SWEET INNOCENCE
Chapter Eleven
Cal opened his locker, stuffing his books
into it when Jack came up behind him.
"Well, Dawson, haven't seen you for a
while," he said sarcastically.
"Been busy." He looked Cal right in
the face.
"Really? With what?" Cal ignored
Jack as he put the last of his things into the locker.
"Mary Whitney," Jack said.
"Why?" Cal turned around quickly,
almost getting whiplash, wondering what Jack had possibly found out.
"I just received some news. The baby
wasn't mine. You see, Cal, Mary confessed everything. I really feel sorry for
you." Jack told him the news, and the reaction he got was the one he
expected.
"What are you saying, Dawson?" Cal
looked at Jack like he was talking a bunch of bullshit.
"Mary was pregnant with your
child." Jack took Rose's hand, bringing her closer to him.
"You're lying." Cal did not believe
him.
"I knew you thought I would be, but
here's the letter and the autopsy report." Jack handed the reports over to
him.
Cal read everything. He started to feel
guilty. He sat down near his locker with an expression that Rose had never
seen.
"Dawson?" Cal looked up, almost in
a state of panic.
"Yeah?" Jack looked at him.
"I’m sorry for everything. All I ever
wanted was Rose. I always thought I could win, one way or another. I guess I
was wrong. You won, Dawson." Cal looked at Jack straight in the eye. He
knew now that everything was over, and he was not going to jail.
"I accept your apology, Cal. Don't ever
interfere in our lives again," Jack warned him.
Jack walked away, holding Rose's hand, and he
never looked back.
After all the times that Cal had felt strong,
he started to cry. He ran out of the school and went to his car. He cried for
what seemed like an eternity. He inserted the key into the ignition. The car
came to life. Cal had nowhere to go, so he just drove. He ran red lights and so
forth, not caring anymore.
*****
It was late, and Rose started to yawn, but
she wanted to stay up with Jack. They sat there watching television.
"Rose, honey, you should go to
bed." Jack tapped her on the shoulder.
"I know, but I want to be close to you.
Anyway, it's only 10:30 PM." She hugged him, moving closer to him and
trying to get warm.
A newsflash came on.
Jack turned up the volume a little higher.
"Breaking news: Caledon Hockley, son of
Pittsburgh steel tycoon Nathan Hockley, was killed today. He drove off a bridge
in Chippewa Falls into Lake Wissota. More details as they come in."
Rose looked at Jack in shock.
Jack wondered if he had killed Cal. Had he
really given Cal his death sentence when he had spilled about the baby being
his? The possibility of everything that had transpired between him and Cal was
a big mess, but a possibility to the end of everything. If Cal died because he
was guilty, it was nothing but his own damned fault for trying to play games in
the first place. Jack felt sorry for Cal. He wished that Cal would have been a
better man and let Rose go. But he hadn’t been, and so nothing else was left
but his fate. His fate to die because he was so stubborn and selfish.
"I can't believe he is dead," Rose
said in disbelief.
"I know. It's hard to believe."
Jack got up.
"Do you think he died because he felt
guilty?" Rose asked Jack.
"I am almost certain." Jack turned
around and grabbed her hand to take her to bed.
"Jack, I want to go to the
services." Rose felt sorry for Cal, too.
"All right. We'll go as soon as we hear
more details. Let's go to bed." He looked for the remote and found it on
the couch.
"Okay. I am sleepy anyway." She
went into the bedroom, taking off her clothes and getting into her nightgown.
Jack grabbed the remote, turned off the
television, and went to bed.
They slept peacefully through the night.
*****
Rose started dreaming about Cal. She could
see him holding her baby and taking it away. She ran as fast as she could,
until he dropped the baby into the lake.
Rose woke up screaming.
Jack woke up with a quick jerk.
"Rose, what's wrong?" He sat up so
fast that he felt light-headed.
"I dreamt Cal threw our baby into Lake
Wissota," Rose said in a drowsy state.
"It's all right, honey. He's gone. He's
not going to bother us anymore. Now, go back to sleep. We’ve got school in the
morning." He held her in an embrace, making her feel safe.
"All right." She moved closer to
him and slept peacefully there afterward.