Story Teller
Twenty years ago…
Angela Baxter Hubbard sat in the corner propped against the wall for the first couple of days. She was shattered on the inside. Her lifeline, the love of her life, Jesse Hubbard, was taken away by a gunshot to the heart. She held herself and shook until her body failed to move any longer. The drugs they gave her were beginning to wear off. But they were not needed anymore as her body went numb from the pain…in her heart. Then everything fell silent.
Jesse Hubbard tried to figure out where he was, as he lay wavering in and out of consciousness. The last thing he remembered was telling Angela how much he loved her and to take care of there son, Frankie. He sat in the corner shaking from his gunshot wound. The drugs they gave him were beginning to wear off. But they were not needed anymore for his body went numb from the pain…in his heart. Then everything fell silent.
Present Day…
"Okay, what?"
"What?"
"What? Angela I know you. What’s on your mind baby?"
"Well Jesse here we are, together again as if the last twenty years never happened. But they did. Jesse. And…I told you every last detail of my life. I told you about my relationships with Cliff and Jacob. It wasn’t our kind of love Jesse. Nothing will ever be that strong…"
"Ain’t that the truth?" Jesse knew where Angela was going. He’d put it off as long as he could. Twenty years had gone and come. It wasn’t his choice to leave her but it was his choice to stay away. Guilt is a staggering emotion to live with. He didn’t want to weight that on Angela. But Jesse knew he stalled long enough. "So basically you want to know if there was anyone special in my life."
Angie smiled. He still knew her so very well. "Well Jesse was there someone you want to tell me about?"
"Okay Angela here we go, from the beginning."
************
"There was someone that I grew close with. I met her about a year after I went into hiding. She seemed to understand exactly what I was going. It was as If she was running from her own ghosts. She wanted to start a family and settle down. I didn’t want to father another child on the run, so I broke it off with her. She ran out of the house crying, screaming that I was going to regret this. Witnesses say she was driving erratically and she purposely drove off the road. There was an explosion and she died instantly." Angie assisted Jesse in wiping away the tears as they fell on his face. He took her hands and held them in his.
"Jesse I can’t begin to imagine what you went through. I’m so sorry you had to go through it alone. And I hope that you realize that car accident was not your fault. God you must have been dying inside."
"I was baby. But it wasn’t because I felt a lost for her it was because of the lost I felt for you. I thought about you and Frankie and I just broke down and cried and cried. I just started walking along the highway, next thing I knew, I woke up three days later in a hospital the next town over. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t stand, it hurt to breathe. I lost it Angela. I lost control of my self and …I had a nervous breakdown. I admitted myself and stay until I could feel again."
It was Jessie’s turn to stop her tears from falling. He held her face and gazed affectionately into her. Angie pulled him to her and an embraced him whole.
"I’m sorry if I pushed you Jesse. I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk about this anymore."
"You didn’t push me Angela. I want to share this with you. I need to."
Jesse rose to his feet and walked over to the bay window. He took a brief moment to collect himself.
"After I was released I found out that the people who ‘killed’ me were the same ones responsible for her car accident. I finally got it in my thick skull that I had to stay away from you and Frankie. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to the two of you. So I pretty much stayed to myself. And there you have it. Twenty years of living under the radar thinking about you...So Mrs. Hubbard what’s your story?"
