chapter 75

word count: 2220

john hung up the phone,, full of lustful anticipation.. lisa was on her way over.. 

his eyes quickly surveyed what was left of the kitchen.. trudy had been on a binge alright,, ashtrays overflowing,, breakfast dishes still in the sink.. and not one but two bottles of hooch left on the counter.. 

john sprang into action.. it just wouldn’t do to have lisa here amongst all these filthy reminders of trudy.. he tossed the empty bottle and ran the water till it was hot.. he cleaned up the sink full of dishes,, even emptied,, and washed all the ashtrays.. grabbing a bottle of febreeze,, john began combing the house for intrusive evidence that trudy even lived here.. he gathered up all things trudy,, and went upstairs to toss them on the bed.. 

as he passed elliot’s room, he couldn’t help but notice the boys were silent.. no tv,, no video games, no nothing.. he decided to knock and just check in.. all the while praying he would not find the room empty and the boys on the run, yet again.. 

with a rat a tat tat on the door,, he called out, “ hey, guys!! everything alright in there? you’re awful quiet!!”

“we’re fine!!” the boy’s exclaimed in hurried unison,, as they rushed to hide the razor and bloodied towel just in case john wanted made them open the door.. 

“just checking!” he said gleefully, secretly relieved they were still there,, and happy that they were occupied,, so he could have some alone time with lisa.. 

“just let me know if you need anything.. i’ll be right downstairs..” he said as he hurried off down the steps to wait for lisa.. 

with one last glance around the living room, john spied trudy’s cell phone that she had somehow or another left on the end table..knowing as he did that she was attached to that phone at the breast,, (she even carried it around in her bra) john surmised that she must have really been messed up when she left this morning,, if she had forgotten her phone.. he had to wonder, if she had had any intention of going to work today.. from the looks of things,, it was probably better that she hadn’t..

anxiously awaiting lisa’s arrival,, john proceeded to take a seat on the couch so he could keep an eye on the drive ,, and started fiddling with trudy’s phone.. she had it password protected,, but it didn’t take him long to key in the correct password, based on what john knew to be the most important thing in trudy’s life.. paisley.. yep,, paisley,, after that ridicules flask she just couldn’t seem to tear herself away from.. 

hump.. two missed calls.. dare he?? ‘nah, better not.’ he thought to himself as he clicked through to her voice mail with a tap on the number one.. better to listen to the messages she had already received,, just in case she had the presence of mind to check her recent calls,, and somehow or another remember she had not taken those calls herself.. 

wow!! 5 messages left by some guy named gil.. who the heck was gil?? his curiosity got the best of him,, and he tapped the appropriate key and began to listen to the saved messages.. 

ok.. now it all made sense.. gil was that latino cop trudy had made no mystery out of having eyes for.. message after message he continued to make excuses as to why he could not see her.. things were starting to take shape.. 

trudy had evidently, in a drunken rage, tracked him down at the precinct,, she must have accosted him for leaving her in the lurch time after time.. ‘well at least that explains the assault on a police officer charge..’ john thought to himself,, as he looked out the front window just in time to see lisa’s car making the turn into the drive..   

he hurriedly tossed the phone back on the end table where he found it,, and swung the door open wide.. all thoughts of trudy and her trysts and troubles were instantly erased from his conscious mind by the sight of lisa’s as she pulled up and parked in the driveway.. 

“hey girl!!” he called out to lisa as she exited her vehicle. “am i happy to see you!! so much craziness going on,, it is good to lay eyes on the only sane person i seem to know!!”

“tell me everything!!” lisa exclaimed as she made her way to the front door.. 

‘was that a blush in her cheek??’ john couldn’t help but wonder as he closed the door behind her..  indeed it was..

***

john’s knock at the door had awakened both elliot and adam from their blood induced ecstasies..  

“well??” asked elliot..

“well, what?”

“see what i mean about the whole cutting thing?? it works doesn’t it?”

“yeah.” adam replied, “yeah, it sure does.” he said as he ran his finger over the raised red line of irritated flesh that surrounded the cut he had so deftly placed on his arm not long before..  he silently wondered to himself why he had been so afraid to try it before?? why had it had creeped him out so much when he saw the fresh wounds on elliots arms nearly every time they were together?? it certainly was nothing to be afraid of.. in fact,, it was probably one of the most wonderful things he had ever encountered.. 

the thought crossed adam’s mind,, that maybe he could deal with his dad now,, maybe now that he knew how to alleviate the anger, pain, and frustration he always felt in the presence of his dad,, maybe,, just maybe,, it was time to get rid of the mayonnaise..  

“did you ever feel like you wanted to kill your mom?” adam asked out of the blue,, catching elliot a bit off guard.. 

“hump..” elliot pondered it a moment befor ehe answered.. “never really thought about it.. she pretty much stays away from me.. especially now since her and john are on the outs.. i sure hope she lets me move in with him if they get divorced..”

“you think they are gonna get divorced?” asked adam.. 

“i don’t know,, but sometimes i think they ought to.. my mom makes life hell,, especially lately for john.. something must a happened.. but i don’t know what..”  elliot replied,, not really in the mood to ponder it at the moment.. 

“all i know, “ he continued, “is if they are gonna get a divorce,, i wanna go live with john.. he’s not my real dad,, but he’s a hell of a better dad then my mom will ever be a mom.”

“i miss my mom..” adams voice trailed off.. elliot could tell by the way he said it,, he was still very much saddened by her loss.. 

“hey, it’s alright, bud,,” elliot consoled him.. “at least we got each other..”

“yeah.” adam agreed. “and i get to stay here till my dad gets out of the hospital.. i hope they keep him there a long time this time.. “

“yeah, me too.” elliot agreed as he reached out and laid a reassuring hand on adam’s shoulder..

***

john had gone on to fill lisa in on all the sordid little details.. the boys had run away,, while buzz was still laid up in the hospital, and trudy had evidently assaulted a cop,, most probably the one that had left all the excuses on her voice mail as to why he couldn’t keep their rendezvous.. 

“how do you deal with it?” lisa asked sincerely..

“well i have to admit, “ john started, “it has become a lot easier now that i have met you..” he looked deep into her eyes as he said this,,  and reached across the table to take her outstretched hand.. 

“lisa,, i have to tell you something.. something i have thought long and hard about,, and i just feel like i can’t keep it to myself any longer.”

“what is it john??” lisa asked,, although she had a feeling she knew what was coming.. 

“i have fallen for you girl.. fallen hard..” john stated,, not breaking his gaze into her soft blue eyes..

“ i think i am in love with you.. no,, i know i’m in love with you..” he said with every heartfelt emotion he had kept bottled up inside until this very moment.. 

“john?” lisa asked. “would it be ok, if i said i think i am in love with you too?”

tears of joy welled up in johns eyes,, he stood up,, took her in his arms, buried his face in her soft blond hair and whispered,, “it would be an answer to my prayers..”

they embraced for what seemed like an eternity,, as john laid tender kissed down the soft flesh of lisa’s neck.. the flame between them ignited,, no exploded,, and before either of them knew what was happening,, buttons were being undone,, zippers unzipped and the hushed whispers of ecstasy could be heard emanating for their hungry mouths.. .. 

“my god, i love you..” john whispered in lisa’s ear as their passion play reached its climax,, and he laid himself upon her still heaving breast a top the kitchen table.. they stayed like that,, both drenched in sweat, gasping for air,, as the aromatic lingerings of sex hung heavy in the air..

“i don’t ever want this to end..” lisa said in hushed tones.. “never..”

“bzzzt ,,bzzzt” the sound of the front door bell wrenched them back into the moment.. they hurried to fasten their respective clothing,, and lisa took a seat,, trying to look nonchalant as john scurried to the front door.. 

“buzz!! john exclaimed. “what the hell?? and hank!!” he exclaimed loudly,, hoping lisa would over hear, “what gives guys?? come on in!!” he said as he swung the door open wide and motioned for them to pass through the door.. 

“lisa!! lisa!! come on out here,, your dad and detective,, i mean,, buzz miller is here!!” john yelled out over zealously,, trying to hide the guilt he was feeling for just having nailed hank’s daughter on the kitchen table,, just a few short feet away.. 

“lisa??” hank queried, as lisa passed through the kitchen door and into the living room.. “what the heck are you doing here??”

“just stopped by to have a look in on adam, dad.” lisa said,, her face still somewhat flushed from the day’s most recent events.. 

“well come on over here and gimme some love girl!” hank exclaimed as he opened his arms and welcomed a timid lisa into a warm embrace.

“you feeling alright?” hank asked. ‘you’re burning up!!”

“i’m alright dad,, just a little touch of the flu.. that’s all.” lisa tried to pull away.. 

“now just hang on a minute.” hank said as he laid his fatherly hand on her forehead.. “feels like little more than a touch, honey,, are you sure you should be out and about?? i mean with a fever like this and all?”

“i’m ok dad.. really i am..”  lisa tried to convince him,, all the while the feeling that she should somehow be ashamed of herself.. but she wasn’t.. in fact,, right this moment she was happier than she could ever remember being.. 

“so where’s my boy??” buzz interjected, anxious to see adam and hopeful that adam would share in his joy.. 

“they are right upstairs.” john told him.

“elliot!! adam!! come on down here!! wait till you see who’s here!!” john called up the steps.. 

as it turned out,, the boys already knew.. they had overheard the whole conversation.. 

“oh man!!” adam exclaimed in what sounded like sheer disgust.. “what the hell is he doing here?? i am do not ready to go home with him!!”

“maybe we’ll get lucky and he won’t make you.. “ elliot interjected hopefully.. “maybe he won’t make you till mrs. dunn comes home.”

“god i hope so.” adam said dejectedly..

“here, put this on.” elliot instructed adam as he handed him a long sleeved flannel shirt..

“our secret.” he admonished adam..

“yep,, our secret.” adam confirmed. “blood brothers till the end!!”

“till the end!!” elliot exclaimed in return.. 

little did either of them know,, how closely the end loomed..

***

at that precise moment in time,, hanks cell phone began to ring.. he took a look at the display. “i gotta take this.” he said as he passed into the kitchen to take the call in private.. 

“the what??” he barked into the phone, clearly not being able to believe what he was hearing..

“the mayonnaise?? what mayonnaise?? i though the housekeeper said she had cleaned everything out of the fridge before she fell ill??”

there was a long pause as hank listened in total disbelief to the specifics as dictated by the head of the forensic department.. 

“whew!!” he exclaimed as he tried to let it all sink in.. 

“no problem.. i am here with him now.. buzz and i just stopped over at his friend’s house to pick the kid up and take him home with buzz.. 

hank thought for a moment before he added.. “what the fuck am i supposed to tell buzz??”

with that.. he clicked his cell off,, slipped it back into his pants pocket,, assumed an “everythings peachy” posture and returned to the living room..  

the boys were already there..