I had plans to meet my boss at six o’clock to talk about issues concerning financial problems. I made my children dinner and kissed my husband goodbye as I headed out the back door. We were meeting at a nearby restaurant so I didn’t have far to drive. I parked a block away next to the new pizza place that opened up recently. The town was small and quiet. It was never busy except on the weekends when families brought their kids out for fresh air. It was clean, and the brick building looked old fashion, but I liked it that way. I got out and spotted a man standing by himself against a brick building. He just stood there staring at me as if he knew who I was and wanted to speak to me. I looked at my phone and had ten minutes until I had to be at the restaurant, so I decided to approach him. I stuck out my hand to greet him, and he gripped my hand harder than I expected. His dry hands made me let go. I can’t stand the feeling of dry hands, let alone this strangers. I didn’t understand why I decided to approach the man, but I had a gut feeling that it was the right thing to do. “What is your name?” He asked.
“Maeve,” I replied. He wouldn’t take his eyes off of me, and I wasn’t sure how to avoid it. I looked down at my shoes and then checked the time. “Do I know you?” I asked looking back up. The man took a few minutes to respond.
“My name is John Coke,” he said. I circled the name through my head multiple times not recognizing the name. He didn’t look familiar, and I didn’t recall seeing him anywhere either. I had a weird feeling it was time for me to leave, so I looked at my phone and put it back in my pocket, giving a kind smile and a saying a gentle goodbye. I walked away from John and tried to clear my mind before I had to sit down for my meeting. I took a few steps forward looking up at the signs of all the cute shops lining the streets when his voice called out, “You don’t know who I am do you?” I hesitated, but kept walking knowing I would be late if I tried to stop again.
Ten minutes into the meeting all I thought about was this John. I didn’t understand why he was so interested in me. I’ve never seen this guy in my life for goodness sake. He seems to think I should know who he is, but maybe he’s just crazy. My boss knew I was lost somewhere deep into thoughts, so we kept the meeting brief and short. He said we could finish up the following day during lunch break.
After I returned home I walked to my bedroom to find my husband laying in bed. I took off my jacket and threw my phone on the dresser. “How did the meeting go?” he asked.
“Oh it was good,” I replied. “ We decided to make the final changes tomorrow instead.” I looked for my laptop and began to google search John Coke, but no names had popped up. My husband leaned over to see what I was in such a rush for.
“Who is John Coke?” he asked.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I replied. “Some man talked to me on my way to my meeting and acted like I should’ve known him.”
My husband looked at me with a funny look, “That’s kind of strange. Did he not tell you where he knows you from?”
“All he said was his name and as I left he called out don’t you remember me? Nothing about where from,” I replied. I shut my screen and decided to forget about it and move on with my night. I had to be up early and get my kids ready for school, and make it on time to work. I kissed my husband goodnight and turned off the lights.
The following morning on my way in I decided to stop at the bakery for donuts, because I didn’t have time to eat breakfast. I picked out a glazed donut with a small cup of coffee to go. I reached for the door handle to push it open on my way out, but the person on the outside had beat me to it. Opening up wide I waited for them to walk in first, but they insisted I go instead. I walked out appreciating the kindness to start off my morning. I got to my car and saw a note card tucked in my windshield wipers. I set my coffee and donut on the passenger seat and then grabbed the note. I sat in my car and flipped it over to the front side. On it read, “ I see you got a late start, I wish I could help out. Next time let me buy you a donut. -John”
My heart began to race and I looked around everywhere, but this man was nowhere in sight. I shut the door and sat staring at the note card. I thought to myself, I needed to find out who the man was. Why would he want to buy me a donut and how does he know I was running behind? I had so many questions that needed to be answered. I crumpled the note and threw it next to me in the cup holder. I put the car in reverse and backed out until a big crash up ahead created a loud bang and shattering noises that startled me. I slammed on the breaks and my coffee dumped all over the seat. Looking down the road I saw a car had ran into a the side of a big oak tree and completely totaled the car. The whole front end was diminished and smoke was creeping out of the sides. The windows were all shattered into tiny pieces scattered all over the road. Metal pieces were flown in every direction and nobody was climbing out of the vehicle. I shut my car off and ran over to help. My skirt was blowing in the wind, but I didn’t care. My heels were fresh out of the box, but I didn’t care. My curls were now ruined, but I didn’t care. I dialed 911 on my way and, as soon as I hung up sirens were already on their way. I got to the window and looked down at this man who was covered in blood. I called at him multiple times, but got no answer. “Sir!” I yelled shaking him to wake up. “Can you hear me? are you okay? Sir wake up!” I looked at my hands that were now smeared in red. I checked for a pulse, but there was none to be found. I backed away feeling a teardrop land on my foot. Fumes and gasoline were emerged into the air. The ambulance pulled up and got the man out of the car. They laid him out onto a stretcher and as they lifted him up note cards fell to the ground. I froze and looked up at the guy. John Coke was the dead man being taken away. A few more tears had streamed down my face. I would never learn the truth about what this guy was doing and why he kept talking to me.
There was no way I was going to drive into work after witnessing that. I drove back home and went inside to wash my hands and change my clothes. I called into work and told them I wasn’t going to make it in for the day. My husband was getting ready to leave for work, but when he saw me home he started to question me. He saw I had been crying and my hair was a mess. He saw the stains on my shirt from the blood on my hands. I explained the whole situation and that John Coke was no longer alive. “I need to find out who John is,” I said. He hugged me tight and told me everything was going to be okay, and we would find out who John Coke was.
“Why don’t we go to the police and show them the notecard and see if they can help us find out what this man was trying to do,” he spoke. We got into the car and drove off to the police station down town. One of the officers I saw on scene of the car crash was pulling in right in front of us. I got out and walked towards the police car, and he stepped out when he saw me coming.
“Can I help you ma’am?” he asked
“My name is Maeve and I would like to ask some questions about the guy that just crashed his car. He has been following me trying to get me to recognize him from somewhere and then he left this note on my car right before he crashed. I have no idea who he is and would like to find out,” I explained. The police officer looked at the notecard and nodded his head.
“Yes,” he said. “John Coke was an old friend of mine. He talked about you all the time when we went out for a drink. You’re his daughter, Maeve. He has been trying to get ahold of you ever sense you were taken away from him when you were an infant, but he wasn’t allowed to see you. Your mom was killed in a car accident in the winter, and he suffered from alcoholism. That’s when you were taken away from him and your adopted parents took you in. Your dad wanted to give you the best life possible, and he knew he couldn’t give you that. He told me he was going to work hard to change his life and save money to give to you in return. He was guilty for not being able to buy you Christmas or birthday presents and was going to find a way to meet you and explain how sorry he was. He wanted to be a part of your life since he missed out on so much of it. He talked about wanting to meet your kids and being a part of their lives, watching them grow up. I offered to help him, but he wanted to do it all on his own. I never imagined things would end this way, I’m sorry Maeve.”
I looked at my husband with my eyes filled with tears again. I was upset that I didn’t pay attention to John. My birth father who was trying to meet his own daughter, and I walked away on him the other day. Now he’s dead, and the regret struck me like a bullzye while playing darts. My husband put his arms around me in comfort, “ Everything is going to be okay, hun. Let’s go home and we’ll talk.”
A month later I have received all the money from my father. I decided to give back and donated to various charities and organizations throughout the community. My dad grew to be a better person by changing his life to have me back in it, and I wanted to return the favor and be a better person by helping to change the lives of many others. After distributing the money out I looked out into my garden and saw the chrysanthemums were no longer wilted, but standing straight up embracing the sunlight. Everything felt right now and the weight and sadness had finally been lifted off my chest. One day I will be able to meet my dad, but until then I’ll live to make him proud and raise my children the way he would have liked to do with me.