For the remainder of the time that Kevin was home before catching his flight, he spent it alone and in his room…lying on the bed and analyzing the hell out of something that didn’t make any sense to him. And after an entire hour of analyzing, he was still confused and mad as hell. Mad at himself for what happened all those years ago, mad at Denise for letting it happen, mad at Lou for being the type of man that he was and just plain mad at Emma for everything.
Grabbing his bags, he left the security of his room and headed for the front door; making a quick detour to the garage. He shut the door to the garage and immediately headed over to his tool chest, where he emptied out the contents of the metal box and then placed it down on the floor. It only took him a second to pull out the right drawer of the chest…and only two seconds to grab the hammer.
Then, he proceeded to do what any other sane man, who’d virtually been under someone else’s hold for almost decade, would do. He beat the living shit out of the box and tape. And didn’t stop until the tape was completely destroyed and smashed into smithereens.
Standing back to admire his handy work, Kevin grabbed hold of the paperwork and pictures that were once inside the metal box, and walked back into the house. He headed straight to the back patio and directly over to the ceramic fire pit. Grabbing the lighter from the grill, he placed the paperwork and pictures inside the pit and set them on fire, watching them burn.
And he didn’t move until every last flame had squelched; he wanted to make good and sure that every piece of evidence was gone. Gone. Watching the last of the flames flicker, Kevin stepped back and took a deep breath. It was over. After almost a decade of having to watch his every move, it was finally over.
The feeling of relief didn’t take hold of him however; instead, he felt exactly the same way he had earlier in his room…mad.
Turning around, he grabbed his bags and headed around the outside of the house and back to the garage. It was time to take back control of his life, set things straight and the time was now.
**********
Once Kevin arrived at the rehab center, he was led directly to the secluded and heavily guarded outdoor patio along the back of the grounds. The guards weren’t there to necessarily keep the houseguests in; they were there mainly to keep unwanted visitors out. This was a highly acclaimed rehab center; one notoriously known for their elite clientele and AJ was no exception.
Walking over to the man of the hour, Kevin smiled at him.
“Hey man, glad you could make it,” AJ said, standing to his feet and pulling his friend into an embrace.
“Glad to be here.”
Sitting down, they both just sat in silence…each engaged in their own private thoughts, but never removing their eyes from each other. It was AJ who finally made the first attempt at speaking. “You look like shit…what’s going on?”
Kevin blew a laugh out his nose. “Gee…thanks a lot.” He smiled at his friend, eyeing him up and down. “You look good – do you feel as good as you look?”
AJ glanced around him. “I feel great. This place is great. Look at it – no one gives a shit who you are in here. Hell, I ran past Robert Downey Jr. the other day even.”
Kevin laughed and leaned forward, resting his arms on the glass tabletop of the patio furniture. “I think he frequents this place a little more than the usual.”
“Yeah, but don’t let him hear you say that.” AJ got up from his seat and patted Kevin on the shoulder. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Water is fine,” he replied while glancing around, taking advantage of the few minutes he had alone. The place looked great, just like AJ said. The grounds were beautiful and everyone, at least the ones he could see, looked to be at peace with the world. You’d never know that each one of them was somehow struggling with the some of the same demons as AJ. He could see why AJ liked this place, and laughed to himself as he wondered if he could rent a room for a week or two to sort through his shit as well.
“What’s so funny?” AJ questioned, returning with their waters.
“Just thinking,” Kevin replied while taking his water. “Thanks.”
AJ dropped to his seat and sighed. “So, what’s everyone been up to?”
Kevin shrugged while taking a drink. “Nothing much…just hanging out, waiting for you.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure whether you’ve heard through management or not, but I signed to stay on for three more weeks. I need some more…”
Kevin lifted his hands to stop AJ. “No problem. We’ll wait for you as long as it takes Bone. We don’t want you to rush back. Your health is way more important then any of the other bullshit.”
“Thanks man.” AJ lit his cigarette and exhaled slowly. “So…how’s Emma?”
No answer.
AJ looked over at Kevin and wondered whether or not he heard him. When he saw the look on his face, he knew he’d had. Exhaling, AJ let the silence linger for only a few more seconds. “Train, you wanna tell me what’s going on?”
Kevin got up and immediately started to pace. “I can’t talk about it.”
“You two having problems?”
“Didn't I just say I couldn’t talk about it?” Kevin growled back, his expression even more grim then his tone.
AJ sat back and brought his foot up to the seat of his chair. Taking another hit of his cigarette, he tilted his head and stared at his friend. “Can’t or won’t?”
Kevin sat back down, defeated. “I’m pretty sure it’s over.”
AJ lunged forward, his foot flying off the seat of his chair, crashing into the table. Grabbing hold of the table, he swore under his breath. “What?”
Kevin turned away, staring off into the grounds. “She’s packing her bags as we speak.”
AJ slouched back down in his seat, confused. This was not what he needed to hear now. Sarah was going to be devastated beyond belief and well…quite honestly, he was going to be devastated as well. He really genuinely liked Emma… Disgusted, he said, “You kicked her out?”
With his head still turned, Kevin grunted, “Kind of.”
AJ lunged even further forward, demanding that Kevin look at him. “What’d ya mean – kind of? It’s either yes or no. You kicked her out, didn’t you?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Kevin he knew would never do something like that – never. “Jesus Kevin…are you doing drugs?”
Taking a drink of water, Kevin choked on it after hearing AJ’s question. Looking over at his friend, he shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“Then what the hell do you mean you kicked her out?” AJ reached over to grab his pack of smokes on the table. “You know she has no place to go, except Lou’s and who the hell would want to go there?”
Kevin sat back and let his mind wander. He really wasn’t in the mood for getting a lecture. Not from AJ and definitely not his mother, which was sure to follow in the days ahead. That was one person he was going to try and keep this from for as long as he could. His mother was going to be heartbroken.
On second thought, maybe that wasn’t such a smart move. If this leaked out, his mother would be sure to find out and that would be much worse, considering how she found out about the wedding.
“AJ, I’m not telling anyone else for now. I don’t want this to leak out until we officially decide what to do.” Taking a deep breath, he mumbled under his breath, “My mom is going to flip.”
“Hey, no problem. I respect that. What I don’t respect is that you kicked her out of the only home she has. For crying out loud Train, what the hell where you thinking?”
“She can go back to Arkansas,” Kevin replied flatly. “The house didn’t sell yet.”
“God, I can’t believe how blasé you sound about this whole thing – like it’s no big deal.” Dropping his fist on the table, he blew out a loud breath. “Dammit Kevin, what the hell happened between you two?”
Kevin sighed and looked at his friend. AJ wasn’t going to let up until he fed him some story to appease him. “She kept something from me and well…” He took a deep, long breath. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to get past it.”
AJ rolled his eyes. “It can’t be that bad.”
Kevin raised his eyebrows, along with his voice. “It is that bad.”
AJ mumbled “shit” under his breath and put out his cigarette. “You’ve never kept something from anyone before?”
Kevin winced. Why was he asking him that? Everyone has kept something from someone at some point in his or her lives. “Yes, but that was different.”
AJ smirked; obviously pleased with the answer he’d just heard. “Oh, how so?”
“I’m not gonna defend my actions to you Bone. I did what I needed to do,” Kevin said sharply, annoyed with AJ’s disapproval. “You won’t understand so let’s drop it.”
“Why won’t I understand?”
Kevin put his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. “I didn’t mean it that way. Listen, you got enough shit on your plate to worry about now.”
AJ cleared his throat and kept silent until Kevin looked up and directly in his eyes. Shaking his head prominently, his words were clear and to the point. “Don’t do this Kevin.”
Kevin dropped his head again.
“I mean it Kevin, don’t let her go.”
Silence.
“In the beginning I would’ve said something differently then what I’m about to say now, but don’t let this one go. She’s a keeper and you know it.” AJ lit another cigarette while Kevin remained silent. "How your marriage all came together is none of anyone's business and I know I didn't approve...but she's grown on me and it’s so obvious how much you two love each other. She walks out and you’re gonna be regretting it for the rest of your life.”
Kevin looked up at him. How obvious they love each other? It was all a put-on and even one of his closest friends, who knew him better than anyone else…fell for it. Damn, I am pretty good. Maybe acting was something he should be looking into for the future.
It was all an act AJ…couldn’t you even tell?
Kevin wasn’t sure if Emma lied to him or just kept something from him. He didn’t give her a chance to explain. Of course, that might have been a lie too, so who’s to say? Either way, it didn’t matter now, he kicked her out and by the time he would be home…she’d be gone. Out of his life. “Yeah, well…obviously we don’t love each other enough.”
AJ watched Kevin closely; “I don’t believe that for one minute. But hey, like you said…it’s your problem.” AJ shrugged, throwing his arms up in the air. “You deal with it the way you want to.”
“So, you talk to Sarah lately?”
AJ laughed. “Want to change the subject do we?”
Kevin nodded.
“Yeah, talked to her yesterday actually.”
**********
Kevin flew home the following day, even though he wasn’t due back until the following morning. He was bored and being that he was alone, all he did was sit around the hotel room and analyze. It wasn’t a good situation for him and he realized that immediately. He needed to get back to his home, get back to his life and get back to taking control.
When he pulled into the driveway, his heart sank. He wondered whether or not Emma would still be there. Opening the door to the garage, his heart sank even further when he noticed her car. She hadn’t left yet.
Kevin took his time getting out of the truck, deliberately trying to stall the inevitable. Opening the door to the house, he walked in slowly and quickly noticed how quiet the house was. Maybe she was gone after all. Grabbing the phone, he checked his voice mail while walking into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Emma lying down on the couch.
He turned to walk back into the kitchen, ignoring her altogether. After listening to his messages, he returned three of the calls that needed to be returned while sitting at the kitchen table. Once he was finished with that, he slammed the phone down on the table.
“You’re early,” Emma said quietly while standing behind him.
The sound of her voice took him by surprise… he thought she was asleep.
“I’ll be out of here tonight, don’t worry. My flight leaves in like four hours.”
Kevin jumped up from his seat, nodding. Heading towards his studio, he stopped when her comment repeated itself in his head. Flight? “Your flight?”
“Yeah, my flight.”
He turned around. “You aren’t driving to wherever it is you’re going?”
“No…and I’m heading back to Arkansas for now,” she replied while looking at her feet.
“Fine,” he huffed while turning back around to head towards the studio. “I’ll have your car shipped to you.”
“I don’t want the car,” Emma said softly, but loud enough for him to hear.
Kevin stopped. He didn’t want to start this shit now. She was taking the car, period. Without turning around, he replied, “I don’t want the car either…so what do you suggest we do with it? Sell it?”
“Go ahead, sell it. I’m not taking it.”
He turned around abruptly and marched towards her, his blood pressure rising with every step. “Yes you are. It’s your friggin’ car, it has your name on the title and you’re responsible for it.”
Emma finally looked up at him. “Please, will you just let me explain?”
Kevin looked at her with such intensity; his eyes were starting to burn. Her eyes were begging him to give her a chance, but he wasn’t willing to risk it. He didn’t want to fall into any trap and at this point, he wasn’t convinced that she’d be telling him the truth anyway. He stared her down until finally she closed her eyes, allowing him to close his as well and relieve the strain.
“Fine, I’ll cancel my flight and take the car.”
**********
Emma was at a loss. She needed directions on how to get to Arkansas, so she called the only person she could think of, Sarah. She had no choice but to lie to her, she wasn’t sure whether Kevin wanted anyone knowing what was going on in his personal life, however non-personal it actually was.
Another lie told…another lie made…was it ever going to end?
“Why don’t you just fly Emma?”
She sighed and took a deep breath. “Fly? Now? I’m licensed Sarah…I’ve wanted to be able to drive for so long now…so I just thought it would be fun to drive there instead.”
“Hey, feel like some company? I don’t have anything going on for a while.”
Emma’s head dropped to the bed. How would she be able to get out of this without coming clean? “Well,” she replied slowly. “Maybe next time…I don’t know how long I’m gonna be there and everything…and I just really need to be alone right now.”
“Is everything alright Em? You don’t sound like yourself?”
“Yeah,” she lied, again. “Everything’s fine.”
Sarah gave her the number to AAA and told her to call in the morning. They could map out her entire route for her, leaving out no details. Her only problem now was what she would do for money during the interim of traveling to Arkansas. Once she got there, she could use the money that was left in her account until she was able to find a job…getting there was the real problem.
Packing the last of her clothes into the boxes, Emma threw her purse onto the bed and opened it. Slowly, she removed the checkbook and placed it on the dresser, along with the house keys. She stood there for quite a while, just staring at the items that only yesterday, were hers. Refusing to let herself cry, she made her way over to the bed and grabbed the first box.
Packing the last of her bags and boxes in the trunk, she noticed Kevin sitting on the porch swing. When she walked up to him, she started to tremble. Emma really didn’t want to cause any further tension by bringing up the money issue, but she had no choice.
She spoke quietly when she was close enough for him to hear her, “Kevin?”
“Yeah?”
“I hate to bring this up now, but I’ll be needing some money until I get to Arkansas where I can tap into my account,” she meekly admitted.
“I’ve already thought about that. Just use your credit card and don’t worry about it.” He jumped up off the swing. “I’ll cancel it next week sometime…that should give you enough time.”
“Okay, thanks,” she replied quietly, turning to leave. “I’m gonna pay you back for everything.” Emma stopped and turned to look at him. “I really am.”
Kevin shook his head, obviously not believing a word that she was saying. “Whatever.” When he turned around and reached the door to the house, he stopped. “I’ll have whatever you couldn’t fit in the car shipped to the farmhouse and if you wouldn't mind...I'd rather you just kept quiet about this for now...we don't need anymore front page news around here.”
Emma held back the tears for as long as she could, but there was no use in even trying now. They wouldn’t be stopped for anything. “I’m sorry, about everything.”
"I'll need the house keys back," he said before walking into the house.
Sighing, Emma turned away and headed towards her car. "The keys and checkbook are on your dresser."
