Howie went to his bedroom and slammed the door.  He didn’t know what to feel.  He knew it was a bad idea to go to that funeral.  “Howard?  You home?” his mother called out. Howie went downstairs to see his parents come in.  “How are you doing?” “The question is, how are you?” his mother asked. “I shouldn’t have gone there, Mom.” “Oh, honey, she was upset.  I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it.” “Yeah right.” “Well, you haven’t seen her in such a long time...” “Mom,” he took a deep breath.  “I’m going out for a drive.  I’ll see you later.”  He took his keys off the shelf to his Corvette and headed out the door. Paula sighed.  “You cant live their lives for them.” ~*~ Howie had flipped the gear to fourth, blasting some Latin house music.  Something was bothering him; this was unlike any homecoming he had before.  He went through the back roads, where no one would catch him doing 80 mph. The memories kept flooding his mind, and he turned the music even louder to drown them out.  Nothing will change right? Not in a thousand lifetimes… You promise you won’t forget… I’ll never forget… Howie turned the music as loud as his ears could take.  Finally he pulled over, turned the music off, and lay back in the seat.  He then leaned on the steering wheel.  Boy did I screw up… ~*~ Howie woke up the next morning and went downstairs to the smell of food.  He went into the kitchen and saw his mother at the oven. “Morning Mom,” he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Morning sweetie.” She turned her attention to the oven. “Smells good,” Howie went to the kitchen table.  “What’s cooking?” “Casserole for Ally.  I figured she shouldn’t be cooking when she’s going through all of this.” “Don’t you think a dozen other people are doing the same thing?” “Howard, I got to do at least something for her.  She’s in that house all by herself.” “Alright Mom, you win.” “Good.”  She took out the casserole with some oven mitts.  “And guess who will take it for me.” “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” “Why not?” Howie gave her a long look.  “Because… I don’t think she would like my company right now.” “Nonsense.  Howie, you’ve been friends with her for so long….” “Were friends.” “Besides, I have to go to work at the Foundation this afternoon, and I won’t have time to drop this off.” “Mom, she’s a 5 minute walk from here.” “Let’s put it this way…” Paula put her hands on her hips.  “You are dropping that off today, whether you like it or not.” “Fine,” Howie stood up.  “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” ~*~ Howie knocked on the door, holding the casserole with his other hand.  He took a deep breath as he waited for her to answer.  She opened the door. “Hi.” “Hi.” “What are you doing here?” “Oh,” he lifted the casserole with his hand.  “My mother wanted you to have this.” “Thanks.” She took the casserole from his hands. Howie stood there for a moment.  “Do… you want to come in?” “Um, sure.” He walked inside and followed Ally into the kitchen where she set the casserole down.  “She said to put it in for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.” “OK, no problem.”  She sat up on the counter. “So…” “So…” “Well, thanks for the casserole.  I’ll be sure to call Paula later on.” “Sure, no problem.”  He looked down for a second.  “I guess I’ll see you later.” “Yeah later.” Howie looked on the counter where the picture was sitting.  “You still have this?”  He picked it up. “Mom did.  I was looking at it last night.” “So was I… I mean when I got home yesterday.  I found it in an old photo album.” “Yeah, it was a long time ago.”  She took a deep breath.  “Too long.” “I got the hint.” Howie jingled his keys and turned around.  “See you around.”  Howie didn’t hear anything as he closed the door behind him. Chapter 5 Contents Chapter 3