Chapter3
Katelyn
“Ican’tbelieveyou pepper-sprayed him,” Thomas jokes as we climb the steps to our apartment.“I mean, do you even knowwhohe is?”
“Do you?”I ask, unsure if I should be amused or concerned that my son seems to think the guy next door is the coolest person he’s ever met.
“Uh, yeah.Everyone in school talks about them.Plus, I’ve met him a few times after school at the community center.”
This is the first place my son has managed to make friends, and those friends spend their afternoons playing basketball at the community center next door.“Who is ‘them’?”
“The whole team,” he replies, his tone annoyed as though I should have already known.“Garrison, that guy who came to see him today, and the others.They’re NavySEALs.Like, the ones you see in awesome action movies, Mom.Just living next to the guy got me cool points.”
I stop and turn toward him.“Navy SEAL?”He nods.“It’s not just a rumor?”Did I seriously assault a member of the United States Military?Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.
I can see the headlines now.LOCAL MOM ASSAULTS VETERAN IN HIS OWN HOME.
Thomas grins and shakes his head.“Didn’t you see the size of him?I mean, the guy must work out all the time.”My son keeps walking up the steps, clearly unconcerned with the fact that I’m reeling.
A Navy SEAL?
Right next door to me?
Thomas is right; the guy is built like a soldier, all solid muscle and broad shoulders.I’m still not quite sure how I managed to hold his weight long enough to keep him from getting hurt when he collapsed right before the paramedics arrived, but I know I’ll be feeling it in the morning.Maybe even later tonight after the adrenaline wears off.
“He’s a cool guy, though.Super nice.”
“He seems that way.”Here’s hoping he doesn’t press charges.I hadn’t had the courage to ask him outright, but based on the way he thanked me, I’m going to assume he won’t—hopefully.
The last thing I need is my name on an official police report.
“I heard he can kill a guy with just his pinky finger,” Thomas says, wiggling his own in demonstration.“That he and the others once went into a fully armed compound and—” As Thomas continues, my thoughts drift back to Garrison in that hospital bed.On how pale he’d looked, how vulnerable despite his size.
I’d genuinely grieved when I went to see him and they told me he hadn’t made it.My heart hadn’t wanted to believe that a man who had been so kind to my son, who’d seemed to have made such an impact in so many lives, was taken from this world in such a horrific act.
And then I pepper-sprayed him.
I fight the urge to groan.Why hadn’t I just paused a moment?Asked a question?Knocked before entering?Embarrassment heats my cheeks.
Maybe I’ll make him cookies or something.My way of trying to make nice so he doesn’t decide later on to have me arrested for assault.
“Are cookies enough for saving someone’s life these days?I forget.”Garrison’s attempt to lighten the mood pops into my mind, and I can’t help but smile softly.He’d seemed in high spirits.And maybe if I play off his joke, he’ll stay that way.
We reach the landing, and Thomas is still telling likely fictitious yet heroic stories of bravery in the face of danger, even all the way up to our door.I pause and take a deep breath, my gaze landing on Garrison’s apartment door.It’s been closed, but unless someone else came by to lock up, it’s unlocked.
My thoughts drift to the broken glass and the lingering effects of the pepper spray.He certainly won’t be able to clean it up, and I’d hate for him to come home, try, and collapse again.
“Head on inside and get ready for bed, okay?”
“What are you going to do?”Thomas asks as he unlocks the door with his keys.
“I’m going to head over and open some windows to make sure Garrison—Mr.Holt— doesn’t come home to the stench of pepper spray in his apartment.”
“Want help?”
I smile at my boy, so proud of the man he’s becoming—even if he does struggle from time to time.His heart is good, and the rest will fall into place.“That’s okay.You head in and get your homework done.I’ll let you know if I need help.”
“Sounds good.”Thomas heads into our apartment, so I push open the door to Garrison’s.