The Pledge by Yash

Chapter 2

Dara paused a few yards from the limo. She tilted her head back towards the sky. The rain pounded her face as if God himself were crying that one of his beautiful angels no longer walked the earth to share his love for people, his joy for life, and his endless pursuit of truth and justice. The torrents of rain masked her tears that seemed never ending like her tears of grief. What was she going to do without him?

Dara leaned her head back against the smooth leather seat as the limo slowly made its way down the treacherous road. Closing her eyes, she tried to mentally prepare herself for what was awaiting her, a houseful of people. Family and friends, with words of comfort that didn’t comfort; looks filled with sympathy and empathy that only served to put her on edge and make her want to avoid them. But mostly she hated the thought of all those people, who still had their loved ones with them. Felicia, Simone, Keesha, Gina, and even Ellen knew what it was like to lose a loved one, but it wasn’t the same since somewhere out there Frisco, Tom, Jason, Nikolas, and Matt lived just not with them, with the exception of Matt. She would give anything just to have Marcus back with her again.

Why had they wasted so much time getting together? When she had seen that shaved head, the abs you could bounce a quarter off of, she had to remind herself how to talk without drooling and when he spoke, shared his beliefs, she knew she had found her working class Denzel. Marcus was so good, if her mama hadn’t been happily married; she might have tried to give her a run for her money.

But instead of following through with her initial feelings, she let her feelings for Justus get in the way, knowing full well that they could never be more than just friends. She knew she couldn’t spend the rest of her life putting up with the dysfunctional, love/hate relationships that compromised the Quartermaine family.

After she had resolved her feelings for Justus, then came Marcus’ dalliance with the Brenda clone, Hannah. She laughed how ironic that he and his most hated enemy would have the same taste in women. All these insignificant people and relationships drained precious time away from them, and what they could have been and could have had much sooner.

The limo pulled up in front of the split-level house that she and Marcus had called home since the early days of their marriage. She slowly opened her eyes and thankfully she didn’t see any other cars besides her BMW and Marcus’ Expedition in the driveway. She knew it was in bad form to skip her own husband’s repast, but her place was with Marcus, not with her family and friends talking and laughing.

She was glad that Gia and Mama Campbell hadn’t stayed. She had simultaneously been consciously and unconsciously avoiding them since the news of Marcus’ murder. She couldn’t look them in the eyes, until Marcus’ killer was brought to justice by either her hands or the law. She really didn’t care which; that wasn’t true, she would prefer the former. Sonny would see to that. Once that had been accomplished, then and only then could she face the tears of a woman who had lost her eldest child and only son; and those mourning cries for the brother, father, champion, advisor, and peacemaker that Gia had lost.

The driver waited patiently in the rain waiting to open the door for her. But when she left or rather when she left the car, then life without Marcus would begin. Was she ready for that, she asked herself?

"Mom! Mom!"

She heard a voice calling and she knew ready or not life without Marcus had begun. Tapping on the window, the door opened and out she emerged into the rain.