“I didn’t…” he finally replied, voice trembling slightly. “No, I didn’t know that.” Then he opened the car door and, without another word, started the car and drove away.
What the fuck just happened?Henry thought to himself as he stared at the retreating car until it turned to the left at the end of the dark street. The sky was beginning to take on an orange glow behind the pine trees in the distance. He decided to take the long walk along the woods instead of heading straight home. Clear his head. Yeah, he needed to clear his head for sure.
CHAPTER FIVE
Colton
BY THE TIMEColton parked the rental car with the banged-up bumper in front of his uncle’s house just next to the auto shop, it was almost 5 a.m. He realized that it was nearly twenty-two hours since he’d last slept, and he felt every muscle in his back aching from the interrupted trip. There were no lights on inside the house however his uncle had left the porch light on expecting Colton to arrive in the middle of the night. It was not completely dark at 5 a.m. this time of the year, but he figured his uncle must still be asleep since the auto shop didn’t open until 8 a.m. on Thursdays.
When it had become clear to Colton following his recent deployment – this time in Yemen – that it was going to also be his last, he’d contacted his only living relative, Hank. He’d told his uncle that due to medical reasons he was ending his career in the Army and returning home to Hayley’s Peak. Colton hadn’t seen the need to go into detail about the nature of his medical condition. It was nobody’s business but his own.
He hadn’t expected his uncle to flat out offer him a job at the shop, but he was relieved since with no education other than his military training, he couldn’t pick and choose between jobs. Sure, some of the other guys from his time overseas were working for private security companies, but Colton was done with the war. He just hoped that it was done with him too.
He’d always been good with cars since it was the only thing he and Walter had been able to slightly bond over during his teenage years. On weekends and during school breaks, Colton and Walter had worked on an old pick-up truck, which became Colton’s for his sixteenth birthday. The truck had been his pride and joy and he recalled driving it around town with a sense of accomplishment ? he’d turned the wreck into something that was the envy of most of his friends in high school. After graduation and enlisting, he sold the truck and that had been that. The only thing he’d ever owned.
Now, almost twenty years later, he still had nothing to his name except for a recent medical condition served to him by the US Army psychiatrist and a body full of scars. After a consultation, where Colton had described the flashbacks and the insomnia, the lack of appetite and the restlessness, the doctor had concluded that Colton suffered from a severe anxiety disorder and a moderate case of PTSD.
Not knowing what to do with words likesevereandmoderatesince to him his state-of-mind felt all-consuming, he’d just nodded at the psychiatrist when he received his diagnosis. He was prescribed anti-anxiety medication and told that thanks to his annual health check he could no longer be approved for continued service in the US Army.
At the age of thirty-eight Colton had felt like a piece of worn-out clothing being discarded. Sure, he received an honorable discharge and a standard military pension, but he still felt like he’d been cast away. All his Army buddies told him to lighten up ? now he could finally get settled and get himself a wife and some kids. All those years with endless months of deployment on the other side of the world weren’t exactly easy to combine with family life and most of Colton’s buddies were either divorced or single.
His uncle must have heard either the engine or the car door slamming, because suddenly the light inside the house came on and after a little while Hank appeared on the porch. Colton had no recollection of his uncle since he’d last seen him at the age of five or six, but he recognized his father’s dark brown head of hair. And that was pretty much it. Further resemblance to Walter was non-existent.
Hank was no more than perhaps 5’8”, and, with a slim build aside from a beer gut he was nothing like his older brother. His hair had grey spots around the temples and as he waved at Colton, his entire face lit up, revealing a kind and welcoming smile.
“There you are, kid,” his uncle called out to him from the porch as he made his way down the few wooden steps.
While Colton wondered how to best greet his estranged uncle, there seemed to be no doubt on Hank’s part as Colton was soon wrapped in a tight embrace. Even though his uncle was much shorter than Colton and not as muscular, the embrace was strong and genuine, nearly squeezing the life out of him.
“You sure grew up, alright. Let me look at ya.” Hank took him in from top to toe while nodding approvingly. “All them years in the Army sure made a grown man out of you, kid.”
Unsure how to react to his uncle’s unexpected excitement over seeing him again, Colton rubbed at the back of his neck while he smiled hesitantly at Hank.
“Thanks for having me, Hank. I really appreciate it. You know, with the job and everything…” He trailed off shyly when Hank just continued to smile at him.
“Of course. Don’t mention it,” Hank replied. “I always did wonder about you, kid. What happened to you after you left town. I always did feel bad for not being there for you after your mama died, but your father and I weren’t exactly on speaking terms back then…”
Colton took in the older man more closely. Well, he couldn’t be much more than sixteen years older than Colton himself, but he looked older, as if life hadn’t always been easy for Hank. He recalled Henry’s words of his uncle’s recent loss of his partner… Yeah, he guessed sorrow could do that to a man. He’d seen it happen to his father with his own eyes when his mother died.
“No need to dwell on the past,” Colton said looking away towards the house. “Nothing to be done about it now anyway. Water under the bridge, right?” He attempted a smile.
“Well, I’m just real glad you’re here now. Never got the chance to make up with your father, so I sure am glad that I get to see you again, kid.” A dark shadow suddenly covered his uncle’s face and Hank gazed at the baren ground beneath their feet.
Colton had a feeling that his uncle wanted to say something else. It was strange standing here in front of a man, who’d been a stranger to him for most of his life. Colton didn’t recall his uncle. He’d been too small when Hank had disappeared from his life. The silence between them became overwhelming as Hank continued to stare a hole into the ground. Loneliness, and regret perhaps, came pouring off the older man in silent waves.
“Hank?” Colton whispered.
“Sorry, just drifted off for a bit there.” Hank looked hesitantly into Colton’s eyes before continuing.
“It was never my choice, you know? I need you to know that, Colton. If it’d been up to me, I wouldn’t have just disappeared from your life like that.”
Moisture had appeared at the corners of his uncle’s eyes. Eyes that were the exact same color as Walter’s and Colton felt a sting of regret in his chest. He wished things could’ve been different back then when his mother had died. That he and his father could’ve found a connection in midst of their grief. Instead, it had become this insurmountable wall between them.
“Yeah, I kinda figured,” Colton murmured as his gaze found Hank’s. “Walter was like that, you know. Once he’d made up his mind about something, there was no going back for him.”
“Yeah, I know,” Hank laughed, the sound leaving his stern lips on a bitter-sweet note. “Stubborn SOB...”
“Yeah…” Colton trailed off. “I don’t…” Colton started but he was cut off before he could continue.
