“WAIT A MINUTE! You’re trying to tell me, that because my dad was an asshole, and fucked your mom, that I deserved ANY of the SHIT you dealt me? I thought you were my FRIEND, you ASSHOLE!”
He just glared at me, with obvious hate in his eyes. “I couldn’t stand to see you so happy. Your parents were still together, AND you had your GOODY TWOSHOES family. Meanwhile, I was miserable. My parents never talk to each other, and when they do, they fight. I will NEVER forgive your family. I got my revenge on your parents, and now I have gotten my revenge on you.”
What he said, gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. Did he just admit to having something to do with my parents’ accident?
“What did you just say?” I growled.
Cyrus had an evil look on his face, almost as if he enjoyed telling us all his dirty secrets, his dark plans.
“You heard me. I messed with their car that night. The storm wasn’t planned, but it didn’t really matter in the end anyway.”
“I can’t believe I let this happen,” Caitlin mumbled, shaking her head. She had tears rolling down her rosy cheeks, and looked on the verge of losing her last meal.
“I’m done with this shit. I’m calling the police, and you are going to ROT in jail, Cyrus!” I yelled at him.
I reached into my pocket for my phone, and Cyrus raised his gun again, and then there was a loud BANG! My ears were ringing like I had just returned from a Rock concert, but when I looked in front of me, Cyrus was lying on the ground, blood pouring out of a hole in the side of his head. I looked up to Shawn, and nodded my thanks. There must have been a ton of adrenaline coursing through my veins, because I was amped. I kicked his corpse in the groin, as about my only outlet for all the anger I felt.
When my rage slowly dissipated, I plopped down onto the bench next to Caitlin. “It’s finally over,” I let out. “I think now would be a good time to call the police, don’t you?”
Both nodded their agreement, so I did. I explained the situation, and they had a few units on site in short order. It isn’t every day that there is a shooting on this island. They took our statements, and processed the scene. Caitlin and I didn’t have to wait around after they questioned us, so we went back down the dock to my boat. The police said not to go anywhere too far away, until they concluded their investigation.
I had no doubt about what they would find, about Cyrus. My main worry was whether Shawn would get charged with something or not. We got below deck, and I offered my ex-wife a drink.
“So where does this leave us?” asked Caitlin.
“Be the best parents we can for our daughter. Beyond that, there really isn’t an ‘US’ anymore, Cait. I’m sorry, but there is just too much water under that bridge now.”
She nodded slightly, with moist eyes. “You’re right, of course. I could have prevented all of this, but will have to live with my decisions. I still regret everything, and wish we could rewind and have a do-over.”
“I know, but that’s never gonna happen. Cait, for what it’s worth, I do forgive you.”
“Thanks, I guess that’s more than I probably deserve.”
There really wasn’t much else to say to each other. I told her she could bunk in one of the spare berths for the night, and wished her a good life when she left in the morning. I was just glad to be home, and also very relieved that Cyrus would no longer haunt me. Having the discussion I did with Caitlin, while it had been brutally painful, also helped to fill in some of the blanks. I didn’t feel better because of it, but it did seem to put the issues between us to rest.
After she rode off in a taxi, I got a call from my daughter. She was obviously concerned with my health, and was asking me questions at a mile a minute.
“What happened? Are you OK? Mom called, is she ok, too? She said she was going to you, is she there? Is she OK?”
“Slow down, slow down, honey. Everything is OK now. I got rescued, after my plane crashed. Your mother is heading back to Virginia, and I am fine.” I could hear a light sob on the other end, “Honey, are you ok?”
“Yeah dad, just really glad that you’re safe. I got a call from your friend Shawn, saying you went missing. I was stressing out big time, and mom asked why. I had to tell her, sorry dad.”
“It’s ok, Maddy. I’m glad she came out, actually. We finally had an extremely overdue conversation about things.”
“Yeah? How’d that go?” she asked, sounding a bit too hopeful.
I tried to let her down gently, “Honey, we were able to talk about things, but it doesn’t change what has happened. We will both be around for you, no matter what, and that was about the best outcome. We should be fine to be around each other, when you need us to be, OK?”
“OK. I guess I just hoped that things could have turned out differently, that’s all.”
“I know.” I took a deep breath, and sighed. “Maddy, I want you to understand something. I loved your mom more than anything in the world, with you being a VERY close second. She loved me too, but that wasn’t enough for her. I can’t change that. Don’t make the same mistakes that we made. Make sure to keep a very open line of communication with whoever you love, even if it’s something painful. The only other thing I can say, is that no matter what, always stick to your promises. I do my best to always follow-through with my promises, because that’s what I expect others to do. You know, it’s really just the old ‘Golden Rule’.”
“I know…”
I could hear her sniffles again, so decided to change course. “Ok, well enough about me. How’s school going? How’s Sarah doing?”
She laughed for a good solid minute. “That’s my dad! Just got back from being stranded after crashing, and he wants to know about my school and love life. Priceless!”