Chapter 1

An introduction to Damon.

1

       The snow kept falling as Damon pushed the shovel down the driveway. He had been relegated to using a cheap orange plastic shovel, after the snowplow failed to start up. It caught on the ice a few times, which made Damon have to use it like a hammer to break up the ice. It wasn't supposed to snow, the weatherman had said that it would get no lower than forty one degrees, which of course has been a lie. The temperature on his phone clearly read twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit. Glancing up, he caught his neighbor shaking her head. He smiled, only Damon would be outside in the middle of winter with only a shirt on. They both knew that his coat would be hung up snug in the house.

       As the snow fell on his groomed driveway, the young man sighed. He had just turned thirty seven two months earlier and was still living at home with his father. He had enough money saved up in the bank, but with the economy the way it was, and the recent election, it was easier to live with family. For the past six years he had been working security for a private research company. And it had been good money. But after spending his adult life in the military and the last six in Antarctica, he needed a change of pace.

       The research company's contract had ended in June, and he and the rest of the security detail had been released. All twelve of them had been conditioned for cold weather climates and it had been a good job.

       But that was done with and now he was shoveling his father's driveway. In time he would get his own place to live, but until then their arrangement was good. His father, Charles Bukhari, was also in the military, but was a four star general in the Air Force. The man had wanted his son to continue the family tradition, but Damon had been built for the Corps. His father had been born in Iran and moved to the United States when he was three. Damon's grandfather had been a police officer and was enamored with American Football. She he had moved his family to the west. Damon's grandmother, bless her soul, had been a stay at home mom. When her children were old enough, she went back to school to become a lawyer.

       After arriving in the United States, they embraced the American way of life. Despite their Muslim heritage, they converted to Catholicism and they raised their children the same. And in turn, Damon and his siblings had also been raised Catholic. Before their confirmation, both Damon and and his twin sister Jasmine left the church.

       His parents were divorced and his mother remarried someone who worked in the government as a United States Senator. She was a socialite and always fretted about fashion and the current trend. She hardly had time for her children. It was no surprise that when his twin moved out of the house at eighteen for the LA rock scene, their mother never even batted an eye.

      Jasmine had been lucky and formed a band the first year; they were still together, without her. Her passion had changed when she discovered songwriting. There was more money and she was now living it up in a posh apartment in Las Vegas. On the other side of things, Xander, their younger brother was still Catholic. He was living and working with their uncle at his law firm. He was the only sibling that kept in touch with their mother, ironically he lived the furthest away in Europe.

      An engine started up causing Damon to turn, his father was backing an old school Hummer out of the garage. It was ugly as sin, but practical and got around much better in winter than a car. General Bukhari nodded to his son as he headed toward the main road that would him to the highway. The general worked in Colorado Springs at the Cheyenne Mountain Facility, doing who knows what kind of work. Damon never asked and his father never said anything in return, again, it worked out.

     Once finished with the driveway, Damon moved to the sidewalks both at the road and directly in front of the house. He was done in now time. Before heading inside, he walked across the street and cleared both of his neighbor's drives and walkways. The backyard would have to wait until after he ate some breakfast. Damon hung up the shovel, as he did, he heard the phone ring. Kicking the snow off his shoes, he pulled open the garage door and walked into the kitchen. He was expecting a call from his sister, however the caller ID registered an unknown number. Ignoring the phone, he walked over to the fridge.

     He poured himself a glass of ice water and his dog Scout bounded into the kitchen and waited for a piece of ice. Fishing for one out of the freezer, Damon handed it to the dog, who then bounded away with his treasure. Opening the fridge, he found a plastic bowl of breakfast burrito mix and popped it into the microwave for a minutes. As it cooked, Damon checked on his dog. Scout was too quiet, but he was back on the couch, resting his head on a deflated soccer ball. The chocolate lab lazily lifted up his head, but Damon shook his head and the dog laid back down.

The microwave beeped, with the food warm enough, Damon rolled up a burrito and moved into the living room and curled up on a brown leather recliner. As he turned on the television, the phone rang and his sister's name appeared on the big screen. Damon pulled the receiver from the holder and answered the phone.

      “Jasmine,” he said into the speaker as he picked up the phone. “How was your flight?”

      “Stuck in Cleveland, flight for Christmas has been delayed.”

      “What the hell are you doing in Cleveland? I thought you had a non-stop flight from Vegas to Denver?”

      “I did, but somehow, some lovely idiot at the airport mixed up two planes and all of us that were headed to Denver ended up in Cleveland, we're supposed to be home this afternoon, but first a lay over in New Orleans. First time in the history of my life something like this has ever happened.” She finished with a breath. “So, how's your morning?”

      “Better then yours, just finished the driveway. Dad headed into work for some reason, not sure why. Neighbor's think I'm crazy, outside of that, nothing new.”

      “Well you are crazy,” his sister replied with a sarcastic yet sweet tone. “Hold on,”

      After a lengthy pause, his sister said a quick goodbye, they were boarding her plane and she needed to get on it otherwise she'd have to wait until that afternoon to find a flight home. After hanging up the phone Damon replaced it back on the receiver and finished up his breakfast. He flipped on Netflix and watched one of his favorite episodes of Supernatural. He smiled at the antics between the main characters and guest star pretending to be the Norse god Loki.

      The episode ended and Damon roused himself up and headed back into the kitchen. He put his plate into the dishwasher and started it up. It would be clean by the time his father got back from work. Heading toward the bathroom, he heard the phone ring again, but he ignored it.

Author's Note

Enjoy.