Everybody makes mistakes. Some are just more massive than others...
Back In Seattle
1. Check that rear view mirror
Wow, how had everything gotten so screwed up? It's been eight years, for what, just a waste of time. Eight years, damn…
Freddie sat at the bar in a semi seedy pub in the Rainier Beach district of southern Seattle. He had just moved back to Seattle from Spokane. He'd just had enough left to buy a nice tiny little house on Rainier Avenue. This place, 'Nolan's Bar and Grill' was about a block south of his house. His new neighbors had been right. This place hid one of the best eateries in the area. And the Nolan's and locals kept it that way. Hidden.
Fred sipped his beer and contemplated his life so far. Toward the end of his senior year in high school he and his one time friend Sam Pucket had begun going out. Not really dating at first, just hanging out together, allot. By the time they had made it about half way through their freshman year at UoW, the couple was nearly living together. Sam and he were inseparable. Sam had a tiny apartment near the school. She'd had to get the place when her mother remarried and left for Redding California with her new husband. Freddie still officially lived with his mother at Bushwell Plaza, but only spent maybe one night in ten in his old room. Freddie's mother wasn't really pleased, but what could she do. Carly still lived at the Plaza with her brother. Things were going pretty darn good, and then it all fell apart.
The first problem was Toby, Carly's new boyfriend. He didn't seem like much of a problem at the time, but he was the spark that lit all the fires. To make a long story short, Toby got Carly pregnant. Then they compounded the issue by getting married. Two months, two weeks and three days after Lyle was born, Toby cleaned out their bank account and left. No notes, no nothing. He was just gone. The marriage hadn't been working anyway, so Carly wasn't all that upset. Six months and eighteen days after Toby had disappeared; Carly's divorce in absentia was final.
While all of this drama was going on in Carly's life, things couldn't have been better for Freddie and Sam. After all the warring they had done when younger, they had found each other to be kindred souls. Maybe not a perfect match as far as interests went, but as far as each other, they were a pair, and were in love. For spring break in that fateful year, they had decided to take a road trip, a safari, to visit Sam's mother and step father at their ranch just outside Redding. Robert 'Bob' Burkett had risen to demigod status with Sam and her sister Melanie. He was just a wonderful man. And, he shared an operating cattle ranch with their mother. Beef on the hoof set Sam to happily drooling. Melanie had come to visit on her break from school at USC as well. Sam and Mel's mother had seemed to get right into the ranchers lifestyle. She even rode horses now. While that might be alright for their mother, Melanie and Sam had Freddie drive them around in an old Jeep that was kept on the ranch. The Safari went well for everyone.
School continued then finals and summer jobs. Then a minor tragedy struck. A horse had bucked off Sam's mother and she had broken her leg. Nothing awfully serious, but she couldn't get around at all. Melanie had a really good job in Southern California; Sam was working at the University bookstore. The call went out to Sam to quit her job and move to Redding for the summer and help her mother. Sam was going alone. Freddie was doing some work for a large computer firm, and couldn't leave either. She didn't like it, but knew she had to go. Heck, it was just for the summer, only about ten or eleven weeks. Sam's step dad had offered to pay the rent on Sam's apartment, but she had decided, with Freddie's help, that she would be better off storing her things and pocketing the money Bob was offering. Freddie took a couple days off and made a long weekend trip and dropped Sam off at the ranch.
Carly had never left her and her brothers shared apartment at Bushwell, even while married. It was nice to have Freddie living just across the hall again. It wasn't so good that Sam wasn't there, but Carly and he spent quite a bit of time together. They even made video blogs for Sam to watch. One evening there was a small fair in the park just down the street. Freddie thought it would be fun to take Lyle. He and Carly and Lyle were having a great time. One thing led to another, and the next morning Freddie woke up in Carly's bed, wondering how he was going to tell Sam. After a few days, he worked up the courage to do a video conference with Sam, and told her what had happened. Before he could even begin to tell her how much he loved her and how sorry he was that this had happened, the video and audio dropped out. Phone calls went unanswered. A few days later the promise ring he had given her the year before came in the mail. Just the ring in a plain box, no note attached. Sam didn't return that August.
Freddie was devastated. Carly consoled him by reminding him that she was indeed his first love. He had come to realize that she really wasn't. She was his first crush, Sam was his first love. But that was gone now. He was in a daze, before he knew it, He and Carly were married. Their marriage was blah. No spark, nothing. Freddie finished school, and took a job in Spokane. He and Carly trudged along, smiling at each other, but little else. Freddie had always done contract programming at home. Soon, he was making more doing that than he was going to work from eight to five. He left his job and worked from home. After a couple months, Carly decided she would get a position, since Freddie would be home to watch Lyle. After nearly six years of marriage, and over a year at her new job, Carly came home one evening and announced that she had found someone else and was leaving him that night. She packed a few things, took Lyle and was gone. Freddie didn't cry. He didn't do anything. He felt just about the same as he had felt for the last five plus years. Nothing, empty…
The next morning he gave his thirty day notice at the apartment manager's office. He boxed up the few items he wanted over the next few days and filed for divorce. He cleaned out their bank account, paid all off their small debts, split the money and had a certified check drawn up that he dropped off at Carly's work. He stood in front of her desk, handed her the check and told her that other than the state requirement of finalizing their divorce, they were all finished. They could walk away from each other and would not have a need to communicate further. He got her new address so he would know where to send the final decrees. He got in his car, and headed west on I 90. In just a little over four hours he would be back, back in Seattle.
That was just over a month ago. He'd stayed with his mother while he looked for a house. Spencer still lived right across the hall, but they avoided each other like the plague. Finding this little forgotten neighborhood had been the best thing to happen to him in years. He had been able to nearly pay off this tiny little house. It was only a two bedroom place with the bedrooms all upstairs, and only a small kitchen and living room on the ground floor. There was a small garage out behind the house, where there was laundry hookups and storage. This place was perfect for him, but no one else would want it due to the small size. He wouldn't need anything bigger. He was done with women. Finished…
He picked up his beer and had a sip. His dinner plate was empty in front of him. That just might have been the best steak he had ever had. His beer was kind of warm, so he thought he'd have another. The bartender was just down from him, so Freddie motioned and pointed to his beer bottle. The bartender, Allen, nodded and pulled a Bud Light out of the ice cold water tub, dried it off and twisted off the cap. Freddie asked how much he owed for everything. He was given a bill for $24.60. Freddie gave Allen $30.00 and told him to keep the change. Allen looked up and smiled and thanked Freddie, but then his expression changed to total confusion. Freddie looked at Allen and asked what was wrong.
That instant, Freddie heard "BENSON" yelled directly behind him as the beer bottle smashed into the top of his head. He fell to the floor. Just before passing out he noticed dozens of pieces of broken brown glass littering the floor, and a pair of red converse shoes.
Well, there is chapter one. Should I let this one languish, or continue it. Let me know please. Reviews are the cream in your coffee you know...