Coming Home

A tragic car accident leaves Tim and Catherine, teens without parents. It also leaves them with a bitter sense of betrayal. Can they get past this and go on with their lives or grow up in darkness.

Coming Home

by

R.H. Proenza

 

Copyright © 2013 by R.H. Proenza

ISBN: 9781301211425

Revision 07/30/2018

 

* * * * *

The voice blasted from the ceiling speakers and echoed within the concrete cavern that made up the bus station.  Amidst the choking odor of diesel exhaust, another bus was leaving.  Tim Stockard emerged from his deep thoughts.  For a moment he was back six months earlier--hearing of his parents' car accident and their being… killed.  When he got there, a tour bus had stopped at the scene of the crash.  It had sounded and smelled just like this place!

Even now at sixteen, Tim felt betrayed.  It wasn't fair, he thought bitterly.  Why did they have to die and leave Catherine and me to fend for ourselves?

After the terrible accident, Cathy, like a snail, would crawl into herself and practically disappear in denial, always clinging to Tim.  He looked at his twelve-year-old sister staring at the people milling around. Her face was blank. At her age, she should have been listening to music and maybe bouncing off the walls to its beat.  But not Cathy, not anymore.  The tragedy had left a cold, empty hole in each of them.  It just wasn't fair!

Following the accident, they had gone to live with their grandmother.  'Granny S.' was loving and understanding even in her sadness, but their stay at her house had been a foggy blur.  Then the letter showed up in the mail.

Tim read it now, for the tenth time, while waiting for their bus to depart.  The letter was from a Mr. Brady, their parents’ lawyer.  The message told of a bank safety deposit box that had been left unopened and forgotten following the tragedy.  The WILL had legally empowered Tim and Cathy to ownership of its contents.  They were forced to make the trip back home and be present when the box was opened.

Tim had not wanted to return to their hometown, now so full of painful memories.  Granny S., as they liked to call her, had not been up to making the trip with the kids because of her health.  Tim was alright with that.

After the tragedy, they had departed from town and not looked back for six long months.  The loss had left a dark bitterness behind -- a feeling shared by both kids.  It was as if their parents had somehow deliberately abandoned them.  At least that's what it felt like.

"Greyhound Ameri-Cruiser to Macon, Atlanta, and points North now boarding at Gate 12", boomed the loudspeaker.

"That's us, sis.  C'mon, let's go."  Catherine too had been sitting in her own quiet world and stood up at Tim's words. They found two vacant seats and settled in for the long 7-hour bus trip home.  Granny had thoughtfully packed them a bag with sandwiches and juice for the trip. Now they ate with little appetite.  After what seemed like stopping at a thousand small towns, their journey ended.

On arrival, Mr. Brady, the lawyer, was waiting for them just as he had said in the letter.  He was a tall, thin man with a friendly face.  He greeted them as they walked out of the Depot.

“Okay, Tim and Catherine," Mr. Brady continued. "I took the liberty of reserving a room at a nearby motel for you.  Is that alright?"

"Uh, yes sir. That's fine, sir," Tim replied.  "We brought some money for that."

"Excellent, but don’t be concerned, all that has been taken care of.  I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at ten, and we'll go to the bank for that box.  Is that alright with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Tim, I knew your father, and I ...well, I think he would have been proud of you.  You seem to be very mature.  You too, Catherine."

"Thank you, sir."  Yeah, Tim thought, tragedy does that to you; especially when your parents simply dump you.  Just check out without even a goodbye!

The motel TV occupied Cathy's attention, but Tim had been working on an idea.  "Cathy, let's … let’s go home.  I mean our old house -- where we used to live.”

"Wha-a-t?" She stared up at him, her eyes big as saucers, as he called for a taxi.

~~~~~~~

A short time later the cab left them in front of the house.  Tim still had his old house key with him.  They entered with apprehension to a place that now seemed foreign and ominous to them.  "Do we hafta do this, Timmy?"

"Yes, sis.  I really think we do.  We sort of left in a hurry, remember?  Let's just get past this."

The house had been prepared to lie dormant until some future date.  Sheets were covering the furniture, the closets emptied, clothes and personal items boxed up.  It all looked oddly unfamiliar like they had never lived here.  After visiting each room, avoiding their parents' room, Tim found himself in the attic. Their dad had built a combination room--half play and half storage room out of it.

The room was jam full of memories.  Tim groaned audibly and heard Cathy gasp as the painful memories came rushing back.  Photographs were plastered everywhere on the walls.  There were happy scenes from birthdays and Christmases past, of vacations, and football games in the yard. And trips to the beach and Halloween parties.  Their parents' smiling faces looked at them from the photos.  They were full of the same caring warmth and love that the kids remembered. Their anger and grief had pushed all that love aside for months.

At once that warmth came back to them, flooding their senses and their hearts like a tidal wave.  And Tim remembered --- he remembered what had been absent for those empty months.  Cathy understood too, and a tear ran down her cheek.

"They really really loved us, Timmy, didn't they," she whimpered.

"They did, sis," he said choking.  "How could we have forgotten?  They didn't want to die and leave us stranded.  What a jerk I've been."

Tim looked back at the big room as they were leaving.  He rocked Cathy in his arms and tearfully whispered, "Look around, Sis. We have all these wonderful memories to carry with us.  Those won’t go away; they're ours to keep; we OWN them.  We're gonna be alright now, sis, we're gonna be alright!"

~~~~~~

Standing in front of their parents' gravesite, Tim was the only one to speak.  "Dad, mom, we're okay … now.  We, uh, well; I was childish for hating you since the accident.  I guess I just had to grow up some more.  Thanks for loving us as you did.  And dad thanks for college, I mean, that surprise you left in the box.  Wow!  Now Cathy and I can both go to college.  I still can't believe that!  We... love you so much!"

A few days later they were back at granny’s with a new outlook and without any gloom to carry around.  Cathy was bubbly and bright like she used to be; Tim had a twinkle in his eye and a bounce in his step again.

~~~~~

And the bank safety deposit box?  Inside they found stocks and bonds valued at a little over $500,000.  There was also a note.  "Dear Tim and Cathy, because we love you so much we bought some stocks and things when each of you was born.  We wanted you to be taken care of, in case something ever happened to us. We'd like you two to go to college and start a good life for yourselves.  You mean more to us than anything else in the world.  Love Always and Forever, Dad and Mom."

 

The End