Page 11 of Three Not-So-Little Words
I pray to God that our move across the country isn’t what eventually lands him in therapy. I’m sure there are a million ways I could fuck him up as he gets older. I don’t want to do it quite so soon.
The past year has been a whirlwind. Before Natalie’s accident, she had Colton the majority of the time. I saw him as much as I could, but I was still fighting on the circuit, so training and fight nights made that a bit more difficult. The guilt of that ate away at me constantly.
After the accident, everything in my life took a backseat to fatherhood. Becoming a full-time dad is hard enough, but being a dad to a grieving son takes the cake.
I’ve done my best to make him comfortable. We even tried staying in the house where Natalie and Colton lived. That was a mistake, though. There were too many memories and too much pain.
I finally decided that this move and a fresh start would be best for us. It would be the best way for us to move on.
Let’s just hope it was the right decision.
We pull into the parking lot of Jack’s Auto Shop. Heading toward the front door, we walk past the garage windows. I glance inside and see all the bays are full.
Busy shop.
That’s a good sign.
I don’t pretend to be an expert in cars, but I know enough. I’m willing to learn whatever I need to so that I can make this work.
We head in the front door and are quickly greeted by Jack. If I didn’t know him beforehand, he would look like an intimidating son of a bitch. He stands a few inches taller than me, and even though he doesn’t still fight, he’s pretty muscular. He has dark hair with an equally dark beard–although these days, I can see a few grays scattered throughout.
“Well, look who it is,” he says with a smile.
“Jack, it’s good to see you.” I shake his hand before giving him a hug.
When he lets go, he turns his attention to Colton. “Hey, bud. What’s your name?”
“Colton,” he squeaks out in a small voice.
“It’s nice to meet you, Colton. I’m Jack.”
Still being shy, Colton just waves.
Jack asks, “Do you like really big tow trucks?”
Colton nods.
At this moment, another guy comes walking by.
“Hey, Dylan,” Jack calls, getting his attention.
The man walks over to join us. “What’s up?”
Jack says, “Drew, I’d like you to meet Dylan. Dyl is my best guy–and also happens to be my almost-brother-in-law. Dylan, Drew here is a friend from back in Miami. He just moved to town and is our new hire.”
“Nice to meet you.” Dylan reaches out to shake my hand before looking at Colton.
Before he can ask any questions, Jack says, “And this is Colton. I imagine he’ll be hanging out here every once in a while. Why don’t you take him to go sit in the tow truck?”
Dylan gets the hint that Jack and I need to talk without little ears listening. “Let’s do it, Colton. And I think there’s some donuts in the break room we can get into…if your dad says it’s okay.”
He and Colton both look to me for my approval, and I nod.
When they walk away, Jack gestures for me to follow him into his office. Once inside, he shuts the door behind us.
I take a seat at his desk, opposite from him. “This is a nice shop you’ve got here, Jack.”
“Thanks. Keeps the bills paid and keeps me busy.” When he sits down, he asks, “So, how are you doing?”
