Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:49:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Shiloh Creek <tbotsauthor@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Boys of Twillingate Shore: Chapter One - The Last Heartbeat

The Boys of Twillingate Shore
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**DISCLAIMER: I own the rights to this story 100%. This story contains
strong sexual content between minors (boy-boy), mature language, and some
violence. If you are offended by this sort of material, please do NOT read
any further. If you are underage (<18; <21 in some areas), please do NOT
read any further. All characters, main setting, and places or people
mentioned within Baton Rouge, Louisiana are completely, 100% fictional. If
you find similarities between this story or any characters in this story in
comparison to some place or someone in real life or other stories you may
have read anywhere else, these circumstances are purely coincidental and do
NOT reflect the intentions of the author of this story.**

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	Hey everyone. This story is something I've been thinking about
lately. I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure this story is genuine
and is written well. All comments and criticisms are more than welcome. You
can just email me at the address provided. If I don't get back to you right
away or at all for some reason, don't be offended. I have a very busy
schedule to be honest, so I will most likely spend my free time writing as
opposed to replying to all of my emails and stuff like that. I hope you
enjoy this story. The first chapter is actually much heavier than I
originally planned, but you know, as an author, I've learned to just go
with the flow when my mind gets to work. Anyway, enjoy the story. I'm not
sure when the second chapter will be in, but I hope to have it in pretty
soon. Thanks!

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Chapter One
	"The Last Heartbeat"



Baton Rouge, Louisiana
February 22, 1998


	KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!!

	Logan Henderson awoke with a start when he heard the hard rapping
on the front door downstairs. He quickly sat up in his bed, almost
forgetting how to breathe. He glanced over at his bedside clock. It was
2:36 in the morning! Thunder roared like a starving lion outside, causing
the walls of the house to vibrate crazily. Who the hell would be at the
door this time of the.

	KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!!

	The boy quickly jumped out of bed, put on the basketball shorts and
green t-shirt he had discarded before going to sleep, and then he swiftly
made his way downstairs towards the front door. He stopped about halfway
down the staircase. His nanny Sophia was already preparing to answer the
door herself. The older woman was wearing a light purple bathrobe and her
Lucille-Ball-red hair was held up tightly in pink curlers.

	"Who's there, please?" Sophia inquired before opening the door.

	"Lieutenant Todd Edmund and Sergeant Jake Maffeo BRPD, ma'am," came
a solid, demanding voice from the other side of the front door.

	Without asking another question, Sophia unlocked the door, flipped
the golden hasp over, and then proceeded to open the door. Two big men in
policeman uniforms and hats appeared on the other side of the
threshold. Logan saw that it was raining really hard behind them. The trees
in the front yard were swaying and shivering wildly.

	"Well, I do declare, gentleman, you'll just catch yourselves a
deathly cold out there in that dreadful weather," Sophia said, her southern
accent (which Logan had always assumed was fake) coming through
strongly. She exaggerated the `dread' in dreadful. "Please, come on in."

	"That's mighty kind of you ma'am, but there's no time for that,"
Lieutenant Edmund pointed out matter-of-factly. "Is there a Mister Richard
Henderson here at this time?"

"Why, I'm afraid not, sir," Sophia said, her right hand latched over the
collar of her robe to keep from exposing too much skin. "Mister Henderson's
out of town on business right now. I'm afraid he won't be home until
Tuesday night. Now, please, what's going on that you had to come out here
at 2:30 in the morning for?"

"Listen, ma'am, I'm afraid Mister Henderson's son, Jesse Henderson, has
been in a serious accident," Lieutenant Edmund said casually, as if he was
practically accustomed to delivering this sort of news.

Logan's eyes widened in emotional panic. His legs wobbled unstably. He
grabbed the railing of the stairs and eased himself down on the step to
keep from falling down. His heart pumped wildly in his chest. An
uncontrollable lump immediately formed inside his throat. He wanted to
start crying, but the tears wouldn't come for some reason.

"Oh no," Sophia said, her hand curled up into a fist and pressed against
her lips in complete disbelief. "My god, is he alright?"

"I'm afraid his condition is critical at this point," the lieutenant said
dryly. "He's in the emergency room right now. They're doing whatever they
can, but we don't know the details as of yet. Now, do you have a way of
contacting Mister Henderson?"

"Oh, yes sir," Sophia said, her voice sounding quaky and unstable. It was
obvious she was trying not to cry herself. "He's on a business trip in
Atlanta right now. I have his hotel number in case of emergencies."

	Logan sat on the staircase and listened attentively as the
lieutenant instructed Sophia to call his father in Atlanta as soon as
possible. Afterward, he explained what had happened. Apparently, Jesse and
three of his friends, Buddy, Dan, and Chris, were carousing around town in
Dan's jeep. All four of them were intoxicated. Dan lost control of the jeep
somewhere on Interstate 10, the vehicle slammed into the cement side rail
at over 85 miles an hour, Dan tried to turn the jeep but in doing so drove
into the deadly path of a large eighteen-wheeler, which collided with the
jeep perpendicularly. The eighteen-wheeler pushed the jeep for over four
hundred feet before hurdling the smaller vehicle over the metal railing
near an exit ramp, causing the vehicle to flip down the small hill and land
at the bank of the service road. Buddy and Chris had been killed instantly
due to the impact of the eighteen-wheeler to the passenger side of the
vehicle. Dan died a few minutes later at the scene. The paramedics tried to
resuscitate him, but unfortunately with no success. His injuries were far
too fatal and he passed away before they could even get him onto a
gurney. Logan remembered the three of them sitting in the living room just
nine or ten hours ago watching television with Jesse. They were talking
about going to the lake tomorrow. Chris's crush, Diana Greenwood, would be
there. Jesse, who had been sitting in the back seat behind the driver's
seat, was now in critical condition. He was still alive and now in the
hospital, but the policemen said they weren't sure about his chances of
living yet. The lieutenant told Sophia which emergency room to go to.

	A few minutes later, the policemen left the house and Sophia
immediately tried calling Richard Henderson at his hotel phone number in
Atlanta. As the phone rang and she waited for Logan's father to pick up,
she instructed Logan to go back upstairs and put on some more appropriate
clothing. She said they would be leaving for the hospital in a few
minutes. As Logan stumbled up the stairs, he heard Sophia greet his father
over the phone. Within seconds, her voice began to quake
uncontrollably. She could no longer fight back her tears as she tried to
explain the situation to Richard. As Logan walked into his bedroom, he
could picture his father on the other side of that conversation in
Atlanta. He was probably still up anyway. Reading a John Grisham thriller
most likely. Smoking a cigar. A half-drank glass of chardonnay probably
sitting on the table next to the sofa. He was now probably trying to calm
his emotional housekeeper down long enough for her to at least tell him
what was going on.
	Logan changed into a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved
t-shirt. He threw his blue, hooded sweatshirt on over that. He sat down on
the side of his unmade bed and slipped his white tennis shoes on without
putting on socks first. He looked down at his feet, his ankles exposed
because he wasn't wearing socks. He should probably grab some socks out of
his top drawer. Maybe Jesse needed some clean socks. His were probably
dirty now. Or perhaps the nurses or doctors or whoever already took his
socks off his injured feet. Now his feet were probably freezing in that
hospital. Logan wanted to cry. The lump was stuck in his throat like a
potato chip that hadn't been thoroughly chewed before swallowing. But the
tears wouldn't come out. His tear glands were on some kind of strike
now. Of course! Just when he needs his tear glands, they fail to do their
job.
	The boy left his bedroom and made his way down the hall towards
Jesse's bedroom. He quietly opened the door as if Jesse was on the other
side of that door sleeping in his bed, ready to wake up and pounce on his
eleven year old brother who's sneaking into his room at 3:02 in the morning
to steal socks from his underwear drawer. Logan switched the light on,
noting the sudden emptiness of his older brother's bedroom. Clothes, both
clean and dirty, scattered on the floor and the bed, books stacked in
semi-neat piles in the corner of his room, an unopened Butterfingers candy
bar laying on the nightstand next to a glass of water and a book, the sweet
and sour aroma of seventeen year old boy lingering in the air. Logan
quickly opened the top drawer of Jesse's dresser and grabbed the first pair
of balled up socks he could see. Afterward, he closed the drawer and left
the bedroom, making sure to turn the light off and close the door behind
him, just like Jesse had always requested before.

----------------------------------

	The time was now 3:55 in the morning. The emergency room lights
were really bright, even in the cold waiting room. Some old rerun of Andy
Griffith was playing on the television set in the waiting room. Logan sat
on the uncomfortable sofa in front of the television leaning up against
Sophia, his head resting against her shoulder. Thunder was still rumbling
obnoxiously outside. Lightning occasionally lit the waiting room up even
more than the harsh lights of the fluorescent tubes. Rain was pounding the
plate glass windows on the side of the waiting room. Every now and then,
Sophia would reach over and run her fingers through Logan's longish blond
hair, just as she had always done when they watched movies together in the
living room at home, his head resting on her lap.
	Sophia had been the Henderson's housekeeper and nanny for nearly
eighteen years. Logan's parents had hired her three weeks before Jesse was
born. Six years later, less than four months after Logan was born, his mom,
Danna Henderson, left Richard and the kids for a man twice her age who
lived in Austria. She had not been seen or heard from since. Nonetheless,
Sophia practically raised the boys herself, seeing as how Richard was
always at work or out of town on business trips. On average, Richard was
able to spend an added total of three months per year at home, leaving
Sophia to take care of the boys the other nine months. Sophia was the only
mother Logan had ever known. He had always been quite attached to her, as
if she and him shared a genuine mother-son bond. Sophia had a daughter of
her own who lived in Shreveport. She was married and had just recently
given birth to a baby girl. Sophia occasionally took trips up there to
visit. Sometimes she took Logan along with her if Richard was out of town.
	Logan couldn't pay attention to the television set. There was far
too much going on here in the emergency room. A group of doctors and nurses
were rushing a young, injured woman on a gurney down the hallway towards
some other section, probably for a surgery of some kind. She had blood all
over her face. There was a young male nurse pushing an old man in a
wheelchair through the waiting room towards the hallways on the other
side. The old man was wearing a breathing mask. Logan could hear a little
kid screaming bloody murder in another room somewhere in that hallway where
they took the bloody woman on the gurney. On the sofa across from Logan and
Sophia, there was a little boy - probably five or six years younger than
Logan - cradled in his daddy's arms. He looked really sick and pale, as if
he had some kind of incurable disease. Logan decided to cross doctor off
his list of possible career choices. He knew he could never have the
stomach for it.

	"When will Dad be here?" Logan asked in a barely audible force.

	"What'd you say, sweetheart?" Sophia asked.

	"I said, when will Dad be here?" Logan asked again, but louder.

	"Oh. Well, he said he'd take the next plane out he could get. It'll
probably be another few hours at least, honey."

	Logan didn't respond to that. Instead, he laid his head down on her
lap, hoping to get a little bit of sleep. He closed his eyes. The noise in
the hospital was crazy. How could a person sleep in a place as noisy as
this? Sophia ran her long fingernails gently over Logan's back. He always
loved her back-scratches. His eyes began to feel heavy. The noise began to
fade around him.

----------------------------------

	Logan awoke to the sight of his father sitting on the sofa across
from him - the same sofa that sick boy and his father had been sitting on
before. His father was asleep. His red tie was loosened around his
neck. The top button of his blue shirt was unlatched. His black jacket was
draped over his arm. The waiting room looked completely different
now. Light illuminated the whole room. Pure light. The morning sun was
shining brightly through the windows of the waiting room. Logan's hands
were inside the large front pocket of his blue hooded sweatshirt, both
hands locked onto the balled up pair of socks that he had grabbed out of
Jesse's dresser before he and Sophia left the house. Logan sat up groggily
and glanced over at the clock that hung above the television set. Half past
eight in the morning. The boy sat up on the sofa, which awoke Sophia who's
lap Logan had been sleeping on. Sophia rubbed her eyes and yawned deeply as
she allowed the morning to wake her up.

	"Morning, sweetheart," the woman said sympathetically, deliberately
leaving out the word `good.'

	"When did Dad get here?" Logan asked simply.

	"About an hour ago," Sophia said. "I'm sure he's exhausted. We're
waiting on the doctor to tell us what's going on."

	"Is Jesse okay?"

	Sophia pursed her lips and swallowed hard, as if striving to block
a lump. She turned her body around to face Logan completely.

	"Honey, Jesse was hurt very badly in the accident," Sophia said
carefully. "Now, you're not a little boy anymore, so I don't see the need
in hiding anything from you. The truth of the matter is. there's a chance
Jesse may not live through this. The odds are very against him at this
point."

	Logan's eyes widened slightly as he absorbed what his nanny had
just told him. He wanted to cry again. But still, the tears wouldn't
come. He looked away from Sophia and stared over at the television set,
trying desperately to keep himself in one piece. Happy Days was on. There
was something particularly ironic about that.

	A little while later, Richard woke up and saw Logan sitting next to
Sophia on the sofa across from him. Wow. His little boy was growing up so
fast. His hair was slightly longer now than it was the last time he saw
him. How long had it been now? Richard thought about it for a few
seconds. He had left town right after New Years. He had come and gone from
the house several times since then, but Logan was always either at school
or already asleep when Richard was there. Richard cleared his throat of the
morning phlegm, which caught Logan's attention right away.

	"Dad," Logan said simply with just hint of excitement in his voice.

	"Hey, buddy," Richard said as Logan leaped off the sofa and ran
straight into Richard's awaiting arms. Richard embraced the boy tightly,
almost afraid to let him go now.

	"Where were you?" Logan asked demandingly, his voice now quivering.

	"I got here as soon as I could, buddy," Richard said softly.

	Logan felt that lump grow so strongly in his throat that he could
no longer contain himself. Tears welled up in his eyes and began to flood
over quickly. His whole body began to shake violently as his crying took on
some momentum. He had so desperately wanted to cry since he found out about
the car accident, but he hadn't been able to until now. Now, he knew it
would take an army to get him to stop crying.
	Richard held his boy in his arms as tightly as he could without
squeezing him too hard. He could feel the boy trembling uncontrollably in
his arms. He could hear the boy crying on his shoulder. He could now feel
the dampness of Logan's tears seeping into the shoulder of his business
shirt. Logan's arms were wrapped tightly around Richard's neck. Richard
caught Sophia's sympathetic, motherly stare from where she sat on the sofa
across from him. He wanted to say something to comfort his son. Anything at
all. But he understood there was nothing he could say. All he could do now
was hug him tightly and tell him that he loved him. Oh yeah! Richard hadn't
told him that yet.

	"I love you so much, Logan," Richard said and then kissed the boy
on the head sweetly. Richard ran his hand through the boy's hair
comfortingly, trying everything he knew to calm him down. But the boy's
crying persisted and even grew stronger. Richard could see others in the
waiting room watching this display of emotions with understanding. He knew
these strangers were empathetic towards the situation, even if they didn't
know what was going on. Richard was sure he could ask anyone in the room to
tell him a story similar to his, and he figured each of them would be able
to.
	Richard stopped the embrace suddenly and gently stood the boy up in
front of his face. Logan's face was distorted from crying. His whole face
was wet with tears. His hair was disheveled. Richard placed his hand on the
boy's cheek lovingly and ran it through his blond hair once again.

	"Logan, I'm not going anywhere, okay?" Richard promised him.

	Logan nodded understandingly, his crying beginning to die down a
bit, his breathing beginning to catch up once more after so much crying
between short breaths.

	"We're going to stay together through all of this, okay?" Richard
said. "Sophia and I are here with you."

	"I-I wish Jesse w-w-was okay," Logan said between sobs.

	"I know, sport. I do too," Richard said. He so wanted to cry
himself, to grieve for what had happened to his oldest son. But he knew he
had to be as strong and as calm as possible for his little boy who was now
in such an emotionally delicate position.

	Richard glanced over at Sophia. She was still staring at the two of
them sympathetically. She had a tissue in her hand, balled up, her fist and
tissue pressed up just below her nose and blocking her mouth. They traded
an almost telepathic gaze, a knowing that was understood between the two of
them, the knowledge that everything could and probably would get worse
sometime in the very near future.

----------------------------------


Two Hours Later


	The doctor had come into the waiting room and took Richard aside
away from Sophia and Logan. They walked down the hallway, the doctor
explaining Jesse's current position. Jesse had fallen into a severe
coma. The only thing keeping him alive was life support. The doctor and
Richard walked into a private room. There was a teenage boy lying on the
bed, hooked up to countless vinyl tubes, numerous casts and bandages
covering a majority of his body, his head wrapped in a white gauze-looking
cap. Jesse looked worse than Richard could have ever imagined. Up until
now, Richard strived hard not to think about what Jesse might look like
after the wreck. This was far worse than he could have pictured. The boy's
face - the areas not covered in bandages - was bruised and scratched beyond
recognition. Richard tried not to wonder what the areas under the bandages
and casts looked like. He couldn't believe this practically mummified
person was his son. There was no way! Jesse was a strong, athletic boy. His
skin was always tanned, even in winter. His hair was always blond, like
that of a sun god. It just couldn't be him there under the confines of
those horrid bandages and casts. Where was that beautiful boy Richard knew?

	".and the areas you're seeing, scar tissue mostly, minor cuts and
bruises," the doctor explained professionally. "I must say, sir, that it's
a wonder he's alive at all due to the severe head trauma. He fell into what
we suspect is a level four or possibly even a level three coma, which is
considered the worst. His level of consciousness is at a very minimal state
presently."

	Richard listened halfheartedly as the doctor explained in more
detail about Jesse's critical condition. As the doctor spoke, Richard
walked over to the side of the hospital bed to stand next to his oldest
boy. He gently placed his hand on top of Jesse's right hand, which wasn't
bandaged at all. The hand was very bruised and scratched up though. Richard
took a long look at the boy's skin on his hand and arm as the doctor
continued to speak to him about Jesse's condition. No hint of tanned skin
anywhere. Even the unbruised, unscratched areas of the boy's arm was a pale
bluish white color, the color Richard remembered his grandmother's skin was
when she was in the nursing home before she died. Once the doctor finished
explaining the details of Jesse's condition, he then began to explain
Richard's options concerning Jesse. A one in a hundred-thousand chance that
Jesse would make it out of here alive, but in a permanent vegetative
state. A point-one chance in a hundred-thousand that Jesse would make it
out of here alive and just need a few years of physical therapy in order to
live as a crippled man for the rest of his life, probably without the
ability to speak or hear ever again. A point-zero-zero-one chance in a
hundred-thousand that Jesse would get up within the next few months and be
able to simply walk out of the hospital with no need for physical therapy
or even a wheelchair for that matter. In other words, a
ninety-nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine chance
out of a hundred-thousand that Jesse would not walk out of this hospital
back to the life he had before. Not even close to that. Those days were now
over. The choice was now Richard's though. His oldest son's life was now in
his hands.
	There the boy lay. Not even a boy anymore. He was ready to cross
that line into manhood. He was on top of the world just yesterday. About to
be a senior in high school, getting ready for college, finding the girl of
his dreams to eventually marry and have kids with, watching his children
grow up - none of that would ever happen for Jesse now, even if by the
grace of God Himself Jesse lived through this somehow. Richard's oldest
son's life was now in his hands. The doctor went on to say that it would be
better to wait a little while longer before making any final decisions.

	"Maybe it would be best all around for you and your family to go
home, rest up for a little while, and discuss the situation before making
any decisions," the doctor suggested. "There's really nothing more you can
do here at the emergency room. In fact, what I would like to do is move
Jesse into the children's hospital for the time being until decisions can
be made concerning him."

	"Oh," Richard said. "Yeah, go ahead and do that if you
will. That'll be fine."

	"Very well," the doctor said. "We'll just need you to sign a
release form at the front desk that will give the emergency room permission
to move Jesse to the children's hospital. Other than that, I'll give you my
phone number here and you can call me whenever you need to. We'll give you
a call at least once a day to let you know how Jesse is doing and we'll
call immediately in the event that something changes."

	"Changes?" Richard asked.

	"For better or worse," the doctor said. "We'll call you."

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Seven Hours Later


	Logan, Richard and Sophia were all lounging quietly in the den, the
television on, but with no one paying any attention to it. Logan was
rolling Jesse's balled up pair of socks in his hands, staring at them
intently, still angry that his dad wouldn't let him put them on Jesse's
feet before they left the emergency room. Richard sat on the opposite side
of the couch from Logan. He appeared to be staring at the floor, but he
might as well have been star-gazing in the middle of the countryside, like
in his hometown in Oregon which was tens of miles away from anywhere. His
oldest son's life was now in his hands. What could he do with that? He felt
that any decision he made would somehow be unfair to Jesse. He hadn't
mentioned the options the doctor had given him to either Sophia or
Logan. He was waiting for the right time to bring it up. Sophia sat on the
love seat, her feet reclined on the coffee table with a throw pillow
underneath her heels. Her fist was once again pressed up against her mouth,
a balled up tissue sticking out the opening of her fist. She was also
staring at the floor with the same lost expression on her face that Richard
had. She had known Jesse for as long as he had been alive. She was at the
hospital that beautiful day Jesse was born. She had only been working for
the Henderson's for a few weeks by that time. She was all of thirty-eight
years old then. Nearly eighteen years later, Sophia was afraid she may have
to witness that sweet young man's death. No person that young should die,
Sophia thought to herself. It's just unfair.

	Richard sighed heavily and then spoke up.

	"Are you guys hungry at all?" Richard asked. "We haven't really
eaten today."

	"I had those donut holes from the vending machine this morning,"
Logan said without taking his gaze away from Jesse's socks.

	"Well, are you hungry now, sport?" Richard asked.

	Logan shrugged apathetically.

	"Eh, not really," Logan said simply.

	"Okay," Richard said. "How about you, Sophia? You hungry at all?"

	"I could go for some dinner if you're hungry," Sophia said. "I can
whip up some spaghetti and meat sauce real quick. And maybe some garlic
bread?"

	"That sounds heavenly, Sophia. Thank you," Richard said.

	Without another word spoken, Sophia sniffled a couple of times,
unrolled the tissue she had in her fist, and blew her nose as she got up
and headed for the kitchen. Richard glanced over at Logan who was sitting
still on his corner of the large sofa, still staring at those socks he so
desperately wanted to put on Jesse's feet. Richard had tried to explain
that Jesse's feet were already very well covered up, that he didn't need
the socks. But Richard now wondered if he should have just let the boy take
the socks to Jesse and leave them there for him, regardless of whether or
not Jesse would use them. This morning, Logan looked older somehow. But
now, Logan was beginning to look like a little boy again, helpless in every
sense of the word.

	A little while later, the three of them sat down to a dinner of
spaghetti and meat sauce, tossed salad with Sophia's homemade southern
dressing, and garlic bread. No one said a word during dinner, except for
Richard who politely complemented Sophia for the delectable dinner she had
thrown together. Otherwise, they ate in complete silence. When they were
finished with dinner, Sophia collected the dishes and began to clean the
kitchen. Out of just mere habit, Logan got up and helped Sophia wash the
dishes and clean the kitchen. They worked together in total
silence. Richard watched his little boy help Sophia in the kitchen. He felt
a twinge of pride for the boy. He may have been raised in a wealthy house,
but he was in no way spoiled. He was so sweet and innocent. He always
managed to do his fair share around the house. Sophia saw to that
herself. Jesse had always been the same way as well. Since Danna left
eleven years ago, Jesse immediately picked up the slack and helped raise
his little brother at the tender age of six. He had always been a little
trooper. Richard felt that he owed a great debt to Sophia for giving his
boys the structure they needed in their lives, for actually doing a great
deal of the raising of his boys. He was always so very proud of his boys.
	Now, he felt disappointed in Jesse. How could he do something so
stupid as to allow himself to get drunk and then get into a vehicle with
his three drunk friends? Chris, Dan, and Buddy - all three of them were now
dead. Those four boys had a brotherly bond that Richard sometimes
envied. Richard began to remember times that those three boys would stay
overnight at his house with Jesse. Even though they were all very close,
each one of them was an ingredient for mischief, and the four of them
together created one giant cake of mischief and destruction. Richard
recalled the summer about four years ago when the four boys were roughly
thirteen years old; they were all at Richard's house for a week while
Richard was on a three-week vacation from work. Sophia had gone to
Shreveport to visit her daughter and son-in-law. One night during that
week, after Richard had already gone to bed, the four boys broke into
Richard's liquor cabinet in the kitchen. Logan, only seven years old at
this time, was up as well and took the liberty of drinking some of the
booze that the boys had offered him. That next morning, Richard woke up to
find empty beer bottles and half-empty bottles of tequila, Jack Daniels,
and Wild Turkey all over the kitchen, living room, and the den. Buddy was
passed out on the kitchen table with vomit all over himself and the
table. Dan and Jesse were passed out on the den floor, both of them wearing
nothing but their underwear. Chris was passed out in the bathroom next to
the toilet, also only wearing his underwear and nothing else. Then to
Richard's utter shock, he found seven-year-old Logan passed out in the
laundry room, completely naked and covered in his own vomit. Needless to
say, Jesse had been spanked within an inch of his life after he got over
his twenty-four hour hangover and Logan had also been spanked for allowing
himself to get involved in his big brother's mischief. On top of that, the
three sets of other parents had come to pick their boys up after Richard
called them and then all of them called him a bad parent to his face. To
this day, Richard had still not lived that incident down. It had taken over
a year before those four boys were allowed to hang out with one another at
all outside of school again.
	And now, here those same four boys were four years later in a quite
similar predicament; only this time, there would be no penitence for their
actions. Chris was dead now for what he had done. Dan was dead now for what
he had done. Buddy was dead now for what he had done. Jesse was now in a
coma and on life support for what he had done. Richard thought about this
heavily as he watched Sophia and Logan clean the kitchen. He couldn't
believe that those four boys had gone so far as to get drunk and then get
into a vehicle and drive. He was so sure those boys were much more mature
than that now. After all, they weren't thirteen anymore. Perhaps they were
better off getting drunk back then though. At least then none of them had
access to drivers licenses and vehicles and the keys that operated those
vehicles. There was a certain dramatic irony attached to all of this. But
Richard decided he didn't want to think about it anymore. He felt so
disappointed in all four of the boys in a way. But he knew this time it
wouldn't do any good to get mad about it. The deed was done. Three of them
were now dead and Jesse was probably not too far behind them in all
reality. Perhaps he should make a call to Chris's parents, Dan's parents,
and Buddy's parents. Sophia said she had seen Dan's parents at the
emergency room the night before, but no sight of any of the others.

	"Sophia, would you mind pouring me a glass of wine?" Richard asked.

	"Of course," Sophia said.

	"Logan, come on over to the table," Richard instructed. "The three
of us have something very important to talk about."

	Sophia brought Richard a glass of wine and then sat down. Logan sat
down on the other side of the table from Sophia. Richard took several swigs
of his sweet merlot, cleared his throat, and then spoke up. He explained to
them in his own words what the doctor had told him about Jesse's
condition. Afterward, he led into the discussion of the options that the
doctor had laid out for him concerning Jesse and the life support. He
explained that the doctor was moving Jesse to the children's hospital until
a decision could be made, and that they should probably give it a few days
before they make any final decisions.

	"I want your honest-to-God opinions about what should be done,"
Richard said matter-of-factly. "I've done the math myself. Basically, the
chances are slim to none that Jesse will wake up from this coma at all. And
even if he does, the chances then are slim to none that he'll ever regain a
sense of normalcy. The doctor explained that the chances are greater that
if he lived through this at all, he would live as a vegetable."

	"Well, what are the chances that he'll wake up and live a normal
life?" Sophia asked.

	"The doctor said there's a point-zero-zero-one chance. out of
one-hundred-thousand that Jesse will wake up and be just fine," Richard
said.

	That deathly silence returned to the room immediately with this
announcement. Richard looked over at Logan. The boy had tears streaming
down his face again, but he wasn't crying full out this time like he was
earlier. Richard and Sophia caught each other's gazes. They stared into
each other's eyes knowingly. Both of them understood that chances as slim
as these were practically miracle-proof. They both knew the only thing they
could do was pray now. That was about it. Richard knew he'd be spending a
great deal of his time from here on out negotiating with God Himself,
asking Him what he should do.

----------------------------------

	Later that night, completely unable to fall asleep, Logan crawled
out of his bed at about 2:30 in the morning, put on his basketball shorts,
and then he walked down the hall to his big brother's bedroom. In Jesse's
room, he discarded his shorts again, leaving him in just his white Fruit of
the Looms. On top of Jesse's dresser sat a stuffed blue monkey that Jesse
had won after playing a ring-toss game in New Orleans on New Years Eve
about nine years before. For some odd reason, Jesse had favored that stupid
monkey over any stuffed animal he ever owned, which was why he still had it
in his room at seventeen years old. Logan picked up that monkey and crawled
into Jesse's king-sized bed. As soon as he cradled that monkey in his arms,
he began to cry. He cried so hard that he couldn't stop. Eventually, he
cried himself to sleep.

----------------------------------


Three Days Later


	Tuesday morning. It certainly didn't seem like Tuesday to
Richard. Honestly, he wasn't sure what this day seemed like to him. For the
past three days, he had been living in a limbo where days came and went
without names. He and Sophia sat at the kitchen table drinking their
morning coffee together. Richard was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of
flannel pajama pants. Sophia was wearing her purple bathrobe and her hair
was up in curlers. They were both very quiet this morning, which was no
surprise considering the house had been deathly quiet the last several
days. Logan was still asleep. So was Richard's mother, Ruth Henderson, who
had flown in the evening before from Oregon.

	"Did Logan sleep in Jesse's bed again last night?" Richard asked
before taking a sip of his coffee.

	"Yes. He's sleeping with that monkey doll again too," Sophia said.

	"Ugh, I so hoped we had weaned him from sleeping with stuffed
animals," Richard said, his learned Louisiana accent coming through.
"Chances are, he'll sleep with that damn monkey for the rest of his
childhood."

	"Perhaps there's nothing wrong with that in this case, Richard,"
Sophia said. "After all, he's just keeping whatever he can of his big
brother. How's your mother taking all of this so far?"

	"She doesn't seem to know how to take it," Richard said
honestly. "I explained to her last night that I've been given the choice to
take Jesse off of life support if I decide to."

	"What'd she say?"

	"She just told me she'd support my decision no matter what I choose
to do. But she's taking this whole thing pretty hard. I could hear her
crying from my bedroom last night."

	"Oh no. Have you tried to get in touch with Danna at all?"

	"I have no idea where to even start to get in touch with her. Last
I heard, she moved to Switzerland with her husband. That was like five
years ago though. No telling where she is these days to be honest with
you. Besides, she doesn't deserve to be in on this anyway. She chose not to
be involved in the boys' lives, so if she never knows what's happened,
that's her own damn fault."

	"I can understand that," Sophia said simply.

	"I spoke to Buddy's father on the phone last night," Richard said.

	"Oh yeah? What'd he have to say?"

	"Well, thanks be to the good Lord above, they're not all blaming me
for what happened this time."

	"Well, of course not. You had nothing to do with any of this. If
anything, they should be blaming me for it."

	"Now, why would you go and say something like that?"

	"I should have never let Jesse go that night. They were all over
here earlier that day after they got out of school. Jesse said they would
be spending the night at Dan's house and then they all left in that jeep of
Dan's together. I should've told Jesse `no.'"

	"Sophia, you sweet ol' gal, I don't want you to think for a minute
that any of this was your fault. You were no more or less lied to by those
boys than any of the other parents were that night."

	Sophia chose not to respond to that comment. She took a swig of her
coffee.

	"Buddy's father told me all three boys' funerals will be this
coming Saturday," Richard continued. "He told me oh-so-carefully that
there's still some room for Jesse too on that day if we decide to.you
know."

	"Now, how does a man go about telling a parent something like
that?" Sophia asked, her southern accent coming through quite strong.

	"He tripped over his words quite a bit, but he managed to ask me in
a way that didn't seem too offensive or off-putting," Richard said. "It
seems like that's the type of announcement you shouldn't make to a parent
who's child hasn't died yet. but honestly the idea sounds quite practical;
therefore, deeming such a ghastly announcement more appropriate than one
would think. Those boys were all like brothers, you know."

	"Oh I know they were. I remember all too well how close they
were. I've been thinking about that a lot the last couple of days."

	"Yeah, me too."

	"Do you remember Jesse's ninth birthday party at the YMCA? We had a
party for all four of them that year because their birthdays were all
within three months of one another. That was such a great party."

	Richard chuckled.

	"Yeah, and Chris's parents accidentally gave Jesse their card to
Chris which had seventy-five dollars in it and they gave Chris the card
they meant to give Jesse, which had twenty dollars in it."

	Sophia chuckled as well.

	"And all four of those boys pushed the clown into the pool, along
with the cake and the bowl of fruit punch," Sophia recalled with a smile
draped across her face.

	Richard shook his head, as if still in disbelief of that particular
event.

	"Yep, that ended the party real quick. I swear, those boys were
just crazy together."

	Richard let a cold silence overtake him. Sophia reached over and
laid her hand on top of Richard's. Richard obliged and held Sophia's
comforting hand.

	"I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you here with me,
Sophia," Richard said bravely. "We were just so blessed that you came into
our lives when you did."

	"Why, thank you, Richard. Every nanny wants to hear that from her
boss."

	"You're more than that to us, Sophia. I do hope you know
that. You've been more of a mother and caretaker than Danna ever was or
ever could have been with those boys."

	Sophia had a warm smile draped across her face. A single tear
escaped her eye and traveled down her cheek. Richard continued to grip the
woman's hand.

	"I don't know what to do," Richard said simply.

	"What does your heart tell you?" Sophia asked warmly.

	"Honestly, my heart, my head, my very soul - they're all telling me
the same thing I think God's been telling me the last couple of days: that
I need to let Jesse go."

	"I believe that would be best as well, Richard. No parent should
ever have to make a decision like this for their child. But in this case, I
think Jesse himself would tell you to let him go on to Heaven."

	"I do believe you're right. I think we can all be at peace with
this decision. Even Logan eventually."

	"You know he'll take this the hardest. That little boy loves his
brother more than anything in the world. It just hurts my heart to think of
that little tyke in such pain."

	"I know. It hurts my heart as well," Richard said, his voice
quivering somewhat. "But this is the right thing to do, I believe. I
believe it with ever fiber of my being."

	Sophia swallowed real hard, as if trying to get rid of a lump in
her throat.

	"When.when.?" Sophia asked, unable to finish the sentence.

	"Today," Richard said after a few seconds of silence. "That way he
can have his funeral with his best friends on Saturday."

	"We need to tell Logan when he wakes up," Sophia said. "We have to
be straight with him now."

	"And we will be," Richard said simply. "As soon as he wakes up,
we'll tell him. And we'll tell Mother too, of course. Then we'll go to the
hospital."

----------------------------------


8:24 PM


	Logan stood between Sophia and his grandmother inside Jesse's
hospital room. His dad and Pastor Rogers from church stood on the left side
of Jesse's bed. The doctor and one nurse stood on the right side of the bed
next to the machines that currently kept Jesse alive. Chris's parents,
Dan's parents, and Buddy's parents were all sitting in the hospital chapel
together along with a few other members from church, a couple of Richard's
close friends and colleagues from work, and several friends of Jesse's and
the other three boys' from school. Logan stood in front of the bed staring
straight ahead at his older brother, knowing that in a few minutes Jesse
would finally come face to face with God Himself. He wanted to cry
again. He so desperately wanted to cry again. But he was pretty sure he had
drained every last tear he had in him after his dad and Sophia told him
this morning what they had decided to do. He had cried so hard that he
started coughing. He screamed at his dad, calling him a murderer. Then he
collapsed on the floor, completely exhausted of all the crying he had been
doing lately. His dad sat down on the ground with him and Logan cried on
the man's shoulder again. Now he was standing in front of his nearly
lifeless older brother, wishing he could reverse time and beg Jesse not to
go out that night.

	"Okay, everyone, I would like to lead all of us in prayer," Pastor
Rogers said calmly.

	With that, everyone in the room grabbed each other's hands,
including the doctor and the nurse, forming a large semi-circle around
Jesse and the bed. Pastor Rogers placed his hand on Jesse's hand
gently. Everyone closed their eyes and bowed their heads respectfully for
prayer. Logan's grandmother was crying next to him. She had been crying
basically since she arrived from Oregon the day before. Logan's dad was
beginning to sob as well. Logan scanned the room and noticed almost
everyone beginning to cry and sniffle.

	"My Dear, Gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight knowing
that our fellow brother, Jesse Kieran Henderson, will be in your perfect
presence here very shortly. We come to you tonight asking, not for grace
and comfort on Jesse's part because we all know you'll deliver that for him
anyway, but for Your grace and comfort to be bestowed upon the Henderson
family here who will be left to suffer the loss of their beloved family
member. We ask that you bring peace to their minds, for they will know that
Jesse feels no more pain, nor sadness, nor shame, nor guilt. He will be at
Your compassionate, loving mercy for all eternity, which is something each
of us in this room desire to have eventually. As a personal request from
Jesse's kid brother, Logan Henderson, he asked me earlier to pray that you
tell Jesse when he gets to Heaven how much his little brother loves him. We
ask you Lord, to give this family the strength to make it through this hard
time and that You'll touch their hearts and heal them of their
suffering. We ask of all these things in Your precious and holy
name. Amen."

	Everyone stopped holding hands after the prayer ended. Logan felt
tears falling down his cheeks again. He was beginning to wonder where all
these tears were coming from. It seemed to be an endless amount within the
past four days. Pastor Rogers patted Jesse's hand gently and said in a very
soft voice, "God bless you, little brother." After he said that, he shook
hands with Logan's dad sympathetically and then quietly exited the room,
shutting the door behind him. This was it. This was the time in which Logan
would have to say goodbye to his brother forever. The doctor said a few
respectful words to the family and then said it was time to turn the
machines off. Richard nodded his head towards the doctor in approval,
choosing not to say anything. The doctor motioned for the nurse to help him
turn off the machines. With that, the doctor and the nurse turned off a few
toggle switches ever so casually, as if they were just simply flipping off
a few light switches. Once the machine switches were all turned off, the
doctor and the nurse quietly left the room out of respect for the
family. Ruth walked over to the bed and stood beside her grandson. The
electrocardiogram machine was beeping repetitively. Logan watched as the
little lines traveled up and down on the screen, the humps becoming smaller
and smaller. Ruth bent down and gently kissed her oldest grandson on the
cheek. Afterward, with tears streaming down her face, she left the room as
well. Sophia's turn. She walked over to the bed and bent down to give Jesse
a kiss on the cheek as well. Afterward, she walked over to Logan and gave
him a short, sweet hug, and then left the room, leaving Logan and Richard
alone with Jesse.
	The machine was still beeping repeatedly. Other than the continual
beeping of the electrocardiogram machine, the silence in the room was
overwhelming. Logan stood in front of the bed watching as his older
brother's life was fading in front of him. Richard walked over to Logan and
took him by the hand, leading him to the side of the bed next to
Jesse. Richard leaned down and kissed Jesse on the cheek, without saying a
word. Afterward, Logan followed suit and kissed his older brother on the
cheek sweetly, tears cascading down his own cheeks. When he lifted his head
up, Logan saw that he left a tear on Jesse's cheek. Logan gently held
Jesse's hand as the time interval between continual beeps increased
steadily. Richard reached over and placed his own hand on top of his sons'
hands. Richard lovingly draped his other arm around his younger son, who
was now crying softly. The time between beeps now felt like an
eternity. Logan stared down at his bandaged and bruised older brother with
a love stronger than anything he had ever known. He understood that his
brother wasn't really there anymore, even if the machine said his heart was
still beating. But the heartbeats were decreasing. Logan reached down and
placed his hand over Jesse's heart. He felt the lightest thump under the
palm of his hand that coincided with the beeping of the machine. Four or
five seconds between heartbeats felt like forever to Logan.

	"I love you, Jesse," Logan said weakly between sobs.

	Finally, Logan felt one last beat of Jesse's heart. A few seconds
later, the machine flatlined. The beeping became one steady, continual
hum. Jesse's breathing ceased. The life floated out of his body in a split
second. Logan's crying increased as the realization took over him that his
brother was now gone forever. Logan let go of his brother's hand, turned
around, and buried his face in his father's chest, crying with all of his
might. Richard, too, was crying softly. Outside the hospital, the last dim
shade of sunlight disappeared beyond the western horizon, welcoming the
night to take over.

----------------------------------


March 1, 1998


	Logan watched as the four caskets were all lowered into their
respective plots that were aligned in a row. He stood beside his father,
wearing a black suit and a black tie. They watched together as Jesse's dark
brown casket - the second casket on the right - disappeared into the
earth. Everyone around Logan was talking softly. There were literally
hundreds of people at this quadruple funeral. If Logan had to guess, he
would've said there were at least five hundred people present. Most of
these people Logan didn't know. There were people huddled in groups
conversing amongst one another. There were people standing by
themselves. There were people standing in pairs talking to each
other. Everyone was dressed in black. Elaborate flower arrangements were
everywhere. Pictures on stands were under the four green tents, pictures of
Jesse, Chris, Buddy, and Dan from times past. Logan had helped his grandma
and Sophia pick out the pictures that would be used at the funeral: A
recent, handsome class picture of Jesse wearing a Caribbean-blue polo
shirt. An old picture of Jesse at about six years old wearing his Sesame
Street pajamas, sitting in a recliner, holding baby Logan in his arms and
smiling brightly at the camera. A picture of Jesse and Logan at about the
ages of twelve and six respectively, in which they were standing in front
of Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom in Disney World, both of them
wearing Mickey Mouse ears. A more recent picture of Jesse and his
girlfriend Samantha at the beach. A semi-recent picture of Jesse, Logan,
Sophia, and Richard in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. And two pictures of
Jesse, Chris, Dan, and Buddy: one picture of the four of them at about
seven years old and a recent picture of the four of them at about sixteen
years old. Logan had also helped choose the clothes that Jesse would be
buried in: black slacks, black loafers, a black jacket, a white shirt, and
Jesse's favorite tie, which had a picture of Bugs Bunny on it.
	People were beginning to leave the cemetery. The funeral was now
over. The caskets were now being buried. Just the family members and close
friends were sticking around now. Logan saw his grandma standing off to the
side talking to two men. One of the men looked to be about Logan's dad's
age. The other man, more of a teenage boy, looked to be about Jesse's age,
perhaps a little younger. He recognized that boy from somewhere. He knew he
had met him before. He just didn't remember where or when. Perhaps they
were his grandmother's friends from Oregon. He remembered her telling his
dad that a few people from Twillingate Shore would be coming down for the
funeral. Logan looked over and saw that his dad was conversing back and
forth with Pastor Rogers and Dan's parents and little sister. Sophia was
standing close to the parking lot talking to her daughter and son-in-law
who had driven in from Shreveport for the funeral. Sophia was cuddling her
granddaughter in her arms.

	"Logan," came his grandmother's voice from behind him.

	Logan looked back at his grandmother. She was motioning for him to
come over there to talk to her. She was still talking to that man and the
teenage boy that Logan vaguely recognized from some other time. Logan
sauntered over to where his grandmother and the two men were standing.

	"Cody, Jack, you remember my youngest grandson, Logan," Ruth said.

	"Sure I do," the older man said. "You were just a little buck the
last time I saw you."

	"Logan, this is Jack Haynes, a dear friend of mine and your
grandfather's from Twillingate Shore," Ruth told her grandson. "And this is
his son, Cody. You've met both of them before several times, but you were
only seven or eight years old the last time you and Jesse came out to my
house."

	"Nice to meet you, guys," Logan said respectfully as he shook hands
with them.

	"Man, you look just like Jesse did when we were your age," Cody
said as he and Logan shook hands. "Me and Jesse hung out together a lot
when you guys would come up to Oregon. I don't know if you remember that or
not."

	Suddenly, it clicked in Logan's mind exactly who this boy was. He
remembered this boy very well now, in fact. He actually never expected to
see this boy again, but here he was right in front of him.

	"Oh yeah," Logan said. "Now I remember you. You were the one who
helped Jesse lock me up in Grandma's cedar chest the last time we were
there."

	"Cody!" Ruth exclaimed.

	"Hey, don't blame me," Cody said defensively with his hands in the
air. "It was Jesse's idea to lock him up in there. I just went along with
it is all."

	"Ugh, only a natural born Henderson boy would come up with a silly
scheme like that," Ruth said, jokingly disgusted by that fact. "Well, you
boys are coming to Richard's house for the wake, right?"

	"Yeah, we'll come over for the wake, but then we need to get
going," Jack said. "We have to catch the 7:15 flight back to Oregon."

	"What're you going back so early for?" Ruth asked.

	"Oh, Linda and I have to sing a special at the church tomorrow
evening, so we have to be back in time for that, you know," Jack said.

	"That's right. I forgot about that," Ruth said.

	"When will you be coming back home, Ms. Ruth?" Cody asked her.

	"Eah, I'm not too sure yet," Ruth said as she ran her finger's
through Logan's fine blond hair. "Probably not for a couple of weeks I
imagine. I know one thing though; my grandson needs to get himself a
haircut sometime soon. He's starting to look like a little hippie boy."

	"Hey now, I was a hippie boy twenty years ago, you know," Jack
said.

	"Yes, I remember," Ruth said. "And I nagged you about your hair
back then too, in case you don't remember that."

	"Dude, you should see some of the pictures of my dad when he was
like my age," Cody said to Logan specifically. "His hair was so long that
it pretty much reached his butt."

	Logan actually chuckled, which was a first for him in over a week
now.

	"Well, my hair's nowhere near that long," Logan pointed out to his
grandmother.

----------------------------------

	The house was full of people in black. This had never happened
before. It was the strangest thing Logan had ever seen, he thought. Logan
sauntered through the living room. Grandma was sitting on the couch between
Jack and Cody. And there were a few other people in the living room as
well. She was telling everyone about the time he and Jesse stayed at her
house one summer about three years ago and she caught them hiding different
things from their grandpa, such as the remote control, the TV guide, and
even his radio. Logan remembered how grouchy his grandpa had been. He
passed away two years before, but Logan and Jesse decided they didn't want
to go to the funeral. Richard was the only one who went. Logan wasn't quite
interested in getting caught up in that conversation, so he moved on
towards the den. His father was in there speaking amongst a few of his
friends and colleagues, telling them stories as well about different things
Jesse had done. Right now, he was telling them the story about how Jesse
tried to teach Logan how to play football last summer and ended up tackling
Logan too hard, spraining his arm in the process. Everyone was laughing
about that, including Logan's dad. Logan continued on his merry way,
deciding he didn't want to be a part of any conversation in which everyone
was laughing at his expense. Why couldn't his dad just tell them about how
well he learned to throw the damn football? He could spiral the ball
perfectly. It just didn't go very far was all. Logan moved on into the
dining room. Sophia was talking to her daughter, son-in-law, and a few
other people Logan didn't quite recognize. Sophia's daughter, Angela, was
bragging about how Jesse and Logan did the lawn work for her the last time
they came up to Shreveport with Sophia, since her military husband was
stationed somewhere overseas for a few months at that time. Logan
remembered that. Jesse tried to teach him how to use the grass trimmer. It
didn't go over so well though. Finally, Logan's job was reduced to bagging
the loose grass and leaves from the ground.
	Deciding he didn't feel like joining in on any conversations, Logan
sneaked through the kitchen towards the back staircase. Cody was in the
kitchen filling up his and his father's cups with Coca Cola, but Logan
strolled right past him towards the stairs without saying a word. Logan
made his way upstairs to Jesse's bedroom. Thankfully, no one was in
there. He went into the bedroom and locked the door behind him. For the
past few days, he had been sleeping in Jesse's bed with Jesse's blue
stuffed monkey. For Logan, this was the only way he could keep that
connection with his brother. There was a glass of water on Jesse's
nightstand that he had poured the night before the accident. He hadn't
drank all of the water. The rest of it still sat in the glass on the
nightstand next to the still unopened Butterfingers candy bar. Logan hadn't
had the heart to move those items just yet. He grabbed the blue monkey from
the dresser, held it tightly to his chest, and then sat down on the side of
the bed. Just looking around the disoriented room, Logan could feel Jesse's
very essence with him. There was a close-up picture of Jesse and himself at
Disney World from last summer stuck on the mirror of his dresser. Jesse was
holding Logan in his arms, their cheeks pressed up together. Logan's
sunglasses were on top of his head. Both of them were smiling
brightly. They had those stupid Mickey Mouse ears on again, which seemed to
be an oh-so-original tradition every time they went to Disney World. There
were clothes, both dirty and clean, scattered on the floor. Some of the
clothes were still on the bed. Logan hadn't moved anything. For the past
week, he had been sleeping right next to a stack of Jesse's clean underwear
- an assortment of plaid boxers and white Fruit of the Loom briefs. Since
Sophia always bought their socks and underwear for them, it was usually a
safe bet that Logan and Jesse would be wearing the exact same brands as
each other, just different sizes, and Logan didn't wear boxers. Jesse had a
half-read book sitting on his nightstand next to the glass of water. The
Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Perhaps I should start reading
that one myself, Logan had thought when he saw the book laying on the
nightstand. The teenage boy smell was beginning to fade, which really
depressed Logan. He understood that eventually, every fiber, molecule,
smell, and feel of Jesse would fade away. There was a gentle knock on the
door, which actually startled Logan even though it was a gentle knock.

	"Who is it?" Logan asked.

	"Uhm, it's Cody," came Cody's instantly recognizable voice from the
other side of Jesse's bedroom door.

	Logan rolled his eyes. Why couldn't people just leave him alone?
Logan sighed heavily, stood up from the bed, placed the blue monkey back on
the dresser, and moved towards the bedroom door. He opened the door and
there stood Cody Haynes. Logan hadn't noticed it earlier, but Cody actually
resembled his brother in a strange way. Same physical build, about the same
height (except Cody seemed a little taller than Jesse, but not by much),
same wavy golden blond hair, same effortlessly tanned skin. Cody was very
handsome. Jesse was handsome too, but in a very different way
though. Cody's eyes were a deep green color. Jesse's eyes were blue, just
like Logan's eyes. There were some undeniable differences, but Logan
figured someone could easily mistake Cody as a close family member to
either Jesse or himself, since Logan very much resembled a younger version
of Jesse. Logan still couldn't believe he was seeing this boy again.

	"Hey, buddy," Cody said. "I tried your bedroom down the hall and no
one was in there. So I thought I'd give this room a try."

	"Oh," Logan said simply, his voice almost cracking. "Uh, come in."

	Logan opened the door wider and then Cody entered the
bedroom. Logan closed the door and locked it behind him once Cody was
inside. Logan stood in front of the door watching Cody saunter through the
bedroom, checking the room out for himself.

	"I suppose this is Jesse's room?" Cody asked as he stopped in front
of the dresser, surveying the items on the dresser's surface and the
pictures stuck on the mirror.

	"How'd you guess?"

	"The monkey tipped it off. Seriously, how long has he had that
thing?"

	"You remember the blue monkey?"

	"Oh yeah, man. Every time you guys came up to Oregon, he had that
damn monkey with him. He never had a name for it though."

	"He still doesn't have a name for it. All of my stuffed animals had
names, but Jesse never named his animals. He said it was retarded to name
an inanimate object like it was pet or something."

	Cody rolled his eyes.

	"Yeah, that sounds like something Jesse would say," Cody said with
a chuckle as he held the blue monkey in his hands. "He sure loved this
monkey though, huh?"

	Logan just nodded in agreement.

	"I remember you a lot now," Logan said. "You were the one that
taught me and Jesse how to fish."

	"You really remember that?" Cody asked in a surprised tone of
voice. "Man, you couldn't have been more than four or five then. I think me
and Jesse were about your age now back then."

	"Yeah," Logan said. "I remember a lot more than that too."

	"Oh yeah?"

	"Mmm, yeah, something from the last summer we came out there,"
Logan said with his arms crossed. "About three years ago, I guess?"

	"What is it?" Cody asked.

	Logan sighed deeply and then let the words come out.

	"I remember seeing you and my brother kissing each other behind the
barn."

	Cody's eyes widened suddenly. The two boys stared at each other in
total silence for what seemed like forever. Logan couldn't believe he had
just let those words slip. He had never spoken of it out loud to anyone
before, not even Jesse, not even to himself really.

	There was another gentle knock on the door. Then the door opened
behind Logan. Sophia stepped into the bedroom.

	"Hey boys," Sophia said. "Sorry to interrupt you, but Cody, your
father's looking for you. He said it's time to go to the airport."

	"Oh, okay then," Cody said. "Thanks."

	Sophia smiled, turned around, and left the bedroom, leaving Logan
and Cody alone in the bedroom again. Cody, feeling completely dumbstruck,
placed Jesse's blue monkey back on the dresser gently and then walked past
Logan towards the bedroom door, without another word spoken between the two
of them. Cody left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Logan was
alone in Jesse's bedroom once again.
	Logan picked up the monkey from the dresser and hugged it tightly
again as he made his way to the bed. He lied down on the bed, his head
resting on the pillow, the stack of Jesse's underwear within several feet
of Logan's face. He felt horrible now for bringing up something like that
to Cody; something that was obviously a sensitive subject around him. He
had actually almost forgotten that whole scenario from that summer three
years ago up until he realized who Cody was at the cemetery. He couldn't
believe this was actually happening now.

______________________________________



END OF CHAPTER ONE

NEXT: Chapter Two - "The Pocket Watch"

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Preview of Chapter Two:

	Logan stood in his empty bedroom, Jesse's blue monkey in his arms,
still finding it difficult to imagine his life away from Baton Rouge, away
from his friends, away from Sophia, away from everything he knew and loved.
He had been dreading this day ever since Jesse died three months ago.
Logan would be moving in with his grandmother in Twillingate Shore, Oregon,
because Richard's job always required him to be able to travel for business
and he said Logan would be better off with his grandmother and the rest of
the family in the town he grew up in.

--------------

	"Logan, I have something for you," Richard said.

	Logan turned around and met his father's gaze. Logan immediately
saw the pocket watch in his dad's hand. He recognized it automatically.
Richard handed the pocket watch over to his eleven year old son, hoping
this would help smooth things over a little. Logan grasped the pocket watch
from his father's hand carefully, initially surprised at the heaviness of
the trinket. Logan unhooked the clasp of the pocket watch and opened it
up. His eyes widened as soon as he saw what was inside. The watch had been
taken out. It was replaced with a little piece of glass that had a small
picture inside; the artistic picture that had stirred up a whole
controversy amongst the family, but was somehow always Logan's favorite
picture.

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