CHAPTER 14 (PART - A)



The next morning came slowly. Tintin didn’t sleep well, he heard Haddock waking up at the sound of a loud knock at the door. “Coming Chester, just a couple of minutes!” Haddock answered as he rummaged through his suit case. He put on his casual brown suit which consisted of a brown sports jacket, trousers, belt, and cream colored button up shirt. The sunlight was filtering in the room as Haddock quickly combed his hair.

Tintin could hear him but still refused to open his eyes and acknowledge him, so pretended to be asleep. Haddock quickly walked over to Tintin’s bedside and planted a nice kiss on his forehead.

“I’ll see you soon landlubber, you stay of trouble you hear?” he whispered then stepped out of the room.

Tintin felt bad for not acknowledging Haddock but still couldn’t help to feel bitter towards him at the same time. He lied there alone with his thoughts until he heard Mary Ann’s car start and roll out of the driveway. Tintin lied there trying to go back to sleep since the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon as residual light from the morning begun to filter in the room.

After fifteen minutes of just lying there, Tintin decided to just get up and get on with the day. Another a knock broke his train of thought.

“Tintin, breakfast is downstairs when you’re ready…and you got a friend out here that wants to see you…” Alyssa said outside his door.
“Oh thanks Alyssa, I’ll be down in just a couple of minutes” Tintin sat up. He got up and searched through his suitcase. He had one more outfit that Haddock had hastily packed those few days ago. He had one more pair of clean socks in his suitcase, a pair of grey trousers, some undergarments, shirts, and then a red sweater.

Tintin wasn’t too fond of the red sweater remembering Professor Calculus had bought it for him last Christmas. He tried to be gracious about the gift, but Tintin was not fond of the color red. He folded it back up and placed it back in his suitcase.

“Tintin?” another familiar voice spoke accompanied with a light knock.
“Yes Enzo,” Tintin answered looking at the sailor pants and the grimy tank top not wanting to put it on.
“Are we going to finish plowing the rest of the plot today?” he asked.
“Yes, just give me a few minutes. We need to eat first…” Tintin responded as he began to change into the nasty work clothes.

Enzo made his way downstairs as Tintin finished getting ready for this long begrudging day. The more he thought about it, the more the anger began to return to him, but he didn’t want to go downstairs and take it out no Alyssa or Enzo since they were both partially responsible for that life changing fated encounter. He quickly went to the bathroom for a shave. His facial hair grew really slow. He could go almost three days before he even had any stubble as he brushed his hand across his face it still only felt slightly sandy.
He joined Alyssa and Enzo downstairs with a happy welcome from Snowy jumping all over him.

“Snowy!” Tintin smiled as he looked so clean. Tintin bent down and picked him up smelling the fine scent of soap.
“Good morning Alyssa, Enzo,” Tintin smiled.
“We got a new member to add to your household now” Alyssa announced. “I present Cocoa,” she moved out of the way and the cute little light brown fox terrier came running to Tintin.
“Cocoa!” Tintin was amazed at how much cleaner and softer her fur felt once he began to pet and smell how neat she was. She was still kind of small and needed to eat more.
“She’s still small, but that shouldn’t be a problem as long as she’s here” Alyssa commented.
“Bella!” Enzo smiled at Cocoa as she ran to him excited from receiving so much affectionate attention. She jumped up in his lap and continued to lick his chin.

“Such a lovely dog, it’s a surprise nobody else decided to give her a good home” Enzo shook his head petting her affectionately.
Enzo sat at the table in the same clothes Tintin was wearing. He looked just as tired as he did.
“I apologize for not cooking something better, but this was the easiest to prepare” Alyssa said putting a small pot of oatmeal on the table and a bowl full of scrambled eggs along with a plate of toast.
“Oh the orange juice…” she retrieved the pitcher of orange juice out of the ice box.

“Oh don’t apologize, this is fine” Tintin shook his head approvingly.
Alyssa had a couple of bowls of food for Cocoa and Snowy and sat it down on a floor for them. Snowy and Cocoa each began to enjoy a medley of fish and beef mixed with a can of dog food.
“Look at them, so content” Enzo said watching Snowy and Cocoa eat.
“I don’t look forward to the task ahead…” Tintin mentioned as he sat done helping himself to a plate of breakfast.
“Si, nor I…” Enzo echoed his sentiment.

“Things shouldn’t be too bad for me, mom and both uncle Archie and Frederick got up early and ate already. I shouldn’t have too much to do today other than prepare lunch which will be simple” Alyssa replied taking a seat.
“I’m happy with whatever you prepare me” Tintin smiled.
“It’s not a problem, I actually like to cook because usually around this time it’s just me and my mom for lunch” Alyssa replied.
“Tintin, is Benton Hadley really your brother?” Enzo boldly asked as he finished his breakfast.

It was a bit of a sore topic for Tintin but the fact that his friendly acquaintances wanted to comfort him didn’t make it so bad coming from them.
“Well, there are many coincidences…” Tintin commented.
“I’m sorry… what does ‘coin-cid-ence’ mean?” Enzo asked slowly.
“Basically, it means that there are too many events in both of our lives that connect us,” Tintin explained.
Enzo nodded slowly digesting the statement and the context of the word.

“Well let’s finish this job before they get back, I want to be done with this manual labor” Tintin said finishing his orange juice.
“I don’t feel like doing it either” Enzo complained.
“Well let’s get started so we finish sooner” Tintin prompted Enzo.
“Fenton, I will let you know if your brother calls, I’ll keep an ear out for the phone,” Alyssa replied drawing a hopeful look from Tintin. Suddenly, Tintin felt a little better.
“Let’s go Enzo!” Tintin finally smiled.

XXXXXXXX

Haddock, Mary Ann, and Chester took a relaxing ride through the countryside reminiscing about a couple of places they went fishing and just strolling around.

“I remember when Alyssa, your older daughter Carol, and my daughter Elizabeth were playing around in that old barn while we fished” Chester smiled.
“Yea, I remember Bob had too much to drink and both of you had to fish him out when he fell into the river,” Mary Ann laughed.
“You remember that?” Haddock grinned.
“Oh yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. I just returned back with the girls and next thing I know, I see the three of you swimming in the river!” Mary Ann smiled nostalgically.

“Looking back that was funny! Bob was acting a fool and rocked the boat while he was standing and fell in…luckily Haddock and I weren’t too far gone” Chester agreed.

“It’s nice to take just a leisurely ride out of the house” Mary Ann said as they arrived in town. She parked in a familiar area in downtown Colchester.
“So Haddock, how do you feel about a good round?” Chester asked already knowing the answer.
“Does a mackerel swim in the sea?” Haddock smiled.
“Aye! That’s the Archibald I know!” Mary Ann laughed as they walked to the local pub which already.

The sun was almost halfway up now as they sat at the half-way filled bar with people eating and drinking. They sat at a table near the front of the pub. Haddock sighed for a moment drawing a little concern from Mary Ann.

“Are you ok Archibald?” Mary Ann asked carefully.
“I was thinking… maybe I was a bit too hard on Tintin, what do you think Mary?” Haddock wondered.
“He is twenty-five, a grown man, I was more disappointed in Alyssa, but I understand as of late we really haven’t been out. Well you know your own business Archibald...so are you his guardian?” Mary Ann asked curiously.
“Sort of…” Haddock nodded carefully.
“Well we did do a bit of the work yesterday, so I think it’s their turn while we get a break” Chester rationalized.
“Maybe after a drink we should be heading back…” Mary Ann too began to feel guilty.
A young lady walked up to the table with a pen and pad in her hand, “What can I get you?” she smiled.
“We’ll start off with a good round of your finest!” Chester nodded.

The waitress walked off toward the bar, Chester could tell Haddock felt conflicted, his old friend was easy to read. Chester did detect a subtle amount of animosity in Tintin’s attitude the previous night.
“What’s on your mind Frederick?” Mary Ann asked noticing Chester reading Haddock.
“Aw, it’s nothing…” he smiled redirecting his attention.

__________________