the Fragment Chronicles: Katherine [Rewriting] ⊸

Chapter Three : Ian Crews

"I'm sorry, come again?"

          She gave Walter an empathetic smile, setting JT on the couch as he played with his Guardians of the Galaxy action figures. She pulled Walter to the side so that her son wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.

          "There are eighteen people on that List," she began, staring him right into his chocolate brown eyes. "When I got pregnant, the doctor said it'd only been four weeks. There were only three people left on the List — you were the last one."

          "Me, Donald and Heath," Walter recalled, seeing she was quite impressed. "I like to re-read."

          She hummed, "So, will you help me?"

          He licked his lips, taking a deep breath, "I dunno, Katherine — "

          "Look, I know when we did what we did, I left suddenly," she interrupted. "I can't really get into the reasons why, but I sincerely apologize. I am truly sorry for everything I did. And JT is starting to ask questions I don't have answers to, and every son deserves to know his father right?"

          Walter rocked back on forth on his heels, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah," he agreed.

          She managed to suppress a grin in order not to get her hopes up, "So ... what d'ya say?"

          Walter stuffed his hand into his pant pockets, "Six to three on weekdays."

          Her brows furrowed, "Huh?"

          "Those are my hours," he told her.

          Her eyes widened and she smiled from ear to ear. Wrapping her arms around him, Walter flinched as he notice how excited she was to give him a hug. Just as he started to return the favor, she pulled back. "Okay, um, do you have my List?"

          Walter nodded and walked across the living room, into the bedroom. He reached under one of the corners of the mattress and reach under, moving his arm around until he got ahold of it.

          When he handed it to her, she flipped through it like she was reading it for the first time; not knowing what to expect, not knowing what she wrote, not knowing the person she used to be.

           "You alright?" Walter asked.

          "Uh huh, nostalgia." She replied while walking over to sit next to JT on the couch.

          Walter took a seat in an old recliner, reaching for his laptop on the coffee table and logging into his account. "Can you do something for me really quickly?" He heard her say, still skimming over the pages.

          "Yeah, what?"

          "Google: Ryder Evans," she told him and he typed the name into the search engine.

          "What's he look like?"

          "Uh," he glanced up to see her eyes closed, like she was forcing herself to remember. "Brown skin, kinda curly hair — we went to the same college."

          "Which college?" He asked, scrolling through the countless accounts of people with the name 'Ryder Evans'.

          "Maryland Institute of College of Art," she answered. "He smokes cigarettes — "

          "Found him." Walter interrupted, turning his laptop around so she could view the screen from where she was sitting.

          "Is that what Facebook's used for now?" She asked, "Internet stalking?"