Slow No Wake

FOURTEEN

Zenith

(Nine Months Later)

Hannah and I stacked the last of the moving boxes near the front door. Everything was ready to be loaded into the moving trucks when the guys arrived.

“I’m sorta gonna miss this place,” Hannah said, taking one last look around the duplex.

Because my sister started seeing Brad as soon as she arrived, she decided to stay in Florida. She moved into the apartment with me and together we got the place fixed up fairly nicely. Well, as nice as anyone could fix up an old wreck like the duplex.

“But will you miss the bad plumbing, the black mold and the paper thin walls?” I joked.

“You have a point.”

The front door was propped open, so we saw when Brad pulled up with a small box truck. He hopped out and gave my sister a big hug. “Are you ready, my love?” he asked.

Hannah gave him a big smile.

Brad asked my sister to move into his house, which was a big step for both of them. The rationale he gave was that he lived close to the community college, so it would be easier for Hannah to commute to her classes. For all the issues people had with Brad, he was a different person with my sister. And my sister was a different person with him. They brought out the best in each other. My sister told me that Brad had motivated her to go back to school so she could have a career. She decided to sign up for a course in radiology to become an X-ray technician.

Brad and Hannah began loading her stuff into the box truck and a few seconds later, Daniel arrived with a small moving van. We were moving into a house he rented across town. He jumped out of the van and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Excited?” he asked.

“And nervous,” I replied. “The last time I lived with a guy, it didn’t exactly work out.”

Daniel tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m completely and totally devoted to you.”

“I know.”

He kissed me then said, “Now let’s get your stuff moved into our new place.”

With the four of us hauling boxes and furniture, it took less than an hour to get everything packed. I noticed Daniel standing by the mailbox. He removed a square beige envelope and handed it to me.

“That’s strange,” I said. “I had the mail forwarded.”

The four of us looked down at the envelope in my hand.

“It doesn’t have a stamp or postmark,” Brad observed. “Someone must have stuck it in your mailbox.”

Now overwhelmed with curiosity, I tore open the envelope. Inside was a wedding invitation. My throat went dry when I saw who the groom was: Ed LaRoche.

“Eddie’s getting married,” I managed to squeak out.

Then I noticed who the bride was: Christina Matthews.

“He’s marrying Miss Matthews, our English teacher?” I was in a state of shock. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever picture Eddie getting married.

“Joey-G told me they’re getting married in a few weeks,” Daniel said.

“W-why so fast?” I stammered.

Daniel, Brad and Hannah all smirked at the same time.

“Let’s just say they wanted to have the ceremony before Christina started to show,” Daniel replied.

Brad leaned in and added, “I heard Eddie took Christina into the laboratory supply closet almost every afternoon after school.”

I gulped. A memory of Eddie taking me to that supply closet flashed in my mind. I was surprised when the memory evoked no feelings the way my thoughts always had in the past. It just seemed like such a long time ago.

“You know,” Daniel said. “Eddie always did have a thing for English majors.”

The four of us laughed.