Jacqueline Druga: What Tomorrow Brings

She wondered where all these extra people needing seats were, because to her, the gate looked pretty empty. Then again there was a strange amount of soldiers at the gate, about twelve, all lugging huge duffle bags and backpacks. All in uniform. Were they being deployed somewhere? Perhaps that was the reason they needed the seats.

None of them looked happy. In fact, one soldier, a young man paced back and forth, phone to his ear, appearing to be having some sort of emotional conversation. Kit felt bad for him.

Then again, she was well aware of emotional conversations.

Her phone beeped signaling a message and Kit didn’t want to read it. Until she saw it was from her daughter.

‘ Be careful. Good luck. Text me when you land. Love you.’

Kit smiled and replied with thanks and love.

She would need good luck on many levels. In the seconds following that text it hit her again the reason for the trip. Kit’s chest swelled with anxiety and heaviness, she exhaled to try to relieve it.

It wasn’t a fun filled trip, or business venture. In fact Kit only took flights east twice a year to visit her father.

This was the first trip in the year, but also the last one she would ever take.

Her father had died.

Even though he lived thousands of miles away, Kit was not estranged from him. Her parents divorced when she was young and then her mother moved them all from Virginia to Washington State. She spent a few summers with her father, then as she grew older, the trips were less frequent. However, she never missed a phone call, daily texts, weekly video chats and all the social media things in between.

His death was a shock.

He was still young in her mind, only sixty-five. Not even retired. Kit had just spoken to him, he was going fishing. Then a few hours later, his wife Sandra called to say he had a heart attack. That was it. He was gone.

The memorial service was in three days.

It was Sandra who made the flight arrangements. Deana, Kit’s sister lived out east. Kit supposed Deana hoped none of the siblings showed up. If flight arrangements were up to her, Deana probably would have said, “Sorry they’re booked up.”

Rather… she didn’t want Mark to come.

Mark was the black sheep, the outcast and more so recently because of his sudden divorce. For some reason, everyone passed judgment on Mark because he didn’t want to be married anymore. They sided with his wife as if Mark committed some sort of mortal sin.

It was his third wife, but the only one he ever had a child with.

Regis didn’t talk to Mark, nor did Deana and because Kit decided to be Switzerland, Regis avoided her.

It was a mess and one Kit wished they’d all get over. Especially at a time when they all needed each other.

Another beep of her phone, and Kit looked down. She thought Jillie was texting again, but it was Deana.

‘You know he didn’t even tell his wife he was leaving?’ Deana texted . ‘Our brother is a piece of shit. Keep him away from me.’

Kit exhaled and thought, really? Our dad just died and you’re being like this?

Kit didn’t respond.

“Mom, you okay?” Zeke asked, snapping her from her stare of the phone.

“Um, yeah.” Kit cleared her throat. “Just Aunt Deana being…”

“Aunt Deana?”

“Yep.” Her fingers fumbled. “I think I’ll just shut it off.”

“You don’t need to.”

“Yes, more than you realize, I do.” She held the button in to shut it off. “Thank you for coming to this.”

“Mom, please, it’s Pap.”

Suddenly Kit’s eyes felt heavy and her throat thickened. She had tried not to cry so much. “Yeah, it was.”

“Anyhow… Uncle Rege asked me to run to Pizza Villa and grab him food. You want anything.”

“Oh, yes, please.” She reached for her purse. “Get me a slice and coffee.” Grabbing her wallet, she pulled out a twenty.

“He gave me money.”

“I don’t think he wants to pay for my food.” Kit forced a sad smile.

“Mom, really?”

“Yeah, really.” She placed the bill in his hand. “Just plain pizza if they have it. Thank you.”

Zeke took the money, put it in his pocket. “It will all get better. It’ll work out. You’ll see, the second we touch down everything will change.” After kissing her on the cheek he walked away.

Kit shook her head sadly and tried to smile at his youthful optimism.

He didn’t get it.

Things were bad. It got petty and mean. Brothers and sisters shouldn’t hate each other at any age. They were far too old for the drama.

It broke Kit’s heart.

She looked across the terminal to her brother Mark who was on the phone at the other end of the gate. Then she glanced to Regis who was reading something five rows over. It was pathetic, and sad. They should be grieving over their father together not battling it individually. They weren’t strangers, they were family. Not only were they away from each other at the airport, they would be seated separately on the plane, but they were emotionally further apart than they had ever been.

Never before had they been anything less than a tight unit. Always having each other’s backs.

More than anything, Kit wanted them all to be as one, to heal, to come together. She hoped and believed with everything in her that the pettiness of the previous weeks would be lost and become a distant memory, and that somehow they’d all forgive and forget the hurtful things said and done.

She thought of Zeke’s words.

“It’ll work out. You’ll see, the second we touch down, everything will change.”

Little did she know, as she sat at that gate, that when the plane did touch down, how absolutely right Zeke would be.

Typically, there was a lot of bumping and polite shoving when Kit boarded a plane. Impatient people fighting for their spot in line so they could get overhead compartment space. It wasn’t that way, there just didn’t seem to be that many people.

She conveyed her curiosity to Zeke about why they were offering vouchers for people to give up their seats, to which he simply replied, “Maybe it’s not a space issue as much as it is a weight issue.”

Was the plane carrying a heavy cargo?

Kit was certain she didn’t add much to the baggage weight, her small carry on fit nicely in the space overhead. Although, she did have some trouble getting it in, not because of the weight, more so because people were trying to squeeze by her. One of them, her brother Regis. He brushed by her as if he was a stranger and took his seat. He never brought carry on with him. He was a snob on that front, even going as far as getting irritated with people who carried their own luggage. She guessed he was especially irritated with Mark, because he just didn’t bring a small suit case, he brought a tote and laptop. She was curious as to how Mark was going to get away with it.

Mark walked by her and shook his head. “How’d you and Zeke get so lucky up here. I’m like way in the back.”

“You’ll manage.”

Mark shoved her carry on in the bin. “You’re holding up the line.” He grinned.

He was such a stark contrast to Regis.

The big brother was a real estate lawyer and served on the board of his local church. Mark was a free spirit, who worked doing sales pitches at conventions and car shows, while making a little money doing acting gigs.

On the physical side, Regis was older, bald and stout, especially around the middle. Mark was tall, thin with dark wavy hair and a thirty thousand dollar smile. Literally, a thirty thousand dollar smile… he took out a second mortgage for his dynamic grin when he landed a small speaking roll and an ‘on screen’ part in a blockbuster super hero movie.