His Angel

Chapter 3

Pictured: Cameron Monaghan as Riley Carter

     "Keep it coming, Williams. Give me five more minutes," Leonard instructs me. His dad, Mac, established this gym in the 1930's. My dad and Zach trained here. Leonard is like a father to me. My last hit on the punching bag knocks Leo's balance off and he nearly falls over. "Jesus, Ash. You angry or something?"

     "No, just tense," I respond slicking my hair back with my wrapped hands. "So, you've gone to see your mom recently?"

     "Just yesterday. Dad's scared he's gonna lose her before he says goodbye. He hasn't left her side since she went to the hospital this time," Leo says solemnly while stabilizing the bag. I start to unwrap the gauze from my hands when Vic limps up the stairs and into the gym. His below the knee prosthetic came loose as he lifts his leg to climb the last step and falls off. Vic mutters a cuss word and picks up his leg.

He lost it the same day that Zach died.

"How you been, kid?" he asks while embracing me in a bear hug. He holds the hug longer than normal. "Oh my God! You look so much like your brother."

"I've been better. How's Patty?" Patty is what we call his leg. I came up with it because saying 'prosthetic' was hard for me at 13. The name kinda just stuck.

"The cold's seizing her up but other than that she's been the usual, falling off at inappropriate times, irritating me every chance she gets, like normal women." Vic's been bitter towards women since his wife left him when he came home with one and a half legs. "I came to see how you were. You know, it's almost that time."

"Right." The five year anniversary of Zach's death is 2 days away. I always try to busy myself around this time so I don't break down. I remember everything like it had happened yesterday. The smell of the formaldehyde in the funeral home. All the people in black and crying. Zach's girlfriend, Sierra, running out of the room when the preacher spoke. The look on the General's face when he gave me the perfectly folded flag. His deep, sorrowful voice apologizing. And, how I never shed a tear that day. I remember not feeling anything as the 21-Gun Salute went off or as they lowered his casket down.

"Ash, you okay, bud?" Leo grabs a hold of my shoulders.

     "Yeah...I'm fine..." I compose myself and fight back tears. "I'm...I'm going to shower," I stutter. Vic and Leo's conversation fades as I walk away.

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     "Wait here while I get my paycheck," Riley tells me as he runs inside the coffee shop he works at. I pull out my pack of Marlboros and my lighter. As I light my cigarette, Ariella walks out of the building.

     "Are you stalking me now?" she asks with venom in her voice.

     "I have absolutely zero desire to even get to know you." A patrol car turns onto the street and she takes me by the arm to the alleyway behind a dumpster so we are hidden from the street. "Is this the part where you kill me?"

     "If I'm seen talking to you by anyone in the department, they'll tell my dad and I'll be in major trouble." She moves closer to me to make sure she's hidden. When she turns her head to look at me, our faces are inches apart. I drop my cigarette and grab her waist. She grabs my face and crashes her lips on mine. Our kiss intensifies as I turn us around and pin her to the wall. My hands slide down to her thighs.