Chapter Six

 

The party was buzzing, people talking, laughing, drinking, telling stories, some were even getting high in the back by the gazebo. Brook somehow got a ride to the party by a friendly local whom she met at the convenience store earlier. When she arrived, she was immediately greeted by Joey. He made sure she felt right at home and introduced her to most of the people there. Brook was a good six inches taller than Joey. They would have made an odd couple if seen from afar. She spent the first part of the evening listening to Joey talking about old stories. He would mention his wife but never spoke about her in a sad way. He knew that she was gone and seemed to have accepted the life that was given to him. He was happy-go-lucky and was even open to finding love again for himself in the future.

Sheryl went over to say ‘hi’ to Brook and the two ended up having a drink together. “I had to take you away from Joey, nice guy, but he won’t stop talkin’. You would have been stuck there all night.”

“Thanks, I guess. But I was enjoying his stories.”

“So, what’s your story, Brook? What brought you to Evansville?” Sheryl was fishing for some dirt.

“Oh, I was just passing through. Actually, I was just driving around without a plan. Just wanted to clear my head.”

“Clear your head of what?”

“My husband. He was arrested for corporate espionage.”

“Oh, my goodness!” Sheryl had hit the jackpot. “You must have been shocked!”

“I sort of knew it would happen eventually. The investigation went on for months and he was very stressed about it. We argued a lot. I can’t remember what about.”

“Well, naturally, when something big like that happens, it really rips people apart! You poor thing.” Sheryl guided Brook to sit on the garden bench with her so she would be more comfortable to open up.

“I guess.” Brook agreed with Sheryl. “It was really tough because they investigated me as well.”

“My goodness! Did you help him steal some money or something?”

“No, it was nothing like that. He sold sensitive information about his company, I think some formulas or something, to their competitors for a lot of money. And he used me to try and hide the money.”

“How? What do you mean?”

“He asked me to open a company under my name. I thought it was for me to start my own business but it was just a front for him to launder the money to his private secured account overseas. He was a really smart guy.”

“Oh! He sounds like a weasel!”

Brook laughed out loud nearly spitting out her beer. It was the first time anyone had called Brad a weasel. She felt good that someone was starting to see him through her eyes, finally. Her friends and family back in Orlando thought Brad was the best thing to happen to Brook. Brad was smart, successful and very handsome. The women in their circle were quite jealous of Brook once they married. “Immediately after we got married, he started doing this side business, selling private information. So, it made me think that he was just using me.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Sheryl tried to show support. “But he probably was using you.” Pointing out the obvious as a small jab to her ego. “So, then what happened?”

“He got arrested. They found nothing tracing the money back to me aside from the fake company. And now I’m here.”

“How did you end up here?”

“Oh, I just couldn’t take it. It was just too much for me to be in that condo. I thought I would take a few days, drive off somewhere. I just had the urge to leave, you know?”

“Absolutely! So, that’s when your car broke down and you ended up in Deacon’s garage.”

“Yup. Pretty much.”

“Well then I think you need another drink missy!” Sheryl, trying to get her drunk so she can get more dirt out of her. She got up and came back with a couple of freshly open bottles of beer.

“Thanks! You know, you’re the first person I’ve spoken to about this since it happened. I mean, my parents and my friends knew about the investigation but they don’t know about the arrest.”

“Really! Oh, I’m honoured. Thank you for trusting me!” She gave Brook a big squeeze.

 

***

 

Sheryl’s husband, Chester, spotted her sitting with Brook. He was already drunk. He stumbled towards them and called out to her. Sheryl got up and put a smile on her face to let Brook think she was happy to see him. “There’s my husband.” “Hi Chester!” She kissed him on the cheeks, which confused him a bit. Sheryl hadn’t greeted him like that since they were dating. “This is Brook. Her car broke down while driving through town. I was just keepin’ her company. She doesn’t know anyone here.”

“Oh!” Chester looked at Brook and his eyes landed on her chest. “Well, hello there!”

Someone called out for Sheryl from the kitchen. She quickly and happily left Chester’s presence and had already forgotten about Brook. Besides, she had gotten plenty of dirt from her.

“Hi!” said Brook.

“You look like you could use a drink.” Chester’s first reflex when it came to beautiful women, get them drunk. “Here.” He was carrying two bottles in one hand and gave one to Brook.

“No thanks. I’m still working on this one.”

“So, are you from around here? I haven’t seen you before.” Chester had already forgotten Sheryl’s introduction. His words blurred together as he spoke as he put his arm on the back of the bench behind her.

“Um…” Brook was very uncomfortable. Luckily, being the prettiest girl at the party, every guy there kept an eye on her. Jason, the boy who invited her to the party, dashed over to help her out. “Hey, Chester. How are you doing?” Brook took the opportunity to stand up and Chester followed suit.

“Hey, man, I’m fine. Go away.”

“That’s nice! I come over to drink with ya and ya tell me to go away!”

“Hey, can’t you see I’m trying to talk to this girl here?”

“Who, Brook? She’s MY date. I invited her here. It’s my party. Remember?”

“What?” Chester could barely stand and his mumbling was getting worse. “This is your girl?”

“Yeah!”

“And…and…and” Chester tried to put some words together in his brain but most of it was a blur. “And this is your party?”

“Yeah, man. You’re at my house, Chester.”

“Oh, my bad.” No matter how drunk, country folks knew each other well, and stayed on each other’s good side as much as possible. It was harder to have an enemy in a small town. Chester found a reason to stumble away but didn’t share it with the two standing with him. He walked off toward the gazebo. Jason turned to Brook. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

“I’m sorry I had to call you my date and all. I had to tell him something. I hope I didn’t make you too uncomfortable?”

“No! Not at all. I knew what you were doing. It was very gentlemanly of you.”

“Well, I would like to take you out sometime.”

Brook was surprised at how confident this young boy was. “Uh” She searched for words to turn him down gently. “Jason, you’re a great guy. But I think you’re a little too young for me.”

“But I’ll be eighteen in three months. How old are you?”

“No. That’s not it. I…I’m 25 but that’s not the point.”

“Oh.” He paused. “So, you and Deacon then? But Deacon is 33. He is 8 years older than you. And you will be only 7 years older than me when I turn 18!”

“It’s not the same.” She tried to soften the blow. “And nothing’s gone on between me and Deacon.”

Jason felt rejected nonetheless. “Oh. Okay. Well…”

“You are a pretty great guy. I’m sure there are some girls from your high school that would like to date you. And they would be lucky to have you. I KNOW that!”

“I guess.”

“I’m sorry. If you were a little older, I would date you in a heartbeat.” She wasn’t lying.

“Really?!”

“Yes, really!”

Jason felt better. They stood there talking for a little while. The bond fire had started, the music was getting louder, and some of the older folks had gone home. It was close to midnight when Deacon finally showed.

 

***

 

Jason saw Deacon pulling up. Waited for him to get out of his car. Waved at him to come over. “Well, there’s Deacon, ma’am. He’s a really good guy.”

Deacon walked over to the two of them. “Hey, bud!”

“Hey Deac. Well, you two have a good night.” He said it in a sad tone, tipped his hat to Brook and walked off.

“He didn’t sound too good.”

“No. I kinda turned him down.”

“Oh! I hope you went easy on him.”

“I tried. But he was pretty crushed. He tried really hard too.”

“I don’t blame him. Poor kid.” Deacon looked over at Jason to see how he was doing. “But I think he’ll live.”

“Yah.”

“How’s the party?” Deacon grabbed a beer from a guy that walked by holding a twelve pack. As he twisted his body, she got a look at HIS six pack that was clearly visible underneath that thin t-shirt he had on.

“Oh, let’s see. I was hit on by a complete drunk and a minor. So, overall, great party!” Brook, now being sarcastically funny with Deacon.

Deacon gave a short laugh “Welcome to the country?” He said jokingly. And it made Brook laugh. He liked the way she laughed. I was without reservation. She laughed with her whole being, he thought.

“I guess I really stand out here, huh?”

“Just a little.” Deacon paused, “So, where are you from Brook?”

“Orlando. Have you ever been there?”

“No.”

“It’s very different from here. I lived there all my life. My father has a business there and I helped him with the books.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but the other day you said you were driving around, not really knowing where you were going. Aren’t you scared? I mean, it’s dangerous for a lady like yourself to be alone on the road like that.”

“I hadn’t thought about it. My mind was so messed up. It still is.” She shook her head and shot out a smile to make it seem not as serious.

“Because of your divorce?”

“Yeah. But mostly because I don’t know what to do with myself now. I had always worked for my dad and then when I met Brad, I helped him with the books. He always tried to have a side business going on. I guess to prove to my dad he was a better man.”

“Uh. Huh.”

“Nobody ever pressured him into doing anything else. He was vice president of a large pharmaceutical company.”

“Wo.” Deacon lifted his eyebrows and took a swig.

“Yeah. I was so in awe of him. I thought he was so smart. But really, he just made me feel stupid most of the time. He treated me like the little lady. Like he was the man and I didn’t have to know what he was doing or what he was working on. He would take care of us. It turned out, he was using me to launder money.”

Deacon genuinely felt bad for her. “Listen, Brook. That sounds terrible. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s all over now. He’s been arrested and the lawyers say he may get 10 years but will argue them down to 5.”

“That’s tough. I take it you’re not gonna wait for him?”

She laughed. “No way that’s gonna happen.”

There was a pause in the conversation. Deacon got up to grab another beer. “You want another one?”

“Sure.”

He came back a few seconds later with two cold ones from the fridge.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He took a breath to make sure he felt good about what he was about to say. “So, listen. I’m done the tranny job. I can take you riding tomorrow, if you want.”

She looked over at him and smiled. “That would be nice.”

“Okay. So how about I come by around 10.”

“Sounds good.”

“You’ve been up there before, right?” Brook said, remembering what Sam had said.

“Yep. It’s been about three years since I’ve been up here though.”

“Oh, right, why?”

“I never really had the time . . . or the inclination in truth. I love riding. It’s the kind of place I always wanted.”

“I don’t suppose there is much call for a mechanic up here though is there?”

“I never wanted to be a mechanic. It’s something I kind of fell into. Or rather was pushed into.”

“How so?” Brook looked over at Deacon to see him searching for words.

“When I was a kid, I was a bit of an idiot.”

“Well we all do stupid things when we’re kids.” That brought a smile to his face. “How much of an idiot were you?”

“A big one. I practically terrorised the whole town.”

“Why?”

“Does there have to be a reason?”

“Normally, yes.”

“When I was twelve years old my dad died. I had no idea he was even that ill. He never spoke about it to me even though we used to spend a lot of time together. We used to ride and hunt. I loved my dad and he went and died. It was tough. Then after a couple years my mom, started dating this guy. He moved in with us. We didn’t get on. He was quite a bit older than my mom. I thought he was trying to replace my dad, that he was trying to take my mom away from me, but, of course, he wasn’t. I saw that later but right then…”

“So, what happened?”

“Nothing you probably haven’t heard before.”

“What happened?”

Deacon looked over at her.

“When they got married, I refused to go to the wedding. But he was still nice to me. He bought me a motorbike, so I could get around to look for a job and he always made sure I had money and I repaid him by constantly picking fights. I’m not proud of that at all. I would drink until I passed out. I spent most of my time fighting in bars and bad stuff like that.”

“So how did you become a mechanic?”

“I wrecked my bike real bad one time and I took it in to the shop. Back then it was called Oscar’s Body Shop. I didn’t have any money, so he let me fix it myself and use his tools. I started working there. Doing small stuff, mending dents, sanding… Anyhow, he introduced me to his daughter. A few years later, she became my wife.”

“Then what happened?”

“She died. Cancer. There was nothing I could do about it…I felt helpless.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Deacon pursed his lips and looked down to the ground. Then he took a breath. “After that, I worked in the shop, and eventually, Oscar retired and gave it to me. It used to be just a body shop but I turned it into a full auto shop.”

“How did you know she was the one?”

“Oh, well that’s easy. You don’t decide. You just feel it. Something inside me just took over. She was an amazing woman…on her own and for putting up with me.”

“You’re not so bad.”

“I was. Back then, I was a mess. I got into gambling and fell into this kind of gang, it got real dangerous. She pulled me out of it. Not on purpose. But her light was brighter somehow, all I had to do was ignore everything else and follow her.” He looked over at Brook and said jokingly. “If that makes any sense.”

“I can’t imagine.” Brook had never experience that kind of love before.

“You’ve never felt that before? Not even with your husband?”

“No. With us it was more day to day stuff. We worked well together as a couple. Sounds kinda lame, doesn’t it.”

“I can’t imagine you not having some guy gushing all over you.”

“They did but not in the same way. What was it like, between you and her?”

He looked over at Brook, surprised that she wanted to talk about his wife and how much he loved her. “It was some kind of power outside of me that made me want to go to her. Whenever I lost my way, or got into something bad, I would be in her life, in her presence and I would forget all that other stuff. She was my light, I guess you could say. Then I made the decision to change and get away from all that stuff completely. I didn’t want her to be a part of it and I didn’t want to bring that into her life. I looked forward to every moment with her.”

“It must have been really tough for you when she died, then.”

“It wasn’t easy. Still isn’t.”

“I think that letting go isn’t as hard as people make it out to be.”

“Oh, says the person, whose never been in love.”

“I mean, letting go doesn’t mean forgetting. And moving on, doesn’t mean erasing the past. It will always be exactly what you just told me.”

She sounded so wise for a second, thought Deacon. He sat still and thought about what she just said. It was profound for him to hear it. It suddenly made him happy. He smiled at her and stared a little longer into her eye enjoying her cute outlook on the situation. She was right. And, for once, it felt nice to not feel bad about his story. She had somehow turned it around.

“You’re starting to sound like Sam!” He looked over at her with a big smile, in awe at the effect she just had on him. She was beautiful and the flickering of the distant bond fire lighted her face in a soft yellow glow. He could feel himself kissing her.

They had two more beers together and stay on that benched talking the entire time, until Brook’s ride was leaving. She had to call it a night. It was too soon to be asking Deacon to take her home, she thought.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She got up.

“Alright. See you tomorrow morning.” He stood up. “Have a good night.”

“You too. Goodnight.”

He stood and watched as she walked away. Every guy there was looking at her ass. It was tight and high, round and beautiful. The kind of ass, a woman would get surgery to achieve. Deacon shook his head in disbelief at how sexy she looked when she walked.

Deacon made his way over to the bond fire and was immediately greeted by everyone there. But he no longer felt like partying now that she left. He was quiet the rest of the night and went home.