Famous musician, Cory Hartley, has plans to end his own life. When rekindling an old flame that never died, Cory finds himself at a crossroads, as he copes with the traumatic death of his best friend. Forced to face the past that's haunted him for a...
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Cory had left soon after arriving back at Alida's house. She didn't ask where he was going, but Zora certainly did; which struck Alida as odd, considering she'd never taken an interest in any man she'd met associated with Alida.
He claimed to need a shower and some clean clothes, but insisted that he would be back tomorrow.
However, Alida wasn't holding her breath on it. She knew that most likely, she'd never hear from Cory Hartley ever again.
Alida helped her Mother clean up after their traditional Saturday night dinner. She waited until Zora had gone out of the room before telling SusaBeth about Cory's surprise visit.
"Guess who showed up at my house Thursday night?" Alida asked, hoping Zora hadn't already told her. To her surprise, she was visibly curious.
"Who?"
"Cory."
SusaBeth's eyes widened—a smile just as big spreading across her face. "How's he doing? I haven't heard from him in years—I didn't even know you two were still in contact."
"We're not. When I say he showed up, I mean, he literally just showed up."
SusaBeth's smile faded, her eyes growing serious. "Is he okay?"
"No. He's definitely not okay."
"What happened?"
"For starters, he showed up drunk at 1 o'clock in the morning. Then," Alida shook her head, replaying the awful scene of Cory walking across a four lane highway, "then he had some type of episode at the intersection. The one where... he and Aidan."
Her Mother nodded with pursed lips—the gesture filled with despair. "What's he doing back here, did he say?"
"I don't know. I've got a bad feeling about it though. Zora likes him... which is weird—she doesn't really like anyone." Alida chuckled when seeing SusaBeth nod in agreement.
"Well that's good. I hate to hear he's not well though—he was such a great kid."
"Who are you talking about?" Brian entered the kitchen snacking on a piece of white almond fudge as he looked back and forth between Alida and SusaBeth.
"Cory. You remember Cory Hartley, don't you?" SusaBeth asked.
"Oh yeah, Mr. Famous—how's he doing?"
"Alida said he showed up at her house the other night. She said he... had an episode."
"What's that mean?" Brian looked to his daughter for elaboration; he knew he wasn't going to get it from her Mother.
