77: Memorial

The home of Lily and Sly Cortales was delivered and set up the third week of June. The next weekend, they moved in and their first act was to invite Samantha, Rhonda, and me over for dinner.

"We moved here to be close to our children," Lily said. "We were there the night Brian and Samantha tied the knot around their wrists and we were here at Christmas two years ago when the two of you were handfasted to Rhonda. You are our children. You are all the children we have now."

She actually said it without crying. They'd created a home that had a second master suite so that we could come as a family to visit them and stay with them. I thought how interesting this was as other homes had similar arrangements. John and Bea's home had a second master suite that Cassie, Josh, Mary, and I could use when we visited. The Woods were creating their home with four master suites so they could have one and each of their daughters could stay with as many of their spouses as they wanted. And next month, the new home for Casa del Agua would be finished. It was kind of backwards in that it had a master for the casa, three bedrooms for children, and a second master for Jill and Jim when they visited the grandchildren. The houses were all within a couple hundred yards of our homes, but each of those occupied by parents were equipped for their children and family to visit. Sly smiled at us.

"We want you to visit us sometimes. We'll try not to interfere with your lives in your home, but we want to share them a little, too," he said. "I think you will find all the tribe is like that." We had a great meal. I loved Mama Lil's pasta and sauce. We each had a glass of heavy Italian Chianti to go with the meal. And after sitting with Samantha's parents for a while, she and Rhonda and I made use of the second master. Rhonda found out just how slick Samantha's hairless pussy could get. I kissed and licked Rhonda's toes until she screamed into Samantha's pussy, setting Sam off. Then I took turns plunging into their creamy centers as the two girls kissed each other.

For the next two weeks, the clan gathered. I wasn't sure if some of them would come back. I knew there were parents who didn't want their kids to come back. I think Doris Hamm would have kept Leonard in Mishawaka except that her new home was delivered the week after Leonard's fashion show in April. She had gone one step further than some of the other parents, and had built a home with a complete apartment for Leonard. It was pretty much a duplex. I think she was the most surprised when Susan moved in with him. I was pretty sure that, like Nancy and Pam, Susan was a virgin. She and Rich had been an item before they were seventeen, but had broken up early on. Susan was technically a member of Casa del Sol, but was also heavily involved in Leonard's design business and was majoring in fashion marketing. Even though Leonard was gay, they were seldom seen apart.

Pam was a shock to me when she arrived on Saturday the 26th. I hadn't seen her in over two months, but you wouldn't think it would make that much difference. She was gorgeous! She'd always been sweet and pretty. The girl who came to visit me that evening gave me a rise quickly. It didn't help that as soon as she walked into the house she stripped and then came to sit on my lap in the big chair. My cock was painfully hard and wedged tightly up against her butt as she wiggled in my lap to get comfortable, or to make sure I was hard—whichever. Wow!

"Brian? Will you help me?" she asked.

"What do you need, PJ?" I asked. I had to restrain myself from sucking on her prominent hard nipples that were about two inches from my mouth. How can a sweet little girl grow up so completely in two months?

"I ... um ... I have sex and I don't know what to do with it!" I looked at her and we both started giggling. "All of a sudden I've got these boobs. And ... Well, I was always curious about sex and you gave me that really nice orgasm eating me that once, but ... Everything kind of caught up with my age this summer. I'll be twenty next month, and all of a sudden all I can think about is sex! My nipples are, like, aching and I'm leaving a wet spot on your thigh. I'm changing underwear three or four times a day. God! I caught my brother with a pair smashed against his nose!"

"What did you do?" I asked. I could imagine. Her brother was four years younger and must be coming in his pants every time he thinks about a girl. I think I was at sixteen.

"I am so wicked. Don't you dare tell my mother. I thoroughly soaked another pair and offered to trade him. He had an orgasm on the spot. I could see it soak through his shorts."

"What do you want, sweetheart?" I asked.

"Teach me? Please? I know I'm going to find someone this fall in school. I can just feel it. But I really want my first time to be with someone I know and trust who will put me first. It doesn't have to be right away, or for the whole week in the master suite like the coupon you gave me. I can't believe how horny I am. Please make love to me."

Shit! I was about to come all over her butt as it was. But I was seized with the irrational fear that if I made love to Pam something terrible would happen to her. That's what happened when I made love to a girl. Lexi. Samantha. Courtney. Dani. Even Rhonda. Terrible things happened to them after I made love to them. Terrible things. Pam picked up on my sudden discomfort and my wilted cock.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just thought..."

"Pam, please. Don't jump to conclusions. Let's take it a step at a time. I'm still recovering and haven't even made love to all my cónyuge. You know I think you are incredibly beautiful and sexy. I thought that before you blossomed this summer. Kiss me like you mean what you just said and then we'll start working on it," I said.

She kissed me. And made a believer of me.

Geoff, Kevin, Robyn, Monte, and Judy showed up on Monday the 28th. That one was pretty emotional. Monte had really been a hero. Judy's best friend was killed and Monte just swept her up and took her on a road trip. They spent two months going down Route 66 and then up Hwy 101. Finally, they made it to Casa del Arco Iris. The five of them caravanned across country to get back to the ranch. Judy was really emotional when she ran to me, but she wasn't out of control. My heart broke every time I had to talk to someone who was close to Lexi. But Judy's time on the road with Monte had given her time to grieve and she was ready to get back to work.

Nancy arrived on Wednesday the thirtieth. Her parents weren't happy. They were among the most vocal about not wanting their little girl to come back to IU. Nancy immediately moved into the dorm, but her parents weren't going away. They were staying through the weekend and Marshall and Martha had offered them a place to stay.

Finally, my folks and Anna got here on Friday, July second. The Seattle contingent arrived with them. Addison, her parents, Betts, Allen, and the two kids. The Woods arrived that day, as well. Mom, Dad, and Anna were staying with Dinita. Bart and Sylvia were staying with John and Bea—which I thought was the strangest combination I'd ever heard of!

My sister got to me first. She didn't cry and didn't scold. She just wrapped me in her arms and held me. I heard her whisper, "My brother," several times. I knew what she was thinking. Samantha had lost her only sibling. Betts had almost lost hers. It was a time of reminding ourselves how precious we were to each other.

Our whole clan—what was left of us—were gathered by the holiday weekend. I knew that several more members of the tribe would come in on Saturday, but they might or might not be present for the memorial at Gamma House. It was going to be a long weekend.

"It is with great sorrow, but also with enduring hope, that we place this memorial plaque," the University Provost said. "Our sorrow is not only for the lives lost on April eighteenth and the young people wounded in body and spirit that day. It is also for the loss of innocence. As we look around us, we realize our sense of joy, life, and security has been torn from us. Our youth is gone and we have become citizens of a world that is large and scary and fraught with danger. We have suddenly become aware that not all people respect others or hold life in high regard. Not even on a campus devoted to the enrichment of our lives through knowledge and social bonding are we safe. But in the midst of that sorrow—that fear—we also have enduring hope."

There must have been a thousand people gathered on Jordan Avenue in front of Gamma House. I understood why they chose to hold this service on a holiday weekend in the middle of summer. If it had been held during the school year, thousands would have tried to cram into the space. In the soft bowl of grass between the sidewalk and Gamma House, fifty young women stood in formal dresses—many, the same dresses they had worn for the aborted induction in the spring. Next to them, looking distinct even though a casual observer might think they were just forming an aisle, were fifty sisters of Theta House, Dani's sorority. Bordering the two sororities were the men of Lambda, Raymond's fraternity, and then representatives of other fraternities and sororities on campus.

On the street side of the sidewalk were the families of the victims, the survivors and their families, faculty, citizens, and first responders. As we were led to our places at the beginning, I got to meet the EMTs who arrived at the scene first and kept me alive on the way to the hospital. I thanked them and they seemed incredibly pleased to meet the people whose lives they had saved that day. They were real heroes in my book. I wasn't the only one who nearly died.

"Our hope," continued the Provost, "is based on the fact that there are many more of you who do respect each other, who do hold life sacred, who are here for the enrichment of your minds, who embrace love, honesty, joy, challenge, friendship, and the strength of relationships built within the structure of this university, than those who would tear it down. We celebrate here, the hope that you take with you into the world outside this campus—the hope that you can change and improve the world for your own sake and the sake of your children."

The dedication was moving, especially as the Provost read the names of those who died and were wounded. Of course, it wasn't over when the Provost finished speaking. There were dignitaries present. They at least had to be introduced. The Mayor had to say something about increased security, but it was a token effort. Even he admitted that additional police and more rules about weapons on campus wouldn't have changed the outcome. He turned the podium over to the Chief of Police.

"It is the responsibility of this office to verify the facts in a case. At first glance, there were no questions regarding what happened other than what might have motivated the shooter and whether he was isolated or part of a group that might continue this violence. However, nearly a month after the shooting, allegations were made regarding the young man who was widely recognized as the hero of the day and who, himself, was seriously wounded. We do not sit around at the police station reading grocery store tabloids. But a sufficient number of complaints were received questioning the investigation that we felt it required due diligence in verifying what we thought were the facts. Detective Craig investigated allegations that the incident was gang-related and that participants were here for a fight. His findings, which have been audited by the County Attorney and the Sheriff's office, were that these allegations were totally spurious. There was no gang-related activity. The shooter left abundant evidence that he was intent on punishing all women for his perceived mistreatment. The medical examiner's report further indicated that Enders was in a fevered state with a temperature so high that he may have been hallucinating.

"While eyewitnesses indicated that Brian Frost placed himself between the shooter and his intended targets and struck Enders with enough force to kill him, the medical examiner's report gave a very different picture. There was no physical evidence that Enders had been hit in any way. At the very least, a blow of the force described would have left a contusion. The medical examiner reports that the cause of death was a body temperature so high that the blood coagulated in the shooter's brain causing his death. The police department recognizes that Brian Frost, at significant risk to his person, did, indeed, prevent the shooter from hitting some of his intended targets and bought the time necessary for the fever to permanently disable the shooter. Our investigation further revealed that Frost was not the only person who put himself in harm's way to protect others. The rapid action of Raymond Stiles, who protected Addison Partridge from the shooter's vehicular homicide, unquestionably saved Miss Partridge's life at the cost of his own. Further, forensic investigation shows that Miss Danielle Wood attacked the shooter from his blind side, knocking his gun away from his intended target and suffering a wound to her face in the process. There were others, as well, who pulled people to safety, shouted warnings, called police, and gave aid to the wounded. As the Provost has indicated that there is great hope among us, let us remember that the strength of character and heroism of people finding themselves under attack and responding to protect their fellows is a sign of that hope."

"I don't care what they said," a pretty coed said to me after the ceremony. "I saw what you did. You saved us all. Thank you."

"We just do what we can," I answered. It was the only way I could figure out to accept people's thanks without offending them about what I did or didn't do. I'd been vindicated. I couldn't imagine why the Chief of Police had chosen this forum to make the announcement, but I suppose it was because of all the news coverage. The story would be broadcast at least throughout Indiana and Louisville. I didn't know if it would be picked up by network news, but since the story was national, it was possible.

The hardest part was meeting the Giffords. Their daughter was the first target and the first to die. Standing next to her, Lexi had been second. All we could do was express condolences. Empty fucking words. I'd spent enough time in the company of Sly and Lily to know that saying I was so sorry for their loss didn't even come close comforting them. An older sister was holding her parents together.

At least reporters weren't sticking microphones in our faces. They'd tried once and a solid wall of family formed between us. They were told that this was a time for us to mourn our friends with other friends and family. If they wanted interviews, they should call and request one. I doubted anyone would. It was old news now.

Little did I know.

I saw Amy in the wall of guards, which was the first time I realized Joanne was near me. She was whispering to Samantha and then turned to me.

"I didn't know you were here," I said. "Thank you."

"You were a little preoccupied to see who was around you," she said. "I'm so glad you are up and around and are back at the ranch."