Danger Line

“Uncle Jimmy!” Damien exclaimed happily when they arrived at Jimmy’s place.

Jimmy opened the door and took out his godson from the car seat. Damien always liked Jimmy the best from the guys. All the guys were considered the kid’s Uncle, but Jimmy was the godfather of Damien, so he had a special place.

“Hey, kid,” Jimmy held him in his arms. “You want to go into the pool?”

“Yeah!”

Jimmy set him down. “Get inside and Leana has your new trunks for you.”

Little Damien rushed inside of the house.

Matt got out of the Expedition and greeted his best friend with a hug.

“How you holding up, man?” Jimmy asked with a sad look on his face.

Matt shoved his hands in his jean’s pocket. “Barely,” he said truthfully.

Jimmy stayed quiet. He really didn’t know what to say. He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost Leana, so he couldn’t give Matt any advice. He noticed Matt’s red eyes.

“Have you been sleeping?”

“A couple of hours, I usually pass out.”

“That’s not fucking healthy, Matt. You have a fucking kid to think about.”

“I’m not trying to kill myself, but… I just… she’s gone! She’s gone! And I can’t fucking accept it! She was my everything!” Matt shouted finally letting it out. “I feel empty inside, and I don’t want to feel anything so I numb myself with alcohol!”

“You still have Damien to think about,” Jimmy’s voice was hard, and that something rare. “We’re here to help you.”

Days later, Matt woke up after he had the same dream again; he was sweating. He turned to his right, and for a fraction of a second, he half expected to see his sleeping wife, but he saw nothing. His heart squeezed tightly. He had trouble breathing, so he did a breathing exercise he was told to do. He closed his eyes and counted backwards from a hundred.

Once he was breathing normally, he stood up and almost groaned when he saw his black clothes on the closet door.

It was the day of the burial.

Like a zombie, he got up and dressed himself.

He woke up his son and got him showered and dressed as well.

Priscilla and Martin were over at his home to prepare for the wake.

Matt went to his office just an hour before the wake was going to start. He filled his empty glass with some vodka and gulped the entire glass.

He would have to go out there and take everyone’s ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ talk. There would also be a big picture of Kari in her Marine uniform, and there was going to be a lot of people.

He had to hang tough though.

His office door opened.

Brian walked in. “Matt, what the hell are you doing?”

“Just taking a drink, man,” Matt shrugged.

“The wake is about to start and you’re going to be buzzed?”

“I’m not buzzed, it was my first drink. Don’t worry, it was my last.”

As expected, when people started to come everyone walked up to him and said how sorry they were for his loss. He was polite and smiled and thanked them. He knew they were genuinely sorry. He was just being an ass because he lost the love of his life.

There was no body in the casket. He was told she was so close to the first explosion that her body was too mutilated. All that was in the casket were memories of her.

He took once glance at the large picture of Kari and he felt himself drown in a pit of pure sorrow. His thoughts went to their first date and how everything had gone wrong.

Matt was so nervous. His palms were sweaty, and he had a lump on his throat the size of a golf ball. He waited outside of Kari’s home. He borrowed the car from a friend. He saw her walk out the front door and his heart started to race faster. She ran towards him.

He was going to take her to a concert.

Kari wore a black corset that hugged her body nicely, a skirt that reached just above her knee with fish nets, and a leather jacket. The usual jacket she wore to any major event. Her make up wasn’t heavy, but it was dark.

She got inside of the passenger seat. Her breathing labored.

“I had to get away before my mom could go on about taking an umbrella. It’s not going to rain,” she laughed and it was music to his ears.

He smiled at her and laughed with her too. “Your mom is so paranoid.”

“She has reasons to be, but it gets a little too much sometimes. So, what concert are we going to?” her brown eyes glinted with happiness.

“It’s a surprise,” he grinned and turned on the car.

“Aw,” she whined, “you suck.”

He laughed and started to drive. They sang along with several songs by Pantera. He definitely liked how she was into metal music like he was, and how she could scream her lungs out and still look beautiful.

He drove for forty minutes until they reached Downtown Long Beach.

Kari nearly screamed when she saw the name of the band.

“Iron fucking Maiden?! Mattie! OH! I thought they were sold out!” she turned to him. Her eyes wide and her mouth open from shock.

“I had to make it happen. I know you love them.”

“Only because you and… Damien introduced them to me,” she still choked up when she mentioned her brother.

It only had been two months since it happened, so the wound was still fresh.

They found parking and stood in line. Since it was general admission, they were able to get really close. Matt knew how rough the mosh pits got, so he made sure to protect her.

And he did protect her. Once the mosh pit started, he made sure she wasn’t caught up in it. He also made sure that she didn’t get squeezed too bad. He even put her on his shoulders so she could touch Bruce’s hand when he reached out to the crowd.

At the end of the concert, her hair was messed up, but she glowed like she just saw Jesus. They sat on the hood of the car with some sodas in their hands after the concert. His ears still hummed from the loudness of the concert.

She hummed ‘Run to the Hills’.

He took her hand and laced their fingers and started to hum with her. She turned her head to him and smiled. She leaned in and he did too.

Just when their lips were going to touch, the rain started to pour down on them. People around the parking lot groaned and some girls screamed.

Kari giggled. “I guess my mom was right.” She looked up to the sky and closed her eyes. “Damien is crying of happiness.”

“We should head inside the car,” he said.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with love that made him feel like he was high. “Kiss me in the rain, Mattie,” she told him. “Like in the movies, I want that.”

And he would provide anything she wanted. He closed the space between them and pressed his lips against hers. They moved together steadily and ignored the water that fell on them. She took in a shaky breath as if the kiss had been too much. She continued to kiss him.

Matt felt at the top of the world, he didn’t even feel the rain.

Maybe their first date had not been ruined Matt realized after his flashback. It had been special and something he would always remember.

Just like the first time they slept together.

It was after another concert and they had been going steady for five months. Matt was patient. He loved her. She was everything he wanted in a girl.

Kari and Matt were on the top of the hood again singing to their favorite Slayer songs. They would have to sleep at a motel because they drove five hours to get to the concert. It was the only show in California and they wanted to make the trip.

So, they had to check into a motel.

The motel room they found was decent. Matt was nervous, but she looked like it was the most normal thing in the world.

She plopped on the bed and let out a loud sigh.

“That was amazing! I think my voice might be gone,” she placed her hand on her throat. “I screamed through all of their songs.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Every damn second,” she grinned and patted the space next to her. “Lay with me, Mattie?”

He did. She turned her body towards him, grabbed his shirt in a handful and pulled him into a passionate kiss. She was always so dominate when it came to their kisses, but he didn’t mind giving her control, in fact, he really liked it.

His past girlfriends always wanted him to dominate because of his large size. Kari was always in charge, but he wanted to take control for a second.

He eased her to her back and hovered over her. His hand went behind her and cupped her ass. She draped her leg over his and he nearly groaned when the friction of their jeans happened.

“I love you, Matt,” she said through their fiery kiss.

“I’ll always love you, forever,” he said.

“I want to be yours,” her breathing labored.

He grinned. “You’re already mine.”

She giggled a bit. “Matt, I mean… I want to be yours.” She gently pushed him up and she took the hem of her Slayer shirt and took it off.

“Oh… OH!” he quickly realized and felt embarrassed by not catching up so fast. “A-are you sure?”

She nodded and bit her lower lip. “We’re alone, we’ve been together for five months. I think five months is a new record for you.”

“Record?”

“Since you haven’t had sex, Matt,” she explained bluntly. “Unless you’ve been having sex beh--”

“No, never,” he said before she finished and narrowed his eyes to let her know he was serious. “I’d never cheat on you, Kari.”

She smiled and laughed. “I know, Matt, which is why I want us to make love.”

He didn’t need more encouragement. They peeled each other off of their clothes. His hands went to the her panties and he tugged them off. He unclasped her bra and threw it on the floor. His eyes adored her body lovingly.

Her hands touched his chest and caressed it. It wasn’t until he was at her entrance that he realize he didn’t have a condom.

“I… didn’t bring anything,” he admitted.

She smiled. “There’s one in my jeans’ pocket. I was prepared.”

He got it and placed it on and once he entered her he knew what he had been missing. They both cried out in pleasure and lost themselves in their passion and love. They both realized they could never experience that kind of pleasure with someone else. Their hearts and bodies turned into one.

“Matt,” Brian snapped Matt back.

Matt looked around and saw that they were now at the cemetery. He must’ve been in zombie mode. He watched as Priscilla was given a flag and then the gunshots went off.

Damien jumped a bit, but Matt placed his hand on his shoulder.

Matt felt cold and dead inside.

Things would never be the same again.