Chapter 31

I graduated from medical school a year and a half later. Instead of going back to hunting I decided to go back to my little accelerated program and get a degree in American folklore. James had gone out hunting with his family for the summer after the Kymorii thing and didn't come back. His sister Darcy called me a few weeks after he'd left and told me that he had died on a hunt.

I should have been upset, but really wasn't. I knew the risks of the job. It had already taken my sister and nearly Caleb, my dad, and my brothers more times than I probably knew about. I knew I loved James, but I wasn't surprised so it was a little easier to take. Dean took the news harder than I did when I told him.

A week before my last college graduation, Dean called. He told me that Sam was gone. He had gotten a full ride scholarship to Stanford University. Dad had gone ballistic when Sam told him about it and kicked the little brother out of the house. He said that Sam was staying at a friends house until his high school graduation and he and dad had packed up there stuff and left town as soon as Sam was gone.

I told Dean that I was happy for Sam and he should be to. I also told him that everything would be ok. He asked me what I was up to and I told him I was graduating from college for the third time at the end of the week. I could hear the smile on his face as he congratulated me and said he would be there. I told him not to make promises he could keep and he said he wouldn't.

A week later, I was walking across the stage to get my American Folklore degree and nearly dropped my diploma. Standing at the end of the stage was my big brother. I ran the rest of the way across the stage and jumped into my brother's arms. I didn't stay for the rest of the ceremony. As we were walking away I noticed some one behind us.

I turned around and there was dad. He had the same smile on his face that Dean had. I just said hi to him and then turned back to Dean and put my arm around his waist. We walked off to the Jeep and he drove while I took off my cap and gown and threw them into the street. He was kinda impressed that I was wearing steel toe boots and jeans instead of some stupid dress.

We drove to the nearest convenience store, bought some beer and then drove to the bay. Dad called him when we stopped. He told dad we'd be back to the motel in the morning and then hung up. As soon as he got off the phone, Caleb called me. He wanted to know who the guy was I walked off with. I told him I was with Dean and I'd call him later.

We spent the whole night talking. When we finally ran out of hunts and college stuff to talk about, he told me about the last fight dad and Sam got into. They didn't even try and drag him into it. He just sat in the kitchen and listened to them. He couldn't believe the things they were saying to each other.

He said it went on for an hour. Sam was packing his stuff the entire time they were screaming at each other. After Sam left, dad walked into the kitchen and stared at Dean. A few minutes later, he asked Dean to go find Sam. Dean walked out of the house, but he just sat on the porch.

An hour later he went back into the house and found dad at the kitchen table. All of his stuff was packed and he was taking shots of tequila straight from the bottle. Dean just told dad that Sam wasn't coming back. Dad just said fine and then started to load his stuff into the car. Dean asked him what he was doing and dad said he was going hunting.
Dean told him to wait and he'd get his stuff together. Dad just looked at him and then nodded. Dean packed all his stuff up in a few minutes, in spite of the fact that he was talking to me on the phone, and then walked out to the car. Dad was passed out in the passenger seat. He just put his stuff in the drunk, got into the driver's seat and headed for San Francisco.

Dad didn't even ask where they were going when he woke up the next morning. He wouldn't even say a word to Dean. They stopped and got a motel for a few hours each day so they could sleep. It took them a week to get there. They arrived at my graduation a few minutes before my name was called to get my diploma.

I could tell that the whole thing had really rattled him. I asked him if he'd tried to call Sam since that night and he said no. He told me that he wanted to come and get me and then go back to Wallace, North Carolina where they had left Sam. He wanted to watch Sam graduate from high school, but he didn't wanna go alone and he didn't think dad would go.

What he really wanted was for me to be there when he told Sam about Laura and me. He knew I didn't want him to tell Sam the details, and he had no intention of doing so. He just wanted me to be there cause he knew things were gonna get bad. Sam was going to hate him for keeping this secret and that scared him. I agreed to go without hesitation. This fight was all my fault and there was no way I was gonna abandon my older brother when he needed me the most.