In The End

Love lifts us up where we belong

Axel had been asleep for a little over an hour, stirring occasionally as I hit the odd bump in the road but never fully waking. I'd taken advantage of his deep slumber and turned the stereo off, allowing myself to sit in my thoughts as I drove the last stretch. Axel had repeatedly asked to stop and stay in a hotel but I was so desperate to get home that I'd insisted we kept going, which is why he'd finally agreed to share the driving and take turns to rest. We'd drove for 33 hours between us, stopping only to refuel the car and ourselves. My body ached and I know should have listened to him, but as the all too familiar white-steepled church of my hometown came into view I was recharged with energy and a satisfaction that we'd kept going. The sleepy streets prompted me to look at the time on the dash, it was a little after 3 pm, and I smiled recalling all the times me and Eden would get off the bus and go into Harvey Shake shack before heading the rest of the way home and end up in trouble because we would feel too sick to finish all our dinner. I hadn't been gone long enough for any major changes to shock me, but I still noticed that the flower baskets hanging from the street lamps were now purple and white and not orange and white. Mr Harvey and his wife were standing outside their shop talking to Mrs Murphy the sheriff's wife and as usual Old Tom was unloading crates of fruit and veg from his truck as Mrs Stanley supervised her eldest son whilst he moved them into the store. There was something funny about how much my life had changed whilst time had appeared to stand completely still here.

"Hey, we're nearly here." I gently nudged Axel who grunted as I turned out of the town centre and into the next street. He grumbled again, sliding further down the seat as he turned away from me. "Axel," I called a little louder, smiling to myself as he mumbled that he was awake but never opened his eyes. I turned onto the next street, passing the endless uniformed white picket fences until the road narrowed and the houses became fewer the further I continued. Finally, the mini broken stone bridge came into view and I nervously aligned the car, praying that I wouldn't misjudge the unforgivably small margin that I had in order to safely cross over the Brooke and not scratch Axel's tyres on the uneven, crumbling stone wall. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as I passed with ease. The road on the other side was unkept, the many potholes had almost doubled in my absence and the weeds were overrun along the side of the road. I maintained a steady pace as I crawled over the bumps in the road, unaware that Axel was now fully awake and watching me intently as I navigated the terrain. The road began to level off as we approached the Conway's large two-story property. It was quintisenally Madison and possibly the grandest residential property in the area with its large white facade, shutter windows and intricate spindled porch. The oversized American flag flapped proudly in the light breeze and the large front lawn looked an unnatural shade of green as it displayed its decorative lawn patterns.

"I pledge allegiance..." Axel began to jovially recite as we passed the property and continued through the leafy suburb.

We passed several more similar properties before taking the bend and my childhood home came into view. It was nowhere near as big as those we had passed, but still boasted a considerable amount of land around it. It was the beginning of the 'modern' houses in the area, built in the early 60's it blended the old Madison with what was at the time considered the new Madison. I pulled onto the drive and paused behind my father's car, feeling a strange mix of relief and uncertainty. I still hadn't switched my phone on since we left LA, and I didn't know what to expect when I saw my father, but the secret was out there now, and panic finally hit me. Would he feel differently about me now that he didn't have to pretend anymore? Would this be the end of my parent's relationship now they didn't have anything to hide anymore? My stomach tightened like the way it does just before you hit that big drop on a rollercoaster.

"Hey, you okay?" Axel's firm squeeze of my knee pulled me from my travelling thoughts. My watery eyes shot to his and just as he was about to pull me in I pulled back spotting my father standing in the doorway. "You got this and I got you," Axel whispered as this time he squeezed my hand.