One Year, Fourteen Days: Chapter Two

Liam was not a fan of hip-hop music, but after the fourth listen, "California Love" by Tupac was starting to grow on him. 

It was one of the many songs on a carefully curated Spotify playlist Diana made for him before she was sent out. It was filled to the brim with 90's and 2000's rap and pop, just the kind of stuff she would listen to. It was also just the kind of stuff he despised. 

"Diana," he said when he first saw it, "I literally hate all of these songs." 

"Well, first off, this is a playlist for you to remember me, not the other way around, of course I'm putting music I like. Second of all, I know that's a lie, it's impossible to hate 'Mr. Brightside,'" she had said. 

Liam wasn't set out to leave for another two hours, but he wanted alone time, so he found himself being the first one to show up. Chief Kennedy hadn't arrived yet, and the boat was still off limits, so he plopped down on the sidewalk against a fence and played the music. There were a lot of songs, but the shuffle feature wasn't quite doing its job, so only a handful of them were playing on a hellish loop. 

'SOS' by Rhianna was just starting when a group of people were making their way over, who Liam realized was Kennedy and his parents upon closer inspection. He quickly shut the music off and got off the ground to greet them. "Good afternoon," he said, making sure to keep his posture straight. 

Kennedy gave a short nod but stayed silent, but his parents had other ideas. His mom came terrifyingly close to tackling him to the ground as she hugged him, and he could immediately feel a wetness on his shoulder. His dad stayed back, but the look of pure anger on his face made him wish he had been tackled so he wouldn't have seen it. 

"You just don't know how to leave things alone, don't you?" the man asked. He stepped closer to Liam and jammed a finger at his chest. "If you wanted to kill yourself, there are better of ways of going about it, you know?" 

"Brian Ellsworth!" his mom screamed out. "Don't talk about your son that way. He's trying to help." 

"Oh yeah, okay, Anna. He's been dragging ass everywhere he goes for the past year because he doesn't know how to man up, and I can't assume stuff like that?" 

Liam was too stunned to speak. Him and his dad had talks about moving on, or more like why he needs to move on, but they never crossed the line into harshness like how he did just now. He tightened his grip on the phone so much his knuckles went numb. 

Kennedy was never good at reading the room, but he was smart enough to understand what was happening and stepped in between the two men. "Okay, everyone stop for a second. Brian, you know your son better than all of us, so your concerns are completely natural. But I specifically asked Liam to do this mission, he didn't sign up for it."

"He could've said no then." Brian put his hands on his hips and leaned forward a bit towards Kennedy, like what he was saying was common sense. 

"Well, I didn't." Liam instantly regretted what he said. Not because it furthered the argument, but because it ceased it immediately. The air went tense and awkward, and Liam wanted to slam his head on the fence behind him. Maybe then he could slam out the part of his brain that thought it would be a cool, badass things to say. 

"No, I suppose you didn't," Brian finally said. 

Liam's phone started to ring, and he excused himself to answer it. He heard Brian say something about taking a quick smoke break, and Kennedy and Anna stayed in their spot to talk about something his ears couldn't pick up. The caller ID read 'Zane,' and he never answered a call so fast in his life. 

Zane was Diana's father. Liam considered that man to be his second father, the one he would turn to when his own father handed out punishments deemed too cruel or would "fill the house with his negative energy" as he would put it. Zane had taken Diana's disappearance the hardest, and Liam could tell right away, probably even before he did. Where Autumn, Diana's mom, was filled with a passionate anger and a desire to sue, Zane lost all of his passion and was the one who talked her out of the lawsuit. 

"It's not worth it," he had said. "Don't even try." 

Liam put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey kid. I can hear you clearly, so I'm assuming you haven't left yet."

Liam tried his best to stay in touch with Zane and Autumn for the past year, but the combined grief of the three of them made it too hard. Meet-ups would be filled with silence and the required greetings and goodbyes, phone calls went unanswered, and messages were never opened. Seeing one of them reach out first made Liam hopeful.

"No, not yet. The Navy guys are almost done setting everything up so it shouldn't be too long now."

"That's good. I'm glad I caught you in time." Just like that, Zane went silent, and Liam's awkwardness struck and left him unable to say the right things. 

"Hey, uh... I know hearing about all of this probably isn't helping you and Autumn out very much. I just want you to know that I promise I'll do my best to make it out of this. Most importantly, I'm going to try and find closure for us." Liam's last part of his statement made Zane perk up instantly. 

"Don't. I don't want you going out of your way to do anything. The last thing we need is a second family grieving."

"I suppose you're right," Liam muttered.

"I know you though. What I just said to you went in one ear and out the other. Just be careful with whatever you do, you hear? You're still like a son to me." Zane ended the call before Liam could respond. That conversation was probably the longest one they have had during the past year. It certainly could've been worse, Liam thought. He decided to take it as a sign of the family somewhat improving. 

"Liam! Get your spineless jellyfish self over here!" Kennedy called out. The nickname he picked out was one of the odder things of the job, and no matter how much Liam pondered, he was never able to get an explanation for it. "It's time to go." 

Liam's belongings were already handled the day before, so all he walked onto the ship with was his phone and earbuds. His parents were waiting for him at the end of the dock. Anna had somehow stopped crying, and although Brian still seemed ticked off, his face had softened a bit. Most likely from the cigarette or two he smoked. 

Anna went in for another hug and started a never-ending chorus of "I love you" and "Be careful" and "You have people back home waiting for you." Brian had to practically rip her off of Liam so he could get his piece in. 

"I think I've made my feelings about this quite clear," he started out. Even though he held eye contact, the rest of his body language screamed nervousness. His arms were crossed, his foot was tapping, and he was slouching in what was probably the first time of his life. "I just want you to be careful. You're my only child. I'd prefer if you kept it like that." 

"I appreciate it, dad." Liam stuck out his hand to shake, which seemed to shock the other man. It took him a few seconds to uncross his arms to reciprocate the action. "I think I need to get going." 

"Kick some ass, boy," Brian said. Anna was able to get in one more hug before Liam walked onto the boat, leaving the safety of his old world behind. But he was also leaving behind the numbness, the doubt, and the depression, becoming accustomed to the "life" he was living. Even if he died, he would die with some kind of purpose. He plugged his earbuds back in, letting the mind-numbing pop music fill his brain as he retreated to his bed in the cabin.