Part 5
Not long after the boys had left, Howie made his way into the kitchen. He’d had a shower and shaved as well as changed but there were still tell-tale signs of what the night had held. Giving his mother a hug, Howie said, “I thought I heard a car pull off.”
“You did,” answered Mrs. Dorough. “Brian, Sonja, and Kryss took the boys to school.”
With concern, Mrs. Richardson asked, “Where’s Kevin?”
“He was still passed out on the couch when I went to take a shower,” replied Howie as he took the cup of coffee AJ offered him.
“How is he?” asked Nick.
“He’s angry…angrier than I’ve seen him.”
Mrs. Richardson spoke softly, “I’ve seen him this angry…when his father died. Howie, has he cried yet?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Alex asked, “How much did he have to drink?”
Howie was about to answer as Kevin growled, “Not enough.”
All eyes turned to see Kevin as he stumbled into the room and his appearance told the story; barefooted, still wearing the pants and shirt from his suit that he wore to the funeral, his shirt hanging out, eyes bloodshot with dark circles underneath, unshaven, and his hair was everywhere. No one could ever remember Kevin looking this bad before, not even when Tyler was being kept away from them by Lou and Joey.
“Do you want some coffee, son?” asked Mrs. Richardson as Kevin opened the refrigerator.
AJ could see what he was reaching for and moved towards Kevin.
Twisting the cap off the beer, Kevin grumbled, “That’ll just sober me up and I have no intentions of doing THAT any time soon.”
“Kevin, getting trashed isn’t going to bring Ty back,” said AJ as he came face to face with him. “It’ll only prolong the pain.”
“Stay drunk enough, I won’t feel anything,” and he took a long swallow of the beer.
Reaching for the bottle, AJ pulled it away spilling it on Kevin. “That’s NOT going to work. I know from experience, bro.”
“FUCK OFF, MCLEAN!” hissed Kevin as he came toe to toe with the younger man. “AND GIVE ME MY BEER BACK.”
“No, I’m not going to give it back or back off,” replied AJ not backing down. “I’m NOT going to let you screw up YOUR life because you have too much to lose. You have three beautiful children, Kevin, who need you. Would Tyler want you to desert them like this?”
Everyone watched with bated breath. Would this make Kevin realize what he was doing?
From the door, a tiny, sleepy voice, called, “Daddy. Where’s Mama?”
It was like water on fire. Everyone saw Kevin’s heart breaking hearing his daughter’s voice…the daughter that was a carbon copy of Tyler. A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked to the little girl standing in the door holding her blanket in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. Moving quickly to her, he scooped her up in his arms as he said, “Baby, Mama’s not here.”
“Where is she, Daddy?” she asked tilting her head to the side just like Tyler use to do when she was being playful.
No one had tried to explain to Taylor thinking that she was too young to understand so Kevin was now faced with the task. He’d sobered up instantly when he’d heard her calling for Tyler and now took a seat at the table with her in his lap facing him. “Tay, I need you to be a big girl for me and listen very carefully to what I have to say.”
“Otay, Daddy.”
“Taylor, Mama was in a car accident and she got some really bad boo boos….so bad that the doctor couldn’t fix them. There was only one person who could make Mama better.”
“That’s YOU, Daddy! You ALWAYS kiss away MY boo boos.”
Kevin choked back a sob. “I wish I could, baby, but not this time.”
“Then who is gonna make Mama all better?”
His voice cracked as Kevin said, “God was the only one who could make Mama better, baby.”
“But God is in Heaven, Daddy.”
“I know, sweetheart,” and another tear fell.
“When is Mama coming home?”
“She’s….she’s not….coming home, Taylor. For God to fix her, she had to go to heaven to be with Him.”
By now, everyone had tears in their eyes.
“How did she get there?”
“God gave her wings, baby. She’s an angel now…watching over you,” said Kevin touching his finger to her little nose and smiling when she giggled. “And Scott and Jerald too.”
“Is she watching over you too, Daddy?”
“If I know your mother, yeah, she is. Now, have you had breakfast?”
“I just woked up, Daddy,” scowled Taylor.
Kevin
laughed at his daughter. “Okay!”
Mrs. Richardson spoke up, “Son, let me take her and you go get cleaned up.”
Playing patty cake with his daughter and not taking his eyes off her, Kevin said, “No, Mama…I’ll take care of Tay Tay. AJ’s right….I have three children who need me. Where are the boys?”
“Kryss, Sonja, and Brian took them to school,” explained Howie as he reached over to give Taylor a kiss.
“They didn’t need to go today.”
“We tried to tell them,” said Nick, “but they said Tyler would want them to get back to a routine.”
With a sad smile and a shake of his head, Kevin said, “They’re right. Come on, Tay Tay. Let’s go get ready for the day and you and I will go pick some flowers for Mama.”
As Kevin stood with his daughter in his arms, AJ asked, “You okay now?”
“No, but I will be….with my friends and family to help me. Thank you.”
“We’re all here, bro.”
Watching Kevin and Taylor leaving together, the group felt a sense of relief. Kevin was still grieving and a part of his heart would never heal but he was going to make it. A small girl had accomplished what all of them had tried to do but hadn’t quite been able to.
