Outrunning Shadows

Chapter 19: The Fecal Material Hits the Proverbial Fan

Chapter 19: The Fecal Material Hits the Proverbial Fan





They got out and separated. Engrid walked up onto her porch and turned to look at Andrew’s house. She could tell he was in the kitchen. She could see his shadow pass by the window. She unlocked her own door and went inside. She decided she needed a drink of water, so went to her own kitchen. She took her glass of water and started going upstairs to relax a few minutes before going to bed. After the day she’d had, she was exhausted and needed sleep. She could only imagine how tired Andrew must be. Slowly she drifted off the sleep. She was unsure of what was happening, but she dreamt she was outside in the yard walking past the boxwood shrubbery.


Andrew went in his own house and to his own kitchen to get his own glass of water. He suddenly realized how hungry he was and so started making himself a ham and cheese sandwich. As he sat down to eat his sandwich, Jason Rivera’s little blue Honda was slowing down for its final approach to Evan’s house.


He ate the sandwich quickly, put the plate, knife, and glass in the sink and went upstairs because he was too exhausted for words. He slowly and begrudgingly ascended every step. He turned and went into his room and shut the door. Still fully clothed, Andrew fell across his bed face down and just laid there. He mind was both whirring and blank at the same time. He lay there about thirty seconds when the doorbell rang. He looked over at his alarm clock. 11:00.Who in the world would be ringing his doorbell at such an hour? He considered just letting them go away on their own, but the person kept ringing the damned doorbell. So, Andrew slowly lifted himself up and slid his feet off onto the floor and got into a semi-upright position.


He walked down the stairs as the person kept ringing the doorbell over and over again. He got to the door and opened it. Evan was standing on the other side of it. Andrew’s eye’s got big.


“Can I come in?” Evan asked plaintively.


“Um, uh,” All Andrew could think about was what Grant had said about not interfering. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, you might better go.”


“I don’t have anywhere else to go. You’re all I’ve got.”


“Then I guess you’d better come in.” Andrew stepped aside and Evan came in.


“I hope Grant doesn’t find out you’re here.”


“I hope he comes. That way I can tell him that you’re the one I love, not him. I realized today that you stole my heart the first time I saw you and I never got it back. I realized after seeing Grant again, that you are who I want to be with for the rest of my life. If I could love anybody more than I love you, I don’t think I could stand it. I realized that I went with Grant because he was safe. But I realized that my heart will never be happy if I’m not near you. I couldn’t take it anymore, so when we stopped for gas, he went inside to go to the bathroom, I hitched a ride with a trucker and came back here.”


“Evan, you shouldn’t have done that.”


Evan was hurt, “Why not?”


“Grant is dangerous; he told me that if I interfered with him taking you back to New York, he’d shoot me.”


“I’ll just explain what happened and the way I feel and he’ll just have to accept that. That’s all; I’ll just explain it to him.”


“You can’t stay here,” Andrew said, “I don’t know where you should go, but you can’t stay here, I’m serious.”


“Where else am I supposed to go?”


“Don’t you have other friends you could stay with for a few days?”


“How would I explain what’s happened?”


“I don’t care, just go,” Andrew pointed toward the door. Evan clearly didn’t understand what was going on. “I’m serious, Grant is dangerous, if he comes here looking for you and finds you here, I’m a dead man.”


“If Grant shows up here, I’ll just tell him to go away and leave me alone.”


Andrew threw his hands up in the air in exasperation- Evan just wasn’t grasping the seriousness of the situation. He had never seen the side of Grant that Andrew had seen when he was kneeling on the floor with a pistol pressed up against his head. Evan lowered his head. He walked dejectedly toward the door. He opened it. There was Grant on the other side. While they had been talking, they had neglected to hear a car drive up outside. Grant pushed his way into the house. Evan went and stood by Andrew.


“Grant, I’ve got something I need to tell you.”


“What’s that?” Grant asked menacingly.


“When I moved back here, I thought I was giving up on finding love in my life. I thought that moving back here was going to mean that I was going to have to spend the rest of my life alone. Then I met Andrew. Andrew stole my heart. When you came back, I went with you because I felt you were safe, I knew you’d be there for me because you’d been there for me before. But when we were riding in the car tonight, I realized that my heart, my one true love was here in this house. I realized that Andrew is the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with.”


Grant took a step toward them, Andrew took a step back.


“Grant, don’t do anything you’re going to regret.” Andrew said.


“I’m not going to regret this. This will be my finest hour.”


Evan looked quizzical. He realized that he was missing a few pieces of the puzzle. Grant’s eyes were locked onto Andrew’s. Grant reached around his waist and retrieved the pistol from the waistband of his jeans. As soon as he saw that, Evan panicked. He realized instantly what Andrew had been talking about earlier and realized that Grant was deadly serious.


“Please!” Evan pleaded, his voice shaking. “Don’t hurt anybody.”


Grant pointed the pistol at Evan, then back at Andrew.


“Please, put the gun down.” Andrew said. “I didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I didn’t intervene…”


“Shut-up!” Grant commanded.


“…he came to me. I tried to get him to leave because I didn’t want you do catch him here, but he refused. I’m so sorry,” Andrew was trying to reason with him. Grant put the gun up to Andrew’s forehead.


“Please, please, oh God, please no,” Evan was pleading desperately. Andrew just closed his eyes, a tear trickling down his face. Somehow love had taken a disastrous turn.





                             #





Unlike Evan and Andrew, Engrid had heard a car drive up outside. She had been lying atop the covers on her bed staring at the ceiling, not even bothering to undress for the sleep that would not come. In an almost semi-conscious state, she looked out of her bedroom window saw that a car had pulled up outside Andrew’s house. She looked carefully and recognized the silhouette as Grant’s red Subaru. She also noticed that Evan wasn’t with him. She wondered what that was about. She looked at Andrew’s house and saw that the light in the hallway was on.


She went downstairs. She stopped by the living room to get the portable phone. She wasn’t sure what for, but it seemed like a good idea. She walked over to the window. Evidently, Grant had already gone inside. She wasn’t sure if she should call the police or go find out for herself what was going on. She decided that it would be best to get a handle of the situation herself rather than involving law enforcement. She figured there was probably a rational explanation for everything and that Grant had come to apologize for all that had happened and for scaring the living daylights out of everyone. She went out onto the porch and looked over at Andrew’s house again. She paused and thought about what she was doing and decided that it was still a reasonably good idea. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?


Clutching the portable phone, she went down the steps and starting walking quietly over to Andrew’s house. Her 900 Megahertz phone should reach that far. She was about halfway when a sound stopped her dead in her tracks.





                   #





Grant had the pistol pointed at Andrew’s forehead. Evan was pleading and begging Grant not to go through with it.


Grant looked over at him and said, “If you’d just come home with me, none of this would have happened. If you’d just stayed with me where you belong, none of this would have had to happen.”


He turned back to face Andrew. He slowly pulled the trigger back…slowly…slowly… then the gun fired. Splat. Red liquid spewed out all over the rug, the floor, the walls, the furniture, all over Evan, all over Grant. Andrew’s blood was everywhere instantly. Andrew stumbled backward and then collapsed in a heap on the floor.


Evan let out an animalistic scream and knelt beside Andrew’s body. He wanted to cradle him, but there was so much damage to the back of his head, there wasn’t much to cradle. Evan grabbed Andrew’s arms and tried to get him up as if that was all it would take to reanimate dead flesh.





                             #





Engrid heard the sharp crack of the pistol firing. She stopped next to the boxwood shrub at the corner of her house. That sounded a lot like a gunshot. The icy grip of terror clenched her throat- Grant had held true to his promise. She could see the whole scene in her mind’s eye as clearly as reality itself. She dove behind the boxwood and dialed 9-1-1 from her portable phone that mysteriously made its way into her pocket.


“911, what is your emergency?”


“Hello?” she lost it, Engrid sank into the loose dirt of her flowerbed and sobbed into the phone.


“I see your information on the screen; we’ll send the police immediately.”


“Send an ambulance…” she managed to sputter.


“Of course, Mrs. Matthews,” The pleasant dispatcher said. Engrid just dissolved as she sat in her flower bed. She didn’t know what had happened, but she feared the worst. It had never fully sunk in that Andrew had been serious about Grant’s threats. She had almost convinced herself that he must have dreamed it, just like he’d dreamed about the ghost of the dead doctor and chased it out into the backyard. She gasped as a thought occurred to her- this wasn’t Grant’s first nocturnal visit that night. It was Grant that night in the tool shed. Her blood ran even colder. She heard the front door open and a shadowy figure moved quickly down the stairs, down the concrete walkway. It stopped.


Engrid couldn’t help but sniffle. Grant had heard it. He turned and walked toward her. He slowly moved soundlessly in her direction. She watched him approaching but was paralyzed with fear. When he stood directly in front of her, his eyes bearing down on her with unabated fury and hate, she scrambled up against the side of the house. He retrieved the gun from his waistband and pointed it at her. He cocked it. All Engrid could do was look at him pleadingly. She couldn’t get her mouth to form any words.


“You say anything to anybody and you’re next.” He turned and walked back towards his car. He got in and drove off down the street. He passed the inbound police cars that came to a screeching halt all lights and sirens full blast. Since she was calling on her portable phone, it was her house they came to since it was her address on their screen. They ran up the steps and pounded on the door. An officer spotted a cowering form quivering behind a bush at the corner of the house.


“I see her!” He called out and rushed over to her. She couldn’t speak, she pointed at Andrew’s house with her hand. Several officers pulled their guns and rushed over to the other house while a few others stayed with her.


“Are you okay ma’am?”


She just shook her head.


“Get her in the ambulance.”


She vigorously shook her head. She got up on her unsteady feet and walked as quickly as she could towards Andrew’s house. One officer put his arm up to prevent her from going, but she just brushed past him. She went up the steps. When she got to the top, she threw up. She looked through the opened doorway and saw Andrew’s lifeless body lying on the floor, Evan kneeling beside him running his fingers through Andrew’s blood caked black hair. She turned around and vomited all down the steps. She steadied herself by holding onto the porch railing. She turned around. The officers that had entered the house came back out again.


“Do you know how we can reach this man’s next of kin?”


Engrid just stared at them for a few seconds before responding, “I have no idea. He was raised by an uncle who was in the army. As far as I know, his parents are alive, but I have no idea what their names are or where the live. He said he was from Memphis originally, so I guess you could start looking around there. I think his uncle’s name is Ray, but I don’t know if they have the same last name or if Ray is short for Raymond or not. Andrew’s last name is Garrison.” She was surprised by the coherence of her answer.


“Braswell, Collins, search the house…see if you can find someone’s contact information.” Two of the officers ran into the house.


“Connelly, get him out of there,” pointing at Evan. Two officers went in and each grabbed an arm and pulled Evan to his feet. He had blood all over himself. There was a massive pool of blood covering the hardwood floor. Evan was in the middle of it and was surrounded and covered in it. Andrew’s Mediterranean complexion was suddenly ghostly pale as all the blood drained out onto the floor.


“No!” Evan screamed as the officers pulled him to his feet.


“Come on, son, we need to get you out of here.”


Evan got one arm free and reached out, grasping in Andrew’s direction.


Engrid was standing on the porch when Evan was dragged from the house. He saw Engrid and wrapped his bloody arms around her and squeezed for all he was worth. She hugged him back and he put his head on her shoulder. He bawled into her collarbone. She pulled him over and they sat together on the swing. She didn’t say anything; she just held him and rocked him like a baby, cradling his head with her hand. Evan just cried and cried there on that swing. When Engrid had thrown up earlier, she hadn’t leaned over quite in time, so she had vomit all down the front of her blouse and was now covered with the blood that had smeared from Evan.


The lead officer had already started putting up crime scene tape. Several neighbors heard the sirens and came to find out what happened. Several officers were keeping them away. Engrid and Evan’s eyes were so blurry from the tears, they couldn’t see anything anyway. Dora was among them. She didn’t know about Grant’s threats because Engrid had opted not to tell her, so like all the other neighbors, she had no idea what had happened. From what she knew of the situation, she thought Andrew must have committed suicide. What she couldn’t figure out was how it had been found out so quickly. Then she noticed Evan and Engrid on the porch. How did Evan get there? Was it a Romeo and Juliet moment where the Romeo Evan returned to find his lover dead? She didn’t have all the pieces quite in place.


“Ma’am, I hate to ask this, but is there a funeral home you would like me to contact?” one officer asked her.


“Whitaker’s on Main, I guess.” She said, looking up at him.


“Is there a member of the clergy you’d like me to contact?”


“Michelle Creighton. She’s the pastor at our church.”


He wrote the name down and left. Another officer approached and asked if he could take a statement from each of them separately.


“We’d rather be together if you don’t mind.” Engrid said politely.


“That’s fine. Young man, what’s your name?”


The officer went through a series of questions and got all the pertinent information from both of them. They put out an APB on a red Subaru Outback registered to Grant Kirkland with temporary South Carolina plates. The state police had begun a manhunt and set up highway checkpoints in an attempt to try to catch him.


As they sat there, they rolled Andrew by on a gurney, his face covered. The sheet was already soaked red. They loaded him in the ambulance and it sped off.


“Can we go now?” Engrid asked, utter exhaustion in her voice.


“Of course. Don’t leave town and if we have any further questions, we’ll get in touch with you.”


“Let’s go get you cleaned up.” Engrid said as they helped one another to their feet. “I don’t have any clothes to change into.” Evan said.


“Well, you start taking a shower and I’ll put your clothes through the wash. You can wear an old bathrobe of mine until they’re dry.”


“Okay.” He and she slowly walked across the grass to her house. Dora could see them and debated whether or not she should go talk to them. She decided to wait until all the fuss had settled, and then she’d go over if Engrid’s lights were still on later.


The spent pair had a police escort so that the neighbors wouldn’t bother them. They slowly ascended the steps one at a time disappeared into the house. Evan wordlessly went upstairs to take a shower. Once he’d removed his clothes, he put them into the plastic trash bag Engrid had provided and set them outside the bathroom door. She came, collected them, and took them downstairs to the basement. While that was going, she went and took a shower of her own in her bathroom attached to her bedroom.


When all was said and done, she and Evan were sitting in the living room waiting for his clothes to dry. He was wearing a white terry cloth robe she had found. She was wearing a sweatshirt and an old pair of jeans with bleach stains on them. Neither said anything.


The doorbell rang. Engrid went and answered it. It was Rev. Creighton.


“Good evening.”


“I came as soon as they called. I’ve been sitting out on your porch, and then heard you in here so I rang the doorbell. They didn’t tell me what happened, just that there was an emergency involving you and Evan. What happened?”


“Sit down.” She showed Rev. Creighton into the living room. She sat on the sofa next to Evan. She noticed both uncharacteristic wardrobe choices. He just stared at the floor.


“Evan,” she put her hand on his knee. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”


“I can’t.” he said, sounding defeated.


She looked at Engrid, “What happened?”


“Should I tell her?” She asked Evan.


“If you want to…”


“If you don’t want me to, we’ll just let her go get a good night’s sleep now.”


“Maybe we should tell her.”


“You tell her as much as you’re comfortable telling her.”


Rev. Creighton was thoroughly confused by all the cryptic comments.


Evan sighed deeply and began confessing everything. “Well, a few months ago, a guy named Andrew moved in next door- in Rose’s old house. I’m gay, he was gay, things happened. Then my old boyfriend from New York shows up and blows his head off right in front of me.”


Rev. Creighton sat wide-eyed and astonished. “Evan, I don’t know what to say. I am so sorry all that happened. There’s nothing I can say really. That’s horrible.”


Evan slowly nodded his head.


“Evan, one thing I will say is that this is in no way your fault. A lot of times people in your situation feel that if it wasn’t for them, this never would have happened.”


“In my case, that’s true. Grant came here because of me. Andrew and he met because of me. I wouldn’t listen when Andrew and Engrid tried to warn me. This really is all because of me.”


“No, it’s not,” Michelle replied adamantly, “It was Grant’s decisions that led to this, not yours. You had nothing to do with the choices he made.”


Evan shook his head. “I do. I’m the only reason any of this happened. I might as well have shot Andrew myself and saved Grant the trouble.”


“Why would you want to kill Andrew?”


“I don’t.”


“Do you want to talk about how you felt about Andrew?”


“You wouldn’t understand.”


“What wouldn’t I understand?”


“I loved him. People think one man can’t love another like that, but I’m living proof that that’s a lie. I loved Andrew with my whole heart. I…” Evan dissolved again. Engrid came over and cradled him again just like she’d done on the swing earlier at Andrew’s old house. Rev. Creighton waited patiently for him to calm down again.


“Engrid, do you want to talk for a minute?”


“I think we’re both just so in shock at all that’s happened over the last couple of months, that I think we just need time alone to sort things out. Then maybe we can talk some more.”


“I can understand that. Do you mind if I stay a few minutes longer- just in case?”


“Not at all,” Engrid replied. Evan was inconsolable.


“Rev. Creighton, do you know a therapist or something. I think the both of us could use that.”


“There aren’t any in Deerfield. If you need psychiatric help, you’d have to go to Columbia or Greenville.”


“I don’t think we need psychiatric help, I just meant like a counselor or something. We just need to talk it out in a few days and I don’t want to burden you with all this. It really isn’t fair; you’ve got so many other people to care about.”


“Unless you want to go to Columbia, I’m pretty much it. I only hope I’m able to help. This is such a traumatic thing for anyone to have to go through.”


“Okay. Maybe we’ll come by next week.”


“You should. Now that I think about it, there is a grief counselor that I know in Columbia. If you really wanted to talk to one, I’m sure she would be more than happy to sit with you.”


Michelle stayed a while longer and told Engrid she’d have to look up her friend the grief counselor’s contact information and would call her in the morning. Then she returned home. Evan and Engrid sat on the couch.


“If he loved me, why did Grant shoot Andrew?”


“Grant didn’t love you dear, Grant needed help. He was obsessed and psychotic; he was not in love with you.”


“Did Andrew love me?”


“Yes. Andrew loved you very, very much. He loved you just as much as much as you loved him. When we got to your place earlier after Myrtle told us you had left, we got over there and Andrew was already there. He had gone to beg you not to leave. The look of terror and panic in his eyes at the thought that you were gone for good was scary. He was a wreck that night after you left his house with Grant. After all you’d done with each other, you just cast him side. That hurt him a lot, but he never stopped loving you.”


“I’m so stupid. How could I have let this get so far out of hand?”


“You didn’t. Grant was insane- Michelle was right you had nothing to do with it.”


“If I’d just told him ‘no’ that night, none of this would have happened. Andrew would still be alive. Andrew died because of me.”


“No he didn’t. He died because Grant is insane. But they’re going to catch him and he’ll be behind bars so he can’t do this to anybody else.”


“It’s too late. It doesn’t matter to me…it’s too late.” Evan just stared at the floor.


After a while, he got calmed down and sleepiness set in.


“I want to go to bed.”


“You know where the spare bedroom is- it’s your room now.” Evan stood up and slowly made his way out of the room. Engrid sat there for a few more minutes. Then she got up, walked to the doorway and clicked off the light. She could see the police still working over at Andrew’s house. Most of the neighbors had dispersed- except Dora. She went out onto the porch. Dora approached.


“Can we talk in the morning?” Engrid asked before Dora mounted the first step. “I really don’t feel like talking to anyone right now.”


“Of course, I’ll leave you alone. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Dora smiled, turned and walked away and Engrid went back into her house. She went upstairs and as she was passing the opened doorway of the spare bedroom, she paused. Evan was pulling back the sheets.


“I wish I had something for you to sleep in.”


“That’s okay. I can sleep in my boxers. It’s no big deal.”


“At least they’re clean.” She smiled.


“Goodnight.” He smiled back.


“Goodnight.” She turned and walked down the hallway toward her own bedroom. She sat down in front of her vanity mirror and just shook her head. Her head hurt every time she thought about the events of the last couple of months. It seemed like her world just kept falling further apart. She always thought that by the time she was nearing her late 80’s, she’d have it all figured out and life would be smooth sailing from here to the grave. Yet it seemed that her life never had a dull moment. Unfortunately, a lot of the events of the last few months had tragedy attached to them. Even the good times of Evan and Andrew together were overshadowed by Andrew’s tragic and untimely death at the hands of another.


She looked down at the accoutrements on her table. The brush and curlers, the hand mirror, and the compact brush were all sitting there in their customary places. She was suddenly struck with how dark and cruel the world really could be. Andrew deserved the best this world had to offer, of that she was thoroughly convinced. Andrew did not deserve the death he got. His only error was loving Evan. All he wanted was for Evan to love him back and he got killed for it. The senselessness of it bothered her. There was no reason any of that had to happen. There was no reason she couldn’t just pick up the phone and find out how her neighbor’s date went. There’s no reason that Andrew Garrison should be spending the night in a morgue refrigerator. There is no reason that Andrew Garrison should not be warm and safe, snuggled into the arms of Evan Grayson, who was now alone in her guest room because his mother doesn’t want him, his ex-boyfriend is a wanted murderer and the love of his life was just shot to death right before his eyes. She definitely didn’t want to be in his shoes.


She ran her brush through her white hair as her thoughts mulled over how stupid this all was. She realized that life is stupid most of the time. Most of what we worry about is really dumb in the light of eternity. She realized that if someone like Andrew doesn’t make it into heaven because he’s gay, then she certainly had no business going to heaven either. She changed into a night gown, pulled back the covers and slipped into bed like she’d done in this room for nearly 6 decades, yet tonight, for the first time, she realized that she wasn’t going to be doing that for very much longer. It wouldn’t be long before she and her husband would be back together, never to be separated again, and she’d get to see Andrew again and Rose, and George and all her old friends from ages past. Evan, on the other hand, was going to have to wait a long, long time before he got to see Andrew’s sweet smiling face again.


Sleep was nowhere to be found, so Engrid lay awake, staring at the ceiling fan illuminated from the light of the streetlamps below filtering in through her window. Slowly, her body relaxed and the utter tiredness of her day caught up with her and she could no longer hold her eyes open.


She awoke to the sunny rays of a new day. She opened her bleary eyes. Normally Engrid woke up somewhere between seven and eight o’clock. Today, it was almost ten. She sat up quickly when she realized how late it was, and then settled back down because after the day she’d had yesterday, she genuinely wasn’t looking forward to today. All that had happened the night before seemed too surreal, she wasn’t entirely sure it hadn’t been a terrible, awful nightmare.


She crawled out of bed and got dressed. As she walked down the hall, she paused at the spare bedroom, she pushed the door open. Evan was still asleep too, all snuggled into bed, alone. She pulled the door closed again and went downstairs. She ate a bowl of corn flakes and decided she needed to be alone for a while. She went over to the notepad by the phone and torn off a leaf. She left Evan a note saying that she needed to go out for a while, but would be back to fix in lunch if he wanted it.


There was a nice park in the neighboring town where she was unlikely to be recognized and no old friends would try to engage her in conversation. She drove the 20 minutes to the park. Once there, she walked quietly along a little footpath that when down a hill to a stream. It was a sultry summer day, no birds chirping, only a slight breeze rustling the very tops of the trees and not really filtering down to ground level. She walked along the footpath alone because there was no one else around. The park was usually empty except in the spring when everything was in bloom or on a warm day in the middle of winter. Most of the trees in that part of South Carolina are evergreen pines, so autumn colors are mostly a non-event.


She kept her thoughts to herself listening to the gurgling of the little stream’s water passing over the smooth stones and sandbars. There was a bench nearby, so Engrid went and sat down. She was still shocked and bewildered at all that had happened, especially the last couple of days. She couldn’t shake the feeling that last night had been only a terrible nightmare and nothing more. She knew that was only a grief coping mechanism called denial. It rattled her that, as far as she knew, Grant was still at large. How he had escaped with all those police looking for him was a mystery. If only it had just been a dream. But then she figured Grant was smart enough, he probably had a plan to prevent being caught because he obviously had planned to murder Andrew, at least for the last couple of days. She hoped he had made a mistake somewhere along the way and they had caught him that morning before she got up.


How on earth was she going to take care of Evan? Evan needed serious help if he was ever going to recover. She decided that she and he both needed to go see that grief counselor that Rev. Creighton had mentioned the night before. The worst she could do to help was nothing, meaning it couldn’t hurt and they only stood to gain from it. Then she worried about how she was going to reconcile him to his mother. They were each other’s worlds and so it wasn’t going to be good if they stayed mad at each other. Engrid wasn’t sure how she was going to handle being in the middle of that. Soon the heat of the day caught up with her and little beads of sweat started to form on her neck. She glanced at her watch. It was nearly 2:00 in the afternoon. She’d been sitting on that bench thinking for nearly three hours. She felt bad because she knew Evan had been promised lunch.


Engrid pulled her elderly frame up off the bench and made her way back towards her car. When she got home, Evan was gone. She looked all through the house but to no avail. She looked around the yard thinking he might have decided to distract himself by doing something. No, he was gone altogether.


She realized she’d been gripping her hands tightly the whole time she’d been searching the house for any evidence of Evan. There was nothing Engrid felt like doing, so she just walked into the living room and sat down. She stared out the window at Andrew’s old house. That old house looked as vacant has it had the day after Rose died. It was completely empty. Engrid was still too distraught over the senselessness of Andrew’s death to worry about who her new neighbors would be. She also wasn’t sure how much more death she could stand. She didn’t know what she’d do if anyone else close to her died in the near future. Then a chilling thought, what if Evan did himself in, what then? She decided not to think about that.


She clicked on the TV, something she rarely did, but she had to do something to get her mind off all that was swirling around her. She turned sideways on her sofa and put her feet up- something else she rarely did very often. She channel surfed for a while. Slowly, she drifted further and further into la-la land and then she too was gone. She nestled down onto the couch and fell fast asleep. Lost in the void of a dreamless sleep, Engrid didn’t hear a car drive up outside.


Her chest cavity rose deeply and evenly as the front door opened. Since he lived here now, Evan just let himself in. He started into the living room and saw Engrid sleeping on the couch. He paused and watched her sleeping peacefully. Evan couldn’t help but smile. He loved that old woman more than she could know. She’d been there for him ever since he was 12. Engrid had been the one who convinced him to move to New York in the first place. She said it would be a good experience for him to get out of here and see what the rest of the world was like.


         He turned and walked back out of the house. By now, his mother must be home. He really wanted to talk to her, but was scared to death of what she might say. He walked back down the steps, his head hung, his brow furrowed. He needed desperately to work things out for himself. As he approached, he saw her blue Oldsmobile in the driveway, confirming his worst fear- she was home. He’d hoped that she would be gone so he could postpone the inevitable confrontation.


He went up onto the porch and rang the doorbell of his own house. He heard his mother moving around inside. She walked toward the door and pulled back the curtain of the small windows along the edge of the door to see who was there. She froze when she saw Evan’s face looking back at her.


“Can I come in?” He asked.


She unlatched the door and pulled it open. She stepped aside and Evan walked past her. He walked into the living room and sat down. She followed right behind and sat across from him.


“Mom, can I talk to you.”


She nodded but said nothing.


"I'm sorry," He hung his head in shame.


"It's okay," she replied. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I said all that to you."


Evan looked confused.


Myrtle continued, "You're my son. I don't always have to like what you do with


your time or your life, but you're grown now."


"I am. But, I don't want to lose you."


"You won't, but I don't want you living here anymore. You can keep working at


the store, but that's it. You can't live here anymore, Evan. That's just the way it's got to be. It’s time for you to be out there on your own."


He nodded his head and stood. He had already taken all his clothes and things when he left to go live with Grant earlier, so he didn't have anything to pack.


         "Evan," she said, looking up at him, "I love you."


         "I love you too, Mom." He smiled weakly, turned and left.


         When he got back to Engrid's she was still asleep on the couch. She must


have really been tired. It was getting near 5:00; it would be time to cook dinner soon. Engrid awoke with a start and heard footsteps in the hallway. She raised herself up and looked around. She stood and walked over to the door of the living room and looked down the hallway, she saw Evan's form moving in the shadowy hallway.


         "Evan?" She called out.


         He turned around, "Yes?"


         "Are you hungry?"


         "Yeah…starving," He smiled.


         "Do you need to talk?"


         "I've talked enough. I just went and talked to Mom. She said that I still couldn't live there anymore. I guess I'll have to get a place. It’s not like I can live with Andrew after what’s happened the last couple of days."


         "Well, you can stay here as long as you need to."


         "Thanks. But, I can't stay here forever."


         "No, but you won't have to. You're a smart, resilient person. You'll be fine in a couple of weeks. Then we can get you back on track."


         "She said I could keep working at the store. I just couldn't live with her anymore. I guess she's scared she might have a fit again if I brought Andrew home at night."


         Engrid looked blank.


         "What’s wrong?" Evan asked.


         Engrid just looked at him quizzically. She didn't quite get why Evan seemed so calm about dating again. Plus he talked about Andrew as if he were still alive. Perhaps that was Evan’s coping mechanism. She thought that the episode with Grant and Andrew, that Evan wouldn't want to date anymore. Apparently, she was wrong. She just shook her head, turned and went into the kitchen to put something together for dinner. Evan followed her in to see if he could help at all.


         "How did you get over Andrew so fast?"


         "What do you mean? What happened to Andrew?" Evan asked, suddenly concerned.


         "Don't you remember last night?"


         "Yes. Why?”


         “You don’t remember what happened at Andrew’s?”


         “I came to his house, he told me to leave because he was scared of Grant so I came here. You don’t remember?”


         “But…”


“I was going to leave with Grant, we decided to go back to New York then I changed my mind and decided to stay. You said if things ever got bad with Grant, I could come here, so I came in here and went to bed. You were already asleep, so I didn’t want to wake you up. What’s happened to Andrew?"


         "I’m not sure." She opened the refrigerator. Engrid remembered that people who had witnessed traumatic things often blocked them out of their minds, but she never thought that people actually did that. She thought that was only on those detective shows on TV. Evan just gave her an odd look and stood there. She wasn't giving him an assignment other than to go away and leave her alone. She was still confused about why Evan suddenly had no memory of the horrors of last night. Maybe he needed to see a psychiatrist after all rather than just a grief counselor. Engrid was worried that this might be worse than she feared. What if Evan needed to be institutionalized or something? Did his insurance cover that? What was the deductible or copayments for something like that? Evan left her to her thoughts and went out of the front door. A few minutes passed. She heard a car drive up outside, but thought nothing of it. Whoever it was, Evan would intercept them before they bothered her. She decided to make a macaroni and cheese pie and bread pudding for dinner. Once she got that ready, she remembered that in her dazed state that morning, she’d neglected to make her bed. She went upstairs to make the bed while those things were in the oven. She was still a little unnerved by Evan’s unusual reaction just a few minutes before but tried to put it out of her mind.


As she was doing that, she heard sounds outside. She heard voices in the backyard. She went over to the window, pulled back the curtains, but couldn’t see at a sharp enough angle to see who was back there talking. Curiosity got the better of her, so she descended the stairs and walked towards the back door. Evan was holding a water hose in his hand with a nozzle on the end of it. He was crouching down like he was going to sneak up on somebody. Engrid watched with a bit of alarm rather than amusement. She wondered what sort of mental disorder made someone chase imaginary things around with a water hose. Maybe the same thing that made Andrew chase ghosts around buck naked at three in the morning. She walked out toward him, having decided to intervene and try to get through to him that there was no one in the backyard.


“Evan?” she called out to him.


He motioned with his hand for her to be quiet. She stopped and watched for a second longer. She kept approaching him as he got closer to Andrew’s gazebo. She stepped in front of him and looked him in the eye.


“Evan, there’s nobody out here but us.”


He looked at her. She couldn’t really read his expression. He looked sort of annoyed and sort of confused. He put his arm up to her side and moved her out of his line of sight. She looked behind her. Andrew stepped out from behind his gazebo, with a hose of his own and hosed them both. Engrid screamed. Andrew thought that was funny and so sprayed her even more. She ran towards him. He stopped spraying her and stepped back. She stopped right in front of him. He looked back at her, not sure what was going on. He hadn’t anticipated that reaction from her. She reached out and poked his chest.


“Are you okay Engrid? You’re acting kind of funny.”


She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. Now he was even more confused about what was happening. He looked over at Evan who just shrugged. Evan walked over to them.


“Engrid thought something had happened to you.”


He broke the embrace at looked at her. “I’m fine. Nothing happened to me. What did you think happened?”


“I thought Grant shot you but he didn’t, I see you’re still alive!” She was suddenly beside herself. She gave him another hug and just held on to him. “I thought you were dead, Andrew. I thought you were dead. I saw your body. I saw Evan covered in your blood. What happened?”


“I don’t know. This is your story.”


“Grant threatened to kill you.”


“He was drunk. He didn’t know what he was saying. Engrid, I’m fine. No one shot me, I’m not dead.”


She was still confused about what had happened the night before, but she didn’t care. Andrew was alive. “You must have dreamed it, Engrid.” Andrew said.


“I guess I must have. But that was one realistic dream.”


“Now can we get back to our game?” Evan asked.


“What are you playing?”


“Water tag...”


“You two are playing tag with your hoses?”


“Yeah,” Andrew said, with a big grin.


“Alrighty then,” she said clasping her hands together, “You two don’t have too much fun, I’m gonna go finish supper.”


She turned towards her house and the boys resumed their game of tag with their hoses.


Engrid, who was rather wet and bewildered, but nonetheless ecstatic turned back and watched in amusement. She just couldn’t put her finger on what was going on. She knew beyond a shadow of doubt what she’d seen, but it all defied explanation. The events she’d witnessed with her own two eyes defied any other explanation than it was just a horrible, terrible nightmare. It simply couldn’t be true. Andrew was clearly alive and well. Evan seemed to have no recollection of the events. She turned back toward her house and went inside. She walked down the main hallway to the kitchen to cook some dinner for them.


Not too much later, there was a knock on the backdoor. Engrid put her large, wooden stirring spoon down on a paper towel and answered the door. It felt a bit odd answering the backdoor. She pulled it back and there was Evan standing on the other side. She looked startled. He had obviously lost the game of tag. He was many gay men’s wet dream. He was drenched, his dark blonde hair plastered to his head and rivulets of water running down his unblemished, sun tanned skin. She looked at him from head to toe and then back up again. His lust-inspiring qualities were lost on her.


“You’re not coming in my house like that.”


“Could you bring me some dry clothes? I’ll go change at Andrew’s.”


She cocked her head and said, “I’ll bet.” Then she broke out in a grin. “You two have got some explaining to do at dinner tonight, I’ll have you know.”


“What’s the matter? Are we in trouble?”


“No, but I want to know what happened last night.” She turned and left him standing at the door while she retrieved some clothes from upstairs.


After all that, the time arrived for dinner. Engrid had called Dora and invited her over because she wanted Dora to hear the explanation and her account of what she’d seen. Dora was sitting at the table dicing an onion when the love birds came in the door. She heard the two sets of masculine footsteps tramping on her hardwood floors and turned to greet them as they entered. Dora took the cutting board full of diced onion into a pot of boiling water.


“We’re having soup, salad, and sandwiches. Nice and light.” Engrid announced. “Andrew, you make the salads and Evan’ll make the sandwiches.”


“Yes ma’am,” Andrew replied and set to his assigned task.


“Did you two have a good day?” Dora asked as Andrew sat the lettuce and radishes on a cutting board on the table.


“Yeah.” Andrew said, “I was at work all day. It is Wednesday, after all.”


“Don’t I know it. The grant proposal for the new children’s book section is due on Monday and I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”


“Maybe Evan could help,” Andrew suggested.


“Why’s that?”


“He’s got a degree in English, doesn’t he?”


“Yes, he does- come to think of it.”


Evan smiled at them. “I don’t think quoting Anne Bradstreet would help much.”


“It is for a library, so you never know.”


“I’d be willing to try.”


“I would greatly appreciate that!”


Once dinner was complete, they sat at the kitchen table. Andrew felt that he’d finally arrived in the world. He’d helped Engrid fix supper and now they were sitting at the kitchen table, not the formal dining room table.


“Engrid?”


“Yes, Evan.”


“You said Andrew and I had some explaining to do.”


“Yes, yes you do. What happened last night? With Grant?”


“It was bad,” Evan began, “I went with Grant, then changed my mind and hitchhiked back here with Jason Rivera. With Grant out there, I didn’t think it was a very good idea to sleep at Andrew’s, so I let myself in here. I hope that’s okay.”


“Of course it is.”


Andrew told his side, “I finally got to sleep last night; went to work this morning. When I got home, Evan was sitting in the swing on my front porch.”


“And that’s all that happened?”


“Yes.” They both agreed.


“What did you think happened?” Dora asked her.


“Nothing. I just had a crazy dream, that’s all.”


“Didn’t you say you thought Grant had killed me?” Andrew asked.


“I did. But that didn’t happen, so it must have been a dream.”


Andrew sat back in his chair. His appetite had just evaporated.


“It could have been a premonition,” Andrew said.


“I don’t think so,” Engrid said, “In all my years, I’ve never had one. I’m sure that’s not it.”


“I hope not,” Andrew said.


“I’m sure you don’t,” Engrid said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.


The rest of dinner passed uneventfully. In fact, several days passed without major incident. Andrew was still a little distrusting of Evan, but Evan understood that and tried to not let it bother him. He started staying with Andrew rather than Engrid. Engrid didn’t like the idea, but it was more a safety issue than a morality issue at the moment. They decided that Grant, if indeed he was still around, would continue to bother Evan and Andrew, not Engrid and Dora.


The rest of the week passed quietly and Engrid finally gave up trying to explain what she’d seen at Andrew’s house because it clearly wasn’t true and was only in her head. No one but Engrid had any recollection of the horror story of that night. It had to have been a dream. Maybe she was getting senile.





                                       #





Monday morning dawned. It was almost August. This had by far been the most eventful summer in recent memory for Engrid Mae Matthews. When the mail came, she stepped out on the porch to the little black sheet metal box attached to the front wall. Inside were random bills, pre-approved credit card offers, a sale paper from Mattress Discounters, and her Social Security check. It wasn’t much, but she decided she should deposit it immediately otherwise she might forget. The town was quiet as she parked in an angled space in front of First Community Bank and Trust Company of South Carolina. She was planning to meet a friend from church for lunch after she deposited her check.


She pushed open the glass door and looked around. She walked over to the little table with the deposit slips on it and set her purse up on the table and started rambling through it to find the little scrap of paper she’d written her account number down on. She failed to notice a young man step out of the side office where the mortgage consultants worked. Everyone in town knew Engrid, but this particular young man had an uneasy and unsettled relationship with the elderly widow.


Grant watched Engrid look for her account number. Her back was to him, so he was safe from being noticed. She found the paper, unfolded it and starting filling out the deposit slip. He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame leading into the office. He watched her cheap, white plastic pen moving across the paper as she mouthed the digits under her breath. His black eyes were boring holes in her back. This was a side of Grant he kept hidden from Evan. Evan must never find out the darkness that lurks in the heart of his Yankee lover. He ducked back into the office as she turned around and got in line for the teller window. He went back to his desk, where he could see the head of the line. There was only one person in line in front of Engrid, so he could still see her. She had no idea she was being watched by someone who wished her only ill. Grant knew that it was Engrid that really kept Evan here. He was convinced that if Engrid was out of the picture, convincing Evan to return to him would be much easier. Evan’s love for Andrew was fleeting. It would run its course and Evan would return to the love he once knew. She got to the front, transacted her business and left.


That night, she was sitting in the living room reading a romance novel. Since it was a cooler night, she called over to Andrew’s.


“Hello?”


“Hi Andrew, this is Engrid. How are you and Evan doing?”


“We’re fine. Is anything the matter?”


“No. No. Nothing’s the matter. It’s just a nice night, so I thought we could sit on the porch. That is, if you’re not busy.”


“I’m waiting for the dryer to finish and Evan’s unloading the dishwasher.”


“Well don’t have too much fun over there.”


Andrew laughed to himself. “What are you doing?”


“Reading some old book Dora gave me from the reject pile at the library.”


“We’ll be over in a few minutes to rescue you.”


“I’ll be here.”


She hung up. She got up out of her armchair and went out onto the porch and sat on the swing and waited for her boys to arrive. She hadn’t turned her swing around yet, so she could see Evan and Andrew in the kitchen. She was dying to know what they were talking about. She was curious to know what gay men talk to each other about. A warm summer breeze rustled through the maple trees in front of her house. She saw the two men leave the house and step out and down the steps. She watched them walking side by side through the grass as they approached her house. Andrew was the first to notice Engrid watching them and waved. She waved back.


“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” she called out to them.


“Sorry. Evan was being slow.”


Evan just smiled. Once on the porch, Evan sat down next to Engrid on the swing. She hopped up and told Andrew to sit there. She pulled a rocking chair from behind the swing and faced them.


“So,” Evan began, “What’s going on?


“Nothing. I just wanted to talk.”


The three sat in silence and thought of something to say.


She was afraid to bring up Grant but she wanted to know if he was still in town or if he’d gone back up north.


“Well,” Evan started, “I’ve been offered an instructor’s job at the community college extension here in town.”


“I didn’t know you’d applied.”


“They’ve been trying to get me to do it since I got back from New York. I didn’t want to leave Mom alone with the store, so I didn’t do it. But, now that that’s out of the question, I told them I’d do it.”


“That’s a lot of work.”


“It is,” Evan admitted, “I’ll be teaching basic level English classes. Mostly grammar and basic composition classes- nothing too fancy.”


“Maybe you could start taking some Master’s classes at the university in Columbia. Then you could be a real professor.”


“That’s what I said,” Andrew smiled.


“See, even your boyfriend agrees that you should continue your education.”


“Maybe,” Evan said noncommittally. He sat quietly for a moment.


“What’s the matter?” Engrid asked.


“I’m just worried about Grant.”


She soured. “What about him?”


“Grant threatened to kill Andrew and you.”


“I know. Andrew told me. That’s probably why I dreamed what I did.”


“While the dream hasn’t come true that doesn’t change the fact that Grant threatened, at gunpoint, to kill you and Andrew. That’s just not the Grant I remember.”


“Well, before you came over, I was reading a book. It said that ‘unrequited love is a dangerous thing.’ I think that’s true.”


“It is true. It is very true.”


“Do you think it’s over between you and Grant?” Engrid asked.


“I thought it was over years ago. It’s over as far as I’m concerned. But I don’t know what’s going on in his head. I don’t know Grant as well as I thought I did.”


“People can surprise you- and not always in a good way,” Engrid said.


Evan continued to sit quietly, looking at an invisible cricket chirping in the boxwood. He was conflicted. The Grant who would threaten to murder a little old lady was not the sweetheart he had known. This was a different Grant that had arrived in Deerfield. It was not the same one that he knew. The one who had moved here to get him back, who loved him, who would stop at nothing to protect him, was no longer. But yet in the few days he’s spent with him, it was like time had stood still. Grant was the same sweet, charming, man that Evan remembered. He couldn’t reconcile the two images in his mind.


“Well, I hope he’s good and gone,” Engrid said, “But I doubt it.”


“What do you mean?” Evan asked.


“People like Grant don’t give up that easily. I’ve known people like that. Don’t forget that I spent nearly a week with the man while you were working. Then he was around a lot the first time I came up to visit you. I don’t know him nearly as well as you do, not by a long shot, but I know him well enough. I didn’t expect him to be as bold to point a gun at someone, but for some reason I can’t quite say I’m surprised.”


Andrew and Evan were obviously intrigued. This wasn’t just some random Engrid conspiracy theory. They could sense it somehow. She could tell they were curious.


“People like Grant become obsessed. They see something they want; they won’t stop until they’ve got it. Dora was explaining it to me. This is a game and you’re the prize.” She pointed at Evan. “The man is dangerous, and we’d all be better off staying away from him- especially for you and me.” She pointed at Andrew, “Because we’re all that stands in his way of winning the game.”


“Well, he’s gone back to New York anyway, hasn’t he?” Andrew asked.


“I doubt it. I’ll bet you a dime against a hole in a doughnut that he’s right here. If we drove over there, I’ll bet you anything his car is in the driveway of that house.”


“Let’s go find out,” Evan said.


Engrid thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”


Andrew piped up, “We won’t invite ourselves in; we’ll just drive by and see.”


She thought a second more before agreeing to the plan. Evan and Andrew waited on the swing while Engrid went inside to get her keys. What none of them could have known was that at that moment, Grant was crouching down alongside the house less than ten feet away. He heard every word of their conversation…and he agreed. He was dangerous and would stop at nothing to get Evan back and there was nothing a crusty old bag and a fairy princess could do to stop him.


Engrid returned to the porch with her keys in hand. The boys stood up as she turned the deadbolt and went down the steps towards her waiting Town Car.


As they backed out toward the street Evan spoke. “I just don’t believe that Grant would hurt me.”


“He wouldn’t hurt you,” Engrid explained, “We’re the ones he’s got it in for. He’d cut off his own fingers before he’d hurt you.”


Evan fell silent, pondering. They drove on in silence. The distance from Grant’s house and Andrew’s seemed further than he’d realized. Each pondered his and her own whirlwind of thoughts. The events of the last couple of days had been eventful and traumatic and the vivid memories of Grant at his most wicked seared forever in the minds of Engrid and Andrew. Evan was still unsure of what the others had witnessed. He knew in his mind, heart, and gut that Engrid wouldn’t make up something like that. He had seen the look in her eyes when she way Andrew in the backyard, water hose in hand. He had heard the wavering in her voice at the dinner table as she gave an account of what she’d seen in her dream the night before. He could still sense the confusion she had at his reaction to her questions regarding Andrew’s whereabouts. He could understand Engrid’s fear of Grant after Andrew told her about the gun and threatening to kill him, her, and Dora. It was no wonder to Evan that a story like that would trigger a nightmare like that in an impressionable old woman. What he couldn’t understand was why Andrew would make up something like that. He knew Andrew was afraid he’d leave with Grant and that made him extremely jealous. But Evan knew Grant well enough to know that grant would never hurt anyone. Grant was and is a very loving and kind man. A man who loved Evan enough to let him go two years ago. He was loving enough to give up his home, his family, and familiar surroundings to move from Northern New England to Southern Dixieland just to be near him. That was not the kind of man to pull out a gun and murder two defenseless old widows who only wanted the best for everyone involved. Evan still marveled that Andrew would do such a thing.


Evan thought to himself, “Is that the kind of insecure, manipulative man I want to spend the rest of my life with?” That thought weighed on Evan’s mind when he heard Engrid’s turn signal. She was turning onto Malvern. The street that would take them past the house that was supposed to be Evan’s new home.


“What if he parked around back?” Andrew’s voice broke through the silence.


“We’ll see if his lights are on,” Engrid explained, “if his lights are off and his car isn’t there, we’ll assume he’s gone.”


“What if he knows we’re here and turned the lights off?” Andrew’s voice went up in pitch betraying the lump that was rising in his throat.


Evan couldn’t help but notice Andrew’s paranoia.


“I’m sure that’s not it.” Engrid reassured herself more than anyone else.


They were approaching ever closer. The faint echoes of his own heartbeat were becoming a thunderous noise in Andrew’s ears. A well spring of panic was rising quickly as Engrid let off the gas pedal and the car naturally began slowing down. She too was nervous because she knew that Andrew was not hallucinating or dreaming about Grant threatening to kill them all. In her mind, that threat was as cold and real as if the barrel had been against her own head.


“It isn’t there.”


“Maybe he parked around back.”


She drove past his house and parked her land yacht on the street. She could still see the house in her mirrors. She sat motionless, the engine idling quietly as she thought about whether or not to go up there.


“What do you think?” she asked, looking at Andrew in her rearview mirror. “Do you want to go up there?


“Yeah, I want to know.”


“Okay.” She switched off the car and opened her door. The trio stepped out onto the street and gathered in a huddle on the sidewalk.


“Well?” Engrid motioned with her hand for Andrew to go first. He started toward the house with Engrid and Evan right behind.


“We shouldn’t go in mass.” Andrew said, “We should split up so he won’t see us. It’ll be safer that way.”


“Safer?” Evan asked.


“In case he tries something.”


“He’s not going to try anything. Grant’s a really good guy. Just because you’re jealous doesn’t make him a criminal.”


“I am not jealous,” Andrew hissed.


Evan just gave him an incredulous look. Andrew turned and kept walking. Engrid just rolled her eyes at the both of them.


“Okay,” Andrew was talking again, “I’m going to cut through this yard, and meet you beside the house.”


Engrid just stopped and looked at him. Evan spoke, “Okay Velma, what are Daphne and I supposed to do?


Engrid was pleased that she got to be the pretty one.


“Just stay on the sidewalk and don’t let him see you.”


“He can’t see us if he isn’t there. He’s probably already back in New Hampshire by now.” Engrid stated- the frustration evident in her voice.


Andrew turned without another word and starting across the grass. Engrid and Evan kept to the sidewalk just like they’d been told. Engrid was nervous because she believed Andrew. Evan wanted to prove them both wrong so they’d quit dragging Grant’s good name through the mud. Why couldn’t they see in Grant what Evan saw in him?





                                                 #





Grant remained crouched among the bougainvilleas and listened to the three sets of footsteps clamoring across the wooden floor boards then descending the brick steps. He debated with himself about what he should do. Should he remain away or try to intercept him? He decided to remain out of sight and let them think he was gone for good. He waited for about twenty minutes so that the three would satisfy their curiosity and leave his house before he returned. Grant sat cross legged on the grass and waited for time to pass. The time elapsed and he stood to go. He’d parked down the street so as not to be spotted. As he was cutting across Andrew’s yard, he stopped and turned. It was a beautiful house. He walked up onto the porch and peered in through the darkened windows. He could see the shadowy outlines of the living room furniture and the art prints hanging on the walls. Grant realized how perfect it all looked. Everything Andrew owned was perfect. It was all neat, clean, organized and put away. He stepped back and looked up and down the length of the porch. The swing and the row of wicker rocking chairs set perfectly still in the moonlight. He was suddenly filled with revulsion and hatred. He hated the fact that Andrew gave Evan his heart’s most precious and ardent desire- to have both roots and wings. Grant had the chance two years ago to give Evan that, but he blew it. He had failed and it cost him the love of a lifetime. He was determined not to fail again. Failure and defeat were not options he was willing to give himself. Since Andrew was perfect, so he had to be destroyed. It was the only way to get Evan back. Grant suddenly had to fight the urge to burn that beautiful, century old home to the ground. Grant was so lost in his own mind that he failed to hear footsteps approaching from behind.


“Andrew?” It was Dora’s voice. She stood midway up the front steps, the pale light of night reflected in her glasses and off her white hair. She realized her mistake instantly. It was perfect- no witnesses.


“Is Andrew here?” She asked.


“No. I just knocked and no one answered.”


“Oh. So, is Engrid home?”


“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” He took a measured step toward her. She noticed and visibly stiffened.


“So, you’re leaving now?” Her voice wavered just a bit.


“Yeah, I guess I can come back tomorrow.” He took another step toward her. Dora could sense that something just wasn’t right about this scenario. Grant seemed ill-at-ease about something. Grant took another step. When she moved to step back, she lost her footing. Before she could stop herself, she stumbled and fell backward down the steps. She did manage to turn a quarter turn and land on her side as she hit the hard, abrasive surface of the stone steps and rolled down to the concrete walkway.


Grant stood completely still and watched the wretched event unfold as her elderly form collapsed in a heap at the bottom. Dora lay perfectly still. He ran down the steps, jumped over her limp body and took off across the grass toward his car parked in the shadowy distance further down the street. Breathlessly, he stood by his car and rummaged in his pockets for his keys. The side of his car was illuminated by the headlamps of an approaching car. He looked up and froze.





                             #





“This is crazy,” Engrid said, standing on the front steps of Grant’s house while she and Evan waited for Andrew to finish searching the backyard, “doesn’t he know we’re trespassing?”


“You started it,” Evan responded as he sat down on the top step.


“I guess you’re right,” Her eyes scanned the street for approaching headlamps. “But, then you always are.”


Evan scowled ever so slightly.


“You’re right. You and Andrew got together despite my help. He and Penny didn’t when I tried to help. Now you’re right again. Grant did go back up north, didn’t he?”


“Looks like it.”


“I don’t even know why I try anymore.” She sat down next to Evan and folded her arms.


“It’s because you care. After my mom did what she did, you’re the only person I feel like has always been there for me. You went with Grant to a drag show to make me happy. You bailed me out of jail twice. Never mind Grant and Andrew, I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I know you.”


Engrid couldn’t remember the last time she blushed. It hadn’t been recently since the hot rush of blood came to her face and ears. A smile played at the corners of her lips. Not a smile of self-satisfaction, but a smile of embarrassment. She didn’t get complimented very often. She didn’t verbally respond. She didn’t need to.


A few minutes passed in silence between them. “She still loves you, you know.”


“What?” Evan asked.


“Your mother. She still loves you.”


“I know.”


They heard Andrew’s footsteps approaching from the corner of the house.


“So, should we call Scotland Yard, Mr. Holmes?”


“The furniture is still in the house. He’s still around. He’s just not home right now. He’ll turn up again.”


“So are you ready to go?” Evan asked.


“Yeah.”


They stood up and walked back toward the car in silence. There was nothing more to be said, really. As Engrid was slowing for the final approach to her driveway, she saw a little red Subaru parked on the right side of the street with a man standing beside it. She considered swerving and hitting him, but thought Evan might not appreciate that gesture.


Instead, Engrid stopped to car and pressed the button to roll down the passenger side window. Grant turned and found himself face to face with Andrew.


“Can we help you?” Andrew asked, using his professional voice.


“No” He unlocked the door of his car and got in. Slamming the door, he cast a sad glance at the backseat of that Town Car. Engrid released the brake and the car rolled forward.


“Oh my God!” Engrid whipped the car into Andrew’s driveway and stopped, just shy of hitting the Pathfinder. Neither passenger had seen Dora still lying on the concrete walkway. With startling speed and agility, Engrid leapt from the car and ran towards the front of Andrew’s house. A bloody gash on Dora’s arm and forehead flowed red blood onto the clean concrete walkway. Evan and Andrew opened their doors and rushed to see what had caught Engrid’s attention. Both gasped. Engrid knelt beside her aged friend; put her hand on her shoulder. Dora turned a bleary and disoriented eye toward Engrid.


Andrew dashed up the steps, two at a time. He fished the keys out of his pocket and disappeared inside. Evan knelt beside Engrid and put his hand on her shoulder as she comforted Dora. Andrew picked up the portable telephone off of its base and dialed 911.


He returned to the porch. “There’s an ambulance on its way.”


“Is she going to be okay?” Andrew asked from the top of the steps.


“She’ll be fine.” Evan said. She just got a bump on her head, that’s all.


“I’m fine,” Dora confirmed.


“You just lay still,” Engrid prompted.


The paramedics arrived and got her loaded into an ambulance. Engrid rode with her while Andrew and Evan drove around Engrid’s car and followed the ambulance to the county hospital.


Dora lay perfectly still, watching the translucent IV bag swinging from its hook on the ceiling of the ambulance. Since she was conscious, lucid, and not critically injured, activity on board was minimal. She became aware of Engrid’s presence. Engrid grabbed Dora’s hand and smiled.


“You’re gonna be alright. You just took a fall, that’s all.”


“I know,” Dora said. She was getting groggy from the sedative she’d received.


“Dora?”


“Yes?”


“Did you see Grant?”


“Yes.”


“Did he push you?”


“No.”


“Did he see you fall?”


“Yes.”


“Did he try to help you?”


“No.”


Engrid sat back. Grant saw her fall and offered no assistance. That fact alone made Engrid dislike him all the more. Neither said anything else for the rest of the trip.


The doctors stitched up Dora, did a few tests and sent her home in a few hours. Mercifully, she hadn’t broken any bones. Andrew and Evan sat in the ER waiting room while Engrid stayed by Dora’s bed side. The boys were playing spades when the double doors swung open and Dora appeared in a wheelchair with Engrid pushing her along. They went over to her, one on each side like lost grandchildren finally finding their long lost granny.


“Are you okay?” Evan asked.


“I’m fine. Don’t fuss.” Dora said. “I just tripped and fell is all.”


“What did you want?”


She cast a curious glance at Andrew.


“You were at my house. What did you want?”


“I thought I saw something.”


“What was it?”


“A prowler.”


“Why didn’t you just call the police? You could have been killed.”


“It’s nothing.”


“Did you see anyone?”


She looked over at Evan, then Engrid. “No. I just lost my footing. I’m getting clumsy in my old age.”


They made it safely home.





                                       #





Evening passed and morning came. Tuesday. Engrid was munching on a piece of toast watching the hot rays of an August morning streaming through the kitchen window. The back door opened and closed. She looked over her shoulder to see Evan standing in the doorway. She looked away quickly. She was hiding something she was debating within herself whether or not to tell Evan what Dora had told her about Grant’s involvement in her accident.


“Anything special with the yard?” Evan asked perfunctorily.


“Just the usual,” She said not turning to face him.


“Is anything the matter?”


“Promise you won’t get upset?”


“About what?”


“Dora last night. Is wasn’t an accident.”


Evan came around and sat at the table facing Engrid. “What do you mean?”


You can go ask Dora yourself if you want. Grant was at Andrew’s house last night. That was the prowler she saw. She cornered him on the porch.”


“Engrid, listen to me, you don’t have to worry about him.”


“There’s more. He threatened to kill me and Andrew if we tried to keep you from him. One night Andrew thought he saw a ghost in his house. It wasn’t a ghost at all. It was Grant. Grant pulled a gun on Andrew in his own house and said that you were his and if we tried to interfere with him taking you back to New York with him he’d kill all three of us- Dora, Andrew and me. I think last night was another warning from him. I know you don’t want to believe us, but you have to.”


Evan just sat there. He didn’t believe her even though he couldn’t decide why she would still be making up things to make him dislike Grant and stay with Andrew. He just grunted and stood up. The chair made a squawking sound as it slid across the linoleum floor. He walked out of the room leaving Engrid alone again. She looked back down at the half eaten piece of toast and slid the plate away from her.


She got up and decided she should go check on Dora to make sure she was alright. She went out the back door and turned to go towards Dora’s house. Evan was standing in the doorway of the tool shed looking for something. Engrid walked up behind him. She cleared her throat to get his attention.


“What?” He asked shortly.


“I hope you know that we’re not making this up out of jealousy. Jealousy is for petty fools. I only told you what I did so that you would know. I hate to think what might happen to you if you got into another abusive relationship.”


“How did you know about that?” The heat rose in his voice. He was scared. He didn’t know if she knew something or if she was fishing.


“I asked Grant. He told me about what happened with you and Ray.”


“When?”


“When he was playing tour guide in New York. I thought a lot of Grant until he came down here. Threatening people at gun point in their own homes is not my idea of a good man.”


“What would you know?” He asked sharply, then turned and walked away.


         She followed him step for step. “I know a lot. I’m not a gay man, no, but I know a lot about people and relationships and what makes them work. Gay relationships aren’t that much different than other ones. You know all too well that gay men can be in abusive relationships and I would hate to think you could end up there again. Out in the cold on Valentine’s Day. When you could be with someone who loves you and cares about you and would stop at nothing to protect you.”


“You?” He turned to face her.


“Andrew,” she was almost pleading, “You stubborn old fool.”


He turned away and kept walking. “Would you quit following me?”


“Fine. I’m going to go over to Dora’s. I just hope Grant didn’t come back last night to finish the job.” She didn’t move. She just looked at him with frustration. He just wasn’t getting it. Evan was the one to walk away.


Later that night, darkness filled the bedroom. Evan awoke with a start. He looked over and saw Andrew breathing slowly and evenly. He looked so peaceful lying there with his eyes closed, his hair pressed up against the pillowcase. Evan was uneasy. He felt in the pit of his stomach that something wasn’t right. When he first awoke, he could have sworn that he saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway of the bedroom. The soft combination of street lamps and moonlight filtered in through the curtains. There was clearly no one there now. Evan convinced himself that it was just a dream or a trick of the light and laid his head back down and stared at the ceiling. He focused his eyes on the slow moving fan blades overhead. His eyelids got heavy and soon he dozed back off to sleep. Time passed and again he awoke. His eyes opened but his body remained still. There was a figure standing in the doorway. Evan gasped and flinched. The figure turned to the side and stood behind the wall rather than going down the stairs as it had when Andrew pursued it.


Evan reached behind himself and grabbed Andrew’s shoulder and shook him. Andrew lazily stirred and opened his eyes. Evan looked around and was nose to nose with him. Andrew frowned in confusion then recognized the look of panic on Evan’s face. His body jerked awake as adrenaline hit his system. Without hearing the words, Andrew knew what was happening. Grant was back to finish the job. Engrid’s premonition was real.


Grant waited patiently on the landing at the top of the stairs. He knew that he had a captive audience. The only way out of the room was that door or jumping from a second story window onto an azalea bush. He felt the cold weight of the pistol in his hand. Grant had expected to be more nervous about what he was about to do. He had decided that if he couldn’t have Evan, then no one could.


Andrew jumped out of bed and in one leap was in a standing position. Evan just lay on the bed in shocked surprise.


Andrew, terrified by Grant’s previous visit, had borrowed one of Paul’s guns. He had practiced a little, but not nearly enough. He picked up the .22 gauge shot gun from its place propped against the wall between the nightstand and the bed. He hoped the dim light would keep Grant from seeing what he was doing


“Hold it.” Grant’s voiced threatened. Evan looked up and froze. He’d hoped it wasn’t Grant, in the darkness he couldn’t tell for sure, but now it was undeniable- Grant was here to kill. The gun was so heavy and unwieldy that Andrew almost dropped it.


“Put the gun down.” Grant instructed, easily lifting the light weight pistol into position. Andrew knew he couldn’t get the gun into position quickly enough to not be shot himself. He lowered the gun, tossed it onto the bed and put his hands in the air.


“Don’t shoot me.” Andrew said, his voice calm but shaky.


“I told you.”


“Grant. What are you doing?” Evan asked, the emotion almost choking him.


“Keeping my promises.”


“Don’t shoot anyone,” Evan said.


“Don’t shoot us,” Andrew said, looking at him plaintively, “It’s not worth going to prison for.”


“I’m not going to shoot you. I want a witness.” He pointed the gun at Evan.


“Get up,” he instructed.


Evan looked up at him, seeing only the perfectly round end of a snub nosed pistol. He was holding back the tears as terror gripped his heart. Evan slowly got out of the bed, careful to not take his eye off the gunman.  Grant reached out and grabbed Evan and pulled him toward the door.


“Why are you doing this?” Evan managed to choke the words past the phlegm.


“Evan, you can’t leave. This way, you’ll always be with me.”


Grant thought he heard a noise behind him on the stairs. He thought he heard it again. He turned and fired a shot into the darkness outside the door. Andrew seized the moment as Evan rolled out of Grant’s grasp and fell to the floor.


A shot rang out. Andrew yelped as the shotgun blast knocked him against the wall. Evan convulsed. Grant fell to the floor. Evan lay on the wood quivering in shock, the sound still ringing in his ears. Andrew stood by the bed with the shotgun still in his hand.








                             <The End>