AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not at all,” I admitted. “You’re actually the first person I’ve talked to that gets it. Our mother was a horrible, bitter woman. She had no redeemable qualities. It’s taboo to speak ill of the dead… but I’m glad she’s gone.”
It felt strange to say it out loud, but it was like a pressure valve had been opened. My chest was lighter than before, and it was easier to breathe.
Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Out of everyone in our neighborhood, I get it the most. I really do.”
The realization hit me. Of course Jack understood what I was feeling. He’d grown up with an asshole of a father, who was a cop during the day and a bully at home at night. Jack and his brother had shown up to school with mysterious bruises on their arms and cheeks. They always blamed it on crashing their bikes while doing stunts at the park, but I knew the truth. I might’ve been the only person who did.
Smoke was sprinting across the field, chasing several other dogs. He poked them with his snout, guiding them back toward our direction, then running along beside them.
“He always does this,” Jack laughed. “He’ll fetch the Frisbee a few times, then he spends the rest of the trip to the park herding all the other dogs.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. “They should really name the breeds that like to do that. German Herders. Or something similar.”
Jack glared at me. “Ha ha.”
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
“I’ve driven past that building a thousand times, and never realized it was owned by your mom,” Jack said. “The upholstery store, I mean. I guess you and your sister are cleaning house?”
“Trying to,” I admitted. “She racked up a lot of debt. After we sell all of her inventory, and then try to get all of her customers to pay what they owe, we’ll be lucky to break even. The good news is she owned the building outright. We’ll get something when we sell it.”
“Then what?”
“Then I’m headed back home,” I said simply.
“Back to the shoebox-sized apartment.” He shook his head. “I always imagined you would go somewhere big, like New York. Glad you got as far away from your mom as you could.”
“I’m surprised you stuck around,” I commented.
“Really?” he turned to me. “I always planned on it.”
“Sure, but people say a lot of things when they’re young. What made you become a firefighter?”
“My dad,” he admitted.
I snorted. “Seriously? He convinced you to be a firefighter?”
“Not like that,” Jack explained. “You knew… how he acted. The kind of father he was. A lot of kids look up to their dads, but not me. I never wanted to be like him. I wanted to be the opposite of him. And what’s the opposite of a police officer who likes to bully people?”
“A fireman?”
“A fireman,” he agreed. “My dad was a small man. He made himself feel better by bringing other people down with him. But every day I go to work, every time we get a call and jump into our engine, I help people. I lift them up, which makes me feel bigger than dad ever was.”
There was a determined look in his crystal blue eyes as he stared out at the dogs running across the field. I could still see the boy I grew up with, but he was a distant memory. This new Jack truly was a man.
“Cops and firefighters hate each other,” I said. “I bet it pissed your dad off.”
“I wish I knew,” Jack said. “He died a few months after graduation. Heart attack.”
“Oh. I’m…” I trailed off. “I was about to say I’m sorry. But I’m not.”
He turned and smiled at me. “Me neither. After he was gone, mom sold the house and remarried. She moved out to Colorado. She’s a lot happier, now.”
“A happy ending,” I said.
“How was your mom?” Jack asked. “At the end, I mean.”
The question was like a punch to the gut. “I wasn’t here. I actually hadn’t seen her since I left for college. But Brandi checked in with her caretaker. Apparently she was bad by the end. Manic, and obsessive, and destructive.”
