Two Golden Rings

Untitled part

Beau wasn't a religious or a superstitious man, but as he watched two cops walk up to his door, he had an uneasy feeling that only got worse as they reached his porch. As he walked from the window to his front door, Beau ran through everything that would cause the police to show up here. He was African-American, but Burton was a small town, and these two officers came over on Wednesday nights to play card games. They wouldn't be here for any such related purpose. His wife, Ayana, was a surgeon at the hospital one town over and is respected in that town and in Burton, so they wouldn't be here about her. And his father was a home bound man, he couldn't cause much trouble.

Beau hesitated when the officers knocked on his door. His uneasy feeling had not gone away, but had only gotten worse as he considered the reasons why they were here. The second knock jolted him from his hesitant thoughts and he opened the door, cutting the next knock short.

"Sorry for taking so long," Beau said as he smiled at them," What can I do for you today?"

The officers looked at each other, removing their hats as they did. Noticing the look on their faces did not help Beau's uneasy feeling.

"Aarav," he said, speaking to the first officer," What's going on?"

"Beau, there isn't an easy way of saying this so I'll just say it. Ayana... she was in a car wreck this afternoon on her way home. We rushed her to the hospital, but she didn't make. They called her time of death on the way to the hospital."

Beau just looked at Aarav, his mind not able to wrap around what he had just heard. His wife, his Ayana, was dead. Not maimed or in a coma, she was dead.

"Now, Beau, I know this is hard, but I do need you to come down to the morgue so you can identify her body. It's just a formality."

Nodding numbly, Beau reached for his car keys. Aarav grabbed his wrist before he could.

"I'm not letting you drive right now, Beau," he said with a kind voice," I know how hard this is and I will drive you. It's the least I can do for you."

Beau followed Aarav, not even bothering to close and lock his door. On the car ride, no one said anything, and Jon was happy for the silence. He was doing his best to understand how much his life was about to change. And even though he thought for the whole ride, turning the problem over again and again in his head like a Rubix Cube, he had no idea what was going to happen.

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It wasn't raining during the funeral like it does in the movies, but Beau had his own personal dark cloud above his head that day. Everyone paid their respects to him, but moved quickly on to his father who was being far more sociable. Beau accepted each person's respect but was happy that the mourners moved on after just a few moments. He could feel the dark cloud above him, and he used it to be left alone as much as he could. He didn't want to be there, but he was. He didn't want his wife to be dead but she was. He was hurting and it was showing. Beau was doing his best to avoid Ayana's family. Not because they didn't like him or vice versa, but because he loved them like family and from where he was he could see them crying. If he went to them, if he even heard Ayana's father's voice crack, he would lose his fragile hold on his own emotions.

As much as he tried not to, Beau eventually ended up standing in front of Ayana's father, Ayikas. His hazel green eyes bored into him, searching his very soul for an answer to a question that could never be fully answered. Ayikas grabbed Beau's shoulders, trying to show his love to his son-in-law.

"Ayikas," he gasped, unable to speak more because of the lump that sat in his throat.

"I know, my son, I know."