Destruction Road

Chapter 5

Tom grabbed his cell phone charger from the house and got back into the car. He was in and out as fast as possible. It still hurt too much to see all of their things. He cried sitting there alone parked in front of his house.

He started the car and plugged in his cell phone so it could charge. Powering it on he saw that he had missed a call from work. He didn't want to deal with that right now. He just sat there crying until his sleep deprivation caught up with him and he fell asleep.

He woke up to the sound of his cell phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Orchard. This is detective Strunk again. I just wanted to let you know that Will Sandstone arrived at the Juvenile Detention Center. It's out on 1427 W. Countmore, do you need directions?"

"No, I can find it with my phone, thanks."

"Yes sir. If you don't mind me asking, why are you going to see him?"

"Don't worry detective, I'm not going to try and get revenge. I just want to ask him one question. Why? Why would anyone shoot my wife?"

"Why he did it might not be the best thing to hear right now."

"I have to know."

"Well, I'll talk to you later then Mr. Orchard."

"Alright. Thank you."

This was it. He was going to see the murderer. As Tom pulled out of the driveway the silence had become too much for him, so he turned on the radio. Normally he listened with his mp3 player hooked up, but he didn't want to think, just listen. It was set to a country station. She had been with him the last time the radio was on. Tom hated country, but he left it there because it reminded him of his wife. It was different somehow than the glimpses of their things when he had raced through the house. It was almost like she was sitting next to him, singing along, and teasing him as she sang the lyrics to him.

He was driving to a place he had never been. The nickname for it reminded him of his favorite road trip candy. You could only find it at gas stations. Not once had he found them at a supermarket. Jujubes were the best for road trips, because they lasted so much longer than any other candy. He suspected visiting juvie would be nothing like a road trip with his favorite candy.

He had given himself time to get out a lot of the tears, which might never go away, but now most of him was spent on resentment toward his family's killer. He'd spent enough time holed up in his parent's guest room, now he was going to go see this kid, and get an answer from him. An answer to a simple question: why?

There had to be a reason, even if Tom couldn't think of one. His wife had no enemies. He couldn't conceive of why anyone would shoot her. She was one of those drivers that, no matter what happened, never had road rage. She was also one of those drivers who didn't pay the best attention behind the wheel, but she was a polite driver. As Tom made his way toward an unfamiliar stretch of road one of her favorites—Love Song by Taylor Swift—came on. It made him smile.

He turned it up and let it fill his ears as his eyes filled with tears. He listened to the singer's voice, playing off the band's melody. He could hear her voice too. His thoughts drifted off to where he was going as he drove down the barren patch of road. The song ended. He wiped away his tears and turned it off as the DJ's voice announced the next song. His wife's voice was gone, replaced by the low crackle of gravel beneath his tires.

A broad gray building lay in the distance. Tom's hands began to sweat as he drew near. He rolled his window down and let a hand hang out to dry his palm. The sound of the gravel grew just as the looming building before him. There was something unnerving about it. He turned on the air conditioning to dry his other hand, and drown out the sound a little. Then he closed his window and drove with his knees as he rested his palms before the cool blowing vents. As he pulled into the very small parking lot, he thought to himself, must not get many visitors.

Somewhere inside this building was the one who had stolen everything from him. He was going to find out why. He got out of his car and approached the harsh building. The front door looked like one which led into a business, and it opened easily enough.

Once inside the building, however, it did not feel like a store. Instead of a smiling face to greet him there sat a squat plain faced woman with a hint of a mustache. Her eyes tracked to Tom with annoyance from behind thick barred glass. A solid door was at his left, which looked like it opened with a key, and another to his right. He guessed that one was for ingress into the facility, while the other was for employees. He walked up to the lady at the window.

"Hi. I'm here to visit Will Sandstone."

"Alright. Can I see some I.D. please?"

"Sure."

A small drawer slid out to Tom's left. He fumbled for his license as he made small talk.

"I didn't see that drawer there, kinda blends in, that's pretty cool."

The woman made no reply. He thought this was due to the energy she was using to make such an uninterested face. She pulled it in, examined it, stroked some keys on the computer, and then slid it back out to him.

"Are you carrying any weapons?" she asked.

"No," Tom said, although he wondered if he'd want one once inside.

"Okay. Normally we only let immediate family in, but I remember that detective called in, so you're clear to go. This is a special circumstance to be sure, I'm sorry for your loss. If you go through this door," she pointed to the door on his right, "I'll have Jo pat you down and take you to the visiting booths. You'll be able to talk to Mr. Sandstone through some glass on a phone for one hour."

"Thank you," Tom said.

She nodded and pressed a button. A short buzz sounded, followed by the click of the door's lock. Tom opened it and walked inside.