Chapter 4

On the drive to Bemidji Denise shook in her seat, reacting to the violence which just exploded in her family.

“Is he going to be OK?”

“He’s a tough old lump of shit, he’ll be OK. Besides the gun was only a .22.

“What about the police?”

“I think it’s pretty unlikely either of those pseudo felons are going to call the cops.”

“But they could do it just to make things difficult for you.”

Diegert did not reply as he considered that Jake and his Father might very well try to use this against him. He took comfort knowing that they had no idea where he was really going.

“Mom you’ve got to promise me you won’t tell them anything about the Army.”

“I won’t but eventually they’re going to ask about you.”

“Don’t wait for them to ask. Tell them something stupid, like I was so upset that Dad got shot that I ran away. Don’t let them know that you know where I am.”

“You think they’d buy that?”

“I’ll write a note and you tell them you found it in the car, show it to them and that’ll keep it on me. I’m also going to leave my phone in the car.”

“But I want to be able to talk to you?”

“I’ll get a new phone in Georgia and we can text.”

“We can’t talk?”

“We’ll see, but I ‘ll text you as soon as I get a new phone.”

Parking the car in the lot of the convenience store, David scowled at the sight of the Bemidji bus station. In any other city the station would only be considered a bus stop. Using the back of an envelope he found in the glove box David wrote a note. After completing it he left his Mom in the car reading what he’d written to his Father and Jake.

Dear Dad and Jake,

I’m so sorry for the way I’ve acted lately and I apologize for the incident that led to Dad being shot. I know forgiveness is hard but I ask you to search your hearts for some measure of understanding of how bad I feel about the way things have turned out. I’m going away, I don’t know where, but I won’t be seeing any of you again. Goodbye.

David.

Having picked up his ticket in the convenience store David came back to the car to find his Mom crying. “David your note made me so sad. I can’t believe our family has disintegrated like this.”

“Mom, I just wrote the note to keep them from figuring out that I’m in the Army. I’ll see you again and when I do, I‘ll be a soldier in the US Army. Now give me a hug.” She leaned over and embraced him but the finality of his note left her feeling like this goodbye was for a lot longer than either of them knew.

They didn’t have much longer to wait before the bus pulled up to the curb in front of them. There were only two other passengers waiting to board. After getting his duffel bag out of the trunk, David embraced his mother with all the strength of his love.

“I’m trying to be brave for you David, but I’m gonna miss you.”

“Mom, you just did the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. You stepped in front of Jake willing to take a bullet for me.”

Denise gasped as she averted her gaze to the ground saying,“David I did what any loving Mother would do.”

“You did a lot more than that and I will never forget it. You saved my life. You also did a great job raising me and now it’s time to show the world who your son is.”

“I’m so proud of you David. I love you so much.”

“I love only you Mom and I will carry that with me everywhere I go.”

Diegert saw the bus driver waving his arm. He kissed his mother on the forehead, slung the bag’s strap over his shoulder and walked backward to the bus. Through the window Diegert saw his mother still standing at the rear of the car as the bus pulled away and moved down the road.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5