It was about 11 o'clock in the morning when Martin went to wake up Ruthie. He grabbed a donut and a glass of milk and set it on the coffee table for her.
"Ruthie! Honey wake up!" Martin said, kissing her on her cheek.
"Oh! Why? I was having the most amazing dream…"
"About?"
"Us…future…all that good stuff."
"Well I'm sorry to spoil your dream…but you gotta get up…its almost noon."
"So? Almost. Not yet…"
"Oh well. Get up!
We're going to the mall to get some lunch and then we're all
going back to your house…family dinner…and I'm invited." He
said, sounding sort of proud to be considered family.
"Well
someday you will be family….but you might as well be now…"
"Yeah… I guess so. Come on! We gotta get dressed and go! Luce had to go to the church this morning and Kevin's upstairs. She'll be home by noon and then we're leaving so hurry up!"
Ruthie sighed, grabbed her clothes, and went into the bathroom to change. Martin sat on the couch and turned on the TV. He decided to watch Boy Meets World. Eric was doing something dumb again, and ended up setting the dorm on fire while he was carrying Cory around singing 'Jolly Good Fellow'. Martin laughed as Kevin came downstairs with a worried look on his face. Martin turned off the TV and looked at Kevin.
"Ruthie's still friends with Jack right?"
"Yeah…but what does that have to do with anything?"
"We got a huge problem. Where is she?"
"Bathroom…upstairs."
"Ok…let's talk quick…I just talked to Dad, and he said that…uh…Jack was killed last night."
"How? When?"
"At around 11 last
night…he was hit by a drunk driver. His brother is suffering a
broken leg and arm. But Jack's gone…"
"And she doesn't
know?"
"Nope…but I think you should tell her."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you're her boyfriend and she loves you more than anything."
"I can't…not alone…I just can't…she's gonna be crushed."
"Yeah I know. What are we gonna do?"
"I don't know…but she'll find out eventually."
"What?" Ruthie asked, coming down the stairs. "What will I find out?"