Then he’d hear her laugh. And he’d laugh too.

Her last words to him played over and over in his head.

I love you, Christopher.

Whispering back, I love you, too, Teresa. Forever and ever, baby doll. For all eternity.

And then nothing.

Time passed and the days grew longer and warmer. He realized that her aromas were fading from the material, until one day, all he could detect was the faint odor of old cloth. And on that day, he knew there was nothing left.

Sitting at his office desk, he took out his kit, warming the usual dose of powder with an extra couple of doses thrown in for good measure. He took out the rubber hose and made a tourniquet on his arm. He took the syringe and sucked up the liquid.

He paused.

He took off the tourniquet and pulled a piece of paper and a pen from his desk drawer.

He wrote:

Call up Mike Badger.

He neatly wrote down the phone number, then two high eight-digit figures.

The place is worth the top amount. If you can get the bottom amount, you gave him a good deal. Anything less is highway robbery.

He paused. Then he wrote:

There’s a duffel of Mom’s things in my bedroom closet. It includes her personal items and some valuable jewelry. Please give it toJuleen when she turns eighteen. I expect you to support her in whatever way she needs. She’s a good kid. Also, you take care of Peter and Rina. They stepped in when your mom and I failed you. They became the parents that you should have had all along.

He put down the pen.

Another pause.

Then he picked up the pen again.

He wrote:

Mom loved you with every fiber in her body. She was so proud of you. And so was I, although I never said much to your face. Go out there and be the man I never could be.

Live because that’s what Mom would have wanted.

Live because I don’t have the courage to do it anymore.

Live your best life, Gabriel.

Live.

He put the pen down, picked up the tourniquet, and wrapped it around his right arm. Then the prick of the needle, fluid in his vein, the warm flush flowing through his body. Just a few more minutes and he’d be there.

Curtain down.

House lights dimmed.

Fade to black.

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