Faded Away

|TWENTY-TWO|

I pulled into the driveway and the instant I put the truck in park, Jackie unbuckled her seat belt and bolted into the house. My mama pulled up in her vehicle with the boys and she had also noticed something was off. She didn't say anything but she gave me "the look". I sighed and entered the house to find Jackie out of sight. Bo and Tate scurried upstairs to find her.

"C'mon uncle Luke. You promised you'd help us pack." Til beckoned me from the landing on the staircase. I followed him and to his bedroom. He shut the door behind us and lugged a suitcase out from under his bed. He basically emptied the contents of his dresser drawers on to the bed. My mama mentioned they'd be gone for a longer period of time since she was planning something special for the boys.

"Did she talk to you about it on the way home?" Til asked as he neatly folded his shirts on the bed.

"No, I was upset and she cried the entire way back. She didn't say a word about whatever is troubling her." I paired up his socks for him and piled them up.

"That's weird. Well did you maybe do something that hurt her feelings?"

"I don't understand where I went wrong, Til." I huffed as I continued to help him.

"I don't either. Like I said, she just cried out of nowhere that day while she was looking at her laptop..." he shoved some shirts into the large suitcase. "That's it! We can look at her Internet history! I'll go ask her for the laptop right now."

"No, no. It's alright. I don't want to invade her privacy. I'll try to talk to her about it again." I protested.

"If you say so. I gotta go get some stuff from the garage really quick. I'll be right back." He hurried out of the room, leaving me sitting in the room by myself. The door was slightly cracked open and I saw Jackie about to pass by. She made eye contact with me then hung her head and was out of sight without another look at me. I felt my heart ache for her. I just wanted us to the way we were before I left for the tour. Maybe that's what it was, the separation. She wasn't used to it. I saw how much she cried every time I had to leave.

Til came rushing back into the room with a blue Dell laptop in his hands. He opened it up and began clicking furiously on the keyboard. I finally registered what was going on after a second. I leapt across the room and tried to take it from him. He pulled back and clutched it to his chest.

"Til! I told you not to do this. I don't need you in the middle of it. Give me the computer!" I tried to pry it from his hands once more but he wouldn't give it up.

"I'm trying to help you! Stop! She's the closest things I have to a mom anymore. It hurts me to see her this way. Bo and Tate know she's not okay, we all know! I don't want to lose her, not like I lost my mom. Don't you get it? She wants you to know but she's afraid to say something for some odd reason. You can see it from a mile away. Please stop being so stubborn and let me help." Til's eyes welled up with tears. It had been a very long time since I had seen him cry. I sighed and let go of the computer. He opened it up and pulled up the most recent websites she had looked at. He looked at me in horror.

"What is it?" I began to get nervous and I felt my stomach drop despite the fact that I knew I hadn't done anything wrong.

"I can't believe you. Jackie has sat here for months without you and you have the nerve to be taking out other girls on dates. Why would you ever think of any other woman but Jackie? She loves you! She's the best thing that has ever happened to other than Bo and Tate. You didn't even stick up for her!"