Page 52 of Everlasting

“Aww, babe,” she cooed and then her arms were wrapped around my middle and she was pulling me close. “I wanted that too, but your mom and dad will be here any minute, and this is all kind of for them too.”

“Ever?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s not looking good for either of them, is it?” She shook her head, almost imperceptibly. “I missed a whole year and came back to your mom being gone and both of my parents so sick that…” my words grew thick as I started to get choked up.

“It wouldn’t have helped, even if you’d been here. You need to know that. There would be something else you would blame for time lost. The club, trips to the grocery store, a family vacation where we spent time away from them. That time only seems precious the minute we know for sure that it’s fleeting. Hindsight always robs us of it.”

“When did you get so wise?”

“I’ve always been this way. That’s why you fell in love with me.”

“Really? I thought it was your fantastic boobs?”

“Jesus, Deck!” She laughed as I leaned in and nuzzled my stubbled jaw into the tender flesh where her neck and shoulder meet.

“Let’s get back out there. The more I’m seen, the quicker we can kick them all out and send them home,” I suggested.

Ever

The following day, I went to Ava’s house to collect on the revenge payment that was due to us. The only problem with that was the bitch wasn’t there. I searched the whole house before making my way back to the attic a second time. Finally, I found a letter and a gorgeous, luminescent feather lying near it. I must have knocked them off the table with the slight draft created when I opened the door. I bent to pick up both the paper and feather and found that there was ink on the tip of the feather’s shaft. I turned the letter over so that I could see the words that were printed there.

Sis,

I didn’t want you to get your hands dirty, so I took out the trash for you. Besides, it’s kind of a part of this new gig I got. Watch the news, you’ll probably catch wind of it in a couple of days.

Take care of your family and don’t waste a moment on regrets, they don’t exist where you’re headed next.

Love ya,

T.

I think I swallowed my heart; it was definitely in my stomach after reading that letter. There just was not any way this could be possible. I knew I stepped out on a giant limb and believed in a dream I had of my brother, but this was just too much. It wasn’t possible.

I didn’t waste any time getting back to Deck and the kids after discovering Sasha was missing. When I got home, with pizza in hand, I didn’t even have to make up an excuse for where I’d been. I was concerned that maybe I should tell someone, but for whatever reason I decided to believe in the damned letter I’d received from my ghost of a brother. Thinking of the feather that had been lying with the letter made me wonder if I needed to reassess what exactly my brother was. Maybe he was an angel now, an avenging angel at that, if he did what I think he did.

Sure enough, a few days later, in between stories of a new virus making its way around the globe from China, there was a little snippet about the body that was found out in the swamp, half-eaten by gators. They showed a picture of Sasha’s face in the hopes of identifying her remains. Deck turned to me and though he never bothered to ask what I knew about it, he smirked and turned the TV off.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you to do something for me,” he started to say.

“Well, if it’s to kill that bitch, it’s too late, deeds been done.” I never said I was the one who did it, though I think he assumed that was how it went down.

“Nah. Told you, I didn’t want anything to do with that bit. What I need from you is another tattoo.”

“Oh yeah? You have something specific in mind?”

“Yup! I want you to tattoo my heart on my sleeve.”

“Like an anatomical version, or...?”

He chuckled. “No, I want something that symbolizes our love, family, and our guardian angel. The fact that we both had stories about Toby getting us through and helping us during his absence was something that had brought Deck and I even closer.

“I think I have just the thing,” I told him.

The following day, while the girls were in school, we made our way to Permanent Marks and I sat my man down, closed my eyes, and thought of Toby and Ava. An image so clear it nearly made me cry for the imagery popped into my head and I started drawing a man with angel wings bigger than himself, tucked up and around a woman who appeared to dangle in his arms lifelessly. His head rested on the back of hers, chin cradled on the point where her neck met her back. They both have lifelike vines tattooed all over their bodies and one feather has come loose to flutter behind them. It was obvious there must have been a struggle and the man was devastated by what happened to his love. Yeah, that sounded right, so I continued to draw it out. He was holding his love, but she didn’t have her own wings so all he really had was hope, his love for her, and the faith that they would remain together, even in death.

When I explained it all to Deck, he simply nodded and didn’t say a word the whole time I inked the image on his skin. When I was done, he looked down and smiled. “Funny thing, it looks a lot like Toby.”

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