Dawn of the Unthinkable Page 2

  Personally, they were doing okay. His program was running well now. He and Billy had moved to a nice single house in the suburbs of Philadelphia, leaving behind the scene of their violent confrontation. The house was in an older development compared to the dozens of new ones that were constantly erected nearby. It was starting to have some wear and tear problems after forty years, but it was still a nice home. It had plenty of big windows that made it a bright, cheery place. It was large enough for them, but felt empty without a woman’s touch.

  Donna was a bright, funny lady who drew people to her with her bubbly personality. They had dated through high school, gradually taking a further shine to each other as the years passed. They had an off-and-on relationship for many years, always coming back to each other after test runs with others ended. They married at a young age and had Billy, named William after Nick’s father, shortly thereafter. They moved from the suburban homes of their youth to their first home, a row home in Philadelphia, purchasing what they could afford on meagre salaries and savings. Like many young couples, they had to make decisions as to whether she was going to work full-time or spend more time at home to raise their children, and they opted for more time at home for her. Billy thrived with her daily attention, and she worked while her mother or sister watched their child.

  After the funeral, while people were still sympathetic, they tended to avoid him out of their fear of saying the wrong thing. This only increased his loneliness as, like most men, he was not good at sharing his pain. So, he went about his life, and it passed in a desultory manner, his grief gradually lifting with the passage of time.

  Ryan’s discontent had more to do with the world’s situation, specifically, the United States. He would say to his toddler as he bounced him on his knee, “You know, kid, every day, it’s the same thing: murders, rapes, shootings, and white-collar guys stealing millions. What a world you’re going to grow up in. I bet you can’t wait.”

  The more he contemplated the world’s condition, the guiltier he felt at his relative good fortune, and the more he wished there was something he could do. To pacify his feelings of guilt, he volunteered at various activities. He was a coach and a referee at the local police athletic league and a youth aid panel member who counseled first-time juvenile offenders. However, they were only small contributions, and he wished he could do more. Even if he did, he was not sure it would make much of a difference. In the end, despite the efforts of millions of dedicated volunteers, it seemed that life kept some people down no matter how hard they tried or others tried to help them. Why was that? he wondered.

  He said to Billy, who was now chasing a fly trapped in the house with a swatter, “It seems that every type of solution to the United States’ problems has been proposed or tried, all with little to no success.”

  The boy shrieked with laughter and terror as the fly gave him a run for his money, darting every which way with him in hot pursuit. Ryan thought that there were isolated individuals who rose up from bad circumstances, but they were certainly not the norm. Many seemed to spend generations trapped in a welfare or shelter situation, never quite able to make it into the mainstream.

  Ryan thought, It would be great if someone could think of one plan that would fix all of these problems, even if it caused some pain initially.

  Was it crazy to think that such an idea existed? After all, man had been around for thousands of years, and while some tremendous advances had occurred, there were still parts of the world where people killed each other for food, water, and money. He kept coming back to that screamed demand, “Gimme me all your goddamned MONEY!”

  It didn’t seem like there was a solution. If all the people that had existed throughout the history of man had not been able to come up with an answer by now, he guessed that one just was not possible. He sighed and went back to reading his paper.

  The episode of Star Trek played unwatched in the background. This particular show had the oft-repeated time traveler theme, where a person from the past had transported to the future by an “anomaly.” The “transportee” was amazed at the size of the ship, and asked the captain where they found the money to build it. He said that, “the economics of the future is somewhat different…” and “…we don’t work for personal gain, but to better all of humanity….” Ryan suddenly came alert with a thought that had not occurred to him the previous times he had seen this show: HOW? How could that be done?

  How could society do that? How could you get rid of all money? Was there a way? After all, if it was the cause of the world’s problems, wouldn’t you want to do away with it? In addition, what about homelessness and crime? Was there some idea to solve them? The show did not explain how they did it, just that it happened.

  “How, Jean Luc, how did you do it?” he asked the TV and the plucky star ship captain. Sadly, Jean Luc did not answer, but kept right on speaking his scripted lines. Well, the show was primarily a space exploration show, so to delve into the intricacies of a political and economic transformation would be a little beyond their scope. Nevertheless, he wondered if the thought had occurred to anyone else. Surely, there must have been some people who had questioned it. But then again, maybe not. Could he try to do something?

  He had the beginning of an idea that seemed bold, and yet so obvious, he wondered why he had never heard of anything like it before. He wanted to tell someone, but there was no one there to tell. His son could not understand it. He decided to sleep on it that night, assuming that it would be forgotten come morning.

  The next morning, he awoke and continued to mull it over, but set it aside as nonsense a little while later. Several times throughout the day, he kept coming back to the idea.

  He was finally going to take some action on his idea when a new, welcomed distraction came into his life. He had been going to a single parents support group at work and had struck up a friendship with a pretty divorcée. She was a little younger than he, and had a son, Scott, who was two years younger than his boy. She had custody of him and seemed like a nice person. Ryan was hesitant to ask her out, as he was not sure he was ready for another relationship. Finally, after much hemming and hawing, he worked up his courage and approached her after one of their meetings.

  “Uh, hi. How are you? What did you think of the speaker?” he asked, as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “Oh, hi, Nick. He was good. I’m always glad to get a little advice on how to run my program. Sometimes I feel it’s like a boat without a rudder,” she said as she reached for a creamer.

  “Here, let me get that for you,” he said, trying to be gallant.

  Kathy Ross seemed amused by his little display of chivalry, because she smiled and looked closer at him, as if she were sizing him up.

  He took that as an encouraging sign and blurted out, “I don’t suppose you would want to go somewhere else for coffee? This is not that good.” He winced at the institutional Joe that they were drinking.

  She appeared startled to be asked out, but answered, “Oh, uh yeah, sure. Do you mean now?” She started doing the mental gymnastics all single parents do when they go anywhere to see if they have coverage.

  Ryan was not expecting a yes so now it was his turn to scramble. “Now is good, or some other time. Whatever works for you.”

  “Okay, well, I’m already out, so let me just see if I can extend the sitter by a bit,” she said, as she looked around for a pay phone.

  “Okay, great,” Ryan said, a little shaken, as he had now taken the first step towards moving on from Donna, and he was thinking he had made a huge mistake.

  Before he could undo anything, she was off her call. “Yeah, I’m good for an hour, where do you want to go?” she asked brightly, leaving the decision to him. He liked that. It let him regain some measure of composure. She was hard to resist and wanted to end her loneliness, too, he guessed. They arranged to go to the local Dunkin’ Donuts and chatted easily about their kids and the surprising amount of things they had in common. She worked part-time and baby
sat some other kids to help make ends meet. As they stirred their coffee, his black with cream and two sugars, hers an iced vanilla, he learned that she had a great sense of humor and an easy laugh that he liked. He struggled to find the words to convey his interest in her and finally just confessed.

  “Kathy, I’m not a very romantic guy. I wasn’t good at it with Donna, and I’m afraid I’m going to make a mess of it with you. I just hope you’ll hang in there with me for a while and give me a chance. I’d like to see more of you. I mean, not more of you in that way. I mean, oh Jesus....” he stammered, blushing furiously. She was charmed and grabbed his hand.

  “Hey, relax. I’m not looking for Prince Charming. Joe the Lumberjack would do at this point. We’ll take it easy and see where it goes.”

  Reassured, he said, “Whew, that’s good. I’ll try to do my best, but don’t be surprised by my less than stellar behavior. I was raised in an Irish Catholic family with all boys, so women were a bit of a foreign concept. But I’m a good learner, so if I’m doing anything wrong, please tell me.”

  She gave him a warm smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You’re lucky I actually have a thing for Irishmen. They are some of the world’s greatest writers and poets.” They ended their first encounter with an awkward handshake that progressed to an even more awkward half hug, which made them both laugh. It appeared to both of them that they had some chemistry.

  They started to date, and after a while, their relationship flourished. A few months passed of them going to restaurants and movies and taking walks on trails near his house. Amidst their varied conversations, they talked about introducing their kids to each other. They were walking under the trees in one of the parks they both liked as it was quiet and not crazy busy with bikers and runners. He was holding her hand, which thrilled him to his core.

  Kathy said, “Do you think we should do something where Billy and Scott could meet? Something that would be active, so they could concentrate on playing and not on each other. Like maybe one of those miniature golf and batting cage places.”

  He thought about that. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Instead of just taking them out to eat, where they would probably just play video games, having them play together would hopefully ease the anxiety of meeting another kid with their parents around. I know I never liked that as a kid. Good idea, Kath, you’re as smart as you are pretty.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet. Thank you.” She tilted her head up for a kiss, which he eagerly supplied. They made arrangements to go the entertainment center the next weekend, and waited anxiously through the week to see how their plans would go.

  The Saturday arrived bright and shiny, and both families arrived in the morning ready for fun. The boys met shyly, shaking hands and grunting “Hi” while not looking at each other. Billy, at eight, was two years older and a head taller, so he was more self-assured, but still just a kid, and looking forward to the challenge of putting and batting. The fact that there was a younger kid there to impress only made it better.

  They got their clubs and balls and made their way around the course, hooting and hollering at each other’s triumphs and tragedies. At the tenth hole, the parents said they were going to let the boys finish out and they would just watch from the benches. This gave the boys some time to really size each other up. Their excited chatter showed that they were comfortable with each other, but then something happened that really bonded them together.

  A group of bigger kids were playing behind them. They were getting impatient with Scott’s lingering on a hole batting the ball back and forth not getting it in the hole. One of them shouted, “C’mon, let’s go! It’s our turn!”

  Scott turned to them, startled to be yelled at. He was afraid of getting in any trouble, so he quickly grabbed his ball and said, “Okay, okay, I’m going,” and left the hole.

  The kid apparently wasn’t through with him, though. He yelled, “Yeah, sis, you better get out of here. You know, you’ve got a big head, too!” Scott was now terrified and humiliated and on the verge of crying.

  Kathy, witnessing this whole scene, was getting ready to move in and skin this kid alive, but Ryan held her back and said, “Wait.”

  Billy was not going to stand for his new little friend getting harassed. Although he was afraid, too, his father had taught him to defend himself and others who couldn’t. He walked up to the kid and said, “Look, we’re off the hole, don’t call him any more names, okay? He’s with me.” He said it in tone that let the bully know there would be trouble if he kept it up. He backed down as most bullies do when their bluff is called.

  Scott stared at Billy with his mouth hanging open. It was the single bravest thing he had ever seen, and it was on his behalf! He could not believe what he had just witnessed, and his respect and admiration for Billy grew tenfold. He hoped they would see more of them, as he liked Kathy, too.

  Kathy turned to Ryan, eyes wide. She said quietly, “How did you know?”

  Ryan said, “I didn’t, but I was hoping.”

  “Jesus, the two of you are too much. You’re both like knights in shining armor. Talk about sweeping a girl off her feet! You know, I think I’m falling in love.” She excitedly kissed him, which shocked the boys. It was the first time they noticed that there was something going on between these two, that they weren’t just friends. The day ended uneventfully and happily, with a burger and fries meal to cap it off.

  As they parted, Ryan pulled Kathy to him and whispered to her, “I love you, too.”

  They started to put their children together more regularly to see if they got along on a daily basis, and they did, very well. All the signs looked promising, but now they were at the point where a good night kiss just was not enough.

  Ryan was trying to think of some way to bring the subject up, but she solved the problem for him. One of their dates was at her house, and the boys were sleeping in front of the TV after a full night of wrestling and watching movies. They scooped up their respective kids, and Ryan was going to bundle Billy into his car to go home when Kathy offered, “Why don’t you just take him upstairs and lay him down with Scott? There’s room.”

  Nick thought for a second, but quickly agreed. They got the kids upstairs and bedded down, and when Ryan turned to go back downstairs, Kathy caught him and said, “Wait.” This word had significance to them because of what had happened before. She looked into his eyes and then kissed him slowly and deeply. A vision of Donna flashed quickly through his mind, but he knew he had to move on. She seemed to want him. She took his hand and led him to her bedroom down the hall.

  They fumbled with each other’s clothes once inside, and found that while each was somewhat shy about their bodies, they longed for the type of physical closeness that only comes with someone you really care about. Her body was nice and firm, and he responded with a throbbing erection that she quickly secured in a magically appearing condom. He wanted to get in her right away, but she took control, teasing him with kisses, squeezes and tugs, which just about drove him mad. Finally, her passion rose up to meet his, and she spread her legs and positioned him to enter her. He was just about to thrust inside when they heard from outside the door, “Mom?”

  Scott had woken up from the noise that they didn’t realize they were making, and now no doubt was confused and scared by all the unexpected noise he had heard. Ryan leaped out of the bed, trying to pull on underwear, pants, and a shirt all at once, while having to manage a woody that was now fading quickly.

  Kathy was grabbing at her clothes as well, yelling at Scott, “Hang on, honey, I’ll be right out!” She had to laugh at Ryan, who was trying to stuff himself into his pants with such a look of disappointment on his face. She felt her love for him swell up in her heart. She pulled herself together and went out to get Scott back to bed. Fortunately, he was too sleepy to notice that Ryan was in his mom’s bedroom, as they were not ready to tell the kids about it. She came back from the room where the boys were and said, “Wow, that was close. Almost caught us, huh?”
She looked up at him, apprehensive that he would be upset by the coitus interuptus. Instead, he grabbed at her hungrily, pulling her robe open to grab at her full breasts. And while she would have loved to accommodate him, she had lost the mood. There will be time for that, she decided, and she would make sure the next time that the kids would be squared away.

  They were soon looking for moments when they could be alone together, and their pent-up passion thrilled them both. It was amazing what a new relationship brought. Joy, sadness, fear, and excitement chased around in their brains, often crashing into each other as they all tried to surface at once. Even though they loved each other, there was no guarantee that the kids would love this new person. That took time. The new people would now be around much more often and taking some of their parent’s attention away. Despite the difficulties, they decided to get married. Ryan proposed to her in Love Park in the middle of Philadelphia, while a gaggle of skateboarders ground their boards nearby.

  They settled into a domestic routine after getting over the road bumps of combining two families. Their two sons soon began to regard each other as real brothers and played, fought, and tussled as if they had been together since birth. Ryan learned to cope with being a stepfather, which meant getting over the hesitation he felt over correcting someone else’s child, but as Kathy’s ex-husband was notorious for not showing up for his turn to pick up Scott, Ryan had to play Dad to him very often. After a while, he got over his initial discomfort with this and grew to love Scott as his own as did Kathy with Billy.

  Their blended family was going well. Kathy and Scott moved into Ryan’s house, and the boys could have each had their own bedroom, but Billy wanted Scott with him, and even though it was a little cramped and the furniture didn’t match, they became roomies.