After Before and After

Conclusion: Chapter 24

CONTENT WARNING: graphic depictions of violence, gore, and intensity.

As Jack Merridew rung the doorbell of a house he used to have the keys for, he tried to ignore how nervous he was, and how his intestines felt like they were shaking out of place inside him.

Evan didn't come to the door right away, but as a former resident of the white mansion on 42 Brodacre Road, Jack knew that wasn't unusual. For how big the place was, sometimes it took them a whole five minutes to get to the front door.

And even though it was just after ten o'clock at night, Evan Merridew answered the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Evan asked right away, his voice low and flat like it always was.

"Hi Dad" Jack stretched a straight smile across his face. "The hell I'm doing here is telling you something you damn well need to know."

"I got nothin' to say to you" Evan disinterestedly mumbled. "Or your sister. She here too?" he then peered behind Jack to see out the door.

"No, it's just me. I came alone. I drove here" Jack announced proudly.

"You do it legally this time?" he snarled with a laugh, a laugh intended to taunt Jack.

"Yes, I did" he confidently assured Evan. "Now I need you to listen to me. I have to tell you something that you're gonna wanna hear, so for the first time in almost eighteen years, just listen to me."

Evan laughed a little as he slowly stepped back into the front entryway of the house. Jack cautiously stepped inside too. He stopped himself on the welcome mat, closing the door behind him.

"Dad," Jack interjected, "is this what you wanted?"

"What?" Evan stopped laughing rather quickly before turning his head to look Jack in the eye, his body sideways to the boy.

"This, the way your life turned out, the way all of our lives turned out... is this what you wanted when you had Paige and me?" Jack asked genuinely.

"What kind of psychologist bullshit question is that? You get it from that court ordered therapist they have you seein'?" Evan continued to mock him.

"Just answer the question" Jack was growing frustrated as he calmly demanded.

"You don't fucking tell me what to do, hot shot" Evan snarled as he took a few threatening steps towards him. "I don't give a shit if your therapist or your goddamn sister has you thinking you're something special now. I couldn't care less. Now get the fuck out of my house. Your days coming and going as you please are long gone."

It was quiet as Evan continued to pace slowly but angrily. Jack stood in silence with his father's cruelty. Neither of them spoke for maybe a minute. Until,

"Mom wants to see you."

Evan stopped pacing, and Jack found the strength to lift his head and look him in the eye.

"The fuck did you say?" Evan demanded harshly. Somehow, Jack was in trouble. He began to question what he did this time, but then he realized that he didn't do anything. A year of living someplace Evan couldn't touch him was what it took for Jack to realize that he never did anything.

"I've been talking to Rebecka, or Mom" he corrected himself, "she's been in Georgia since she came to the house before Christmas in '91. She told me she wants to see you. She wants to work things out with you. She still loves you, Dad, and I know you love her."

"Now what on god's green earth makes you so sure of that?" Evan muttered bitterly as he took another step towards Jack.

"Because I know" Jack held his own as he insisted. "Because I lived with you in this house for sixteen years. You know I'm right. She told me what happened between you. She told me about the co-worker she slept with. But she never loved him. She only loves you. You don't have to stay mad at her forever. She wants to talk to you, to apologize for everything and make things right. And I really think you should go see her."