Discovering the Past

Paul Harner.

I couldn't sleep that night thinking of all the questions I had for him, hoping he had the answers.
I woke up, changed clothes and watched some TV.
I went to Gerard’s room and noticed he was still asleep.
I looked at the clock,
6:00 am

Okay
Maybe I’m a little excited.

I waited until it was 8 am and went to wake up Gerard.

After breakfast we left. Gerard was already annoyed by the congestion charge, money you have to paid to drive in London.We didn`t have the rented car anymore, but we were considering to had it bak because after taking the wrong train, three times and getting lost the whole morning we arrive to Frank´s ex’s apartment.
It was this nice building. Not a very expensive area but it was okay.

“Apartment 208…” Gee read from the paper and pressed the button, outside the building.
“Yeah?” A strong British accent answered.
Gerard spoke.
“Hi, sorry, is this Paul Harner’s residence?”
“No.”
“Do you-”
“No.”
Before Gee could answer he had disconnected the intercom.
“Now what?” I asked disappointed.
“So he doesn´t live here anymore,” Gerard shrugged his shoulders and was ready to turn back.
I pressed the 101button.
Another British accent answered.
“Yes?”
“Sorry, to bother you, I´m looking for a person name Paul Harner, he lived here in 2028 .”
“Harner” We waited expectantly.
“And you are?” the voice asked.
“Err. We are friends of the previous owner, Frank Iero?” I said.
“Oh,” it seems like Frank´s name rang a bell in the person.
“C´mon in” He opened the door for us.

I grinned and Gerard rolled his eyes.
We went to apartment 101and a nice old man greeted us.
“Hello,” He wore glasses and his hair was all white. His face had a kind and sweet expression.
“Hello, my name is Gerard and this is Rose.” We shook hands.
“I´m Edward Potter. I own the building. Please…” He made a gesture for us to enter his home.
“Would you like some tea?”
I smiled at the British tea cliché and we entered.
We were sitting in the living room drinking our tea.
“How did you know Mr. Iero?”
“We were friends, from when he lived in the States and … she´s his niece,” He looked at me.
“Oh, I never thought he had relatives alive.”
“Why?” I asked.
“No one ever visited him.”
I felt a wave of sadness.
“Why, are you looking for Mr. Harner?”
“We are looking for more information about Frank, we just recently found out about his death, and since Paul Harner is the only one mentioned in his will, we thought he could tell us more about him.” Gerard explained to Mr. Potter.
He fixed his glasses and nodded.

“Actually, I never saw him. I got the news of Mr. Iero…you know… and then the notification of the new owner,” He drank his tea.
“He sold the apartment right after Mr. Iero…” He paused.
“Passed away,” He completed.
“I see,” Gerard nodded.
“Can you tell us something about Frank?” Gerard gave me a weird look.
“What do you want to know?” The old man didn´t seem to be bothered.
“Everything you know.”
He smiled.
“Quiet. Polite,” He fixed his glasses again. “When he had just moved here, he never talked to anyone, he always seemed sad.”
I just nodded.
“You know, as if he was a carrying a burden on his back.”

.............
2027

“Young man, you look like you are carrying the world on your back.”
Frank just smiled sadly at the old man.
“Maybe I am.”
--

“Thank God I found him that day.”
“Found him?” Asked Gerard with the same confused face I had.
“The first time, he… errr, you know…”
“Tried to kill himself?” I said, the old man was obviously trying not to say harsh words.
“Yeah”

.........
2027

The old man found some mail at his entrance. He checked; some bills and letters from his son. Another envelope.

Frank Iero.

He saw that it was a bill. He brought it in to give to him.
He went to the second floor and knocked his neighbor’s door.
“Mr. Iero? It´s Mr. Potter…”
He knocked and knocked.
It was Sunday morning and he didn´t hear Frank leaving that morning.

Strange, he thought.
Maybe I should slide it under the door, he´s probably sleeping.
But I have the key.

The old man felt a wave of curiosity; he had never seen the quiet man’s apartment inside. He pulled out the ring of keys from his pocket and picked the 208 one. He slowly opened the door and entered.
“Mr. Iero?” He called again.

The house was a mess, it seemed like somebody had a fight.
The living room was in complete disorder.
He walked to the kitchen connected to the living room and put the bill on the kitchen table.
He gasped when he saw the floor.
Pills and broken glasses.
He started to get worried.
“Mr Iero??!!” He called a little louder.
“Are you okay?” a little hint of fear in his voice.
He kept walking into the bedroom.
Again a mess.
He smelled something funny, something out of place.
He kept walking slowly into the place.
The old man had to put his hands over his mouth for him not to scream.
He ran to the body lying on the bathroom floor.
“Mr. Iero!! Frank!!”

The man was unconscious, lying on his side. The older man shook him a little.
He saw the blood and felt sick.
Immediately, he ran to the phone that was in the bedroom and called emergency.
Then he ran to the body again, and tried to feel the pulse.
Weak but still there.
He graved a towel and wrapped against the unconscious man wrist.
“Frank, c´mon, don´t do this…” The man was pale.
“Oh my goodness…”
He waited there for the ambulance to come. He put the head of Frank on his lap, rocking it back and forth, like a father rocking his child, feeling the pulse and breathing from time to time.
“You´re going to be okay soon, it´s okay.”
He hadn’t studied medicine, but he could tell that Frank was dying.

Why would a young, attractive man do that? He didn´t even want to imagine the reason a person had to take his life away, being that so many people outside died before their time or died unfairly.

.......

“You see I have a son that age,” The old man said sadly.
Gerard looked as if he was going to throw up. I wasn’t that far away either.
“I went to visit him at the hospital after that, but he was unconscious. When I went back, the doctor told me he had been taken to another area, for his treatment.”
I nodded.
“I was worried you know, we didn´t hear from him for about three weeks. I honestly thought that the good lad was dead or missing.” He finished his tea.
“Until he came back.”
I looked at him in attention.
“He was skinnier and paler, but there was something different in this face. He would talk more. And he even thanked me.”

.........
2027

“I´m coming!” The old man went to open his door.
“Oh my god!” The man in glasses hugged the younger involuntarily.
“Sorry”
“It´s okay,” Frank smiled.
“Err. I just came to…” He had a couple of flowers in his hands, a small arrangement in a pot.
“Oh,”
“Thanks, for… saving my life.” He scratched his head and gave the flowers to Edward.
“It´s okay…”
“No really”
“They are beautiful, I’ve never seen them before.”
“Pansies. They grow back where I come from,” Frank looked at the flowers with a little light in his eyes.
“Thanks, and where is that?”
“New Jersey, in the States.”
“They´re lovely,” He looked at the colorful little flowers.
“Got to go,” Frank put his hands in his pockets. “Thanks again.”

.....

“He seemed better to me.”
“How the hell did he get pansies in London?” Gerard asked.
“E-bay?” I asked.
Edward just smiled and pointed at his window, where the flowers were growing in a pot.
I looked at the flowers and smiled.
“And that man”
“What man?!!” Gerard was the first one to react for my surprise.
“What was his name? Gasper or Jasper something, don´t recall.”
Gerard shifted in his seat.
“He came to live with him” Gerard made a sound his throat. I looked at him, he just ignored me.
“Really?” I said.
“He moved in with him?” Gerard asked.
I noticed a bit of anger in his voice.
“Mr. Iero seemed at peace when this man lived with him.”
I just nodded
“So what happened?” Gerard asked.
“Well, this man died a couple of months after, he always seemed sick to me. Skinny, and something in his face.”

God, Frank had the worst luck ever.

“A month after he died, poor Mr. Iero died too”
“How?”
“Never knew for sure, I think he took some pills.”
“Why you didn´t know??!” Gerard asked
“Oh, because I wasn’t here.”
“Where?!” I looked at Gerard; he was acting a little bit rude, “Where did he die?”
“Don´t know,” The nice man fixed his glasses. “I was very sorry to hear that Frank died.”
“So you don´t have any idea where to find Harner?” Again Gerard asked in a bitter tone.
“Sorry,” Edward seemed truly sorry, as if it was his fault for not being able to help us. He was a very nice man.
“Listen, Mr. Iero was a very kind and peaceful person, it´s very sad how his life ended.”
Gerard didn´t say anything, he just took off his sunglasses. He finished his tea in silence.
We stood up to leave.
“Mr. Potter? This man, the one that lived with Frank, it was his partner or something?”

I thought this guy was probably Frank’s boyfriend or something.

“They were friends, I guess…” He looked nervously at me.
“Rose, we have to leave,” Gerard took my arm and tried to pull me with him.
“Wait. Please…” I shook from Gerard’s grasp.
“Well…” He came closer to me and said almost in a whisper. “The first time I even noticed he was living here…”

....................
2027

“Shut up, a kiss is not going to kill me.”
The bigger man was standing with his back to the wall next to the door, trying to look the other way while Frank was trying to kiss him.
The bigger man was obviously older than Frank. Black and short hair , his body looked tired and slim, even slimmer than Frank´s. His eyes were black as his hair.
“You know it can,” The man was British.
Frank took his face in his hands.
“Stop.”
The other man looked at him sorrowfully and smiled sadly.
Frank leaned closer and pecked his lips, smiling afterwards.
“See what you do to me?”
“What?” The older asked.
“You made me smile,” The other man smiled also and kissed Frank back.

..........

Gerard looked at the man.
“And what happened??” He asked
“Oh boy, I don´t think I want to know,” Mr. Potter and I laughed, making Gerard blush slightly.
“They didn´t see me. It would have been very embarrassing. I think Mr. Iero never wanted to people found out. He always introduced him as a friend.”
“Typical,” Gerard said under his breath, I looked at him angrily.
“Well, thank you very much.”
“It was a pleasure,” We shook hands again.
“Miss Rose. You´re his niece you said?”
I just nodded.
“Yeah…” He came closer to me and put his glasses on.
“Yes, the same eyes I must say,” I smiled.
“Listen, before the new owner moved I heard Mr. Harner was a nurse in a retirement house. But this was a rumor. You can check that, just in case.”

We left the house.
“Well, that was different,” I said once we cacth our train, smiling.
Gerard wasn’t. “Yeah interesting”
He put on his sunglasses and looked away