The Second Time Around

By Chuck Dozier

This book is a dramatic look at marriage disappointments and disillusions from a male perspective. Most men are fundamentally good and can resist the temptations of infidelity when given a choice. The challenges of dealing with a wife that constantly pushes them to the margins of her life can often be too much for some men to bear.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: TOPLINK PUBLISHING, LLC
• Release date: Nov 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781948262125

Chuck Dozier

Authors Bio Chuck Dozier has been writing for nearly two decades with numerous published articles and his life changing manuscripts to his credit. His knowledge of the world and life comes from having traveled extensively. His travels have taken him to every state in the US and across much of four continents. He grew up in northeastern South Carolina where he was the seventh child in a family with ten children. He shares a very close relationship with his six brothers and three sisters, most of who still lives in the area. After graduation from Chestnut High School, an all black school in North Myrtle Beach, SC, he attended college at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. He was a member of Marshalls foot team in 1968 and 1969. His life suffered a tragic jolt in 1970 when he lost several close friends and school mates in the plane crash that took the lives of nearly the entire Marshall University football team. Years later he met and married his wife, Regina, in California where they lived for more than twenty-five years. They have a son together and now live in The Triangle area of North Carolina. Chuck enjoys hiking, fishing, golfing, traveling and writing. His biggest pleasure comes from spending quality time with his family and working in his garden.

Book preview

The Second Time Around

Chuck Dozier

Copyright © 2017 by Chuck Dozier.

Hardback: 978-1-948262-11-8

Paperback: 978-1-948262-10-1

eBook: 978-1-948262-12-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Author’s Notes

Book Description

Author’s Bio

Dedication

The Second Time Around

I would like to dedicate this book to my friends from all across the country and across the expanse of my lifetime, who encouraged me to open my literary creations to the world. I have allowed many people to view excerpts of my writings and each of you gave me positive feedback and encouragement. When I look back at the list of people that were involved in pushing me forward they are too numerous to mention for fear of leaving someone out. When you read this you will know who you are. Please know that your friendship is priceless and your words of encouragement were seeds planted that are now sprouting and ready to bear fruit. From the most essential essence of my being, I thank you.

Author, Chuck Dozier

Acknowledgements

I have many people to thank for their help and feedback in creating this work. Chief among them is Patti Smith, whose friendship spans nearly four decades of my life. She has been an indispensable resource for the technical aspects of this story. Even though this is fiction she has helped me with developing the uncanny ability to reach for honesty from the characters at every turn. Her help has impressed me beyond anything I could have imagined. I appreciate her helping me to embellish the initial events of our friendship to create this work or art. Even though we have had very limited contact with each other over the last thirty-odd years she has remained a true friend t o me.

Many thanks to Brenda Jackson, whose husband; Paul is the inspiration for my development of the character, Thomas, in this book. Paul has been my friend for more than forty years and our relationship has endured through many trials. His wife Brenda’s help with the editing and fine-tuning of this book has been incredible. The time spent pouring over the words and pages of this manuscript in an effort to help me to create a viable story will always be remembered and appreciated.

I would also like to acknowledge all the people that offered words of encouragement and feedback over the life of this creation. My thanks to Gwen Senagal, Terrell Allen, Loraine (Dozier) Mitchell, Valerie Church, Alma Terrell, Alveda Allen, Ernestine Allen, Aleese Moore-Orbit, Tawnya Norris, Charles Smith and countless other, without whose help and critique I could not have succeeded in completing this book.

Prologue

Her body was rigid as a sturdy oak while she stood with her face toward the ground. She could feel his hands firmly planted on each of her shoulders, but that meant nothing to her now. Her mind was nowhere near him at the time. Through her tears, she was trying to imagine what life was going to be like without the only man that she had ever loved. It was a question that a month before had never even crossed her mind. Now it was the only thing occupying her thou ghts.

Her marriage had been one of pure pleasure. There was always joy between the two of them, and she always knew that before her day was over, he would have her in stitches about something. It was always something different. He could make any situation look funny. Even on her worst day, he would find that button and push it just in time to pull her out of a depressed moment and have her doubled over in laughter within a few minutes. Somehow she knew that he had missed his calling. His personality was perfectly suited for the world of comedy. He should have been one of the world’s renowned comedians, with all the fortune and fame that came along with it.

When she met him in college, she couldn’t believe that he was picking her out of a crowd of students sitting around the student center, enjoying a moment together. There must have been thirty people there, many of them good-looking women who would have obeyed his every command if only he had snapped his finger and pointed. Instead, he smiled at her and waded through several layers of students to introduce himself to her. Not only did he introduce himself to her, but he also took her by the hand and asked her to have a milkshake with him at the local McDonald’s. That thought brought a smile to her saddened lips.

From that blissful moment until now, they had been constant companions. Twenty-eight years and two kids later, they were still laughing and having fun. Now here she was standing at his gravesite, with his best friend holding her by her shoulders, telling her everything was going to be all right.

They had known about the cancer for several months, but only Thomas knew how severe it was, and he would not allow her to believe that it could consume him. She knew him as a fighter, and her attitude had been to give him the space to fight this in his own way. Two weeks before, she finally realized that he had been hiding the truth from her; and by the time she could make the adjustment, he was gone.

The Second Time

Around

Chapter One

When she finally managed to hang up the phone, her heart ached. It was the one bit of news that she had least hoped for. All of her adult life, she tried to avoid placing herself in this position; but at last, here she was. She had had a great life, but now her soul stood bare. Her entire body felt like she had just been hit by a fast-moving locomotive, and it was all because she simply could not force herself to step off his tracks. It had started so innocently all those years ago. They were both much younger then and capable of falling in and out of love much easier, but now all she could feel was pain … adult pain. He didn’t mean any harm and maybe didn’t even know that he was driving a railroad spike through her heart, but he had done just that.

He had seen her first, and indeed she didn’t even know that she was being noticed. By the time she realized it, he had sneaked up on her heart and very quickly fashioned a noose around it that would keep it tethered to him for a lifetime.

It was now time for her to find a quiet place to lick her wounds. She would begin by examining how she had gotten here in the first place. She had known since she was a young girl that finding love after a tragedy could definitely lead to disappointment, but it seemed to her that this had been long enough to buffer her from that. The truth is it is never long enough if you love this deeply.

Norman’s Back

Driving through the Pennsylvania countryside had always been a treat for Norman. This day was no different. Sunshine covered the entire landscape and bathed the surrounding hills with a bright reflection of beauty. There was not a cloud anywhere in sight. The sky was as blue as the pristine waters of the Bahamas, and the trees on the hillsides were still full of leaves that were just now beginning to show that they were past their peak and headed toward the fall festival of co lors.

It was late September, and Norman was anxious to see his old friends. Gail was his special friend, and it had been more than fifteen years since they had seen each other. They traded Christmas cards every year or two and phone calls every once in a while, but he had actually not returned to the area to visit for a long time.

Norman came to the area from his home in the Seattle area and thought it would be a good time to visit his old friends and play catch-up. He had found out about Thomas’s death the week before and immediately planned to travel to the area for the funeral. He called a number of people that they both had spent time with in college and kept in touch with over the years. He wanted to be sure that they knew about his death and the funeral. He had called Gail to let her know that Thomas had died, and they shared a sad moment on the phone. Gail had met Thomas when Norman was living in Pineville, and they had spent time together. She knew that he was Norman’s best friend and that losing him must have been hard for Norman. She was always fond of Thomas as well. Although they had not seen each other or had not been in contact with each other for more than seventeen years, she remembered what a nice guy he was and what a keen sense of humor he had.

Thomas had come to Pineville to visit Norman and brought his wife, Janice, with him. Norman liked Janice and had always thought his friend had made the perfect decision in choosing Janice as a mate. She was much quieter than Thomas but never took her eyes off him when they were in a strange place. She viewed her role in their marriage as one of the supportive wife and never tried to push her own agenda above her husband’s. Norman had taken notice of that feature in Janice and admired her for the way she stuck by her man.

Now that Janice was a widow, Norman knew that things would be different for her. She and Thomas had remained very close as a couple, and happiness was an everyday occurrence for them.

He and Nancy were close at first and even spent time with the other couple over the years. Several years into their marriage, Norman and Nancy began to drift apart. It had gotten so bad that Norman found himself very vulnerable to the affection of a woman like Janice. She seemed to be the perfect wife, and now she was the widow of his best friend.

While talking with Gail about attending the funeral, he mentioned to her that he was thinking about dropping by Pineville to see her and some of his other friends in the small town where he once lived. She encouraged him to take the time to do that. Everyone would be glad to see him again. He thought about it for a couple of days and decided that he would swing by. It was a couple of hundred miles out of his way, but a lot closer than Seattle where he now lived. It would also take time from his busy schedule, but he reasoned that his friends were worth it. While making his flight reservations, he delayed his return to the West Coast to give him a chance to run over and visit Pineville. The anxiety of seeing his old girlfriend had softened the sting of losing his best friend, Thomas.

He didn’t mention to Janice that he was going to make the side trip to Pineville for fear that she might be concerned for him. Janice had known Norman almost as well as Thomas and had known the nature of the relationship that existed between Gail and Norman. She also knew that he was having problems in his marriage. She would probably view the trip to Pineville at this crucial time for Norman as a bad idea. She cared very deeply for him and did not want to see him hurt.

Norman Buys His New Sequoia

He was driving a black SUV that he had rented at the Pittsburgh Airport. The car was shiny and had bright chrome bumpers that sparkled like diamonds in the bright autumn sunlight. Norman liked driving the large heavy vehicle. It reminded him of his own Toyota Sequoia that he kept in his garage back in Bellevue, Washington. He had decided on the car after months of searching for just the right vehicle to replace his 1997 Ford Thunderbird, which he had driven for the past eight years. The car had served him well, and he loved it. He had put more than two hundred thousand miles on the car in the time he had it. He and his family had taken vacations to Colorado, Arizona, Texas, California, Canada, and even Florida on one occasion. The old Thunderbird had taken them to all these places without incident, and he hated to get rid o f it.

After the odometer turned over two hundred thousand, he began to wonder how long it would be before he would begin to have problems with the car. He had always taken very good care of his cars, and this one was no exception. The oil was changed every three thousand miles like clockwork. The vehicle went into the shop for a tune-up every year and before every long trip. He had never had a problem except a blowout on I-15 in the summer of 2000 while traveling to Colorado for their vacation. They were going to visit his wife’s sister who lived in Boulder.

Blowout on the Freeway

The car picked up a nail somewhere along the way and failed when the combined summer heat and highway friction created intense pressure at high speeds on the Utah interstate. Norman had often thought about how lucky he was to be the person driving when the incident occurred. His wife, Nancy, would never have been able to control the vehicle under those circumstances; and they may have all perished in a crash. When the tire blew, he was traveling at a speed of just under seventy-five miles per hour. The car was packed full of luggage and other stuff they brought along to help keep the kids entertained along the way.

Norman felt a slight looseness in the steering and began to pay attention to it. He thought it might be in the road surface, which had just changed from asphalt to concrete. He remembered the change because the car had been riding so quietly on the asphalt and was now making a whining noise on the concrete. They were on a stretch of road that was straight for a long distance a little south of Salt Lake City. The road surface was undulating slightly up and down. They were on a stretch that was declining slightly when the right rear tire lost all its pressure at once.

The kids were in the backseat, playing a game called Count the Cars. They had devised a plan that allowed each of them to take ownership of certain colors of cars: so for most of the trip, when they were not asleep, they would count the cars that fell into the range of colors that they had chosen. Crystal had chosen cars that were red, green, yellow, and black. Carl had chosen all cars that were blue, white, gray, and purple. Any car that did not fall into one of these categories would not be counted by either party.

They had just passed through the Salt Lake area and was very busy counting and adding to their totals. Carl had just spotted an SUV that was fuchsia. He counted it as a purple car, and Crystal disagreed. She thought that the car should fall into the red category. They were having a loud disagreement, and just at that moment, Nancy had taken notice and turned around to face the kids. She intended to help them to settle the dispute.

She had been reading a book that she brought along, one of several, which she had been promising to read and hadn’t gotten the chance to over the last year. Her mind was in the pages of the dramatic novel until the kids’ dispute captured her attention.

Norman’s thoughts had drifted off to his work. He was weaving his attention through a problem that had been brewing in the Atlanta office for quite some time. He knew that he would have to address it directly at some point but had resisted getting involved for fear of complicating things. He rationalized that for him to get involved at this point, things would change, but the problem would not be solved. He wanted to give local management the time to work things out at that level, and he was confident that they would. He never considered himself a micromanager, and this was a prime example of how he allowed his business to take shape.

He was sitting in a relaxed posture, with his right arm lying on the middle console. His fingertips were touching the area near the gear shift. His left hand was on the steering wheel at the seven o’clock position, guiding the vehicle on its journey.

The sound was like that of a ten-inch cannon being fired at the Fourth of July parade. It scared the kids and Nancy so badly that they were all screaming at the top of their lungs. They could feel the car moving erratically and feared the worst. Panic set in, and Norman didn’t know what to think at first, but his mind was sharp. He very quickly assessed the situation and placed his foot softly on the brake and turned the steering wheel a little to the right to compensate for the tendency of the car to want to move to the left. Even though the car had power steering, it took considerable force to fight against the force of going left. Slowly, he was able to bring the car under control and pull off to the right shoulder without further incident. They found that one tire was completely shredded, but the rim was not badly harmed.

It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down again. Once they did, Norman took everything out of the trunk so that he could get to the spare tire. After a half hour of changing to the spare tire, they were back on the road again. They replaced the tire in the next town with a new one and continued on their trip with no other difficulties.

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The Sequoia was now his baby. He had done his homework on the vehicle and had tried all the other vehicles in its class before declaring to his wife, Nancy, that this was the one. Nancy didn’t care which one he bought as long as it was new. She would not have any part of buying a used vehicle. Norman had considered it but was leaning toward a new vehicle an yway.

The day he brought it home, they all took a ride in it that very afternoon. They made a trip up to Rainer to get ice cream. The whole family fell in love with the large, roomy SUV, with all of the conveniences of home; and the kids quickly carved out turf that would be claimed each time they were all in the vehicle.

Carl wanted to be on the right side in the backseat so he could see his father between the front bucket seats as he used the controls and maneuvered the vehicle through its paces. He made mental notes of everything that his father did and even mimicked him as he handled the large stealthy vehicle. Carl was ten years old; and his sister, Crystal, was eight. Crystal wanted to be in the seat right behind her dad. She was a daddy’s girl from the beginning and would never want to be more than a few feet from him when they were anyplace but home. She felt safe when she was close to him, and in that seat, she was as close as she could get. She wouldn’t give up that seat for anything.

Norman Arrives for the Funeral

When Norman arrived in Pittsburgh for Thomas’s funeral, he went straight to his home where he would spend time with the family. Janice met him at the door. She fell instantly into his arms, and her tears began to flow uncontrollably again. She was so glad to see Norman, the other rock in her life. Just like her husband, she had a love for Norman that was deeper than casual. He had always been there for them. She admired him for the way he conducted his family life and what he had accomplished in his career. She also admired him as a man, a strong black man.

When he was settled in, he and Janice spent a lot of time catching up and talking about the old times. It was difficult at times because they both kept expecting Thomas to stroll in from the other room and turn the conversation into a comedy fest. The reality was that it was going to be tough for both of them to cope in the absence of their soul mate, Thomas.

Nancy and the Kids

Both of the kids idolized their dad and wanted to spend as much time as they could with him. He knew that they loved their mom, but she didn’t do the little things anymore and had always found a reason to be unhappy about something. There was a time when they would look forward to the times they spent with their mother, but now things had changed. Nancy always had a gloomy outlook on things these days. The smile had disappeared from her heart. She spent a great deal of time fussing about one thing or another. If it wasn’t the kids, it was her job. If it wasn’t her job, it was Norman. If it wasn’t Norman, it was some other nonessential fact that caught her attention and drove her into a tirade with the kids or her husband. Norman could not remember the last time he actually saw his wife smile, not to mention laugh at something that was hilarious to the rest of the family. She just never wanted to be a part of the fun times in the household anymore. She always barked orders at Norman and the kids. Then she would retreat to her room or go shopping. Norman could never figure out what she was shopping for. Only occasionally would she bring anything home that she had purch ased.

She and Norman had talked about it a number of times but with no resolution to the issues that bothered her. It was as though she didn’t want to be a part of the family. She constantly picked fights with Norman. He tried everything to make her happy and went out of his way to do things that he thought would please her. Occasionally, she would acknowledge the gesture and seem excited for a short time, but she would fall right back into the routine as quickly as she had come out of it. The kids wore much of the brunt of her unhappiness, and that bothered Norman. He could not stand for anything to happen to his kids. He knew that the kids were Nancy’s too, but she could at least treat them a little more gently. Most times they were afraid of upsetting her and tried to stay out of her way. They knew that she was subject to fly off and begin yelling and screaming over the least little thing, so they tiptoed around the house, trying to keep distance between them and her.

Norman was afraid that Nancy’s action would leave the kids scarred for life. Every time he thought about it, it made him angry. As often as he could, he would take the kids and get out of the house. They would go for a ride in the country, or out to the local ice cream shop, or to the local mall. He felt that he owed it to the kids to give them the best chance at a normal life as possible. Nancy was making it difficult.

Nancy, the Love of His Life

It had not always been that way. When they first met, Nancy was the warmest, most beautiful woman he had ever been involved with. She was thoughtful and seemed to adore him. He had not considered marriage seriously before meeting her but immediately began trying to set himself up for spending the rest of his life with this woman. He liked everything about her. She was perfect. When they were together, he noticed how other men admired her, with her long arms and shapely legs that seemed to go on forever. She was nearly five feet, ten inches and had curves that would stop a busload of Japanese tourists. She could have easily been a fashion model for one of the big houses and had even dabbled at it for a while. She couldn’t get her mind into the role and blew it off. She had a perfect smile that he could get lost in. He exhausted himself daily, trying to find humor in things, just to see her smile. Every time he was successful, he poked his chest out and reveled in the glow of her aura and patted himself on the back for causing the display of a full set of perfect pearly wh ites.

Not only was Nancy beautiful, but she was also perfect in other ways. She made sure that Norman didn’t have to want for anything. She catered to his needs and always made a fuss over his health and nutritional welfare. She went out of her way to make sure that he was happy. She protected him when he was too busy to look out for himself. She always had his back. She did the small political things that made him look good and made sure that other people gave him the respect that he deserved.

When he first moved to Seattle, he was at a colleague’s house one Saturday afternoon for a cookout when he met Nancy and fell for her almost immediately. When he moved to the area, some of the people that he met could not believe that he was still single and began trying to set him up with different women. This had been a perfect setup because no one had told him ahead of time about the tall beautiful woman, and she was not told about him. At the party, they were simply two more guests and were casually introduced by the wife of one of the company executives. They dated for a while and were married nearly a year later.

She had found happiness, and it showed in everything she did: her work, her personal life, and her relationships with friends. She literally excelled at her job, becoming one of the top junior managers in her field. It seemed that she was on track and was moving swiftly in the passing lane of her career. She was on her way to meeting her goal of becoming a partner in the firm. Norman was proud of her and doted on her to everyone he came in contact with. She was his pride and joy.

The first half-dozen years of their marriage was blissful. They did everything together. They traveled and went to movies, shows, ballgames. They found everything to be fun. They had tried to have kids after they were married for about three or four years but with no success. They were so much in love that they just decided to be happy with each other and not worry about kids. In their sixth year of marriage, Carl surprised them both, and they were ecstatic. He was the thing that made their lives complete. They both centered their lives on the little man and started planning for a life of little league this and peewee that.

A couple of years later, Crystal decided to show up and join the party. The excitement of the family life just made Norman giddy. He couldn’t have been happier. He had it all: a good job; a beautiful, intelligent wife; and two beautiful children that would make any man burst with pride.

He didn’t notice at first, but slowly his wife began to change. First, it was her attitude about personal things. She seemed to be angry that she was not achieving at work like she had been before the kids were born. Her focus was different. She didn’t mind at first because she loved her kids and wouldn’t let anything come between her and them. She spent a great deal of time with the kids and took the time to be sure that everything was right for them.

The second thing to go was the body; she stopped taking care of herself and wouldn’t exercise regularly. Her hips were the first things to go. Norman could see it but never could find a way to tell her, without offending her, that she was losing it. When Norman would take the kids out to the park for a long walk or for a game of catch, she never came along anymore. She complained about the heat or the cold or the grass or some other thing that had never been a problem in the past. She gained an enormous amount of weight and was still eating everything in sight. Norman didn’t mind the fact that his wife had gained all the weight, but he would have preferred to have her back in that beautiful, tall body that always made him reach out and grab her every time she came within range. He knew that having kids would make it difficult for any woman to maintain control of their body features so he came to grips with it. He loved her, and a little weight was not going to come between them. He had tried to talk to her about her lack of being in shape a number of times, but it was a sensitive subject for Nancy, and Norman had given up for fear of alienating her.

The next thing to go was the sex between them. They made love only once in a while, and even then, it was when Norman had reached a point where he could not stand it anymore and took liberties with her late at night when he felt that she would have no excuse for refusing him. The sex was just that … sex. There was no making love anymore. That had long passed. He couldn’t remember the last time that his wife had actually made him feel like that she wanted him to make love to her. The infrequent events of sexual contact between them were cold and passionless. Nancy didn’t seem to care. Norman reached a point where he settled with the fact that he had two beautiful children, and they filled his life with happiness. He came home every night because he wanted to be there for them.

He began to dread seeing his wife but pretended that he missed her when he was away. His truth was that he looked forward to leaving every morning for work and was excited when he came home after picking up the kids from school and found the house empty, even for a few minutes. The treatment that he received from her gave him nothing to look forward to.

Norman was at the end of his rope and dangling by a thread. He had tried to satisfy his wife in every way he could think of, and she was just not happy. The lack of achievement at work seemed to be at the root of the problem, but he could not get her to admit it. In fact, Nancy was not sure what was at the root of her shortcomings.

He knew that if this was the state of their relationship and they didn’t have kids, he would be gone. He was not happy, and she was not happy. He wanted to smile again with his wife, but all he got was grief from her. He was tired of it and was ready for a change. He looked around them and saw that their friends were enjoying their lives and having fun and seemed to be happy together, and that’s what he wanted.

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Norman Discovers the Farm

As he approached the exit for Pennsylvania Route 49, he put on his signal and moved the large smooth SUV to the right lane and prepared to exit. It was late in the afternoon, and there was not a great deal of traffic on the highway. He was listening to a local station that played light rock, and the sound coming from the nine speakers was intoxicating. He had just finished listening to Luther, and Mariah Cary was tuning up on her latest hit single. He tapped his fingers against the back of the steering wheel to the sounds and tried to keep his mind in neutral. He had been thinking about the possibility of seeing his old girlfriend for nearly two years and more intensely over the past few mo nths.

When he got the news that his good friend had died, he knew that he would attend the funeral. At first, he didn’t think about making any side trips. His mind had been on Thomas and what life would be like for Janice. They had been friends since they were sophomores in college. He and Thomas had a rich history during their college years and continued to spend time together long after they had gone their separate ways. They managed to get together at least once a year and turn up a few for old time’s sake. They always spent a lot of time reminiscing about the dates that they each had and the numerous times that they had skirted the law while driving drunk or smoking weed, or had just left one girlfriend’s house before getting caught by another. There was always lots of laughter between them. He would miss his best friend and knew that his own life would never be the same, especially knowing that one of his best friends had preceded him to the grave at such a young age.

His face became serious as he blinked back the tears, just thinking about his old college buddy. He reached over and plucked a tissue from the center console and dabbed at the tears that persisted and rolled down his cheek. He allowed himself a few moments of sorrow for his friend and didn’t try to pull it together. He had not spent any time alone mourning Thomas and felt that he needed to.

As he slowed the vehicle on the freeway and moved to the right into the exit lane, the tears continued to flow. He eased down the ramp and came to a stop at the light on Route 49. After looking both ways through blurry eyes, he slowly turned the car to the right and pulled out into the southbound lane. He noted that there was a Burger King on his right, and next door was Long John Silver’s. Across the street was McDonald’s, and a little further down on the same side was a Kentucky Fried Chicken. There were several other fast-food restaurants in that area but none that made him want to stop and grab something to eat. Just behind the KFC and McDonald’s was a Wal-Mart, and across the street behind the Burger King and Long John Silver’s was a Big Kmart. Norman checked his gas gauge and noticed that he had nearly a half tank of gas. He checked his watched to see how he was doing on time and determined that he was in good shape. He was not hungry and thought that he might be offered an evening meal when he reached Pineville anyway. He didn’t know what would happen in terms of running around when he reached his destination, so he decided to fill up at the Sunoco Station a quarter mile down the road.

By the time he reached the gas station, he had pulled himself together and began trying to put the thought of his good friend, Thomas, behind him for the moment. He got out of the vehicle, leaving it at the pump. He decided that this would be a good time to take a restroom break. On his way out of the restroom, he stopped to check the map on the south wall of the gas station lobby. He wanted to be sure he was on the right track. It had been a long time since he had gone to Pineville by this route and didn’t want to get lost. There were only a few hours of daylight left, and he didn’t want to find himself fumbling around in the dark, trying to find his way to a place that he had not been to in nearly twenty years. Surely roads would have changed, and there would be new stores and different landmarks that could all trip him up and send him in the wrong direction.

When he finished filling the car with gas, he headed south on Route 49 once more. He had traveled about five miles when he passed an area on his right where there was a large opening, nearly three hundred acres, with a few trees here and there. The grass was absolutely brilliant with green hues all about. The sunlight seemed to create a different color with each slight change in elevation of