Chapter 42

Friday morning, or was it Saturday morning? We didn't know and it didn't matter. We had a day's driving to do so we all cycled through the bathroom and then got dressed. Brenda dropped all pretenses of modesty and walked boldly out of the bathroom with only a towel in her hair. She went to her suitcase and dug around until she found a pair of panties and slipped them on. She then got out a bra, put it on. I tore myself away and went to the now vacant bathroom so that I could get a shower. Ashlee was standing at the sink doing her face as I walked by. "You said that nudity wasn't going to bother you. Have you changed your mind?" She asked me as I passed her.

"Nah, I just wasn't ready for it." Ashlee wasn't convinced and gave me a 'hhhmmmm mmm"

I got my shower and did to Brenda was she did to me. I walked out naked. It was Brenda's turn to watch me get dressed but she didn't react like I did which was a bummer. I had hoped that my body would do to her what she did to me. Oh well.

We packed ourselves up and checked out. Then we got breakfast, gas for the cars and headed out. Illinois has a bad habit. That bad habit is having the slowest speed limits in the country. Their entire state has only a limit of 70 on the highway. Even out away from the city, it is still only 70 MPH. So, what did we do? We set out cruise controls at 75 and just drove on. Yes, we got passed by others who didn't care about getting speeding tickets, but we cared and got through the state without incident.

St. Louis was our next stop. We pulled over for a rest stop and gas and munchies and then set our sites for I-70 in Missouri and blasted our way home. The roads in Missouri can be rough, but we managed to miss all of the potholes and get home safe and sound. I sent a text message to Craig letting him know we made it home when I had a chance. I made one slight detour though. I pulled off the highway and went to my house in Blue Springs while the girls continued to the apartment. The police tape was gone so I went in through the gaping hole downstairs and got to my computers. I took them both and left before something bad happened. The upstairs was gone, including my bedroom so nothing to salvage there. I didn't have any file cabinets anymore. I got rid of those a long time ago. Everything else could be replaced. My gun was missing so no reason to look for that now. The couch downstairs, the kitchen upstairs were all smoke damaged but since the stairs were almost gone, I didn't dare go up.

I took a moment to stand in my ruined basement and take it all in. The carpet was squishy from the firemen. The baseboards and walls were all wet and now getting moldy. All of the fridges were off so anything in them would be rotten by now. A bit of sadness passed over me. This was my house, the house I had been planning on using for my entire life with Sam and the kids. Now? It is all gone. Every shred of them is gone.

SAM: It can all be replaced. You have lost nothing important here.

Sam was right. Everything important to me is safe. I guess I really do move on from here. I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a text message to Julie.

text Hey Julie. I need you again at the house. Big time work this go around

text I heard. When should we meet?

text tomorrow at my place with Ashlee in OPKS

text send me the address and I'll there after church.

I found Ashlee's contact record and forwarded it to her.

text thanks see you tomorrow

I looked around the garage for a while longer, just in case I found my pistol. After I moved about a dozen shreds of wood, I finally found it. The handle was gone, melted in the fire. The whole thing looked like it has melted into one mass. I took it and the two smoky computers to my car and slid them into the trunk.

When I started the engine and started driving away, I noticed Tessa coming out of her house and getting something out of their van. I didn't stop, but I waved at her as I drove by. Her eyes got real big at the sight of my new car. I should probably come back over and see them. Later.

I went to the police station so that I could dispose of the gun safely. I walked in and went to the desk they have. "Excuse me."

The gruff man behind the desk didn't even look up, "Yes?"

"Is the chief of police in?"

"No, he is only here Monday through Friday from 7 am to 4 pm."

"Well, could you help me with something then?"

He finally looked up. "What do you need?"

"I have a pistol I want to dispose of, but it is too damaged by a fire to be sold. Can I give it to the police dept. to dispose of for me?"

He tensed up, "Do you have it with you?"

"No. No. Nothing like that. It is in the parking lot in my trunk."

The officer relaxed. "OK. I'll have someone come and meet you outside."

"Thanks." I exited the building and opened my trunk and stood off to the side. A couple of minutes later, an officer came out, "Are you man who has a pistol to dispose of?"

"Yes." I shook his hand. "It is wrapped in a sheet there in my trunk." The officer went to my trunk and pulled it out and then unwrapped it and pulled it out.

"Yup, this has been through a fire. Where was the fire?"

"At my house, on Stone Creek lane, a few weeks ago."

He looked me over, and recognition came to him. "Mr. Johnson? I wasn't told it was you here. Let me call the chief right away."

"No worries about that. I just want to get this destroyed and enough paperwork to keep me out of trouble in the future."

"Sure, come with me and I'll help you out."

I closed and locked my car and followed the officer into the building. He took me to register as a visitor and then back into the squad room where a form was taken out of a file cabinet and the process began. Name, address, SSN, phone number, serial number of gun. The works. Once we were done with all of that, the gun went to holding and copies of the form were given to me and one went to records.

"So is this enough of a report for the insurance company?"

"No, but the official arson report and police report are enough and you can use them to get a new pistol along with all of the other possessions. Anything else I can do for you?"

"No. I wanted to make sure I had documents showing the gun no longer existed and not a danger to anyone. Never can be too careful."

"Got that right." The officer showed me out and I went back to my car and drove home to Ashlee's apartment. The girls had begun to unpack everything and there was a load in the washer already.

Welcome home kisses exchanged between us and I took my bag to the bedroom and dumped it. Dirty stuff went to the hamper, clean stuff went to my space in the closet and everything else was hung up or put away.

We met in the kitchen for dinner. Though, we had been gone for a while and everything in the fridge was trash. We spent some time cleaning it out and then I called for Chinese to be delivered.

We ate dinner together then Brenda left to go and show off her car to her friends. Ashlee and I sat together to go through the mail that had piled up. I helped her find all of the bills and we ended up three piles. Bills, ads and personal. She got her checkbook and wrote out checks for the bills while I went through the ads. I didn't touch the personal things.