Standing in the Dark - Chapter Nineteen
Duluth, Minnesota. 1995.
Carlos was five years old when he first met Kendall, James, and Logan. They were all in preschool together - back in Minnesota.
It was the middle of December and Christmas decorations were strung all over the building. It being the middle of the winter in Minnesota, everyone was stuck indoors because of a vigorous snowstorm that was raging outside. It had been snowing since three in the morning and had already reached three feet of snow fall.
The small Latino was standing in one of the many playrooms with his face pressed against the window. He didn't care that the glass was freezing cold or that his teacher had told him time and time again to "get away from the windows and do something else." All he wanted to do was go outside and play in the snow - maybe even find a way to play some ice hockey on the outdoor swimming pool across the street.
"Carlos!" A woman yelled from behind him. Turning around, he winced and smiled sheepishly at his teacher, who looked rather ticked off. "What did I tell you? Go do something else or I'll call your mother!"
She stormed away and Carlos sadly stepped away from the windows. He didn't have many friends at the preschool/day care that his mother dropped him off at every morning. The only kid who was remotely friendly to him was this girl, Jenny, who was so clumsy that she almost took his eye out with a crayon the day before.
Not wanting to lose one of his appendages, Carlos looked around at the other kids who were playing with their own friends. They all seemed to be content with who they were playing with, so he opted to sit down on the rug and color several pages in the coloring book. Just like he did every other day when they were cooped up inside. He'd only colored half of one page before he heard footsteps coming up behind him.
"Hey!"
Looking over his shoulder, Carlos saw a taller boy with sandy brown and weirdly straight teeth for a preschooler. "Hey." He responded apprehensively.
"Me and my friends are playin' hockey, but we only have three kids. Will you be on my team?" The boy asked happily.
Carlos smiled big, completely forgetting about his coloring book, and nodded, "Sure!"
He quickly got to his feet and together they raced across the playroom to join another tall boy who was blonde and another who was shorter than Carlos with dark brown hair.
"My name is James, by the way." The sandy haired kid said and pointed at the other two boys, "That's Kendall and Logan."
The Latino smiled again, happy to have someone to play with, "I'm Carlos."
Los Angeles, California. October 13, 2013. 10:03am.
Bradley blinked open his eyes slowly. The right side of his face was pressed against one of his white, fluffy pillows. For a moment, he stared at the opposite side of the bed in confusion. The sheets were still tucked in and straight as they had been left the night before when Bradley went to bed. He'd fallen asleep staring at the vacant end of the bed, his mind racing.
At that moment, he couldn't remember what he'd been thinking about. All he knew was that it bothered him enough to keep him awake for hours. Rolling over onto his back, the blonde man stared up at the ceiling and sighed.
Then, it all came back to him. He remembered every detail of the night before. The hours he spent contemplating what he would say to Carlos when he got home, the fight they had, and when Carlos stormed out of their apartment into the rain.
He'd called Carlos twice and then thrown the phone under the coffee table in the living room. After that, all Bradley remembered was falling into bed, covering his face with a pillow, and screaming until his throat gave out.
Pulling himself out of the bed, Bradley got to his feet and made his way towards the bedroom door. He ran a hand through his wavy hair and padded down the hallway that led to the living room. He figured that he might as well check and see if Carlos had called him back. He was doubtful, but it was worth a try.
The sight of the living room made his ears ring. He could hear every hurtful word they'd yelled at each other the night before and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching under the coffee table. Feeling his fingers graze the cold plastic, he grabbed his phone and pulled.
"Damn it." The blonde groaned when he noticed a large crack in the glass screen. It must have shattered when he'd thrown it the night before. Luckily, it still worked.
One message from Carlos.
Unlocking his phone, Bradley saw that it was just a simple, three word text. I love you. Sent at 10:37pm.
Bradley sighed and squeezed his eyes shut in attempt to keep himself from crying. He'd spent too much of his time crying over Carlos. He didn't deserve that.
Before he could type a message back, his thoughts were interrupted by an urgent knock at the door.
Duluth, Minnesota. 2003.
The four of them were thirteen years old when they first scored a spot in the regional play-offs for hockey.
"I can't believe it! We're going to the play-offs!" Kendall exclaimed as the four of them rushed into the locker room with the rest of their hockey team.
They were each wearing blue and white hockey jerseys with the words "Blue Devils" that were appliquéd on by someone's mother. Even though they were only in the 8th grade on a middle school team, this was their first ever big advance in hockey. When they were on the peewee hockey team, the farthest they'd ever gotten was to a local match where they always lost to the older teams.
"Me either, man." Logan breathed, still recovering from getting the wind knocked out of him after getting checked into the boards during the game.
James and Carlos followed behind them into the locker room, talking excitedly about the team's game play.
The boys had just peeled off their pads and were busy changing into their normal clothes when their hockey coach walked into the room. Even though they had practically slaughtered the other team, the coach naturally found a way to criticize their game play.
"Diamond, you nearly cost us the entire game when you slipped on the ice! What if the other team had tried to make a shot and scored because you were too busy being uncoordinated?" The coach spat as James looked away to hide the grin on his face. They knew the coach well enough to know that when he yelled at them like this, he actually meant that he thought they played well.
Coach rolled his eyes at James and turned to glare at Kendall, "Knight, your shots were slow and weak. The other team had more than enough opportunities to steal the puck from us. Luckily it looks like they eat enough food to feed a small cow and were too slow to catch up."
Kendall scoffed and continued to stuff his pads and jersey into his hockey bag, knowing that he was probably the best shot on the team. Of course he was about as egotistical as the next thirteen-year-old boy and being constantly told that he was one of the best players on the team didn't bring him any humility.
"Finally, Garcia." Coach glared down at the small boy, who winced in return. "You should be proud, boy. You're the reason we're heading to play-offs. I've never seen anyone steal that many pucks in one game since I taught college in '97."
Carlos immediately lit up. It wasn't often that he was singled out for the good things that he did on the ice - Coach liked to point out every time Carlos got winded and cost them a point. Smiling big, he laughed as the rest of the team crowded around him and cheered his name.
Los Angeles, California. October 13, 2013. 10:27am.
Pulling the front door the apartment open, Bradley was immediately greeted by the sight of a woman. She was shorter than him and had curly, auburn hair. She looked to be in her mid-forties or early fifties. He almost instantly recognized her from pictures.
"Hello?" The blonde asked.
"Are you Bradley?" She asked skeptically. She bit her lip nervously and looked over her shoulder at the blue car parked on the street, as if she didn't want to be there.
Bradley nodded quickly, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's me."
"I'm Jennifer Knight." The woman explained and Bradley nodded. Carlos had told him her name before and he knew that she was Kendall's mother. "Can I come in?"
Taking a step back to give her room to step inside, Bradley nodded again. He tried to ignore the cold feeling that was beginning to form in his stomach. This couldn't be good.
Jennifer padded into the apartment and glanced around, taking in the setting. She nodded approvingly at the cleanliness and ran her fingertips along the cheap granite counter top before she made her way into the living room. Without even having to be asked, she sank down on the yellow couch. Bradley followed her awkwardly into the room, bewildered as to what her presence in his and Carlos' apartment could mean.
Well, it might as well just be his apartment now that Carlos had left.
"Not to be rude or anything," He said slowly, taking the spot on the couch adjacent to Jennifer and turning to face her, "But why are you here?"
Jennifer cleared her throat and looked down at her shoes, as if trying to find a place to start. Finally, she turned her head to face the blonde, her eyes watering but a weak smile on her lips.
"You know, Carlos always spoke a great deal about you to me." She began, "Even after the boys hurt him and kicked him out of the band, he always kept in contact with me."
Bradley stared at her in confusion, the feeling in his stomach beginning to ache.
"He said you helped him a lot over the past few years. He even said that he might have died without you here to help him." She choked on her words and Bradley looked away.
St. Paul International Airport - Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2009.
Three cars pulled up outside of the terminal gate at St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The doors on the two front cars opened slowly and four boys stepped out. Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan were sixteen.
"This is it, Terminal D." Logan read, looking down at a small slip of paper in his hand.
He and Kendall stepped away from the taxi they were in after paying the driver and watched as the car sped away, along with the taxi that Carlos and James had just stepped out of and paid. The last taxi held all of their luggage and the driver waited patiently, not minding that the boys were taking their time since it kept the meter running and meant he'd get more money out of them.
Carlos looked up at the cloud covered sky and felt a few rain drops dapple his face. It was a cold, autumn evening and the sky was beginning to get darker and darker. He bit his lip and turned to face the other boys, who were making their way towards the last car.
"Are you guys sure that this is a good idea?" He asked suddenly.
The three of them stopped and turned to face him, eyebrows raised in confusion. "What?" James asked.
"I-I dunno." Carlos stammered nervously. He knew that it was and always had been James' dream to move out to L.A. and become a musician, but he was slightly skeptical about what he wanted. "I mean, this is our home."
Kendall and Logan exchanged a look but James frowned before turning away and opening the trunk of the taxi. He ignored Carlos' question as he started to gather together his luggage. He didn't have time for silly, doubtful questions.
"Do you not want to go with us, Carlitos?" Logan asked.
Carlos quickly shook his head, "No, I just don't really like change… you know?"
Kendall chuckled, "Change is good, though. We can't expect to hang around Minnesota forever, right?"
"I guess so." Carlos murmured, looking down at his feet as Kendall went to gather his luggage too. He stood there quietly for a moment before he felt a hand on his arm. Looking up, he noticed that Logan was standing next to him.
"You don't think you're cut out for a singing career, do you?"
Carlos laughed a little and shook his head again, "I've never sang before in my life."
"Me either. But this Gustavo Roque guy said he could make a dog into a pop star. And I think you sing better than a dog." The dark haired boy said.
Carlos smiled, "You think so?"
"Hell, yeah!" Logan encouraged, "Now lets get on that plane, go to L.A, and see if he can make us famous."
Carlos nodded and Logan wrapped his arm around the Latino's shoulder and together they walked over to the car where Kendall and James were fighting over who was going to pay the taxi driver.
Los Angeles, California. October 13, 2013. 10:59am.
"Sweetheart," Jennifer murmured, placing her hand on Bradley's shoulder in comfort.
The blonde didn't look at her and instead stared at the coffee table in front of the couch. "What are you trying to tell me, Jennifer?"
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "Sweetie, last night at around ten-thirty or eleven, Carlos was driving on the interstate. I know that you know it was raining pretty hard and the interstate is already hard to drive on when it's a clear night…"
"Yeah."
"Bradley, he… he hit a tree." She whispered, "Carlos died on impact."
It was a waste. Such a terrible waste.
Carlos' entire life was over. Just like that.
Every time he smiled or laughed or yelled or cried was now a memory. Every word he sang was just a recording. Every hug he'd ever given was now the ghost of a feeling.
It was as if all that time he'd spent just living had gone to waste. All those years of playing hockey and getting increasingly better with every game and even making it to nationals a few times with Kendall, James, Logan, and the rest of his team was a waste. All that time he spent moving to Los Angeles and forming a band with his best friends and having the time of his life was thrown out the window.
Even after he'd been kicked out of the band, Carlos had spent years in college and working on his photography and working in the studio. It was all over.
Every-damn-thing that Carlos had ever done was over and a mere memory.
Bradley finally tore his eyes away from the ground to look at Jennifer, his eyes strangely dark and his voice barely above a whisper, "No…"
Jennifer brought a hand up to her mouth and her other hand squeezed his shoulder. She wanted to say something, but the lump in her throat impaired her from doing so. She wanted to say that she was sorry, but the words wouldn't come out.
The blonde bit his lip and tears brimmed the edges of his eyes. Shaking his head, he covered his face with his hands. Even though he wanted nothing more to be in denial, he knew that this was reality.
Carlos Garcia was dead.
Hey! It's been over two months since I updated this story, but I've finally managed to throw a chapter together! I actually really like this one, especially the flash back to preschool. Just the feeling of it was warm and happy and I think it was a nice touch to this chapter, especially since it's so sad.
Please don't hate me for what I did to Carlos! Even before I began writing this story, I knew that Carlos was going to die in the end. I tried to steer away from his death but every plot line I had always circled back to this one scene. Sometimes things just have to happen, you know?
Also, on my profile, I posted a explanation for my long absence. I don't know how many of you go back to author profiles very often, but I just want you guys to know that I'll be updating it a lot with the progress of my stories (like if I'm currently writing a new chapter or story) or why I haven't been around very much. So, in case you haven't seen my profile recently, I just want you guys to know that I'm held up a lot with school and being on the newspaper staff and it keeps me from being able to write at much as I used to (which wasn't much to begin with to be honest) but this week I had a long weekend and not much work to do so I took the chance to write a new chapter!
Thank you so much for reading this new chapter! Please leave me some feedback and let me know what you thought about it. I want to know what you guys think about the interesting turn of events that took place here. I think there might be one or two more chapters until the end, so tell me if there are any loose ends you want me to tie up or questions you want answered in the upcoming chapters.
- Carnie