Benny & Ray
111
You Again
Ray’s gold
ring lay on his nightstand. Underneath it was a small slip of paper, folded in
half.
Ben scrabbled
for it, fumbling the ring. It landed in the carpet with a thud. He clumsily picked
it up, and clutched it in his palm. With trepidation, he unfolded the note and read
it. Ben gasped, his eyes instantly tearing up.
Benny,
I’m sorry, but I have to
end this. Please don’t be mad at me.
Ray
His chest tightened
and he suddenly felt that he couldn’t breathe properly. He began to pant, sliding down to the floor. He tried to catch his breath.
Not believing Ray’s
scrawled words, he half-crawled, half stumbled to the closet and flung it open.
Ray’s things
were gone. Ben dropped to his ass, flat on the floor.
No!!!
He couldn’t
breathe. He was choking. He couldn’t get enough air.
Benton Fraser felt
a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he whirled around. He stared up into the concerned eyes of his father.
Ben tried to speak,
but he couldn’t. He couldn’t get past the lump in his throat. Ben took a deep breath. His father held
up a hand, to quell his silent scream.
“Take a deep
breath, son. Easy. Catch your breath,” Robert Fraser soothed. He petted
his shoulder, comforting.
It took Ben a long
moment to recover enough to speak. “You again! I thought you were…irrevocably
departed.”
“I thought
so too, son. But something was pulling me back here. Drawing me in. Been happening for a while now.” Robert
Fraser was dressed in brown corduroy pants, a soft cream-colored flannel shirt, and tan boots. He wore a vest with several
fishing flies attached.
Bob extended his
hand, and Ben used it to clamber shakily to his feet.
“In Canada,”
he said. “I dreamt of you. You were in the river.”
“Just getting
a little fly-fishing in, son, since I had some time on my hands.”
Ben began to pace. “Oh, Dad. Oh, Dad. I’m in trouble.” Benton’s eyes filled with
tears.
“Oh…uh,
you’re not going to start blubbering are you?”
“I just might,
Dad.”
“Buck up, son. All is not lost.”
“I fear that
it is.”
“What seems
to be the trouble?”
Benny shook an open
palm toward the half-empty closet. “This!”
Robert looked at
him, confused. “You need clothes?”
“No, Dad! Ray’s
things. Ray’s things are gone.”
“Ah, yes, the
Yank. Left ya, did he?”
Ben nodded. He was
red-faced, and trying his damnedest to remain composed in front of his father.
“Well, you
were always difficult to get along with. Can’t say I blame him.”
Ben plunked
down on the bed and glowered at his father.
“You're
obsessive, overbearing, possibly even arrogant. Anybody would get fed up.”
“You weren’t
always a prince among men, either, Dad, when you were alive.” Ben put his elbows on his knees and bowed his head in
resignation.
Robert only shrugged. “We’re not discussing me.”
Exasperated, discouraged,
Ben flopped back on the bed.
“You gonna
take to your bed and mope like a teenage girl?”
Ben sat up, peeved.
“I’m not moping. I’m trying to figure out what to do!”
“Now, now. It’s obvious what you need to do! We always get our man! Go and get’em!
Go after’em!”
“I’m
not a Mountie anymore, Dad.”
“Since when?”
“Since, like
four years ago,” Ben said, getting snarky. “Where have you been?”
“Been dead,
Benton,” Robert said, instantly persnickety. “Sorry if I missed the
memo.”
“I’m
sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“So what are
you doing with yourself these days?”
Ben couldn’t
help but smile, despite the circumstances. “I’m a detective now. At the 27th. I sit at Ray’s
old desk.”
“Oh? And where’s
he?”
“At the 22th. He’s one of the sergeants.”
“Bully! Good
man!”
“And what about
me, Dad?”
Robert came and sat
on the bed next to his son.
“Oh right,
right. You’re doing fine, too, Benton.” His tone was decidedly patronizing.
He gave his son a delicate pat on the shoulder. “Guess we gotta lot of catching up to do, huh?”
Carie ran into the
room at full speed. “Where Papa?”
She looked around the room as though she thought he was playing a hiding game.
Piglet dangled from one hand.
Ben sighed.
“Papa’s
not here right now, baby. We’ll find him.”
“We play now?”
Ben put on a big
fake smile. “In a minute, Carie. I need a few minutes of privacy, okay?
Go play with Piglet in your room, okay?”
“Okay.”
Robert looked after
the little girl.
“She yours?”
“Yeah. That’s your granddaughter.”
A big grin appeared
on his face. His eyes twinkled. “Don’t
that beat all? I’m a grand dad. So,
you mean, you and the…?” He made a suggestive gesture. “Finally gave her that leg up, did ya, son?”
“No, Dad! She’s Francesca’s and my daughter.”
“Oh! Well,
I always liked her better, anyway. She’s a hot ticket. Congratulations on bagging that little prize.”
“Must you always
be so coarse? Death has done nothing for your manners, I see. Carie was conceived
by artificial means. She carried her for us. Ray and me. My only lover…my only lover has been Ray Vecchio.”
Robert shrugged and
shook his head. “You could do better, you know. Find a woman. Do it the
natural way.”
“Ray’s
the one I want. Always.”
“Well then,
what the hell are you lazing about here for? Go after him! I’ll watch my grandchild.
Don’t you worry; she’s safe with me. We need to spend some
time together anyway. Bond.”
“You’re
dead. She can’t see you. She can’t bond with you.”
“Ah, true enough,”
Bob commented. “You know where the Yank is?”
“I’m
sure he went to his house.”
“Best get a
move on, then. Daylight’s burning.”
Ben slowly stood,
groaning. “Yes, I should go. Will you be here when I get back?”
“Depends, I
s’pose, on the outcome.”
“Alright, Dad.” With that, Fraser junior steeled his resolved, collected his daughter and went after
his errant husband.
