Between Brothers

Chapter 2-2

On a good day, the trip from Richmond to Wildwood takes just a hair over five hours, if you stick to the interstates and the Delaware Memorial Bridge instead of looping around to take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. The ferry’s great but the drive through the back roads of Maryland and Delaware can add another two or three hours to the ride, and now that it’s the middle of November, the ferry only runs a few times each day. If I don’t time it right, I could end up waiting hours for the next boat.

So I’ll stick to the interstates, take the bridge into Jersey, then hop on Route 47 at Malaga and follow it down through Cape May, come at the island from Rio Grande. I toy with the idea of stopping at Cape May Courthouse to see my mom, but I didn’t think to ask Joey what room she was in and I’m not really sure I want to see her alone anyway. I don’t want to see her at all, to be honest, not in a hospital bed, dressed in her pjs and hooked up to machines that blip, tubes snaking out of her frail arms.

But Joey said the doctors weren’t quite sure what the problem was yet—or rather, he didn’t know what was wrong, and he thought they’d tell him something more if there was anything else to tell, but he’s not exactly a brain surgeon himself. Joey spent three years in junior college before dropping out, and as far as I know, he’s never gone back to finish his education. So the doctors may be telling him stuff he just doesn’t understand, which is why he wants me there. He asked specifically if I would come for him.

Oh Jesus, would I.

Timothy carries my suitcase to the car. We park in a covered deck and this time of the morning, no one else is out yet, so I let him give me a tight hug. “Drive safe,” he tells me.

I nod, yes, and he holds the door while I slide behind the wheel of my metallic orange-red Mustang Coupe. As I buckle my seat belt, he leans in and kisses my ear. “Call me when you get there so I know you’re all right.” I nod again, distracted. He starts, “I’ll be at work—”

“I’ll leave a message.” With a tight grin, I reach for the door. “I need to leave now if I’m going to miss the traffic.”

“Oh right.”

Timothy shuts the door for me, then mimes rolling down the window. Sighing heavily, I start the car and hit the power button to comply. As the glass drops between us, I warn, “Timothy—”

He leans in and covers my mouth with his, silencing me. After a long kiss, he murmurs against my lips, “I love you.”

“Me too.” I give him a real smile this time and tap my forefinger on the tip of his nose. “I’ll be back soon.”

Before he can pester me further, I roll up the window and put the car into gear. He steps back as I pull out of the parking spot, then gives me a jaunty wave that doesn’t quite mesh with the hollow emptiness I think I see in his eyes. Maybe it’s just this flat lighting, the early hour, but he looks adrift here in the parking garage, a man drowning out beyond the headlights of my car. I could rescue him, just rush in there and scoop him up in my arms, hold him close, tell him everything’s going to be okay…

But there’s Joey to think of, so I give Timothy one last smile and then guide the car around the curves of the garage a little too quickly in my haste to get away. Once I’m ensnared in downtown morning traffic, I call the office and leave a message for my boss. I have plenty of comp time saved up, I can afford to take a few days off. After a moment’s hesitation, I redial the office and leave another message, for Kevin this time. It’s short and simple, without a hint of our relationship in my words. Just a mention that I’ll be out for family reasons and expect the sales reports on my desk next Monday when I return. Assuming this only takes a week, and assuming I don’t kill myself before then.

It’s a tempting thought. A sharp turn of the wheel on the Delaware Memorial, a short plunge to the water below, and suddenly there’s nothing left to worry about.

If only I could give up that easily.