Sinking Ships

Epilogue

Epilogue

        Drugs destroy lives.

            For a while, they can be a temporary escape; a bad habit that you think helps you. Some people disagree that they’re addicted; that something as simple as pot can’t harm them. But it can, because people can easily let something so minimal get so out of control.

            Meth is so much worse. It rips you apart, ruins your brain and wrecks your life. If it wasn’t for meth, I wouldn’t be outside right now, fighting tears for the girl I lost. If it wasn’t for the drug, I wouldn’t have even met Eve and despite how much she turned out to mean to me, I would rather have her breathing and out of my life than what really happened.

            “Over here!” Tyson calls, his little legs straining to hold him as he stumbles towards the big Oak tree.

            “Wait for us,” Kelsey calls, smiling as she squeezes my hand. In her other she’s holding onto Peter, who just started walking.

            When we reach the gravestone Tyson is running in circles around it, way too hyper for a child. Kelsey and I stop just as Tyson appears beside us, taking my other hand.

            “She’s the nice girl who used to play with me at the park, right?” Tyson asks. He looks up at me with eyes full of wonder. I nod and try to swallow the lump in my throat.

            “I’m going to go get something in the car,” Kelsey murmurs, handing me Peter’s hand. Ever since he realized he could stand up, he’s been trying to escape us to go exploring every chance he gets.

            As Kelsey leaves Peter struggles to get out of my hand so I settle for holding him in my arms. A quick glance back shows Kelsey leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette. I still don’t like her smoking since I quit after Eve’s passing, but it’s better than what she was doing before.

            “What happened to her, Daddy?” Tyson asks, still looking up at me with wide eyes. He asks this question every time we come here, a few times each year. I always give him the same answer; that I’ll tell him when he’s older. But today, I think that it’s time he knew part of the story.

            “She got mixed up with bad people, Tyson,” I explain. He frowns, turning back to the carving in the stone and I know he doesn’t think I’m talking about me. “Those bad people did bad things and eventually, it caused her to leave us.”

            Tyson sticks his bottom lip out as Peter rests his tired head on my shoulder. “I think we should do something about those bad people.”

            I close my eyes and will the world to fade away. “Me too, Tyson. Me too.”