Aloha

Most wonderful time of the year, my ass, Jimmy thought. I detest the chaos caused by everyone's fake smiles and insincere gift-giving simply because it's the festive season.

This place will never be the same since Rocko and I were stuck together at Christmas many years ago. This year, he unexpectedly appeared in my thoughts, which caused me to feel as though something was amiss.

Whenever I purchase a gift for someone, I feel like I'm being watched closely or that Rocko will suddenly appear and greet me with, "Aloha, friend."

Considering that we were friends in grade school for about a month before his family moved since his father stabbed his mother. It was a bad scene, and I saw all the blood because Rocko called me over on my way to school and asked me to stay with him until the ambulance got there.

"Please don't leave me. I can't handle this alone. My dad's in the backyard smoking, " Rocko said.

"I won't," I said. Not knowing what I was saying, I won't.

He held his front door open, and I went inside.

The scene was horrific. His mother was lying in a heap on the floor. She had stab wounds everywhere. I saw blood pooling in one spot, and I put a dishcloth in a bunch and shoved it over the wound.

Then I got down on my knees and started talking to her.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Brush, they're coming for me. Stay with me."

She opened her eyes and said, "Jimmy, is that you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm helping out Rocko."

"Well, aren't you sweet?"

The ambulance attendants then came in and took over. They were pleased to see that I had covered the wound and happy to hear I was talking to her.

"Boys, where's the guy who did it?"

"He's in the backyard. He's a bad man. He needs to be taken away and put away for life," I said. "He's always hitting his wife and son, Rocko, here."

"Rocko, is that true?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay. We'll see what we can do."

The attendants radioed the police and told them where the perpetrator was and that he had a weapon.

The police turned off their sirens and crept into the backyard via the trees and bushes. I saw Rocko's dad sitting on the picnic table with his head in his hands, a cigarette lit, drinking a beer.

"Hands in the air," a policeman yelled.

I watched him put his hands in the air and get off the picnic table top onto the ground. They cuffed him without incident.

Rocko cried.

I told him, "You can come to my house today after school."

He smiled.

Little did I know he would be there until after Christmas.

Rocko didn't know it, but he ruined my Christmas. He stole my attention, and he captured my mother's heart. It was sometime in January before school started again, and they took him away to his permanent new home.

He cried.

Mom cried, too. She promised to remain in touch with him.

He told me, "After he became old enough to take the bus alone or drive, and if he got a car, he would drop by whenever he could."

That was the part that worried me.

It had been at least thirteen years, and we had stopped communicating long ago at the foster parent's request. They said we unsettled Rocko for weeks after we came.

That was the last thing my mother wanted to do, so she took the time to write letters to Rocko. Something I knew nothing about.

When my father passed away, it was just my mother and me. When my mother moved to the nursing home, I was still young. She had Parkinson's disease, and it was advanced.

I now lived alone, and as the head scientist at Medtronic, I had a great-paying job. I had a great circle of friends but not many inner circle friends. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was definitely off this year, and I worried that it might be the year my mother would die.

I spent a lot of time at the care home with her. I wanted to soak up every minute of her remaining time. After a while, I realized that the nurses thought the mom had two sons, so I asked them why.

They explained that another man had also come to visit Mom. Most of the time, it was after I had left, but he would often wait in another lobby until he saw me leave and then go and visit with her.

Shit, my drawers, I thought there was something off.

It had to be Rocko. Who else do I know who would visit my mother?

I went to the home and visited with Mom. I wheeled her back to her room and left. I walked out the door and waited about ten minutes. Then, I returned to my mother's room and saw a man sitting with her.

Rocko stood up. He stared at me. He looked terrified.

"Aloha, Jimmy. I'm sorry I didn't come to your house and ask permission to speak with your mother first. But I was afraid you would say no."

"Why would I say that?"

"I don't know, probably because when we were kids, you were jealous of your mom's attention she showed me."

"True, but I was a kid. Isn't that normal?"

"Maybe. But my mom died, and my dad killed her and went to jail for it. I needed one adult to stand by my side," Rocko said. "I wouldn't have made it that day without you and your parents."

"Thanks, I never knew that."

"I was sorry to hear about your dad's passing. I went to the funeral but was at the back of the church."

"Thanks."

"Anyway. Your mother is tired, and I should get going."

"Wait. Don't you want to catch up on things?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you come over to the house? You know where it is," Jimmy said.

"Great. I'll follow you."

Both men drove in anticipation of what would come next. In all this time, Jimmy had never felt for anyone what he thought for Rocko. All those feelings flooded back to him when he saw Rocko.

Rocko could hardly wait to see Jimmy alone. He wanted to hug him and just be with him. He had no one in his life and wanted Jimmy to be his.

The men got inside the house and hugged one another.

"Did you know when we were young?" Rocko asked.

"Yeah. Did you?" Jimmy said.

"Yes. I always wanted to reconnect with you because I knew you were the one for me."

"What do you say? We take it slow, and if all goes well, can we share this house or sell it and share another dwelling?"

"That doesn't sound slow to me, Jimmy. But it sounds terrific, and I'm willing to try it."

It indeed was the happiest time of the year. And Jimmy was glad something was off. It changed his life forever. The two men stayed together until Rocko died of old age. Jimmy lived for another five years, and then he died too, also of old age.