Chapter 6, Devin's Way

 Chapter 6

            By now, the Edmarks and Lemens came to the car. I could hear confusion on the other end.

            In the distance, I could still hear my beautiful wife sobbing. Each jagged, choked sound was like another stab of the dagger to my own heart.

            Someone on the other end said they had to get Stephen. He still didn’t know. He was at another part of the park doing a geo cache with Paul Lemens.

            I could hear some of the younger kids excitedly yelling for my only surviving son. I braced for what would surely come next.

            Miriam composed herself and took control.

            “Gary, we will take care of Ruth. Just do what you have to.”

            A few minutes later, it was Ruth who called me on the phone.

            She sounded utterly empty, and was now probably experiencing what I felt at Kennywood -- somehow outside her own body, going through the motions.

            “I’m OK right now,” she said. “I’ve got to take care of Stephen.”

            Ruth showed incredible resilience, and was quickly moving into a protective Mommy mode while trying to staunch the gut-wrenching agony.

            She put Steve on the phone. He only managed a couple words before breaking down and crying.

            “I’ll take care of Steve and I’ll tell Ashlie,” Ruth said. “I want to tell her.”

            I had totally forgotten about calling Ashlie earlier.

            What if she called me back? What if she had picked up the phone?!?

            I looked up the phone number to the campground where Ashlie was working and gave it to Ruth. She called the camp director and told him what happened, but instructed him not to tell Ashlie, who was still working. When Ashlie got on the phone, she simply told her Devin was in an accident, and Ashlie needed to get to the Wisconsin Dells, where everyone was camping.

            Ruth smartly didn’t want Ashlie driving while knowing that Devin was dead.

            But Ashlie said she knew it was bad. Why else would I call her followed by Mom?

            She knew, but she didn’t want to be right.

            Meanwhile I still needed a return flight to Wisconsin and called the government’s contracted travel agency back. I was put on hold again, and had to grit my teeth when the operator came back on the line.

            “I’m sorry, Mr. Kunich. Every flight out of Pittsburgh, back to Wisconsin, is totally booked today. You might be able to fly out on standby, but that’s the best I can do …”

            “You checked every flight?” I asked.           

            “Yes sir. There’s nothing available.”

            “You are absolutely sure? My son just died. I really need to get back.”

            “Yes, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing there.”

            “What if I called the airlines directly?” I asked.

            “You can try,” the man on the other end said. “But I haven’t found anything.”

            I hung up the phone and logged onto AirTran’s web site. There were still five seats available for a flight leaving at 8:30 p.m. AirTran also just happens to be one of the government’s preferred airlines.

            Really?!?

            I looked at the small print at the bottom of my government ticket print-out. There was a $17 charge for emergency calls on the weekend.

            They sure as hell better not charge me or the government $17 for absolutely nothing.

            How the hell could I get a flight in five seconds on the Internet, when the travel agency operator couldn’t get me one after putting me on hold for 15 minutes???

            My next call was to the funeral home.

            Ruth specifically asked me to call the Piasecki-Altaus Funeral Home. We had been to several funerals there. It was a nice place that did nice memorials.

            Never dreamed they would now do one for me.

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