Ch18
I woke up to the sound of something moving downstairs. I ignored it at first, but the noise didn’t stop. Is it a thief? I sat up, and tried to find something I could use as a weapon. I found a large knife and slowly walked downstairs. I saw the dim light and heard a sound coming from downstairs. What kind of thief would break into my house to watch the television? I could see the silhouette sitting on the couch. I nervously walked down. The silhouette turned back and said, “Sorry, did I wake you?” It was a familiar voice. I turned on the light switch.
“Boldo?” I thought it was Boldo but I was not sure because he cut his hair short and dyed it blonde; he also shaved his beard, not only that, but his face was swollen like he had been beaten up.
“You said I could come back, so I did.” He smiled lightly.
“What happened? Are you hurt?” I asked him. I felt angry that someone did that to him.
“It’s actually a simple story.” Boldo took a sip of beer and spoke.
“There is another shaman who works around the Vegas area. He said he would help me, so I went there, but instead of him, these thugs showed up and started attacking me. They took my bag of money. They also tried to take me, but I barely ran away.”
“So your friend didn’t help you?”
“Friend?” Boldo looked at Robert and smirked. “How do you think those guys knew that I had money?”
“Ah…”
“He sent those guys and took my money. He wanted me dead, too, because he knew there was nothing I could do about it.” Boldo cursed the guy. “I didn’t know where to go, so I came back.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Boldo tried to cover his face, but as soon as he touched it, he felt the pain.
“I will bring you some medicine.”
I felt sorry for what happened to him, but I liked having him back. After he got cleaned up and took his medication, we talked. I told him about everything that had happened while he was gone and he shared his adventures with me as well; it was nice to have my friend back.
-R-
Robert wondered if Nancy recognized him. It would be impossible for her to imagine that it was actually Robert. How many people in this world would believe in magic? He did not expect to see Nancy while he was alive. He remembered his granddaughter and smiled.
"What are you thinking?" Sara asked.
"Just old memories."
"Something hard to tell?"
"Hmmm, kind of." The sunlight was bright. They were sitting on the grass. It was a good idea to go hiking.
"Look," Sara pointed to a river. It was reflecting sunlight. "Really pretty."
Robert looked at the river and looked at Sara. She was wearing a hat. She was dressed so simply, but was still very pretty. Robert imagined marrying Sara. He wondered what their children would look like. If they looked like Sara, they would be the cutest children.
"What?" Sara asked when she caught Robert looking at her.
"Nothing."
"What will you miss the most when you go to France?"
"Probably you."
"Haha, cheesy."
It was true. He knew he would miss her so much no matter where he went. He looked around the mountain. It was very peaceful. He could not believe that he would die soon and leave this world. He inhaled and tried to remember the moment. Sara leaned over to Robert.
"This is nice." She put her hand out to the mountain like she could touch it. Everything was quiet. They could only hear the sound of the river flowing.
"It is like we’re the only two people in the world."
"Maybe. I saw this zombie movie the other day. Imagine getting down to the city, and finding out all the people are gone. We are the only two people left in the city, so we go on an adventure to find the other survivors.”
"Well. I didn't expect that kind of story from you."
"Well if that happens, you don't have to leave." Robert felt his heart aching when he heard that. He hugged her and kissed her.
After they came back from hiking, they had lunch and took a walk. It was a beautiful Saturday.
"Do you want to watch a movie tonight?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, sure. What about a classic?"
"How old?"
"Well, some of them are black and white. My uncle loves old movies. He has a lot of them."
"Sure. Let's invite Michelle, too."
"Sounds good. I will bring some of them tonight."
They watched My Fair Lady that night. Robert used to like the movie, but now he thought the movie was kind of slow; Sara and Michelle liked the movie.
"Joe, have you travelled a lot?" Michelle asked after the movie had finished. They were sitting in the living room and chatting.
"No, not really."
"Really? I thought you had gone places."
"What about you?"
"Me? I've been to some places."
"She’s been everywhere," Sara said.
"Where?"
"France, Germany, England, Japan, and China."
"Wow, that's a lot."
Michelle smiled. "Do you speak any French? You said you would go there soon."
"Oh, yes. Actually, the place that is asking me to come has a lot of American employees, so I can learn slowly from them."
"What are you doing there again?"
"I will work for the American stock market company there, and study, too."
"Is it an internship?"
"No, I will be a regular employee."
"Wow, I guess you must be really good." Robert thought his excuse didn’t make much sense, but Michelle did not ask any more questions about him moving.
"You should go travel with Sara…"
"Travel?" Robert looked at Sara. "Do you want to go somewhere?"
"Hmm. I don't know. What about you?"
"I want to see the beach."
"I think we can go to a beach in the Seattle area, but I heard it is cold." Sara looked at Michelle.
"It is, but it's still nice to look at."
"I want to go to Disneyland," Sara said.
"I want to go, too." Michelle replied. "I will ask the others if they want to go."
Robert had never been to Disneyland. His children had always asked him, but he was always busy with work, so Nancy took them once. While Michelle was talking to her other friends, Sara was looking at job postings.
"Do you think I could be a good waitress?" Sara asked.
"Hmm. Yeah, of course." Robert just wanted to give her his money, however he tried to be careful spending money on her. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. He let Sara pay sometimes.
"Well. You taught me to dance, can I pay for that?" Sara turned and looked at Robert. She put her index finger on Robert’s forehead.
"No, no, never. I won't do that."
"Alright, I am sorry." Robert made a guilty face and Sara laughed.
"We can't go to Disneyland. Bailey and Jennifer won't be able to make it. How about we go somewhere else?"
"Where?" Sara asked.
"There is a place called ‘Wendy Park.’ It's two hours away from here."
"Oh, with the zoo, right?" Robert said.
"How did you know?" Sara asked.
"Oh, I think I saw it when I was driving."
Robert remembered Wendy Park. He was so frustrated back then. He was not happy with his life and he was being mean to Nancy and his children. Every time he thought about his family, he felt guilty. Robert looked at Sara. She was still searching for jobs. It had only been 3 weeks, but they were very close. Robert got used to being around her, but every time he looked at Sara, his happiness grew.
A little after 10 pm, Joe left Sara's house. His house was quiet. Boldo was probably asleep. He had only 8 days left. Robert felt like his heart was jumping out of his chest. Robert went to bed early that night, and he had a nightmare about his death. One huge dark figure was chasing Robert; it did not have a face, but when it found Robert, it started running after him. Robert ran from his house to his work, to the park, through the city, but the figure did not stop. Robert was afraid of being caught. He tried to scream but he could not make any noise. When he woke up, it was still dark outside. He was gasping and slowly sat down. One thought came to his mind.
…Now I am afraid of death. I don't want to die.
"I want to live longer. Is there any way to do that?" Robert asked Boldo. Boldo glared at Robert.
"The human mind is wicked. It is never satisfied. I actually knew you would ask that question." Robert wished Boldo would tell him something.
"The answer is no," Boldo said.
"I will sacrifice anything. All the money I have or my soul,"
"No! You never want to involve your soul." Boldo was upset. "Let me tell you something. You never ever do that because there are some dirt bags out there who help other people dealing with devil. If you do that, you will die tragically, and go to hell, and the devil will come after the people around you. Your family and Sara, too. Do you really want that?"
"No, I am just… No."
"I understand. Now you have something to lose. That's terrifying, but no. Just deal with it."
Robert nodded. He also knew that was a stupid thing to ask. He wanted to see Sara longer. If it was possible, he wanted to have a family with her; this time, it would be a happy family. He wanted to be loved by his wife and children. Robert took out the laptop and checked his email. Dr. Albert asked him how he was doing and he said he could send him a prescription. Robert wrote him back that he did not need anything, and let him know that he was doing well. There was also an email from John. He talked about how Nancy got the text, and how still Robert did not answer his phone. He said he would visit.