Antipodes

Nine

Ryan was travelling alone -again- with for only luggage his phone, cigarettes, Tolstoy's Resurrection and the letter. The road was longer than he expected and it was way too hot even for the beginning of July. He was suffocating in his black Range Rover. He was already regretting his decision to make the journey to Boston by car but he was so sick of trains. So he just rolled up the windows, switched on the air-conditioning and the radio and went on with it.

After two hours of driving, he was already feeling tired. He hadn't had a proper sleep in days. He decided to stop at a restaurant in East Hartford, Connecticut. He took his book, his pack of cigarettes and got out of the car. He went in and ordered some coffee and scrambled eggs. He ate slowly, reading four or five pages between two bites of French toast. 

He stopped eating and closed his book. Then took a cigarette and lit it, putting his lighter down on the table. He smoked his cigarette quietly watching what was happening outside through the window on his right. He noticed a cat struggling with a leaf which turned yellow by the sun. He suddenly felt someone tapping him on the shoulder.

"Sir, it's a non-smoking area", said the waitress showing him a small sign that stipulated it clearly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see the sign", he apologized crushing the rest of his cigarette in the coffee mug. 

He got up, paid for what he took and went back to his car, resuming his journey. When he arrived at Boston, he took his phone and checked the address again. He found the house and parked his car in the opposite alley street. It was a small town house but it was a decent house. Tyler's parents were not as rich as his, he remembered. That is exactly what pushed him to join the army, he needed the money to pay the fees for college and the army was the only way. He stayed in the car for about half an hour, hesitating and asking himself it was a good idea after all. He then took a deep long breath, crossed the street and rang at the door bell. A man in his mid-fifties opened the door. 

"Good morning, um, I'm Ryan", he hesitated trying to avoid any eye contact with the man in front of him. "I called a couple days ago".

The man's eyes widened and he opened his arms and hugged him. He took him by surprise and he felt so awkward. He invited Ryan in and called for his wife.

"Honey, Ryan is here!", he shouted closing the door behind them. "Please, have a sit son!".

"Thanks", he said politely. 

The woman came and he got up to shake her hand but she got him by surprise too and hugged him tightly. She was beautiful, she looked less affected by time. Or maybe she was just younger than her husband. If he only knew what time have done to her.

"I'm so happy to finally have you here", she exclaimed. "How handsome you are!" 

"Thank you ma'am", he replied. 

"Oh please sit down and you can call me Ellen", she said with a wide smile.

"And you can call me Eddy!", said her husband.

So he sat there with people he had never met. They kept asking him so much about himself: how he was feeling about coming back home, how he was recovering physically and psychologically, did he get back to work... They were so kind and sweet with him. Ellen made him some tea and offered him biscuits but he politely declined. He didn't want to abuse of their hospitality. He almost forgot what he was there for in the first place. So he tried to get to the point.

"I'm sorry I didn't attend the funeral", he tried changing the subject. He hated when we talked about him. 

"Oh, it's okay son", said Mr. Hudson. "You had to deal with your own problems, we understand that".

They were so nice, he thought. "I was with Tyler when it happened, when he...", he hesitated.

"When he died?", finished Mrs. Hudson.

"Yes", he said. "I should have done something to help him but I...".

"You could do nothing for him, son. You were injured yourself, weren't you?"

"I got shot, yes but it was mostly the shock that paralysed me. I couldn't even think..."

"What is done is done", said Mrs Hudson taking his hand. "Tyler is gone and he's not coming back. He knew he was taking risks doing this job and he did it anyway. And we are proud of him".

"Oh yes, we are !", added her husband.

"He left something. We had this kind of deal. It's a bit weird but we did it and it all makes sense now". He handed the letter to Mrs Hudson. "We agreed to write letters for our respective families just in case. And he gave me this one for you".

The mother started crying already. 

"I'm sorry it took me that long to get it to you", he apologized.

"Thank you so much", said Ellen hugging him again. "You're such an angel". I'm not, he wanted to say but kept it to himself. Then she started reading the letter out loud. Ryan wanted nothing more than to disappear at this very moment.

"Dear mom and dad,

If you are reading this, then this means that I am probably dead. And it also means that you met Ryan, he's great isn't he?", she looked at him when reading this phrase.

He got up. "I'm sorry I should go, I'm not supposed to know what he wrote. It's personal".

They thanked him too many times, hugged him too many times and told him to take care of himself and to keep in contact with them. And that he promised.  He should have told them but he made a promise to Tyler and he had to keep it. They said they were proud of their son, that was enough for him.

He went outside, smoked a cigarette then went back to his car. He closed the door and cried his heart out.