Read Online First Class Farewell by Aj Harmon - Free Book Online Page B

paper before they were lost to him.
    He put the
needs of his children above his own. Dedicated to giving his children the best
advantages possible. Kind hearted and giving. Responsible and honorable. Loved
by all who knew him.
    A tear dropped from his cheek onto the paper under his hand. How could this have happened? But Janie stepped into the room to tell
him the detectives had arrived before he had the chance to try to come to terms
with the tragedy.
    “I guess this is where we hear the ugliness of it all,” he
frowned.
    And ugliness it definitely was.
    He appeared to be high on drugs when he demanded the cash
from the till...in his early forties with nothing in his life but a long list
of drug-related arrests and incarcerations. Janie thought it was sad. Matt was
furious.
    “So he killed a man over one hundred and forty-three
dollars.”
    “It appears so,” the detective replied.
    I’d’ve given the piece of shit a million dollars to have
him back again…to go back and do it all over and have it all be different now, Matt thought. But what was done was done and all of his money couldn’t change
it.
    “Thank you for your time,” one of the detectives was saying.
“We’re very sorry for your loss.”
    Janie saw them out and Matt grabbed his wallet and cell
phone off the credenza and met her at the door.
    “I’m going to the hospital,” he said.
    She nodded. “Okay. Do you want me to come with you?”
    Matt shook his head. “Stay here with the kids. They’re gonna
figure out something’s going on.”
    “Should we go to your mom’s?”
    Once again, Matt shook his head, knowing that his brothers
were with her.
    “Okay,” she agreed. “Give him my love.”
    Matt kissed her cheek and pulled her into a tight embrace.
This was where he felt safe. Here in his wife’s arms was home.
    “I love you,” he whispered and then he left.
    *****
    “I should go to the hospital,” Maureen said for the third or
fourth time. “I should be with him.”
    Paul shook his head. “David says it chaos there. And
besides, there’s nothing that you can do. We’ll stay here with you until we
hear more from Matt. He just called to say he was headed over there.”
    With an audible sigh, she sat down and closed her eyes. Her
boys watched her carefully, making sure she didn’t buckle under the stress.
    “How about a cup of tea?” Rory suggested.
    “Good idea,” Maureen agreed, opening her eyes and preparing
to stand.
    “No! No, I’ll get it,” Rory insisted. “You stay there.”
    “I’m not an invalid!”
    “Of course you’re not. But let us do something for you for a
change,” Andrew said softly as he sat beside his mother. “Do you want to talk
about it?”
    “Talk about what?”
    “About what’s happened today,” Andrew said. “It probably
isn’t good to keep it all bottled up inside.”
    “What’s done is done,” she replied. “Nothing I say will
change that. I guess we should be grateful they weren’t both killed, I suppose.
But I think I should be at the hospital. I want to be there when he’s
discharged.”
    “David and Matt are taking care of that, Mom. Oh, here’s
your tea.”
    Rory placed a dainty cup and saucer on the coffee table in
front of Maureen and then sat on the other side of her. “Can I get you anything
else?”
    Maureen smiled. “No, thank you. I just need to see Peter. I need to see him. Why can’t I go?”
    *****
    Matt stomped through the Emergency Room looking for David.
After asking three different nurses he was finally directed to a small dark
room. David hugged him as he entered the room and for several seconds they just
held each other, not saying anything.
    As they separated, David spoke. “I’m so sorry, Matt.”
    Matt nodded and looked over at his father. His eyes were
closed. He looked peaceful, with the exception of the cut on his forehead over
his left eye. The paramedics had placed a small bandage over it but the blood
had seeped through and left a small red