After Midnight Page 12

  I did another search to see if I could find out more about the accident, and there was one other article a few weeks after the accident, indicating that the charges against Brandon had been dropped. Police said there was a problem with the way the evidence was collected, and they did not have a strong enough case to prosecute.

  I went back to performing searches specifically about Caleb, but there was little to no information to be found other than the obituary and articles about the accident. There were no mentions about his service, what he did in the Army or anything beyond that he was part of Special Forces.

  I admit, like most people, I had heard of Special Forces, but also like most people, I only heard the name in passing on the news or saw it in action movies. The guys in Special Forces were supposed to be highly-trained experts in many areas. If Caleb was a Weapons Sergeant, he clearly had expertise in fields that went beyond what the average soldier could do, and probably was involved in a lot of missions that were secret and confidential that the public knows nothing about.

  I got up from the desk, stripped out of my work clothes, and put on a t-shirt and sleep shorts and climbed into bed, the whole time thinking about Caleb, his wife, his son, and the life he led and was leading now. There was obviously a lot more to him than I knew or realized, a lot that he probably was not ready to share with me.

  With my head on my pillow, I stared at the ceiling again, watching a small spider work its way across the white surface, pausing now and then like it was considering what to do and where to go.

  “I know how you feel,” I said to the spider.

  11

  Caleb

  The walk home with Sarah was just what I had hoped for. We got to spend a little more time together, and I got a little glimpse into what her life is like beyond what I have seen of her at the diner. When she agreed to go for a run with me tomorrow morning, I was elated. I didn’t know what her limitations would be for the run as far as distance, but I knew I could go at her pace with ease and make her comfortable.

  To make sure I was in good shape for the run tomorrow, I lengthened my run for this morning and went a bit further than I had the previous day. When I was on active duty, I had no problem with stamina and running several miles without feeling exhausted. While I might not be able to reach that level again just yet, I felt confident that it was not far off.

  I had reached a pretty good sweat by the time I finally made it home after my run. I looked at my watch that had been recording my distance for me and saw I was able to do six miles this morning, which was a good effort, in my opinion. Since my run had gone on a bit longer than usual this morning, I missed seeing Adam and Linda leave the house before they started their day. Instead of going into the house, I went straight up to my apartment.

  I went right to the shower to wash off, and the hot water made me feel better right away. When I was done, I toweled off and went into the bedroom. I didn’t even bother getting dressed and just laid down on the bed to rest. I hadn’t slept at all last night, getting back from the diner and staying awake until I went for my run to meet up with Sarah. When I had returned from the diner, I had too much energy and excitement coursing through me to relax at all.

  As I lay on the bed and closed my eyes, I found my thoughts not drifting to the usual things I would think of – experiences in the Army, things I had done in the military, or even thoughts and visions of Ella – but instead, I was thinking about Sarah. She had pervaded my thoughts in the last few days in a very big way, more than I had ever expected. I found myself thinking about her as more than just a friendly face I had seen at the diner. I had the pictures of her in my head, walking with me, the sunlight gently bouncing off her hair, the highlight of the freckles on her face, the wonderful smile that she shared and so much more.

  I hadn’t had any feelings like this in a very long time. I thought I would have difficulty handling it, but it made me feel good to think about Sarah, to be with her, and to talk with her. Seeing her, even at these odd hours, had added something to my life that had been lacking and that I sorely needed. I realized I relished the moments we were spending together and that they were spurring me on in the rest of my life to try to make things better. In a very simple way, Sarah had helped me turn a corner that I needed to turn.

  Exhaustion finally got the better of me, and I drifted off to sleep. My sleep was peaceful, restful and serene. I had dreams of being with Sarah, not just on the walks home that I have enjoyed or the time we spent in the diner, but of being with her in a more romantic setting. I found myself dreaming of being with her. We were in a bedroom somewhere unfamiliar with a large king-size bed, dim lighting in the room, and Sarah dressed in a short green satin nightgown, her brown hair down to her shoulders, coming towards me. She put her arms around my shoulders, looked deep into my eyes, and we kissed. The kisses were short and sweet at first, but become more sensual, filled with longing and meaning. I finally scooped her up in my arms and took her over to the bed, lying next to her and gazing into her eyes.

  The feelings I had for her were so intense, and I felt my hand gliding down her body as she lay on her side looking at me longingly. My hand slid over her nightgown, down to the hem just at the tops of her thigh, and then worked its way back up her body. I reached my arm behind her and pulled her close to me, pressing her body against mine. There was no disputing that each of us was aroused at this point, and I continued to kiss her before shifting my body, so I was over her.

  As I looked down into her eyes, I could see that they seemed to be looking deep inside me, touching me in a unique way that made me feel warm, safe, and happy. Within moments we were both caught up in the throes of passion. I was holding her tightly against me again, moving in and out of her while she held herself close, moving with me. We were both covered with sweat, and I could hear her crying out, clutching me close, as she reached her climax, gripping me close to her. I was so close myself, I was panting, moving with her, and I knew I couldn’t hold out much longer, and then…

  The loud knocking on my door finally woke me up. I woke with a start, sitting up in the bed. I found myself covered in sweat again and realized that someone was knocking loudly on my apartment door. Getting out of bed, I saw I was still naked. I grabbed a nearby pair of shorts and pulled them on, hoping that they would cover up the arousal I was still fighting from the dream I had. Thankfully, by the time I reached the door, they had done their job.

  I pulled the door open and saw Adam standing there. He was dressed in his pregame workout clothes for his game and stared at me like I had two heads.

  “Dad, I’ve been knocking on the door for like five minutes,” he said in a huff. “What the heck is going on? I have to leave to get to the school before the game.”

  He looked me over and saw I was shirtless.

  “I guess you’re not coming?” he asked with a hint of disappointment, but I sensed some relief as well.

  “Adam, I’m sorry,” I said to him. “I was up late last night into the morning and didn’t fall asleep until the morning. What time is it?”

  “it’s five o’clock, Dad,” he told me. “I have to be at the school by five-thirty.”

  “Just let me put a shirt on, and I can drive you over,” I said, turning to go inside the apartment.

  “Dad, it’s fine. Preston is picking me up. I just wanted to see if you were going to the game or not. It’s no big deal.”

  Adam turned to go and started walking down the steps.

  I went out the door and yelled at him.

  “Adam!”

  Adam turned to look back at me.

  “I will be at the game, I promise. What time does it start?”

  “The game starts at 7:30. If you don’t make it, it’s fine. I can get someone to give me a ride home after.”

  “I said I’ll be there, and I will,” I told him with conviction. Adam looked back at me, and I saw him nod before he turned and went down the steps and then walked to the top of the driveway. A minute later
, there was the car I had seen the other morning picking him up again, and he was off.

  I couldn’t believe I had slept so long. I must have slept for at least nine hours, something I had never done before. Not only did I get to sleep, but my sleep was filled with those intense visions of Sarah. The dreams were so intense that I knew I needed to take another shower before I would go over to the school for the game.

  I showered as quickly as I could, trying to focus on making sure I got to the game on time so I could be there for Adam. I wasn’t even sure if he really wanted me there or not, but I knew I needed to make an effort and show him that I do care, that I do take an interest in him and his life. It may have been more important to me than to him right now, but hopefully, it would show him that he matters to me.

  I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, put my sneakers on, grabbed my gray hooded sweatshirt, and was ready to go out the door. After putting my wallet in my pocket, I realized I was going to need my keys to drive over to the school. I had to do a little searching to find the keys to the Jeep, but I finally found them in a box on my dresser, alongside a few other things I had there. I had some of the medals I had received in the Army, but there were also two pictures in there. One was of Ella, Adam, and I just days after he was born, smiling as we stood outside Ella’s parents’ house. The other was just a picture of Ella, and it was my favorite picture of her. It was just a silly picture that was taken when we had a weekend together in Atlantic City years ago. She was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a red tank top and had her picture taken with one of the characters dressed up and walking on the boardwalk. This one was of a giant Italian ice, and Ella had her arm around it, smiling and waving to the camera. She looked so happy, so sincere, and even though it seemed like a meaningless picture, it always showed me the beauty she had and made me realized how much in love with her I always was.

  I slid the pictures back into my box and closed it, picking up the keys and getting out of the apartment before I got too caught up. I walked out of the apartment and down to the garage below, opening the garage door. Inside was my Jeep, covered with a tarp just as it had been for most of the last six weeks since I had been back. I had taken the time to go down and start it occasionally just to check and make sure it was running. I had bought the jeep four years ago, to give myself a car of my own while Ella drove her Camry, which she thought was safer.

  I pulled the tarp off and climbed into the Jeep, starting it up and listening to the engine roar to life. I pulled out of the garage and was on my way, being careful as I drove along since it had been a while since I was behind the wheel of a car. I tried to remember my way to the school, getting lost once when I made the wrong turn and ended up going the wrong way down a one-way street. I finally figured out where I was and how to get to the school and pulled into the lot and parked.

  The high school lot was crowded since this was considered a rivalry game with Union High School, the school the next town over. Teenagers were streaming all over the parking lot, walking into the school with a lot of excitement and energy. I had never been to one of Adam’s games before, and never had to even be in the school. Ella took care of all those things like parent-teacher conferences, calls from the school nurse, going to games and performances, and the like. After she died, I know Linda picked up the mantle and did many of those things herself. For me, this was a first.

  I walked into the crowded gymnasium and found a seat on the bleachers on the home side of the gym. I picked a spot a few rows up, so I had a good position to watch the game. It wasn’t long before the place was filled and raucous. Both teams came out to screams from the crowd for their warmups. Adam was easy to spot since he was one of the tallest people on the team, and I watched as he went through the warmup drills with the rest of the team. As the team finished their drills, they headed over to the sidelines for instructions from the coach. The Swanson High cheerleaders took the floor and riled up the crowd some more. I spotted the girl in the picture with Adam cheering with the team. She was a perky blonde, with her ponytail bobbing as she jumped up and down and seemed to be one of the leaders of the team, much like Adam was with the basketball players.

  It was only a few minutes longer until the game started, and things did not get going well for Swanson from the start. They missed shots and played sloppy, almost like they were nervous facing their rivals at home. The team fell behind by twelve points, and Adam seemed to be having trouble getting open to get shots off. The Union players were big, fast, and strong, and were outmuscling Swanson easily. Frustration showed on Adam’s face as I watched the buzzer for the end of the first half sound and Swanson trailed by fourteen.

  The teams went to the locker rooms, music blared throughout the gym, and some people filed out to grab snacks or just get out of the hot, noisy gym. I had unzipped my sweatshirt and taken it off to avoid sweating like crazy for the third time today. I looked around and saw parents of other players proudly wearing t-shirts or sweatshirts indicating they were parents of players and felt like an outsider for even being there to root for Adam.

  When the second half started, Swanson again struggled to keep up. Adam was able to get open some more and take more shots, and he was getting more aggressive with his rebounding and moving on the opposing team. Swanson was able to close the gap to just six points with a little over two minutes left in the game. The Swanson coach called a timeout and pulled the team over, and I could hear Adam yelling in the team huddle, urging the team on to get them to the finish.

  Swanson had the ball and took it right down the court and hit a three-point shot, getting the crowd on their feet as they closed to within three points. Union brought the ball down the court, worked the shot clock, and took a shot with one second before the shot clock expired and missed, giving our team the ball with just over a minute left. After working the ball around and down to Adam inside, he quickly kicked the ball out to a teammate behind the three-point line, and he sent a beautiful shot swishing through the basket to tie the game. The crowd went berserk, and I could feel the gym bleachers shaking violently beneath my feet as people stomped, screamed and jumped.

  After a Union timeout, they inbounded the ball and moved it around, running the clock down to about twenty seconds before they took a shot. The shot clanged off the rim and Adam leaped high to grab the ball before anyone else, pulling it down with his elbows swinging to keep people away. He passed the ball quickly to the team’s guard and ballhandler, who worked quickly down the court as everyone got into position. I could see Adam struggling for position on his man down low, and with six seconds on the clock, a Swanson player put up a jump shot that bounced off the back of the rim. Adam, moving with great instinct, got his hand on the ball, tipping it back up deftly with his fingers so that the ball tipped off the backboard and went right through the basket as time expired.

  The crowd exploded in excitement, with high-pitched screams piercing the air as students stormed onto the court in celebration. I could see Adam get swept up in the frenzy as his teammates and friends surrounded him. He was beaming with pride, and so was I. It was a fantastic moment that I was so happy to get to share with him, even if he probably had no idea I was here.

  I worked my way through the crowds and down to the court, where I saw Adam high-fiving teammates and friends. I was able to get over to him, and he finally noticed me standing there. I went over to him and gave him a hug, catching him by surprise.

  “That was a great game, Adam,” I said proudly. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” he said as we broke the hug. He smiled at me and seemed like he was glad that I was there to see this moment. More of his friends and teammates came back over to him, slapping him on the back.

  “Do you want me to meet you outside?” I yelled to him, trying to get heard over the excitement.

  “Yeah,” he yelled back. “I’ll meet you out front in about fifteen minutes or so.”

  I worked my way through the crowd to find a way out
of the gym and outside. I was glad to get out of the stale air inside and get some fresh, cool air on my face. Teens and parents were all over the place outside, relishing in the Swanson victory with cheers. Even when I was back in high school myself, I never got caught up in school spirit or the teams we had, so it was different to see it from this side as the parent of a player. I could see how and why parents want to be a big part of this for their kids.

  I stood off to the side outside the school, waiting for the crowds right by the doors to thin out a bit before I moved over that way so I could see when Adam came out. It was about twenty minutes of standing around, looking at my watch, checking my phone for a message from him, and just killing time before I saw him come out the school doors. He was with a couple of his friends and had his arm around the cheerleader when he spotted me standing there. I gave a casual wave to make sure he spotted me in the dim lighting. I saw him say something to the people he was with and he then broke free from them and walked over towards me.