20
Travis
The morning sun shone through Sophie’s bedroom early as the sun came up. I squinted from the gleaming light and glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. It was a little after 6 AM, and I had only had about two hours of sleep, but that didn’t seem to matter much to me. I looked over and Sophie, still cradled in my arms. I tried to gently pull myself away, but as soon as I started to move, I saw her eyes flutter and start to open. She looked over at me, and I saw her smile radiate in the glow of the sun.
“Good morning,” I said to her as I pulled my briefs on and grabbed my shirt.
“Good morning to you,” she yawned, stretching under the thin blanket she had on. “Where are you going?” she asked me.
I tugged my jeans up and zipped them. “I know it’s early, but it’s Sunday. I thought maybe I could walk down to the bakery and grab some breakfast for us before they run out of everything.” I sat on the bed to put my boots on.
“Oh, that sounds nice, but I want to come with you,” Sophie said, standing up from the bed with the blanket still wrapped around her, partially covering her body. “Can you give me five minutes to throw something on?” she told me as she walked over to her dresser.
“Only if I get to watch you put it on,” I said as I sat there on the bed, spying her every move.
She looked over shoulder at me and smiled, dropping the blanket to the floor so I could see her body from the back. I saw her deftly take a few items out of her top two drawers and then something out of a drawer to the left, watching her stretch so I could see her move and watch the outline and curve of her body. Sophie then turned to me and met my gaze as she dressed, stepping into the simple white cotton panties she had. I was entranced by every move, from her tugging the panties to her waist, to the shorts she stepped into shortly after, to the way she put her bra and t-shirt on. When she was done, she gave a curtsey to let me know the performance was over.
Sophie grabbed a hair ribbon off her vanity and tied her hair in a ponytail and stated she was ready to go. We walked down the stairs and out the door into the beautiful August morning. The air was crisper than it had been the last few days, and Sophie came close to me as she held my hand as we walked along the street. We reached the corner of Collins where my house was now, and we slowed down.
“Do you want to come in and look around?” I asked Sophie, as I pulled the keys from my jeans pocket.
“Sure, I guess so,” she said as I opened the gate and let her walk through first.
“Be careful on the porch,” I warned her. “The boards are not in great shape.”
I stepped towards the front door to unlock it when I saw a look of terror on Sophie’s face.
“What’s wrong?” I said to her.
“Travis,” she whispered as she stepped back. “I just saw something moving around inside, by the window.”
“Wait here,” I said to her as I quickly unlocked the door and swung it open to move inside. I saw a shadow move quickly as I entered and it moved towards the kitchen to go out the back. I knew I couldn’t move that fast with my leg, but I went the opposite way down the hall and into the other entrance to the kitchen, hoping to cut whoever it was off. I saw them going out the back door as I entered the kitchen.
They moved quickly out the back door, and I heard a board crack as the hit the back porch. I made it out to the back to see a board splintered on the porch and the stranger laying on the ground with a skinned knee. They tried to scramble to their feet, but I swung myself off the porch and was able to grab a sleeve of the hooded sweatshirt they were wearing to hold them in place.
“Let go!” I heard a high voice yell.
I pulled the hood back on the shirt to reveal the face of a girl, smudged with a bit of dirt and with a small cut on her cheek. It was the girl from the picture I had found in Dad’s car.
“Hold on, hold on,” I told her trying to get her to calm down. She kept fighting to get away until I picked her up and brought her over my shoulders, carrying back towards the house.
“What are you doing?” she squealed.
“It’s called a fireman’s carry,” I told her.
I carried her back inside, trying to avoid her kicking legs and her attempts to punch or scratch me. When I got into the living room, Sophie was in there to see me. I placed our trespasser on the couch. She immediately tried to get up and run, but I pushed her back down on the couch cushions.
“Stay put,” I said to her. “You’re hurt and need me to look at your leg, and you have some questions answer.”
She struggled a little before sitting back on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Stephanie?” Sophie said, taking a closer look at the girl before sitting on the couch next to her.
“Yes, Ms. Ingram,” she said resignedly.
“You know her?” I asked Sophie, looking over at her.
“She was a student in my class last year,” Sophie said to me. “Stephanie Winters. Stephanie, what are you doing here?”
Stephanie looked at Sophie, then at me, and then back at Sophie, without answering.
“I can just leave it up to the police then,” I said to her taking out my cell phone.
“Travis, wait, please,” Sophie said.
“You’re… you’re Travis?” Stephanie said to me with a shaky voice.
“Yes,” I told her. I think she was starting to put the pieces together just like I was.
“How do you know Travis?” Sophie asked her, wondering what was going on at this point.
“I think I can explain that Sophie,” I said as I sat down in Dad’s old armchair. I reached into my back jeans pocket and pulled out the picture of Dad with Stephanie and her mother. I handed the picture to Sophie, who took a look at it.
“It’s your Dad,” Sophie said to me, surprised to see Stephanie in the picture.
“And Stephanie’s father too, right Stephanie?” I said, looking over at her. Stephanie took the picture from Sophie and looked at it, tears forming in her eyes. She just nodded at me as she sobbed.
“This… this is the picture I’ve been looking for,” she said as she wiped the tears on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “Where did you find it?”
“It was inside his truck in the garage,” I said to her.
“I didn’t have the key to the garage; I only had keys to the house. Well, they are Mom’s keys, but I swiped them to come look for the picture.” Stephanie looked over at the picture again and smiled, happy to have it in her hands.
“That means you two are brother and sister?” Sophie asked, still piecing everything together.
“Well, half-siblings I guess,” I answered. “Let me see if there’s anything in the medicine cabinet to clean up your knee,” I said, slowly getting out of the chair.
“The first aid kit is under the sink in the kitchen,” Stephanie told me.
I just nodded to her and went into the kitchen to get it. Sure enough, there was a first aid kit there. I walked back into the living room to see Stephanie and Sophie talking. I opened the kit to find some antiseptic to clean the wound and then used a small bandage and some tape to put over it.
“It’s not bad,” I told Stephanie as I finished putting the dressing on. “You’ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” she said to me, slowly flexing her knee.
“So are you the one who cleaned up the house?” I asked her as I slowly got up from kneeling myself, feeling some soreness in my leg.
“Yes,” she told us. “After… after Dad died, Mom didn’t want to come to the house to get any of our stuff herself. She said it would be too painful for her, but she didn’t want anyone else finding her stuff here. She and Dad always kept things pretty quiet. She.. she didn’t want to upset your mother anymore,” she said as she looked over at me.
“When I got here that first time, the house was pretty messy. Mom and I always cleaned up whenever we were here, but we hadn’t been in here in about a week. It took me a few trips, but I got everything cleaned up and took our stuff, but I wanted this picture and couldn’t find it. It was the only picture of the three of us. Dad never let us take a picture together, but we took this one at Fourth of July in the park.”
I could see her hand trembling a bit as she held the picture. I never imagined that Dad’s death would be hard for anyone, but clearly, I was wrong. He had created a different life for himself, and it looks like he was trying not to mess this one up.
“Does your mother know you have been coming here still?” I asked Stephanie.
“No,” she replied. “She never asked for the keys back, so I kept coming, looking for the picture, straightening up. I would come in the back door and come early in the morning or at night when I didn’t think anyone would notice I was here.”
“So it was you I saw here the other night,” Sophie said to Stephanie. “I thought it was just my imagination.”
“It was me,” Stephanie confessed. “I thought I was caught for sure when I saw you look at me, Ms. Ingram,” she said with a smile, sniffling her tears away.
The three of us sat there in silence for a little bit, wondering what to do next. I stood up from my seat and took Sophie’s hand, pulling her up off the couch.
“Sophie and I were going down to the bakery for some breakfast,” I said to Stephanie. “Do you want to come with us?”
Stephanie looked at the two of us, and a smile brightened on her face. “I could go for some breakfast,” she said, getting up off the couch.
I opened the front door for the ladies to go through, Stephanie first, followed by Sophie. Sophie stopped to give me a kiss before she went out the door.
“What’s that for?” I asked her, pleased that I got a kiss.
“Because you are a good man, Travis Stone,” she said with a smile.
I followed the ladies out the door. Sophie and I walked down the street, hand in hand, while Stephanie walked to the right of me, with one foot hopping up and down off the sidewalk in the street. Like everything else in Canon, the bakery was close by, about two blocks before the Homestead. We walked in, and there was only one other person in there getting some donuts. Sophie and Stephanie sat at one of the small tables in the corner by the front window while I went up to order.
The bakery has been owned by the same family, the Castellis, for many years. I had actually gone to school with the son of the original owner, and I saw Michael heading into the back as a young girl came out to wait on me. I ordered three jelly donuts and a few blueberry turnovers. I also got coffee for myself and Sophie, and hot chocolate for Stephanie.
I got back to the table holding the donuts and turnovers in a bag and placed it on the table. The young girl from behind the counter than brought over the beverages, proudly balancing the mugs on a tray without spilling a drop.
Stephanie happily took the hot chocolate, making sure to swipe all the whipped cream off the top with her finger first. She devoured a jelly donut, and then another, and probably would have gone for a third if Sophie and I hadn’t decided to split it ourselves.
“Are you ready for high school in a few weeks, Stephanie?” Sophie asked as she sipped her coffee.
“I guess so,” Stephanie said, not looking thrilled about the prospect of school, let alone high school. “It should be fine, I just wish the girls weren’t such bitches,” she said, taking a long draw on her hot chocolate.
I nearly had coffee come out my nose when she said this as Sophie looked at me.
“Sorry for swearing, Ms. Ingram,” she said.
“It’s okay,” Sophie told her, as she shot me a look as I was trying not laugh out loud.
When we had finished our breakfast, we walked out of the bakery and stood out front for a minute.
“Well, thanks for breakfast,” Stephanie said to me. “Will I... get to see you again?” she questioned.
Sophie looked at me to see how I was going to answer. I smiled at her and then at Stephanie.
“I think I am going to be around for a while, so the odds are pretty good,” I told her.
“Great!” Stephanie said. She surprised me by giving me a hug, wrapping her arms around my midsection tightly.
“Bye Travis, bye Ms. Ingram!” she waved as she headed off in the direction of Collins.
“Do you think she is going back to my house?” I asked Sophie.
“No, she is probably going home. She only lives a few streets from behind your place, over on Gentry Street,” Sophie remarked.
We started walking down the street, and Sophie took my hand again.
“So where to now Mr. Stone?” she said to me playfully.
I smiled over at her as we walked on.
“Now I take you home to meet my family,” I told her as we turned towards my Mom’s house.