After weaving her way through the mazelike entrance to the airport, Holly finally found herself pulling up to the curb at the arrivals area of the airport. She spotted Ricky standing there with a couple of bags and quickly pulled up and popped her trunk. Watching him toss his bags in the trunk, she quickly unlocked the car door and then leaned over an gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek as he climbed into the car.
“Were you waiting very long?”
“No, just a few minutes, the flight actually got in early.”
“I’ve been behind schedule all day, what with the funeral and all, I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Actually,” Ricky replied, looking at his watch, “you’re right on time, actually I only had to wait about five minutes.”
“Who would have thought, all this time we worried you wouldn’t have time to get here and you actually get in early.”
He smiled and shrugged then asked, “How’s mom?”
“She’s doing quite well. Dad had been sick for so long that she knew this was coming. I think I was the one most surprised, I’d seen him about three months ago and… back then he seemed fine. She was there every day so she knew it was happening.”
“Well are you okay Holly?”
Feeling a tear roll down her cheek she said, “Well, I’ve kept myself busy, that helped.”
Holly felt her brother’s hand gently touch her shoulder. She wanted to fall into his arms but had to focus on the road. Reaching a hand up, she took his hand, entwining her fingers into his. It was hard to imagine it was over twenty years since she touched him.
“Ricky, what happened to you?”
“I got arrested.”
“No Ricky, how did you go from an A student at college to being locked up in prison for what, fifteen years?”
“It was all so bad, that spring break when instead of coming home I went off to Florida with some friends.”
“Friends?”
“Some people I knew, they were heading to Florida. They planned to do some partying so I joined in. I didn’t know about the drugs.”
“How could you not know?”
“I was stupid, I don’t know. One of the girls really came on to me, so I went. We got there, we partied, some of the guys disappeared for a while and then they came back.”
“You could have been hurt.”
“I know that, hell two of he girls died. When we all got arrested they were looking for someone to make a deal. I tried, but since I didn’t know anything I wasn’t any good to the police. In the end they just treated me like one of the others, as if I really knew something but wasn’t talking.”
“Why didn’t you let dad get a lawyer?”
“I saw their faces when they came to see me, how disappointed they were. Hell his business was down anyway and he’d have to mortgage the house and land just to put a good lawyer on retainer and who knows what it would costs. I did what the others did, got a public defender.”
“And went to prison.”
“Guess I picked the wrong friends.”
“How can you be so flippant about it?”
“Damn Holly, what else can I be? I was there and now I am out. It was a bad deal, real bad but remember, two girls died. She died.”
“Were you and her...”
“I thought we were, I mean after Christmas and us, well I met her and it took a while, but it started feeling... feeling... but she died.”
“Oh Ricky, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”
They drove a while in silence, their fingers still entwined with each others. Holly glanced over at her brother and saw how his face had seemed to harden. His jaw was no longer smooth and rounded, it seemed more square. His skin was wrinkled and weathered and looking down she noticed a hint of a tattoo on his arm, his sleeve covering the rest.
“When did you get out?”
“Couple of years ago, I’d met a woman, actually on line. In the library we could use the computers and at one of the sites we were able to get to had some pen pal thing. I guess she had a thing for ex-cons but we got to writing, then she came by to visit. When I got out we moved in together.”
“You didn’t bring her?”
“Couldn’t afford the ticket, besides, I’m not sure how she would have done here. Let’s change the subject, hey what about you, I heard you got married.”
“Well, divorced now.”
