Chapter 3

06/22/2010

Chapter 3:

Damian and his grandparents had had a very difficult past. It had been almost three years since they had spoken, the last time having been right before Damian’s eighteenth birthday. That's when the confusion had started.

One day, like any other, Damian was walking home from school and saw his grandparents’ car in the driveway at his home. He ran up the steps and into the house to give them their regular hugs, but this time was different. Everything seemed very tense, and he could tell his mother had been crying. His father sat by her on the couch, caressing her neck.

“Mom?” he said. “Are you okay?”

She looked at him through tear-filled eyes and said, “Yes, Sweetheart, but I think we need to have a talk.”

Damian dropped his book bag and sat down on the loveseat across from his parents, while his grandparents stood in the walkway that led to the large, brightly lit kitchen.

“Your grandparents are going to be leaving town for a while,” his father began. “Your mother is a little upset because she doesn’t want them to go.”

“Oh,” he responded. He turned to his grandparents and asked, “Where are you going? How long will you be gone?”

Damian’s grandmother, Ruth, just looked at him through her sweet, loving eyes. He could tell she had shed a few tears as well. “We’re going away, Honey,” she said. “We have some business to take care of in London. It may be quite some time before we see you again.”

“Business? London?! We’ve never even traveled past the state line, let alone gone to another country!” He exclaimed, almost angry with the feeling of not knowing what was going on.

“This is not something we have time to argue about.” Charlie, Damian’s grandfather, said in his usual gruff voice.

“But I don’t understand! What are you trying to hide from me?” He replied.

Ruth looked deeply into his eyes and said, “Trust me, Sweetheart; in a few years you’ll be glad you didn’t find out anything this way.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Charlie growled. “It’s time to go.”

With that, he grasped onto Ruth's arm and led her out the front door. Damian had not received so much as a phone call from them since that day.



Damian crossed the threshold into his aunt's exquisite home to find Charlie and Ruth sitting quietly at the dining-room table. Charlie was covered in bruises and it looked as if his eye was swollen shut. The only injury that Ruth had visible was a very large scar on her upper right arm.

“What happened to you?” Damian said as he crossed the room quickly to examine her.

Ruth looked up at him weakly and smiled. “Let's not talk about that now, Honey. You've got enough on your plate as it is.”

Damian nodded and looked closer at his grandfather's face. “Are you okay? Do you need some ice?”

Charlie grinned and said, “If only ice could help this mess. My face has looked like this for three months. But really, we're okay. We'll tell you all about it after you get some much needed rest.”
Damian could tell immediately that something seemed rather different about Charlie. That was the only smile he could remember ever crossing the rough man's face at all during the time that he had been in Charlie's life.

“For now, we are going to leave you to rest. We will be coming back a little later for dinner, but right now we have to take care of a few things in town. Get some rest and we will have a long discussion when we get back!” Charlie said in a particularly cheerful tone.

Damian furrowed his eyebrows and said, “Okay. I guess I will see you later.” He continued to watch his grandparents' exit the home with confusion and curiosity surging through his veins.

He started to close the front door when he realized he hadn't seen Neveya come into the house yet. He took a quick look through the screen door but didn't see her anywhere outside. “Where did you go?” He said to himself as he closed the door.

“I'm right here!” Neveya replied, inches from Damian's face when he turned around.

Damian startled and jumped back, clutching his heart for a few moments until he was calm enough to speak.

“Auntie! Are you trying to get hurt? You scared the mess out of me! I was just looking for you outside. When did you come in?”

Neveya laughed girlishly and said, “I walked in right after you. I think you were so surprised by your grandparent's appearance that you didn't care about anything else that was going on.”

“Yeah, it took a little out of me,” he replied, squinting his eyes as if that might help him figure out what was going on.

“So, who did you end up selling the house to?” Neveya asked, openly trying to avoid the obvious need to touch on a different subject.

Damian sighed and slumped his shoulders. “He seemed like a pretty nice guy, I think. He said he has four kids and he has been taking care of them on his own for about 6 years. He didn't go into detail, but from the tone of his voice, I'm pretty sure his wife passed away,” he replied.

“That's terrible! But I think your parents' home is the perfect place to get peace. They left such a great sense of spirit there,” Neveya said as she began to get lunch ready in the kitchen.

Damian followed her, determined that he was going to get some answers about his newly returned family members. He looked at his aunt with a sneaky expression on his face and said, “So can you tell me what happened? Please? I can't stand not knowing what is going on with Gran and Pop right now. I'm really starting to worry. Aren't they a bit too old to have those many extensive injuries?”

“Don't worry about your grandparents. I have gone to many extremities to make sure they are okay. As for your other question, no way. You will have to wait for dinner. It is their story to tell,” Neveya replied, giving Damian a beautiful toothy smile. “Now, go upstairs and get into something other than that suit. After you get comfortable, come back downstairs and we will have some lunch.”

Damian looked rather disappointed as he said, “Yes ma'am. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

He gave Neveya one last smile as he turned the corner to reach the stairs. He began to climb them and reached the second floor in no time. He walked into the guest bedroom where Neveya must have placed his belongings while he was busy staring daggers into his grandparents. He sat down on the bed for a moment, so that he could rest his mind. There was so much going on that he was starting to get a headache. After a few moments of sitting alone meditating, he grabbed his maroon basketball shorts, gray t-shirt, and socks and headed for the shower across the hall.

As Damian stood in the hot water, something caught his attention and caused him to think he might finally be losing his grip on reality. He stepped out of the shower, leaving the water running, and he heard the sound again that had originally caused him to leave the comfort of the warm water. He was sure he heard his aunt speaking quietly into his ear.

“Relax your mind. Relax your soul. Relax your heart.”

He heard those words over and over again until he couldn't take it any longer. He turned the water off, threw on his clothes, and headed down the steps. He had to find out if he had really lost his hold on life. After all, he had gone through a considerably traumatizing six days prior to the funeral.