Rene was still in shock as the door closed behind Colleen and Greg. He turned to Khal, who was placing some cups in the sink, and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt in order to clean the dishes. 

“Kh-Khal, what was that?” Rene asked. Khal looked at him in surprise.

“What was what?” He asked. 

“That! Colleen, acting like we were best friends. Actually apologizing for her behavior. I would never in a million years have imagined that happening. How did you manage to do that?”

Khal started to wash the cups as he took a moment to respond. 

“I talked to her. That’s all. I brought her around to the real world, and she was surprisingly receptive. There’s a good person in there, behind all that fear.” 

“You don’t have to wash those.” Rene said, indicating the dishes. 

“I don’t mind.” Khal shrugged. “Really.”

Rene was at a loss. He’d been expecting to come home and have a difficult conversation with Khal about moving on, but this whole situation with Colleen had thrown things in a wildly different direction. Colleen no longer seemed to care that Khal was staying at his place, nor did she seem to judge them as she left, promising that Greg was going to apologize to Emory directly for how he’d spoken to her, despite her punching him in the face. It seemed Colleen would no longer be sowing seeds of doubt and unease in the neighborhood, and that had to mean something. 

Rene walked over and sat down at the kitchen table, deep in thought. God, what he wouldn’t give for Misha to be here. To help him through figuring out this new weird situation. To laugh with him over the strange 180° turn their neighbor had suddenly taken. 

Of course, if Misha was still here, then Khal wouldn’t be, and this series of events wouldn’t have happened. 

“You’ve got an incredible gift.” Rene said as Khal finished washing the glasses and finally sat down to join him at the table. 

“It’s my job to get to know people. And when I do know them, I can often hack away at the barriers that keep them from seeing reason. Like I said, she’s just scared. I managed to assure her there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Right.” Rene nodded. “Right, incredible.”

“You look like you have something on your mind.” Khal pointed out. “By the way, where’s Emory?”

“Emory.” Rene licked his lips. “You’re right. I asked Ari to take her tonight, because I wanted to talk to you.”

Khal nodded knowingly, “I knew this was coming. And I completely understand. You need me to leave. I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

“No, no.” Rene shook his head. 

Khal smiled and put his hands up, “I completely understand, and it’s okay, I promise.”

“Khal, you have been an absolute lifesaver. We’ve been so lucky to have you here since…well, we’ve been so lucky to have you. I don’t think I’ve ever met a kinder and more compassionate soul in my life. I hope we can stay friends, and that one day I can begin to pay you back for the kindness you have shown my family.”

Khal blushed, but said nothing. 

“You’ve done so much for us. Thank you. Seriously, thank you.” Rene reached out and touched Khal’s hand. That strange familiarity immediately hit him, and he wondered if he was doing the right thing after all. But this wasn’t about Khal. This was about him, and Emory, and Misha’s memory. This was about moving on with their lives. Khal wouldn’t even be in town much longer anyway. “You don’t have to leave. You’re welcome to stay here until you head out of town. I don’t want you to ever feel like an inconvenience.”

Rene pulled his hand back, and for the briefest moment, he thought Khal was reaching for him, but Khal quickly pulled his hands back and put them under the table. He smiled, with that shy little smile of his. 

“I was actually thinking about heading out tomorrow.” Khal said. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you. I wanted to make sure you were okay first. But it looks like you’re doing alright here.”

“Thanks in no small part to you, of course.” Rene pointed out. 

“It was the least I could do after the wonderful hospitality you showed me. Misha was such an incredible man. It’s crushing to meet someone who shines so brightly like he did, and who is gone so quickly.”

Rene nodded, and looked wistfully into the distance, “Misha was the best thing to ever happen to me. A once in a lifetime man. I’m so lucky to have known him. And so fucking pissed that he’s gone.”

Rene felt wet tears running down his face. He didn’t bother wiping them. He cried so much these days that it barely phased him. 

“He really was something.” Khal said. 

Khal stood and walked over to the fridge. He pulled out some containers of food and popped them in the microwave. He then grabbed two forks from the drawer and handed one to Rene. 

“I was expecting Emory for dinner too. I got us Italian takeout.” Khal said, sitting back down and opening his container that was fresh out of the microwave. The warm delicious smell of stuffed shells wafted toward Rene, and he found himself salivating at the thought of the delicious food before him. 

“You didn’t have to do that.” Rene said, shaking his head in amusement. 

“It was my pleasure.” Khal grinned. 

They both dug into their delicious dinner. 

*****

The next day, Rene woke with a pit in his stomach. This wasn’t the general feeling of grief he’d had all week about losing Misha, this was a stone of dismay at the fact that Khal would be heading out today. Rene was very much going to miss his new friend. The reality of life without Khal around as support was trickling in, and Rene didn’t really want to think of just how depressing it was going to be once he was gone, and that gaping Misha sized hole was more evident than ever. 

Rene got ready for work. When he went out to the living room, he saw that Khal was already packed, all of his luggage set by the door, ready to go. Khal smiled at him as he entered the kitchen.

“I made breakfast.” Khal said, gesturing with his spatula to the pile of pancakes on a plate beside him. “Please, help yourself.”

“You’re too good to me.” Rene said. 

“I could say the same to you.” Khal pointed out. 

Rene chuckled and ate his breakfast. 

“What time will you be heading out?” Rene asked between bites of pancake. 

“I was hoping to get a chance to say goodbye to Emory tonight, and then I’ll head out. I prefer driving at night anyway. Fewer people on the road.”

“You won’t be too tired?” Rene asked. He wasn’t sure if he was asking out of genuine concern, or if he was looking for an excuse to keep Khal from leaving him alone with his crushing thoughts. 

“Nah. I’ll nap today and be good to go.” Khal said. 

“Why don’t you meet us at the library.” Rene suggested. “I’ll ask Ari to drop Emory there after school. We could maybe go out for ice- cream or something before you leave.”

“I’d like that.” Khal nodded. “Thank you.”

*****

Work was even stranger on Rene’s second day back. For the most part, everyone kept skirting around him, and it made him feel so uncomfortable. Being treated like he was made of glass by his coworkers was so awkward. Katrina kept giving him hugs every chance she got, which he genuinely appreciated. He hung out with her at lunch, listening to her ramble to Julie about the serial killer, a topic she couldn’t seem to stop obsessing over. 

“He’s only gone after men so far?” Rene asked, poking vaguely at his lunch. “No children?”

“Well, none of the bodies that have turned up have been children, but I guess there’s no way to tell. I guess there have been no missing persons cases involving kids lately?” Katrina admitted. “But who knows! I mean, this is crazy! You should definitely watch yourself. The guy targets attractive men. You’d probably be right up his alley.”

“Ooof, thanks for the concern.” Rene said. “And the compliment, I guess.”

“Some folks reported seeing a strange black van driving around.” Julie said. “So keep an eye out for strange vans.” 

“I think that’s maybe Frank’s job.” Rene pointed out. Frank, who was sitting in the corner of the room eating his sandwich, had a good chuckle at the comment. 

“I’ll keep an eye out for you, young man.” Frank said. “But you better watch yourself. It’s a crazy world out there, and I can’t follow you home.”

“I’ll be careful.” Rene smiled. 

Katrina yelped and started to scrub at her dress with a paper towel, “Ugh! One of the twins must have gotten formula on my dress this morning. Can’t believe I’ve been walking around all day like this and no one said anything!”

“It’s barely noticeable.” Rene pointed out. “How are the twins anyway?”

“Oh, you know, bundles of terror and chaos, really. Though, they did let me sleep a solid 7 hours last night, which was frankly suspicious.”

“Well, you look fresh as a daisy. If that daisy was covered in formula.” Rene said.

Katrina slapped him playfully and threw her paper towel on the table, giving up on even attempting to get the stain out of her dress. 

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “If Carl comes in and says something about it, I’ll just strangle him.”

“That sounds fun. Can I join?” Rene asked. 

“Of course.” Katrina nodded. “I’ll give you first crack.”

Julie burst out laughing until she was crying. She took a full minute to calm down enough to be able to breathe. Rene and Katrina looked at her in amusement. 

“Well aren’t you a sadistic one.” Rene pointed out. 

This cracked her up again, and Rene actually found himself joining in. It felt strange to laugh. Strange, but nice. 

*****

Rene jumped in surprise as tiny arms wrapped around his waist, and Emory laid her head against his stomach in greeting.

“Hi daddy!” She said. 

“Hi darling. How was school?” Rene asked, setting down the book he’d been reshelving, and crouching down to her level so that they could chat. 

“It was dumb. Kids keep asking me questions about dad, and I don’t want to answer them. I told them to leave me alone, so my teacher let me take space in the reading nook. I stayed there most of the day.” 

“Best place in the room, I think.” Rene pointed out. 

“Yeah.” Emory shrugged. “Daddy, why did you have me stay with mommy last night? Are you upset with me for what happened with Greg?”

“What? No! No, not at all, darling.” Rene said. “I just figured you’d have more fun at Ari’s right now, since home is kinda depressing, you know? I’m not mad at you! Not one bit.”

“Is that the only reason?” Emory asked. 

“Well…” Rene bit his lip anxiously. “I also needed to talk to Khal. It turns out that he’s going to be heading out this evening. He wanted a chance to say goodbye to you. We’re going to go out for ice- cream after I’m done working.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t quite read Emory’s emotions, but he suspected that she was disappointed.

“I’m sorry, darling. He just has to get going home. I know it’s been nice having him around.”

She nodded, but it looked like she was going to cry. 

“Hey. All of your feelings are valid, okay? So feel whatever you need to feel. Cry if you need to cry. No one is going to judge you.”

She swallowed and nodded, “I’ll be okay.”

Rene gave her a big hug, just holding her for a moment. 

“I love you so much, Em. You’re my world, you know that?”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and after a moment, where he could tell that she was crying, she finally pulled away and wiped her face.

“I’m going to go to the Kid’s Corner while you work.” She said.

“Okay. Make sure you stay in sight of Frank, alright? I want you around someone you know at all times.”

She frowned, “Okay.”

He gave her hands a little squeeze, and she took off to read or play on the computer in the Kid’s Corner. 

A few hours later, it was dark out. Rene glanced out the upstairs window, and his stomach jumped as he saw Khal sitting on the bench outside, reading a book. Most of the patrons had left already. The place was all but empty, and he had just finished his final check. He rapped his fingers on the window, and Khal glanced up from his book. When he saw Rene, he smiled and waved. 

Rene held one finger up to indicate he would just be a moment finishing up. He thought about texting Khal, or indicating he should come inside, but he saw something that made him freeze. A large black van had just turned the corner, and screeched down the road. Khal had just stood up, and was placing his book into his work bag. He turned around and slung the bag over his shoulder as the van came to a screeching halt. 

The driver jumped out of the van, his head covered by a baseball cap, eyes covered by sunglasses, even in the dark. Rene began to bang on the window, and point at the driver, to warn Khal, but it was too late. The driver snatched up Khal, dragging him to the back of the van like he weighed nothing, and tossed him in, before slamming the door and hurrying back to the driver’s side. 

Rene bolted down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him. The van was already peeling away as Rene ran behind it, screaming for the driver to stop. It was too dark to read the license plate on the back. Tinted windows made it impossible to see inside, but he knew Khal was in there. 

“No!” Rene yelled, running as fast as his legs would carry him, but it was no use. The van zipped around the corner, and was out of sight. “No!“

Rene tried to follow, but by the time he reached the corner, the van was nowhere to be seen. With a shaky hand, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1, blurting out everything that had happened to the dispatcher as soon as they answered. He gave every detail he could of the van and the man who had grabbed Khal. He slowly made his way back to the library as he spoke, his body trembling. 

Khal’s work bag lay on the ground where he’d dropped it. Rene picked it up with a shaky hand as the dispatcher warned him to go inside the library and stay there until police arrived. Rene walked inside to a very startled group of people, including Frank, Emory, and Julie, who were all looking at him in utter surprise.

“What happened?” Frank asked. 

“He-he got Khal. He got Khal.” Rene shook his head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. 

Chapter 12 https://storiesfrommontana.com/2023/04/09/writing-challenge-2023-part-12-still-untitled/