The Incident

By Roger Wong

Robert loved watching his three-year-old grandson, Nicky, for his daughter and son-in-law. But tragedy struck thrusting Robert into a life of depression and misery. His life was stuck in a never-ending cycle of suffering and sadness. Whatever remedies Robert tried, nothing helped.

Robert's daughter, Emily, suggested attending a grief support group at the local church. But Robert felt he could handle his own problems and that counseling would be pointless and emasculating.

In the end, Robert discovered that life is rarely how you imagine it, especially if your thoughts are weighed down with negativity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889607410

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The Incident

Roger Wong

Copyright © 2023 Roger Wong

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88960-720-5 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88960-741-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Part 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Part 2

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Part 3

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Part 3

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Epilogue

About the Author

Part 1

See the stars? I made a wish upon one, and I got you!

Chapter 1

Robert Hall backed his 2019 black Jeep Cherokee onto the driveway of his daughter's canary-colored, stucco, one-story home. It was exactly 7:00 a.m., and he'd done these hundreds of times the last three years.

But Robert's mind often wandered, and for some reason, it had wandered to a visual of his own dad, who had passed away five years ago from old age or natural causes as they like to say. He was ninety-two years old and just fell asleep one night and never woke up. Robert smiled as he thought about his father. His father had lived a fruitful life and had always been a very loving and stable influence in Robert's life.

Specifically, what brought Robert's thoughts to his dad was the fact that he just became aware of the fact that he drives exactly like his father. First, he was backing up onto the driveway, which is what his dad always did. Many folks drove straight in and then back out when they leave. But not Robert. As a child, Robert observed his father's driving habits from the back seat and occasionally from the front passenger seat. And his father always backed into a parking spot, or a driveway, or anywhere for that matter.

Robert remembers as a twelve-year-old asking his father why he always backs in instead of going straight in like most people. His dad was a logical, practical man and always had a good reason for everything he did.

Son, I back in because you never know when you will have to leave in a hurry.

So that was it. Twelve-year-old Robert reasoned that backing in made sense if you were robbing a bank, or your wife's water broke while you were in a restaurant, or a neighbor just called to inform you your house was on fire. Otherwise, the extra few seconds it took you to back out wasn't that big of a deal. You could even say that you wasted those few seconds backing in, rather than backing out. You know, you could have been already enjoying your destination for a few extra seconds.

But the analysis of the pros and cons of backing in or pulling straight in is pretty much meaningless. The truth is that, a person will copy their parent's driving habits and idiosyncrasies. To this day, Robert preferred to back in just in case he needs to leave in a hurry.

Robert also realized he was holding the steering wheel exactly like his father when he drove. His right hand would be flopped over the steering wheel at twelve o'clock while the other hand rested at seven o'clock. On occasion, both hands would rest at the bottom at seven o'clock and five o'clock respectfully. He had mimicked his dad's driving patterns all these years. It was a subconscious set of actions engrained in his brain from years and years of childhood observations and close attention to detail.

Now, just like his dad, Robert was backing up the driveway. He had turned the wheel and steered his vehicle the same way every weekday for years. It was an automatic response for him. He slid the vehicle effortlessly and unconsciously into the right side of the driveway, his front bumper flush with the sidewalk, and the rear bumper exactly four feet from the garage door. He didn't need to use his backup camera or rearview mirror to accomplish this. It was done instinctively, involuntarily, and automatically.

Just as Robert set his emergency brake, his three-year-old grandson, Nicky, arrived at his driver's side door.

Hi, Ra-Ra! I have something to show you! Hurry, Ra-Ra. You'll like it!

Okay, okay, Nicky. Give me a second. I need to grab my lunch sack and cell phone. But I can't wait to see what you have!

Sometimes, like today, Nicky woke up a few minutes early and got all his morning rituals taken care of before grandpa arrives. He's got to get dressed, with Mommy's help, and take his gummy bear vitamins. Then came a bottle of milk and sometimes some fish crackers or lucky charms. But Nicky always preferred to wait to eat breakfast with grandpa. He seemed to think it was more fun for some reason.

With his morning routine complete, he'd scurry to the front window to watch for Grandpa Ra-Ra. And when he saw his Jeep pull up, he'd race to the front door, open it, and scramble out to greet grandpa.

Robert loves the nickname that Nicky created for him. You see, when Nicky was smaller, it was hard for him to say Robert. It came out Ra-Ra, and the name stuck. It's unique and cute, and Robert adores hearing it.

And right now, Robert can't wait to see what Nicky wants to show him inside.

Chapter 2

As Robert was walking inside his daughter's home, he realized how lucky he is to be able to spend so much time with his grandson, Nicky. You see, Robert had been retired for six years. He had retired from teaching middle school in Renton, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, Washington. He had enjoyed his career very much, but after thirty-four years, he felt it was time to get on with his next adventure.

One problem was that Robert had been recently divorced. It wasn't an ugly divorce or anything. In fact, the reason for it was rather unusual and somewhat comical. One day, Robert's wife came to him to tell him something. That something was that she wanted to move from Renton to Hawaii. They had vacationed in Hawaii a few times while they were married, and Robert enjoyed Hawaii but certainly didn't want to move there. He couldn't fathom how they could afford it. Housing, gas, groceries, in fact everything was expensive in Hawaii.

Well, Robert's wife insisted on moving to Hawaii and made that explicitly clear.

Robert, I'm moving to Hawaii with or without you.

What? What are you talking about, honey?

Just what I said. By the end of the year, I'm moving to Hawaii. You can come with me if you want. If not, I'm going by myself.

Robert figured out quickly that she wasn't joking. She was serious as anyone could be. So Robert needed to figure out what he was going to do. He knew he wasn't going to go with her to Hawaii. He was sure of that. But where did that leave him?

Unfortunately, almost all of Robert's siblings and family members had moved out of state, one to Alabama and one to Palm Springs, California. His sister was still living in Washington but way up in the northern part of the state a good three hours away. Robert's two daughters had moved out of state as well. And Robert's parents, who lived their entire lives in Seattle, passed several years back.

His oldest daughter, Katy, had been awarded a softball scholarship and ended up attending the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota. She ended up marrying a football player and settling in the very small town of Harvey, North Dakota, where her husband grew up and where his parents still reside. Three kids later, they had established themselves as a hardworking, respectable family in town with the husband owning and running the local hardware store and Katy working for the county as a supervisor of intellectually needy adults in the area.

Robert's younger daughter, Emily, also attended the University of Jamestown upon Katy's insistence. And interestingly enough, Emily also met and married a football player, eventually moving to his hometown in Hanford, California. Emily and her husband were both teachers and had secured jobs with the Hanford school district. They moved into a nice home and, at the time of Robert's big decision, were expecting their first child.

With Robert's wife, and soon-to-be ex-wife, moving to Hawaii, Robert carefully weighed his options. He knew he didn't want to stay in Renton with no family around. He concluded he'd move to either Harvey, North Dakota, or Hanford, California, to be close to one of his daughters. And the decision was quite easy. It would have to be Hanford.

Harvey, North Dakota, was a very small town of 1,700 people. Thus, it had no ethnic restaurants, no big-box stores, and no activities with much variety. Its weather was brutal,