Ancil“Bye. Maybe we can hang out next week.”
“I won’t be in the country next week,” I said.
“Where are you going?”
I sighed inside for having to answer the question but I just answered anyway. “To the Caribbean maybe. Probably China.”
“Wow, sounds exotic. Who are you going with?”
I knew that answering the question would have just led to the same questions about Kate and I being in a relationship and how we met so I just said, “No one you need to worry about.” I then smiled.
“Okay.”
“Get some rest okay?”
“Okay.”
I then walked out of the room and met her mother standing in the corridor texting on her phone.
“Is she okay in there?” Elizabeth raised her head from her phone screen and asked.
“Okay is debatable.”
“Her memory is really bad. The doctor said that the chances of her memory coming back over time is high but the chances of her brain function diminishing to Retardation is also high.”
“Retardation? That’s not good,” I said.
“But I’m hopeful that she will make a full recovery. I have faith,” Elizabeth smiled. “By the way what happened to your face?”
“It’s nothing. Just some assholes I owed money to.”
“We should get you a nurse.”
“I’m fine,” I said, a bit too abrupt. “Tell Samantha I said bye. Even Though I told her already you know-“
“I will.”
I told Elizabeth goodbye and then headed back to the car. Luckily, no one died or got shot while I was gone. The place was actually very peaceful as hospital workers made their way into the institution. The cold air had a calming effect and even though I just got the news that my best friend could go retarded, I still felt somewhat at peace, more so, the closer I got to the car.
Kate and Adam were in the front seats scanning through radio stations trying to find the best songs. They seemed to be getting along great.
“Having fun, I see,” I said as I entered.
“How’s Sam?” Kate asked.
“Well, she remembers me and she remembers you but she doesn’t remember us,” I said.
“That makes absolutely no sense,” Adam said.
“To you, it doesn’t,” Kate said.
“For Adam’s sake, I’ll explain,” I teased. “Samantha remembers who I am and who Kate is but she doesn’t remember that Kate and I were together.”
“Were together?” Kate mused.
“Are together,” I corrected.
“I assume that you two have settled your differences,” Adam said.
“I’m willing to forget due to the unforeseen circumstances we found ourselves in,” Kate said.
“You said that already,” I said.
“Well, I’m saying it again for Adam’s sake,” Kate said, raising her voice a little.
“I gotcha hot fuzz,” Adam said to Kate.
“Nicknames already,” I joked.
“Don’t go starting shit, pissface,” Adam said.
Kate started a one-breath laugh, holding it back, making a sound like she was about to throw up. I gave her a stern look then she said, “What? It was funny.”
“Where to now?” Adam said, clearly not wasting any more time on jokes. “I don’t have all day with you love birds.”
“I need to go home to collect some stuff,” I said.
Adam turned the car on, lifted the hand brakes, shifted the gears into drive, and said, “Home it is.”
We got to my home and I quickly ran inside, leaving Adam and Kate behind. There were patches of mud on the floor and the chair where Samantha had slept was still dirty and ransacked.
The first place I headed to was my room and I grabbed my passport along with other important documents. I even grabbed my secret stash of money which wasn’t much, only about two thousand dollars. My mom was in her room sleeping and I actually thought of just leaving without telling her because I knew that she would have tried to stop me but I couldn’t do it so I decided to write a letter which I then left on her bed.
The letter read:
Dear Mom:
I have some good news and bad news. I’m going to start with the good news because I know how much you hate bad news. The good news is that I think I found love; the good kind of love; the kind of love that you shared with my dad and the kind I assume you currently share with William. Her name is Kate and I hope that one day you’ll meet her. It’s hardly likely that you will get to meet her soon, which brings me to the bad news. Kate and I will be moving to the Caribbean to start a new life together. She has a lot of demons back here in the US that she needs to evade. I have been given the choice to either go with her or stay behind and I have decided to go with her. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for or when I’ll be back but I feel that this is the right thing to do. True love is rare and I’m lucky to have found it in such a wonderful woman. So, this is goodbye. I really hope it works out with Will. I want you to be happy. I love you and I’m truly sorry for any pain this might cause you. See you…soon, I hope.
Your son, Ronald Baker.
