LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 41

Unfair, unreal, nonsensical, incomprehensible.

Ralph Langley couldn't begin to produce a rational thought in his distressing state of mind. He had no money for a cab, or even for a bus ticket, and most importantly, he didn't have Jack. He wasn't sure what his plan to get home would've been, but he assured that Jack could've helped him figure it out. Jack was always good at that; improvising a solution that shouldn't have worked but somehow did. He could be a vindictive mastermind when he needed to be, Ralph realized. Ralph himself hadn't the slightest clue about how to get home now.

Ralph paced angrily, fueled by devastation and heartache, around the cold winter streets of west Brookhaven. After about forty minutes of wandering, taking endless twists and turns, he finally came across a convenient store. Ralph wasn't dressed for the weather, he had sticky tear streaks stained on his hot red face, rejection piercing behind his blood shot eyes. But he entered the store, oblivious to all of that, and approached the register.

"Can I help you?" the disengaged, teenage cashier asked without looking up.

"Can I borrow your phone? I need to call home" Ralph's small, pubescent voice shook unsteadily, showing evidence of prolonged crying.

The teenager finally lifted her head to get a good look at him, and a wave of sympathy came across the teen girl's face.

"Technically it's for employees only" she informed him, "but I'll let you borrow my cellphone if you come behind the counter; just so I know you won't like run with it or something" she decided.

Ralph nodded wordlessly as he walked around and stepped behind the counter. The girl stood in front of the swinging gate that separated the counter from the rest of the store to close him in. Ralph dialed his father's work cell number and a shaky hand brought the Motorola cellphone up to his ear.

"Jeffery Langley speaking" his father's familiar voice sent a wave of emotion through Ralph's trembling body.

"Dad?" he began to cry, unable to control it.

"Ralph? Where are you? What's going on?" his father's worried voice came through the static.

"Please come get me" the boy sobbed, pinching his eyes shut, a sign of his overwhelming grief and sorrow.

"Where are you? I'm gonna come get you" his father responded urgently. Ralph could hear him collecting his keys and pacing through the house.

"A store in Brookhaven. Grab and Go, I think" he looked to the girl to confirm and she nodded assuredly.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, alright? Stay put, buddy, I'm on my way" Jeffery assured his son as he scrambled into his truck.

Ralph nodded, failing to comprehend that his father couldn't actually gage his wordless response.

Less than twenty minutes later, Jeffery bursted through the doors of the convenient store, frantically scanning the room for his son.

"Dad!" Ralph called out from behind the counter, and the two ran at each other, colliding at an alarming speed. Jeffery lifted his son into his arms, swaying back and forth as the boy pressed his face into the crook of his dad's neck, sobbing erratically.

"Shh, it's okay" Jeffery continued to repeat soothingly as he attempted to console the overly distressed child.

The Langleys failed to notice that the cashier was smiling weakly while holding back tears as she watched the heart wrenching scene unfold in front of her.

"What happened, kiddo?" Jeffery nudged Ralph's head up so he could meet his eyes, still carrying him in his arms like he did when the boy was much smaller.