“I was not.”
“Me and some of the guys used to take bets on how long it would take for you to punch Jason.”
“What?”
“Did he do it?” I asked.
“No, never. See, that’s the kind of man he is. He couldn’t stand Jason half the time. The rest of the time he was just being nice – and trust me, that was a chore – but he knew Jason was vulnerable. He rarely said a rude word to him because Jason couldn’t take it. That’s not something most men can do. They don’t see that far. They act on their emotions.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“Imagine if he treated Jason like that,” Jacobs scoffed. “You must be the luckiest woman in the world. I know you are. He’s one of the finest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with.”
“Do you really think so?” he asked.
“Absolutely.” She took another drink and refilled our glasses. “This is a special night. You both deserve a toast.” She lifted her glass. We didn’t have to say anything. We just clinked it together. The significance of the moment was enough. Dwayne and I had found each other, and that was all that mattered.
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HOOK UP DADDY
By Naomi Niles
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Naomi Niles
Chapter One
GAVIN
I stretched out on my king-sized bed after a short rest. After a late night of hanging with a couple of women from my job, morning came fast. We threw back a few drinks and had a good time enjoying ourselves after a long day of work. I was the CEO of High Time, a watch company that produced high-value Rolexes, Movados, and other high-quality wrist wear. I started the business almost thirteen years ago, and even though we got off to a rocky start, I stuck with it.
Sooner than later, our numbers climbed into the hundreds of thousands, and now we were on the verge of crossing into the millions. The revenue came in hand over fist, and because of that, I was sitting on top of the world.
It was 7 am when I pulled myself out of bed and walked to the kitchen. As I passed through the front room, I flipped on the 60-inch HD television mounted to the wall. I turned the volume up just enough for me to hear what was going on from the kitchen.
I had to catch the news each morning, primarily to keep an eye on the rising price of stocks and bonds. I learned to invest the money that I made so that down the line, I could make money by not lifting a finger. That is how the rich became wealthy, and even though I was on the verge of climbing that mountain, I kept the hunger inside of me to get there. I wanted to do everything I could to provide the best life for me and my son.
I glanced at his picture on top of the fireplace mantle. Vinny was my 7-year-old boy. His mother and I didn’t last like we thought we would. I didn’t want her to leave, but I left her no choice. She wanted me to commit to her for the long term, but I was too busy having fun and enjoying my life to settle down. She was a good girl, but once she found out that I was messing around with other women, she never looked back. I wished things were different, but that was a hard lesson to learn for me. She was still in his life, and we were cordial, but that was it; that is all it will ever be.
Before I could walk away from the television, a commercial flashed on the screen. “Are you tired of sitting around with nothing to do? Building a life, but you don’t have anyone to share it with? Well, that is what we are here for! The Right Click is an excellent way for established and professional men and women to meet up! You don’t have time to find a date? Don’t worry about it! Sign up for free on our website and let our professionals connect you with the man or woman of your dreams!”
I smirked, then walked away from the television. I didn’t think any sites like that would work out in the long term for anyone. I’d read the testimonials for things like that, but I was more interested in who lasted than who hooked up. They never show you how it ends, only how it began. I walked down the long, carpeted hallway to Vinny’s room.
As soon as I opened the door, he was already completely dressed and in the process of making his bed. I looked to the right. On the floor beside his bed, his bookbag was packed and ready to go. “Wow. You never cease to amaze me, Vinny.”
He swiped the Spider-Man blanket on top of his mattress to get the last few wrinkles off his cover, then turned towards me. His face was clean. Two patches of freckles covered his left and right cheeks. His cropped, blonde hair was combed to the side the way he always liked to wear it. “What, Dad?”
“The way you get yourself up and get ready for school without me having to say anything to you.” He grabbed his bookbag and placed one strap on each shoulder. “It really is something, Vinny. I’ll tell you that when I was your age, my mother had to damn near drag me out of bed to go to school in the morning.”
He smiled. “Well, I must’ve got this from mom then. She always wakes up early.”
When he walked towards me, I flipped his light switch off, then put my arm around him and walked to the kitchen. “Hey man, thanks for taking care of the house last night. Did the sitter give you any trouble?”
“No, she didn’t. She just stayed in the front room all night on her cell phone. She made sure I ate and went to bed on time though. So, I guess she was alright.”
“Yeah. That’s what I paid her for, so I hope that she would’ve at least done the top two things I asked of her.” When we got into the kitchen, he walked to the cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal. The milk was already out on the table when he sat down. “You sure you want cereal?” I asked, standing at the stove. “I can whip you up some pancakes really quick if you want that.”
He looked at his watch. “No, I better eat something quick. The bus will be here in a little bit.”
“Right.” I slid the box of pancake batter back into the cabinet, then glanced at my watch. “I didn’t realize that it was so late.” I looked at him as he poured the cereal into his bowl. I felt bad that I wasn’t able to hang out with him like I wanted to. I was usually out with friends during the week, and on the weekends, I was too tired to do anything special with him. He never complained, though. That just wasn’t in his character. Even with that, I knew he wanted to hang out more. I wanted the same thing.
“Vinny, how about we go hang out this weekend? Go bowling or catch a movie, you know? Get some guy time in together.”
He shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and waited until he swallowed before he responded. “Yeah, Dad, that sounds good. We can do that.”
“You sure? I mean, you don’t sound excited.” I took a seat beside him at the table. He swirled the spoon around in his bowl to soak the little sugar coated pebbles with milk. He had a hard time believing that I would keep my word. For some reason, something always came up whenever we planned to do something together. “Vinny, this time, we are going, okay? No question about it, so you may as well clear your schedule and book it.”
He smiled. “Alright, Dad. I want to go. Bowling and a movie sound fun.”
I winked at him as he put another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “Yeah, it sure does.” I stood up and announced, “Well, I’m gonna go and put a shirt on so I see you out to your bus stop.”
“No, it’s alright, Dad. I can walk myself.”
“I know you can, son, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you on your way to your bus stop. I’d rather keep an eye on you, you know? There are
some crazy people in the world, and I don’t want them to even think they have a chance to take you from me. I would lose my mind if something happened to you, Vinny.”
He smiled.
“Good. So, I’m going to run upstairs and grab a shirt. I’ll be right back down.” He nodded his head with a mouthful of cereal. A stream of milk dripped from the corner of his mouth until he took a napkin and wiped it clean. As soon as I came back downstairs, Vinny stood patiently by the door, ready to go. I grabbed the handle and swung it open. The soft, morning sunlight beamed down into our faces as soon as we stepped outside.
This neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia was always peaceful around this time in the morning. Vinny was one of the only children on our block. The area was primarily filled with elderly adults who decided to settle down in this neighborhood after retirement, good old folks that I could trust to look after my place whenever I was gone.
We stood on the corner at the end of our block, and not even a minute passed by before the school bus arrived. “Well, there it is.” I shook his hand as if he was an adult. His grip was surprisingly firm for his age. “You have a good day, alright? I will see you later tonight.”
“Are you going to have a sitter for me again?”
“Um,” I looked at him. His sky blue eyes were glaring back at me with expectancy. “No, not tonight. I’ll be home tonight.”
“Okay.”
The bus stopped in front of us, and the doors folded open. He climbed the steps and walked into a sea of children. I could hear their voices from inside as I watched him walk to his seat. He waved goodbye, and with that, the bus took off down the street. I went home, got dressed, and left for work.
My building was in the heart of downtown Roanoke. The glass building stretched 20 floors up from the bottom and reflected the sunlight when I pulled into my parking spot. I revved the engine of my Camaro as I sat idle in my spot. The HEMI vibrated the seats inside of my vehicle as a few people walked by. We shared our building with a few other companies, but I made sure that I had the highest floor. I didn’t want to feel like anybody was above me at any time, so the top floor was the only thing I would settle for.
