“Are they gone?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah.  They should be out until midnight or so.  Wanna come in?” she said, leaning into him for a kiss. 

It had been a couple of months since the break-up with Nicole Dixon.  Nick had briefly dated a couple of girls, the most recent being his second favorite skate-dancing partner, much to the consternation of his favorite partner, but he still felt like Kat was too young for him.

“Sure… but what about your brother and Kat?” Nick asked. 

“Tim is in his room watching TV and Kat said she’d give us some privacy.”

Nick stood up and then pulled Heather to her feet so he could give her a proper kiss.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into him, enthusiastically returning his kiss.  As they broke apart, she slipped through the door to make sure the coast was clear, then ushered him to her bedroom on the second floor, across the hall from the top of the stairs. 

As he walked into the room, he saw Kat sitting on the bed, hugging her knees. 

“Hey, Nick.  I thought you had to work tonight?” she said, her eyes betraying the smile on her lips. 

“It was really slow, so Junior told me I could cut out for a couple of hours.  I have to be back at eleven.”

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, then.  I’m gonna go watch TV with Tim.  Ok?”  She winked at Heather and blew a teasing kiss at Nick, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…”

Kat sashayed out of the room and walked down the hall to Tim’s room and knocked on the door.  Nick and Heather could hear her telling Tim she was bored of listening to her friend talking on the phone with her boyfriend. 

Heather closed the door and then pushed Nick back on the bed.  “Where did we leave off outside?” she said with a twinkle in her eye.  She dropped on top of him then rolled over to her side, pulling him close. 

***

Kat burst through the door.  “They’re back,” she hissed.  “Your parents are home early.”  She quietly closed the door behind her.  As soon as she stopped moving, all three of them could hear the movement downstairs as Heather tried to figure out what to do.

Heather’s parents came through the door into the kitchen, talking loudly about how bad the wedding reception had been and how glad they were to have gotten out quickly.  A moment later Nick heard someone on the stairs. 

Heather, on the verge of panic, kept her cool and looked around her room.  She decided the closet was the best bet and pushed Nick toward it.  He was tucking in his shirt with one hand and trying to push some clothes out of the way with the other.  Heather was busy fixing her own clothes as she shut the door behind him, leaving him in darkness between her dresses and jackets. 

“What have you two been up to?” Heather’s mom said, opening the bedroom door. 

“I was watching TV with Tim, Mrs. Jackson.  Heather was on the phone with Nick until just a minute ago,” Kat said quickly. 

“Well, that’s not very nice, Heather.  Your friend came here to spend the night with you.  You shouldn’t ignore her all night,” Mrs. Jackson said. 

“I know, Mom, but Nick had a break and I wanted to talk with him.  It was only for a minute.”

“I understand, but spend time with your friend, huh?”

Nick sat in the closet listening, hoping Heather’s mom couldn’t hear his heart beating through his chest.  Or his breathing, which seemed to be getting louder with each breath. 

“You guys are home early, Mom.  Everything ok?” Heather asked nervously, changing the subject. 

Her mother rolled her eyes, “You know how much your dad hates wedding receptions… and this one was the worst.  The DJ was terrible.  The food wasn’t good, either.  Anyway, your father and I are in for the night, now.  We’ll be down in the living room watching TV if you need anything.  Oh, and Kat, we saw your mom.  She was the wedding photographer.  I’m sure her pictures will be the highlight of the wedding… it sure won’t be the DJ.”

She backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.  The two girls looked at each other and had to work hard to hold back the nervous laughter.  Heather watched the door for a moment before turning back to the closet and Nick. 

“I’m gonna need a phone.  I have to call Junior at the rink and tell him I won’t be back on time,” he said when she opened the door.  “And I’m going to need to visit the bathroom before long, too.” 

“I’ll work on getting a phone, first.  Stay right there.”  She kissed him again, then smiled before turning away, giggling a little to herself.

Heather closed the door most of the way and left her bedroom.  Her brother had a long cord for his phone, so she needed to borrow it.  Nick would have to stay in the closet to talk to his boss or her parents might hear him. 

Kat slipped over to the closet door and plopped down in front of Nick, “Quite a pickle you’ve gotten yourself into this time.”

Heather came back into the room and plugged the longer phone cord in.  She handed Nick the phone and he dialed his boss’s number at the skating rink. 

“This is Nick, I need to speak to Junior,” he whispered as loudly as he dared. 

Heather squeezed in next to him so that she could hear both sides of the conversation. 

“Nick, where are you, Man?  You are supposed to be here,” Junior replied, a slight edge to his voice. 

“I’m stuck… in a closet… in a girl’s bedroom.  Her parents came home, and I was up here.  I can’t get out until they go to sleep.”

Junior started laughing.  “Window?” he finally coughed out.

“Her room is on the second floor and there are some nasty bushes down there.  Trust me, I thought about that option.”

“Whatever, Nick.  Get here when you can,” Junior finished.  He hung up the phone. 

“That went better than I expected,” Nick said, handing the phone back to Heather.  She smiled, kissed him, and then took the long cable back to her brother. 

When Nick looked up, he saw Kat watching him, smiling again. 

“What?” he said.

“This would be an epic story, if I could tell it.  And I REALLY want to tell it.”

“Maybe wait until Heather is away at college…  I don’t think either of us are ready to die.  I’m pretty sure her dad would dismember me if he found out.”

Kat started laughing.  “This is really funny, though.  You have to admit.”

“Maybe I’ll laugh about it tomorrow, if I’m still breathing.”

Heather walked back into the room, “What are you two laughing about?”

“Just how funny this will be later… when it isn’t an emergency,” Kat said.  “I guess you guys got some bonus time.  I’m just gonna read for a little bit, ok?”  She grabbed a book from her bag and sprawled out on the bed.

Heather walked back over to the closet, squeezed her way in and pulled the door behind her.  It was snug, but she was ok with that. 

Thirty minutes later Nick let her know that his need to visit the bathroom was getting to the point where it wasn’t going to be ignored much longer.  Kat looked between the two of them and strolled out of the room.  She came back into the room a moment later and told them to give her a minute.  She would distract Heather’s dad.  Her mom had already gone to bed. 

When Heather got the sign from Kat, Nick crawled across the hall on his hands and knees to keep from being seen by anyone downstairs.  He slipped into the bathroom and tried to pee as quietly as possible.  He quickly washed up and cracked the door open to look for the signal to come back.  Heather waved him over and he crawled back across the hall. 

“Crawling isn’t a good look for you, Nick,” Heather said with a grin splitting her face. 

“Balled up like an empty beer can by your dad is also not a good look,” he replied.  She kissed him again as Kat walked into the room. 

“I’d say get a room… but I guess you kind of already have one,” Kat said, laughing at her own joke.  “Come on… you guys know this is funny, right?” she said when they didn’t laugh back right away.  “You need to lighten up and laugh a little.”

Nick walked back over to the closet and sat on “his box” as Heather joined him to spend a little more time in his arms. 

After a few minutes, Kat said she was going to go downstairs and watch Saturday Night Live with Heather’s dad.  She would keep an eye on him so that she’d know when he was going to go to bed.  Heather and Nick stayed in the closet together, enjoying the closeness of the space. 

An hour later Kat quietly opened the door.  “Your dad is asleep in his chair.  This might be your best chance,” she whispered. 

“When will he go up to bed?” Nick asked. 

“He might not… sometimes when he falls asleep in the chair he’s there until morning.  I love having you here and it’s been really fun, but I think this is our best chance,” Heather said.  She kissed him again to punctuate how much she’d enjoyed having him hang out for the evening. 

Kat was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, rolling her eyes.  Heather went down in the lead, watching for a hand signal from Kat.  Nick followed, ready to bolt for the front door as soon as possible.  His freedom was only a few feet behind Heather’s father as he slept in the chair.

As Nick stepped off the bottom step, Mr. Jackson snorted and shifted in his chair.  Heather slipped over to the door and unlocked it with a clunk.  Kat kept her position by the couch, watching Mr. Jackson for signs of waking.  She kept her thumbs up as Nick slipped through the front door and ran across the lawn toward his car parked just around the corner. 

He unlocked his door and slid into the driver’s seat.  He fired up the big engine and pulled away from the curb as gently as he could, trying to keep as quiet as possible.  He headed to the skating rink to check in with his boss. 

“Junior,” Nick said as he stepped into the office from the outer lobby, “sorry, I just got away from her house.”

“No worries, Dude.  That had to be the best excuse I’ve ever heard.  Ever.  It’s all good,” Junior laughed.

“That’s what really happened, though.”

“Oh, I believe you.  Seriously, Nick, if it isn’t true, you deserve the night off for coming up with it.  But the real question is, did you get caught?” Junior said, his eyes twinkling. 

“I’m still alive… so… no.  I think I got a clean break,” patting himself to show he wasn’t a ghost.

Nick followed Junior out into the rink.  The late-night skating session had just finished up and the crew was busy cleaning the rink, picking up the rental skates and trash left by the skaters.  He dived right in, knowing what needed to be done.  The guys that had to pick up his slack were asking what happened, but he kept quiet.  Junior, catching the conversation as he walked by told them that it was his fault, not Nick’s, miscommunication about when he needed to be back.

A few seconds later Cassandra felt a fist slam into the back of her head.  She was hit so hard that the blow tossed her over the coffee table onto the sofa.  She was having a hard time focusing her eyes and couldn’t understand what was happening until she smelled the cologne. 

It was over.  Her life was finished.

“You think you can run away from me, bitch?” Oscar said through clenched teeth. 

He grabbed her hair and dragged her back over the low table.  With a grip on her hair, he slapped her across the face as hard as he could.  She could feel the world closing in… her vision starting to gray.  All she could see was his unfocused face in front of her.  He threw her to the floor. 

It seemed like only a moment later to her, but she didn’t know.  She heard the ‘oooff’ of someone’s breath being knocked out of them.  Cassandra struggled to open her eyes and through the fog of her vision she could see Oscar doubled over, clutching his stomach. 

Behind him, Gina’s husband, Howard, lurked.  He reached down and grabbed Oscar by his scraggly hair and hauled him to his feet.  With his other hand, Howard grabbed the back of Oscar’s belt.  He dragged him across the living room, slamming his face into the doorway to the hall, then down the hall to the front door.  Again, he slammed his face into the door casing of the front door, releasing his belt long enough to open the door. 

With the front door open, Howard again took Oscar’s belt in his hand.  He pushed him through the doorway and tossed him off the stoop onto the sidewalk several steps below. 

Cassandra struggled to her feet and stumbled to the door.  She looked out and saw Howard standing on the stoop looking down at Oscar as he tried to get up from the ground. 

“Listen to me, boy,” Howard railed, his bass voice thunderous.  “If you plan on coming in my house again, you take a minute and get yourself right with the Lord first, because I will send you to visit him.  You follow me?”

Oscar still hadn’t made it to his feet. 

“And you need to leave that girl alone.  A dirtbag that would hit a woman like her don’t deserve any woman, let alone a sweet girl like her.  Don’t let me catch you in my sight.  Understand?”

Howard turned and saw Cassandra propped in the doorway.  He walked back in and helped her to the couch.  He jogged to the kitchen and got ice for her.  The bruise on the side of her face was blossoming from her ear almost to her nose. 

“Are you ok, Cassie?” he said, his deep voice calming.  “You were out when I came in. 

“I think…  I should be ok,” she replied, though she still couldn’t focus all the way. 

Howard walked back over to the door to see if Oscar was still outside.  When he was satisfied her attacker was gone, he came back to sit with Cassandra. 

 “Cassandra, we have to find a way to get you away from him permanently.  I don’t know what he woulda done had I not come home,” Howard said quietly.  “I know a guy that might be able to help.  Why don’t you just lay down and relax… Gina and I will help you.  You and those girls of yours don’t deserve any of this.”

“Thank you, Howard, I don’t know how I can repay you.”

“You live a full life away from that scumbag and raise those beautiful little girls and we will be repaid in spades,” he said softly.

Cassandra closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the couch. 

***

Cassandra dug through her suitcase.  She found the birth certificates for Natalie and Christine.  She didn’t have hers, but Howard’s friend had said that would be ok.  He had another option he would use for her.  She also pulled out some of the cash she had hidden in the liner. 

“Thank you, Howard,” she said as she handed everything over to him. 

Stephanie had taken Cassie’s car and sold it to a dealer across town, forging her name on the sales papers.  When she got back, she took pictures of Cassandra for her new IDs.  All she had left to do was sit with her friend and the girls to whom she’d grown so close.  When Cassandra pulled out of Stephanie’s parent’s driveway, she wouldn’t be coming back. 

“It’ll be tomorrow before we get everything back, sugar,” the big man said softly.  He walked out of the room and went downstairs.  A few minutes later she heard his pick-up truck pull out of the driveway.  He’d still been concerned that Oscar could show up while he was gone, but there was no other way.  Gina was sitting downstairs with one of Howard’s old Navy friends, and Howard planned on taking off work to sit with Cassandra until she was able to leave. 

A couple hours later, as Cassandra lay in bed, Christina curled up next to her on the bed, and Natalie sitting on the couch downstairs watching TV with Gina, Howard walked back through the door. 

“I gave everything over to Boomer.  He said he’d give me a call tomorrow and we can go pick it all up.  When I told him what was going on, he was so pissed he wouldn’t take any of your money, Cassie,” he said, laying the money on the bedside table.

“Thank you, Howard,” she said, tears in her eyes again. 

“Don’t need to thank me.  Boomer is doing it all.  He’s a good man.” 

“Mind if I ask how you know a guy that does this?”

He smiled.  “I don’t mind you asking, but I can’t say much.  I know him from being in the Navy.  We served together.  Let’s just say he had the finest training.”  He patted her arm and stood up to walk from the room. 

“You have an interesting collection of friends, Howard.”

“You never know who you know.  Gina and I will pray for you.  There will be a balance… here or in the next life, Cassandra.  God has a plan,” he whispered.

Cassandra O’Shea just wished she knew what God’s plan was.

***

Cassandra walked into the back room of the small print shop in downtown Dayton.  Howard was at her side, Stephanie behind her carrying Teenie and holding Nattie’s hand. 

“Linda,” the booming voice said from the desk at the side of the workroom, “pleased to meet you.”  He rose from the table, a menacing six and a half feet tall, bald, with a deep scar under his eye.  “Norwood Bowman.  My friends call me Boomer.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Boomer.”

“Kathryn and Nicole are beautiful girls,” he said, looking past her shoulder as he used their new names.

“I guess it’s all done?” Cassandra asked. 

He splayed out the documents in front of her.  “Here are the originals.  These are the new ones.”  He picked a pair up and held them out to her. 

Cassandra examined them.  “These are really good… of course, I don’t know what to look for, really.”

He swept the old documents into an envelope.  Then he swept the new ones, except for Linda Keller’s new driver’s license, into another envelope. 

“They are pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I’ll admit that they aren’t perfect, but they will serve their purpose.  What they won’t hold up to is a backstory examination.”

He handed her the envelopes after she slipped the driver’s license into her wallet. 

“If someone calls a county clerk or a hospital or whatever, you will be caught.  But these will stand up to any physical examination.”

“Thank you so much, Boomer.  I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

She reached out to him and grabbed him in a hug. 

“Here’s what you can do to make these documents even better.  When you move to wherever you are moving, go in person to get your address changed.  They’ll give you a new license and it will have a backstory.  Can’t help you on the birth certificates… but nobody ever checks those.”

Cassie kissed him on the cheek and turned to leave. 

“Linda,” he said, using her new name, “if you are anywhere near here and he comes after you, come here.  You’ll be safe with me.” 

“Thank you, Boomer.  Thank you for everything.”

***

Linda Keller walked into the Ford dealer.  Howard Crawford was at her side. 

“Virgil, I’d like to help my niece buy a car,” he said to the man that approached him, arm extended.

Thirty minutes later she was sitting in the driver’s seat of a used 1971 Mustang Boss 351.  Virgil was another one of Howard’s buddies and the owner of the dealership.  The car was a couple of years old, but Virgil assured him it was in perfect condition.

Thirty minutes after that, with her little girls loaded up in the car, Linda Keller was on her way to Cleveland.  Howard was shadowing her in his well-used old truck for the first hour to make sure nobody else was following her. 

He always handwrote the letter, and it usually took him a couple of drafts.  This time was no different.  He slipped the final piece of paper from the top drawer of his desktop stationary cabinet, a nice, heavy paper, and wrote the final copy.  He carefully folded it, making sure it was in perfect thirds. 

He looked over the letter.  His eyes misted up, just as they had every time he’d written one of these.  Even though he’d done it more than a score of times, each time was like looking into a fresh wound.  He read it over, inspecting every inch of the sheet.  If Nancy was going to get it, he wanted to be sure that the last thing he gave her was perfect in every possible way.  He set the folded letter down on his desk and reached for a matching envelope. 

“Seriously?” he said out loud in frustration when he didn’t see one in the small, oak stationary cabinet on his desk. 

The rest of his gear was packed and ready to go.  Stu would be by any minute to pick him up.  He walked through to make sure everything was put away.  He’d done it dozens of times, but each time he did the same checks… just so if something happened, Nancy or the girls wouldn’t walk in and find a mess… like it would matter then.  If they came in, he was already dead. 

He thought about writing letters for each of the girls, but he didn’t know what to say.  He’d never known what to say to them. 

He thought about little Caroline.  When she was a little girl, she always wanted blocks… she wanted to build.  She wasn’t good at it, but she still wanted to do it.  What she was good at was drawing.  Sometimes, she would set up her blocks like a city, and then draw what she had set up.  Callie would change her angle and draw it again.  Eventually she figured out how to build with the blocks, but drawing was what she was drawn to, and as she went into her senior year, she had decided that she wanted to be an architect. 

Rachael was already working toward a degree in culinary arts.  He kept thinking of her burning grilled cheese… and he ate dozens of them as she practiced until she got it right.  Then she stuck eggs to a frying pan.  Over and over.  And he ate most of them.  But she cooked for him a few months ago… some fancy thing that he didn’t even know what it was… and it was amazing.

The knock at the door startled him, even though he was expecting it.  It was Stu’s knock, tap-tap, tap.  Two knocks, a pause, then one more. 

Greg opened the door, “Just a second, Stu.  I’m looking for an envelope for my letter to Nancy.”

“Let me check the truck, buddy.  I think I have some down in the console,” Stu said, turning and heading back to the parking lot. 

He returned a moment later, “I thought so.  I usually have a few in the truck.  I have one that is a nice, heavy paper, too.  Like you usually use for your letter.”  Stu knew the deal.  He’d been holding Greg’s letters for years and couldn’t remember how many times he’d taken that responsibility.  He viewed it as an honor.

“Thanks, man,” Greg said, grabbing the letter from the desk and slipping it into the envelope, quickly sealing it up and handing it back to Stu. 

Major Stuart Champion took the envelope and slid it into his inside jacket pocket.  He grabbed the duffle closest to his foot and headed back out to his truck.  The drive to the base would be quick, but they were running a little late for Greg Green’s flight out. 

“We need to roll, brother,” Stu said as he walked away. 

Greg was only a couple of steps behind him with his other bag. 

She had a break from Eric during second period and was able to sit with Jakob in Science.  He had asked her if she could go to a movie with him on Valentine’s Day, and she was really excited, hoping her parents would let her go.  Then it occurred to her that more and more, when she thought of Gunny and Melody, she thought of them as “Mom and Dad” rather than by name.  That gave her a smile as science ended. 

English was another matter.  Eric was in her third period, and he was at it again.  She did everything she could to stay calm.  If there had been another seat in the class, she would have moved to it, but she had already asked Mr. Silas if she could switch to another seat and he’d refused her.  She didn’t know why, but she was pretty sure he didn’t like her.

As class was ending, she gathered her books and started out of the class.  Her locker was in the hall just outside, and she hurried to put her stuff away so she could get to lunch.  She spun her lock and opened the locker, putting her books inside. 

As she turned, Eric reached out and grabbed her chest.  “I bet you like it when ‘Jakob the tard’ does that, don’t you?  You puttin’ out for him yet?  I hear that you are a dirty girl.”

She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing.  She swept up with her arm, driving into his forearm and knocking it away from her.  Then she jabbed her other fist into his stomach with a lightning quick punch, knocking the breath out of him. 

As he went down, she felt a hand grab her left shoulder.  She reached across with her right hand and grabbed it, spinning around.  She twisted it around, and looked up into the eyes of Mr. Silas, wincing in pain.  She dropped his wrist and he grabbed it with his other hand. 

“Office, NOW,” he commanded through clenched teeth. 

Mali calmly turned and closed her locker.  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she slowly walked to the office.  She knew she was in deep trouble.  Before she went around the corner to the hall toward the office at the front of the building, she turned and saw that Eric Paulson was still on the floor and there was a crowd gathered around him.  There were muted whispers as she passed.  She clearly heard one person say that she wouldn’t be back…

She walked into the office and approached the receptionist.  After letting her know that Mr. Silas had sent her, she sat on the bench by the opposite wall.  A minute later the principal came out, glanced at her and left.  She was back a few minutes later.  When she came back into the office, Eric Paulson was in tow.  She took him into her office.  The receptionist started calling Gunny, but unable to get him, called Melody. 

Eric walked out of the office.  He looked over to her and whispered that she was going to be deported, sent back to Afghanistan.  Mali hung her head in shame.  She had really messed up and she knew it.  As she sat there waiting, the words she heard in the hall kept echoing back into her mind… she won’t be back…

She’d worked so hard to fit in.  But now she had injured another student and a teacher.  She walked over to the reception desk to get a tissue and blow her nose.  When she looked down in front of the receptionist, there were two forms… suspension and expulsion. 

She could barely see Melody through her tears as she walked past the receptionist and back to the principal’s private office.