Page 58 of Wandering in Darkness
“You drove hours to tell them something?” I ask.
“I… was also hopeful… that maybe you’d want to see Trav,” he says as he points at the car where the dog waits.
And I realize that I really do want to see him.
I push past him and rush out to the car then pull open the back door. “Oh, you cutie pie!” I coo as I reach for him.
The dog was a stray that had severe mange when we found him. While he is all cleared up now, his skin is still funky in a few spots, so his hair grows in patches. But he’s still adorable and sweet.
He leaps into my arms, so happy to see me that he nearly knocks me down.
“You are just the sweetest cutie pie ever,” I say, sitting down in the grass as he dances, flips, and flops all around. He crashes into my legs, flips onto his back, and wiggles this way and that while I try to pet his stomach.
Grayson quietly walks over and sits in the grass near me. “He missed you.”
“I missed him,” I say.
“I missed you.”
I swallow hard, refusing to answer that. I don’t know how to. It hurts too much.
“So the reason I’m here is because I got a call from the evilest old man. He cussed me out for apparently no reason at all. He told me that among your things, he found my number because you wouldn’t answer your phone.”
My stomach tightens.
“He said, and I quote, ‘I don’t know who the fuck you are, but if you don’t bring that shitty asshole over here, I will find you,and I will make you regret it.’ Did you get wrapped up with the mafia?”
“No, that’s just my old neighbor.”
“Well… I’ve come to take you to see him.”
I hesitate as I absorb this. “I can’t go see him.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Because I can’t.”
“He said it was important, that he had to see you or he might not get to see you again.”
“Fuck…” I whisper before nodding. “Fuck. Okay.”
I don’t want to go, but what else am I going to do? What if his cancer has come back? What if something really bad has happened and I can see him one last time?
Grudgingly, I get into the car with him. Trav tries his hardest to climb into the front seat with me so I can hold him like a baby. He’s like forty-some pounds, so the comfort of this is quite poor, but he’s happy, so I’m happy.
Grayson is quiet for a moment before saying, “The other day was a shit show. An absolute shit show.”
“Why’d you join them?” I ask.
“You don’t want to get involved, do you? If I tell you why, you’d be getting involved.”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“You had a panic attack getting involved last time. I don’t want you involved.”
“I didn’t have a panic attack,” I say, well aware I’m lying. “I just…”
“I think you should stay out of it.”
