by Deborah Allan

Created on: October 13, 2009   Last Updated: October 15, 2009

Passing Through

The wipers could not go fat enough to keep up with the rain. It was the worst storm of the year, and he just wanted to get home. Eleven days was long enough, and the deal was finally closed, after all of this time. Now, he would have more time with the kids, and Simone, like he promised. This was his last project for a while. A vacation was in order, and it was time to do it now.

He could see the lights of the city, and figured that it would only be about 45 minutes and he would be home. He hoped that the rain would slow down, he hated this type of weather, and he especially hated to drive through it. The bag in his passenger seat was filled with presents, one for Simone and a bunch for his boys. He loved his sons, Eric, who was 10, and Marcus, who was only 5. He had missed so much time with them both, but at least he was there when Eric was little like Marcus is now. Poor Marcus, he hardly even knew who his father was. In the last year alone, he had spent 9 months in different cities, and only three months at home, and not consecutively.

Another 20 minutes, and he started to speed up. He wanted to get home, and he wanted to get there as soon as possible. The road was set, but he could do it. Or, so he thought. A car coming towards him, started to hydro-plane, and headed right for him. He didn't have time to assess the situation, he just headed for the ditch. And that was all.

At the hospital, Simone found it difficult to control herself. Dom had been in surgery for over 4 hours, and Eric and Marcus were sleeping on the couch in the waiting room. The waiting was the worst, and it was the worst things that ran through her mind. But, she had to think positively, didn't she? For the boys. For herself. For Dom. She stared at the clock, and counted every second. But, the time she will never forget is 10:43 pm.

When the surgeon told her that Dom had passed, she could not believe it. He was dead. Gone. Never to be seen again, never to sleep in her bed, never to see the boys graduate or get married and now, she was alone. She had to raise the boys, pay the bills, and take care of the house all by herself. How could she do it? And most importantly, how could she tell the boys?

She knew that Eric would be devastated, but it was Marcus's reaction that caught her off guard. Eric cried, asked questions, his heart was broken. His dad had died. Marcus, on the other hand, didn't seem to react like Eric. He knew Dom was dead, and that he would never see him again, but Simone didn't know why he didn't cry, or why he was so ok with it.

For weeks Simone expected Marcus to ask about his dad. He didn't, and Simone had to know why. She asked him to sit with her one night, before bed, and she asked Marcus why he wasn't as sad as everyone else. The answer shocked her, but she finally understood. He said Mommy, I didn't know daddy that well, I only saw him when he was passing through.

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