Gone and Never Coming Back

As the sequel to "Cameron Day Wise", Johnathan and Cameron struggle with their reemerged friendship after a year from his return. However, tragedy strikes and leave one's life in a living disaster.

All I ever asked Cameron was to be there for me when we were friends. All I ever asked my son is to respect me, and honor his mother.

It has been one full year since Cameron Daven Day Wise returned back to Randen. After our talk last year, he began to volunteer helping our team--he still is, by the way--as a result of that, we were region champions, boys and girls. And for the boys' team, we accomplished third place at state, our highest state finish on the boys' team. Darien was state runner-up and now in his senior year in high school, he is looking to be at the top once again. My son, Montreal Bexter, won his first 400-meter championship (as a freshman), and took fourth place in 300-meter hurdles. At the beginning of the current season, he asked one of the sophomores on my team out on a date, Koda Brinley, She is not all that good at track, but hey! whatever he likes to do. As long she isn't ugly and isn't a "hoe" so, she's a winner in my eyes, so I let him date up.

This season was a nice one! Our teams came out swinging from the hop. In the second meet of the season, a female freshman named Kenna Duval broke the school's 100-meter and 200-meter record, and got second in both at state. Darien and Montreal got their rightful championships, with Montreal going double champion in 400-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Our 4x400-meter relay team also got fourth place. Boys' team won our first state championship overall, and with the addition of Kenna, they were able to win too. 

Now here we are, in 2017 and the end of Montreal's sophomore year of high school, preparing for our school's last day and "State Champions Walk of Fame." As I rounded the corner to walk into the gymnasium where they start every walk, I see Cameron with a digusted, disheartened look on his face. I walked up to him and asked, "You okay, Daven? What's up?"

 

He showed me his phone and it was the county newspaper's sports headlining "Beauregard High School Doubles at State Track Meet." I guess he could see the sheer confusion on my face and just took back the phone.

"You know I've been helping, but they didn't include me on the coaches list."

I immediately burst into laughter. But after seeing that crazy in his eye, I went back mute. I carefully explained, "Cameron, it doesn't really matter. It's just county headline, and you can't get full FULL recognition because you're not a head coach or assistant."

I swear, on my life, steam began to rise from his ears. Suddenly I thought, "Damn John."

"Really! I swear you are just using me like everyone did while I was in the league! And then never want to give me the proper credit!"

After that, the whole team started to turn our direction, and it is really embarrassing. "Cameron, calm down. You're walking with us and you are most likely going to get a ring. Just...calm down." That same thought, "Damn, John!" rang back in my ears because the quickest way to get Cameron Day Wise to not calm down, is to tell him to calm down.

His breathing started becoming sporadic and I could see Kenna walking over. I met her gaze and motioned for her to join the team. Only person I would let hear this is my son. Only because he has heard me and Cam get into it before which really sucks, because we are not doing a good job of keeping it under wraps; however, when you coach together, it's hard to mask.

Montreal came over, trying to break it up and calm us down so we could start the walk. " 'Ya know what? I'm just going to leave before I say something," he says. The quickest way to get me riled up is to say you want to say something but won't.

Montreal is holding back, but I jerk back and asserted, "Nah Cam, you ain't dumb! What you wanna say?! Say it if you want to." Then, before I could think of anything else--my side is in excruciating pain. I hit the ground with a thud so hard. 

Going in and out of consciousness, I see the team running over towards me in record time. These are track kids, I immediately thought, chuckling in my head. I see Montreal and Cameron hovering over me.

"Dad, Dad!" Montreal is screaming. "Stay with me, stay with me!"

I see the principal running from my peripheral vision and see Cameron on the phone, ninety-nine percent sure it's 9-1-1. Then I saw a wonderful, yet fearful sight. I saw Jordan, hand reaching towards me, and then I blanked out.

---

"Pops." 

The first thing I heard when I woke up was my son. Fluttering my eyes open, I see Cameron, Montreal, Mr. and Mrs. Wise, and various people from the team. The doctor was also in there, explaining what happened to me I suppose.

"Dad, they said it was your kidneys?..Again? Something about kidney failure?"

When my son said "kidney", I asked everyone to step out with the exception of Cam and Montreal. "Before I began track & field, I had really bad kidneys. You could even ask Momma if she wasn't traveling right now. They said sometime later in my life, after all the strenuous work I did in track, it would catch up with me. I guess now it's catching up."

"Dad, are you gonna die? I'm just sixteen, and I cannot lose both of my parents. I have nowhere to stay and that just wouldn't be fair."

I looked at him square in the eye and could see the tears forming in his ducts. I took his hand and put it towards his heart. "Montreal Brighton," I began. "You never lost us. Even if this goes south for me, I want you to know that we will always be in your heart. Watching over you, wherever you go.

Could you step out right quick though, son. I need to talk to Cam for a minute. Grown man stuff, yakno' ? I love you man," I said as I patted him on the back, close to being in tears myself.

As he closed the door behind him, I began to wince with the pain in my side, and I could feel my breathing slow. Cam was facing the wall and did not even dare to turn my way. I knew he was fighting back tears himself.

"Cam, come on."

He turned towards me and I could just see the hurt in his face. My newly recovered best friend was crying at the sight of me in the hospital. Even though the fact we did not talk for over twenty-years, I already knew what he was thinking.

"It's not your fault, Cameron."

"Yes it is," he exclaimed. "I picked a fight with you for no reason, and now I put you here, fighting for your life.

"I just don't want to lose you again, bro. I already fucked up the first time and it cost me missing years with you and my godson." Yeah, when Cameron came back, he and Montreal clicked from the beginning. He became a mentor to him in a way and one day Montreal asked me if he had a godparent. I told him no because I don't friends anymore, and he asked me if Cameron could be his god-dad in the presence of "Daven Day". It surprised us both, yet we both agreed on it.

I sat up in the hospital bed much to the dismay my body was trying to tell me and patted over to the spare room left on the bed. Cameron came over and laid on the bed with me. "Cameron, I need to tell you something.

"This kidney situation is no joke and I don't know if I'll be able to deal with this any further."

"Don't say--," he started. 

"Nah, let me finish," I interrupted. "I think God's last few missions for me was the success of our track program and bringing us back together--on my track. Montreal has been the biggest blessing in my life, and all I ask Cameron, is that if I'm no longer here, you take over for track and take care of my boy now," I said fighting back tears. "Earlier at the school, I saw my wife-to-be Jordan reaching for me, wanting me to join her and I feel as if that is God's way of letting me know that my time is near."

When I was done being "in my feelings", Cameron looked at me and hugged me so hard and so long. Cameron was never the type to show some brotherly love before I could, so this was a complete surprise to me. With my head on his shoulder, I heard his sniffling and I just began to cry. I didn't want to pass and leave my son. My only child, but as I was weeping to Cameron, I saw Jordan Micah Randell once again in the doorway. 

He followed my gaze and whispered, "You see her again, don't you?" I nodded. He got up from the bed, loosening the firm of our ever-standing hug and I was afraid that could be the last time I felt another human's touch. He walked to the door where Jordan was, and just smiled at me as he walked out. There, it was just me and my wife, how it should have always been.

---

Johnathan died the next day. It really ruined the beginning of summer vacation to be honest. When he told me he saw his wife again in that hospital bed, I knew it was time for him to leave us. Don't get me wrong, it broke my heart that I was losing my best friend again...but I felt prepared to let the best person in my life go.

I did exactly what he told me to. I talked to Principal Kertzky and became the head coach of the track program, and his mom granted me custody of Montreal while she continued her travels. It is so ironic how back in the day, about twenty-two years ago, my parents, sister, and I treated Johnathan as if he was one of our own, and now he wanted me to finish taking care of his son. I also remember vividly when he asked me how would I feel if he died in that moment, and I responded I would be depressed for a really long time; his son was now in my care, so for me to fall into depression when his father just passed away wouldn't be right.

When I told Montreal what happened and what his father told me, he just broke down and cried in my arms for a few hours. He had to pack up everything (literally!) in the house he had been living in since his mother passed away. On the other hand, he found comfort in the fact he was continuing to go to Beauregard.

Now it is five months later in November. Montreal and I are sitting on the track, gazing at the sky in the last couple of hours on his birthday.

"I miss him a lot," he said out loud. He was a junior now and this was his seventeenth birthday, moreover the first birthday he had to celebrate without Johnathan Bexter.

"I do too, man, I do too. You remember this was the same exact spot eighteen months ago where your Dad and I reunited?"

"Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday," he laughed.

"Now he's in Heaven where he belongs. He's most likely banging--"

Montreal turned to me in pure disgust. "I know exactly where you were going with that. Please don't."

I stared at him directly in the face, and we immediately chuckled. "Come on, let's head home," I retorted.

As we both got up, we heard Johnathan's favorite song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot playing in the background. We didn't know who was playing it or what direction it was coming from, we still recited those very words as we sprinted effortlessly to the car.

Author's Note

Loosely based on a conversation I had with the person Cameron Day Wise is based off of regarding future circumstances that could happen at anytime in each other's lives (September 2016)