Love Octagon

    All before the deaths, the sex, and the heartbreak, we were all just a big group of friends. Whatever happened to this group of friends you may ask? They got into a big love triangle. Wait, no, a square? It wasn’t even a square, it was a love octagon.
    Back at good ole’ HIbriten High, we all shared the same biology class. But something changed. we all had a burning passion for each other.
    To begin it all, Annarae Van Osdol  was proposed to by Baxter Gonzalez. They were married for two years before they had their first child. They named him Edward Baxter Gonzalez. He was a hideous baby. Like really, hideous as can be.
    Soon after, Laura Holsclaw was married to Geo Casco and they had a baby named Baxter James Casco, but they called him James.. Let me just tell you, that was one ugly ass baby. Who would've thought that a baby with light brown skin could have blonde hair and violet eyes?
    Jonathan Ramos also proposed to Ryan Brantolino shortly after graduation and had a child named Anthony Blake Ramos, Again, ugly as a child could ever possibly be,
    The agony that our ugly babies were causing us began to become unbearable. We, all six of us, found a support group nearby and decided to join. Honestly, we felt we had no choice but to join. Each week we would pick out a characteristic that our ugly child had, There was laughing and tears during these meetings.
    One day, Ryan came into the meeting in nothing but tears. Come to find out, Jonathan had shot himself because he absolutely couldn't stand looking at his child any longer. Ryan was left alone, that poor, poor widow. The stress of being a single mother became too much for her. A few months after Jonathan’s death, she gave her child up for adoption and was never seen again. Coincidence? I think not.
    The upcoming May, Geo filed for divorce to Laura because she was caught in bed with another man. The other man was another member from the support group named Devell Maxwell. There was a slight problem though because Devell was also married to a beautiful black woman named Danielle Maxwell. Geo could not even handle the thought at staying with Laura after she had cheated on him, it just wasn't right. Laura did not put up much of a fight, she had lost interest in Geo a long time before. To get back at Laura, Geo had sex with Danielle and got her pregnant also. When Laura left Geo’s home with her belongings, she also left the baby in custody of her overly dramatic ex husband. She must have been one heartless bitch to leave her child, right? Yes, this is true. She was quite a bitch.
    In the meantime, Baxter and Annarae weren’t getting along too well. It was always fight after fight, day after day. I personally just think she was upset because Baxter was a Mexican, which means she never got any black dick. Baxter wanted a divorce, but no. Annarae would not have that. That high maintenance hoe tried to keep Baxter on a leash. It must have been a pretty long leash because Baxter fell madly in love with Laura. Baxter had said he was completely done with Annarae and Laura believed him until the night he proposed. Laura and Baxter was taking a long, romantic walk along the beach. When, to her surprise, he got down on one knee and pulled out a beautiful 4- karat diamond ring. Of course, Laura said yes. Baxter screamed to the world “SHE SAID YES!!!!” Was this the happiest moment of his life? Yes, yes it was. They thought everything was going to be perfect until the nasty red, bimbo came running back. She threw temper tantrums, took a Louisville Slugger to Laura’s car, and threatened to kill anyone who got in her way. She needed to be put into a mental institution, something had to be done. They took her to court and won. The psycho bitch was out of the picture and Baxter and Laura were granted custody of Edward, the baby. They were finally able to be happy together!
    One sunny day, Baxter, Laura, and Edward were taking a walk in the park. They awkwardly ran into Geo, Danielle, and the two children. Laura had not seen her child James in many months. To  her surprise, Geo had legally changed the baby’s name to Hitler and turned him into a small Nazi. What had he done? What could Laura do to fix it? Nothing. Danielle had never been able to let go of the fact that Laura had slept with Devell, even though it had almost been three years. Danielle had put out a restraining order. Laura was not allowed to be within 200 yards of James or Geo because she was considered a “threat to the family.” Laura was never going to be able to forgive herself for abandoning her ugly child. Though she was completely happy with her husband and new child Edward, James stayed on her mind. She was terrified that one day her own flesh and blood would turn into a dictator. Something had to be done. They had to kill Geo and Danielle.
    Baxter and Laura’s plan was foolproof. Baxter tried to “fix” his friendship with Geo. One late night, he offered to take Geo to the bar for a few drinks. A few drinks? That’s for pussy’s, Geo got full on drunk. This was just part of Baxter’s plan. In the back of the bar, he had hired an extremely large hitman to take out Geo. The man started calling Geo every name in the book, just to get the fight started “prick,” “ass hole,” and “mother fucker,” got thrown around like it was going out of style. Reluctantly, Geo threw the first punch, the plan was going perfect. With that happening, the hitman picked Geo up by his throat and threw him through a glass window. A small piece of glass had gotten stuck in the back of Geo’s head and went all the way through to his brain. YES! He was dead! Now, just to get Danielle out of the picture. It was Laura’s turn to take care of that. She had a perfect plan, Danielle loved to go fishing, it was her secret obsession. Laura knew that no matter how much Danielle hated her, she would never be able to deny a chance to go fishing. After getting her there, she only had one more obstacle, getting her into the water. Well, actually, it wasn't much of an obstacle. See, Danielle was black, and black people couldn't swim well. With one push off the dock, Danielle tumbled into the deep lake and was never seen nor mentioned ever again.
    Baxter decided that even though he had little respect for Annarae, she did have the right to see Edward, whom was now four years old. It was time for him to take one for the team and take Edward to see his real mother in the mental institution. Pulling into Broughton’s parking lot was the biggest challenge. He began to have second thoughts, but no,  he couldn’t back down now. He busted through the doors, praying they would tell him that it wasn’t visiting hours, but sadly, it was. Here goes nothing, or everything. At the slowest pace possible, he and Edward marched along to Annarae’s room. With one knock, the door swung open. Standing in his presence was his ex wife, wide eyed and curly haired, resembling a witch. Her “Hello,” sounded like there should be dramatic music, thunder, and lightening in the background. This was going to be a lot harder than Baxter had thought.
He let go of his sons hand and cautiously said “Go say hi to your mother.” Edward had been but a few months old when Annarae was taken away, he didn’t know any better but to say “That’s not my mommy, my mommy’s at home.”
 To this, Baxter let out a small grin but knew he had to explain everything now. He sat down on the corner of his ex wives hospital like bed, picked up his son, and sat him on his lap. As calm as possible he started explaining, “Well, Edward, let Daddy explain. You’re special, you have two mommies. I know you were too young to remember but this is your real mom. Though you don’t remember her, this mommy loves you very much.But I don’t want you upset and I don’t want you confused. This is Annarae, go meet her, go on son.”
Edward backed up. He didn't understand what was going on. What was he talking about? Laura was his mother? That’s all he had known his entire life. Annarae looked heartbroken. Baxter was about to step in until he looked down and saw a ring on her left hand. He was confused, how could she be married? She was in an institution. He grabbed her hand, examined the ring closely, but couldn’t get the courage to ask any questions. Now, it was her turn to do the explaining.
“Listen Baxter,” she stated, “what I’m about to tell you has to stay within the family, at least until I get out of here. Promise me this, please?” He promised.
She continued to speak. “Do you remember Jonathan Ramos?”
Of course he did, they used to be best friends until his death.
“Well, he’s not dead, he’s actually a few doors down. He attempted suicide, they thought he was dead, but the bullet didn’t kill him. He’s in here because they said it was dangerous to be around society with the way he thinks now.” Baxter was holding his head down in complete awe, fighting back tears, trying not to cry around his child. But still she continued speaking, “Being here together brought us very close. He had a friend of his  go out and get the ring and we had a ceremony in secrecy. Please hear me out Baxter, I’m sorry, I truly am.”
“No!” he screamed. “It’s not true, it can’t be. Jonathan’s dead. He’s gone Annarae!” Baxter grabbed his son's hand and said “Let’s go, now.”
As they stepped through the door, there was a rude awakening, Jonathan was outside. How could this be true? Baxter could bear no more, he slightly glanced up at Ramos, continuing to walk toward the double doors to leave this wicked house. He told himself he would never return, never.
News got back to Laura. She could not believe what she was hearing, Jonathan was like a brother to her in the past.What about Ryan? Had anyone notified her of this? These questions ran through Laura’s mind for a few days until she finally decided that she needed to see this herself, but as she had thought, Baxter was not going to allow that to happen. Instead, she went on a hunt for Ryan.
After weeks of searching, Laura reached Ryan’s mother whom was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ryan had been staying with her ever since she gave her child up for adoption. When Ryan heard the news, she couldn’t believe such. She took the first flight back to North Carolina.
Entering the Gonzalez house was just like old times, smiles and hugs all around until they had to get down to business. Baxter told Ryan of his discovery from when he had seen  at Broughton. Hearing it from a person who had seen it first hand made Ryan weak at the knees.
The following day, Laura hired a babysitter and the three of them, together, took a trip to Broughton. The twenty minute ride from Lenoir to Morganton felt like a lifetime. Laura and Ryan, filled with curiosity, while Baxter was driving full of rage. He still hadn’t gotten over the fact that his “best friend” was still alive and it took him three years to be notified.
The horrific sight of the institute was even terrible from a distance. It resembled that of a jail. It might as well be a jail, look at all the crimes that had been committed by the people inside of it.They took the walk in slow and steady, not too fast, worrying more and more with each step. When the three friends got to the pale, white double doors, they could say nothing more than, “Here we go.”
After signing in, we walked down the long, narrow hall. Room A21, A22, A23. Finally they reached the door that said, “A27: Jonathan Ramos.” Laura and Baxter wasn’t sure until that very moment, how everything was going to lay out. With the sight of his door, all hell broke loose.Ryan busted through the door, and laying there in the middle of his twin sized bed, was Jonathan.
No one was really sure what their reactions were going to be, but all Laura and Ryan could do was cover their eyes and bawl. No words were needed, no glances were exchanged. It was a silent room, full of four old friends sobbing.
For a full ten minutes, no one moved. Ryan had enough, head held down, she exited the room. No one followed her. Laura wanted answers and there was no way Baxter was going to leave his wife alone at a time like this.
“How?” Laura started, “How did this even happen? You were dead, Ryan saw them carry your body out of the house.”
“I spent three long weeks in the hospital. I was hooked up to every machine that place had. I was still fighting but they had nothing else they could do for me. I was airlifted to Duke hospital where I was hooked on to more monitors and given stronger medication.  I began to get stronger, my heartbeat began to get faster. Dr. Benowitz lowered my dosages until I was able to communicate. The bullet had missed my heart by a tenth of an inch, that’s the only way I survived. When I was strong enough to fend for myself, they sent me here.They have to keep close watch over me because of my deathly thoughts that overcome me at times. Don’t tell Annarae, but in my sleep the other night, I had threatened to kill her. The doctors are watching me extra close now, giving me medical attention to control my thoughts, but I’m still to stay away from her for at least another three to five weeks. I would never kill my wife, how could they think I’d do such a thing? I love h...”
Laura cut him off before he could finish his sentence and said “Jonathan, you tried to kill yourself? I wouldn’t put anything past you.”
Jonathan was in a deep stare at the cream-colored floors, trying to decide what to respond to that. How could someone he used to be so close to even say that? He had no time to think though, Laura got up from her chair in the corner of the room and walked out the door without even the slightest form of “goodbye.” Baxter followed her out the door with only the words, “You’re a monster.” escaping his mouth.
Outside in the hall, Baxter found Ryan in the floor, against a wall, banging her head against her shoulders as if she were begging God why.
“It’s time to go,” Baxter said, “lets get you out of here before they start to think you’re going crazy too.”
He was trying to lighten the mood but the girls were obviously not in the mood. “Too soon for Jokes, hun.” said Laura, “Do you not want to go see Annarae before we leave?”
“No, I’m done with this place, let’s go.”
The walk to the car was silent. The ride home was silent. That night, Ryan slept in her friends spare room, for she had nowhere else to go for the night. A house had never been quieter. No one said a word, but if you listened closely, you could hear the softness of a crying eyes or maybe even a crying heart. Sleep was not an option,for they felt they were already in the middle of a  terrible nightmare.
After a month or so, their memories began to fade. Actually, they tried to forget everything from the past five years, the marriage, the deaths, everything. Ryan was still staying in the Gonzalez home because they did not want her moving all the way back to Albuquerque. A close friendship had been re-united.
They had moved on with their lives, not thinking back to that day they had visited Broughton. It wasn't so much that they didn't want to think about it, it was that they couldn't bear to believe what they had seen,
It had been a few months, when Baxter had received a phone call from the institution telling them that Jonathan had been sent to jail. The medicine he had been given did not cure his psychotic emotions. The doctor said that they had caught him tiptoeing down the hallway, in the middle of the night, with a pair of medical scissors grasped tightly between his fingers. The male nurse on guard stopped him and attempted to take away  the scissors but there was a devilish glare in his eyes. As if being possessed by something, he pushed his nurse away and ran into Annarae’s room. A scream was the last thing that was heard before Jonathan walked. He marched along back into his room, slammed the door, and then all was quiet. When the nurse was able to recover himself, he rushed into Annarae’s room. To his surprise, the once white sheets were covered in blood stains. Annarae’s body was found in the floor with multiple stab wounds. She was no longer breathing. The nurse called 911 immediately. Jonathan was taken to the city jail.
When Baxter got off the phone, he called Laura. She was currently shopping with Ryan. They were shocked to hear the news. He really was insane.  The night he had threatened to kill Annarae in his sleep was just a scheme, or was is a warning to us of what was soon going to happen? No one was sure of anything any more.
Baxter visited the jail house as soon as he had told his wife. He had to be sneaky about it though, knowing Laura would not agree with him going. Baxter was in search  for answers.
The jail house began to expalin to Baxter that Jonathan wasn't allowed any visitors.
"Actually," said the main officer, "he is recieveing the death penalty. He was a sick, sick man. I'm sorry to tell you this, I'm assuming you guys are friends?"
"Yes, we were. Best friends," Baxter said with a sigh.
The  officer continued, "Then I guess this is hard for you to hear, isn't it? I'm truly sorry. If here is any final words you'd like to say, I'd be glad to pass them along for you. I'm the one that will have to take him to the injection room. Oh, yes that's what I forgot to tell you. He is going to be put to death through lethal injection."
Baxter had no time to think or put a word in edgewise. The officer was talking to fast as though he were nervous about something.
"It may seem harsh, but we really don't have  choice. He tried to kill himself, made several threats, injured the nurse at Broughton, and killed his wife in the dead of the night. He's getting exactly what he deserves. I'm throwing all this at you and I knew there was something I'm forgetting, I'm Buck, Buck Jones. And your name?"
He finally stopped to take a breath but Baxter had not noticed. On the inside he was full of rage. The line, "He's getting exactly what he deserves," kept running through his mind. He's getting what he deserves? He was in an institution, they knew he had a problem. Maybe they should have locked him up in Broughton instead of letting him run free. "This is their fault!" Baxter thought. "No one deserves the death penalty."
Baxter had still yet to answer Officer Jones. After thirty seconds of pure silence, Buck asked again, "Uhm sir, what's your name?" Buck snapped his fingers in Baxter's face.
"Sorry Mister, I was deep in thought. I wasn't prepared to hear all of this today. My name is Baxter Gonzalez."
A loud buzzer sounded. "Well, Baxter, that's my cue, it's my time to stand guard over the prisioners. Have you thought about a message for Jonathan?"
"No, the only way you could help me is if you cab allow me to speak to him. I know, he isn't allotted visitors, but I must talk to him. I need answers. Please, I beg of you, let me chat with my friend. Just five minutes. Please."
Officer took a look around in both directions. You could see the agony in Baxter's eyes. "I could get fired for this."
"No," Baxter said, "I understand. I was just hoping I'd get something out of him. Thank you fo--."
"You didn't let me finish, Baxter. Five minutes, come on, make it fast."
A sudden relief overcame Baxter. There were nice people in the world. He followed Buck back into the visitation room.
"Stay here," said Buck, "I'll bring him to you momentarily."
Baxter paced back and forth through the empty room until Officer Jones retured, dragging Jonathan along.
Jonathan looked as though he had been beaten senseless. Bruises covered his arms and legs. His left eye was purple and swollen up. "What happened to you, Ramos?" Baxter asked.
The words had barely gotten out of his mouth when he realized the answer to that question. That's why Buck had seemed nervous. They had beaten him, hoping he'd feel the guilt and pain he had caused Annarae.
"They, they, they beat me. With a golf club. I deserved it, don't worry. Bye my friend. They will kill me soon and I will be nothing. Tell everyone I said goodbye. Thank you for such a wonderful friendship. I must leave now, take me back to my cell now, officer. Or better yet, take me out of my misery. Kill me now."
"No Jonathan! I need to speak with you," Baxter began, "tell me what happened with you. Why did you kill Annarae? You took away my childs mother. What made you want to complete such evil."
"I cannot answer that question. I'm sorry Baxter. Leave me be."
"Take him away officer, I have no use for him anymore. Bye Jonathan Ramos, have fun in hell." Screamed Baxter.
With that being said, Baxter stormed out of the room. He regreted what he had said when had said to his once best friend. Have fun in hell? Then he realized that that would be the last words he would ever say to Jonathan.
He left the jail crying. The salty, bitter tears dropped like rain from his eyes to the steering wheel. How could he had said such a thing? His friend was about to die. The next time he would see Jonathan’s body, would be at his funeral. That is, if the police let them bury it.
All the way home Baxter pictured nothing but the sight of someone injecting Jonathan and his heart slowly stopping. There was nothing else he could do.
Laura found out about Baxter’s visit before he returned home. The minute he walked through the door, she had a sassy look on her face and in her smart voice, she said, “Officer Buck Jones called. He’d like to have a word with you, his cell phone number is laying on the table. When were you planning on telling me? Wait, let me guess, you weren’t planning on telling me, were you?”
“Yes, Laura, I was going to tell you as soon as I figured everything out. But I still know nothing. Jonathan will soon be dead, if he isn’t already. See, he-”
“Save it. The officer talked me through everything. He told me about Annarae, about the beating, and about your little visit. And for your information, he is dead.they took him to the injection room soon after you left. How could you not tell me? Maybe I wanted to say goodbye too. And what about Ryan? What am I supposed to tell her? Oh, yeah, by the way, Jonathan was given the death penality because he killed Annarae? No. that’s not going to happen Baxter. You’re telling her. This isn’t my place.” She slammed the door and left in her car. Laura always drives when she’s upset, it helps keep things off of her mind. Baxter knew she needed to cool off so he just let her go. Plus, this gave him time to call Buck back.
The sound of the slamming door, brought Ryan into the room. She asked what was going on. Baxter wasn't daring to start explaining right then, he wanted all the details before he told Ryan what was going on. He told her that he and Laura had just gotten into a major fight and he wanted some time alone. Ryan left and went back into her room without any further question.
This was Baxter's opportunity to escape through the sliding glass door onto the back porch where he could talk to Buck in private.
Buck only let the phone ring three times before he answered with a stern, "Hello."
"Hey officer, this is Baxter. My wife said you called? I'm sorry I missed it, I took my time coming home. Do you have any news for me about Jonathan?"
"Yes I do. He wanted me to tell you that he is sorry and to beg for your forgiveness. Not like it really matters anymore. The injecting went through smooth. We took him straight there when you left and he went without a fight. It was almost as though he wanted to die."
This didn't surprise Baxter, "He probably did. He did deserve the feeling of guilt. May I ask you a favor?"
"Yes sir, anything." replied Buck.
"I know you're not supposed to give away the body, at least that's what I hear in movies. But may we have him a small funeral and bury the body. See, his ex wife lives with me, my wife, and kids. We haven't told her about his death penalty yet. Though she has much hatred for him, I also know that somewhere, deep down, she still loves him. It would mean a lot to me. Excuse me, it would mean a lot to us if you would allow us to break it to her by giving him a small memorial service."
"Son, I'm not supposed to do that, the movies are right. I'll talk to my boss man for you, but I make absolutely no promises."
"Thank you, so much." Baxter said, "You have been of great help to me. If you even need anything, don't be hesitant to ask."
"Yes sir. I will talk to the sheriff tomorrow and report to you promptly after. Have a good night." Buck then hung up.
Baxter thought he had been alone until he heard yhe quiet whisper of Ryan's voice saying, "Johnathan's dead?"
It took a lot of explaining to get Ryan to understand. It had been a crazy day, Baxter still had many questions left unanswered, so how was he supposed to help her?
When Laura returned, Ryan and Baxter were still on the porch discussing the horrible days tradegy. "What would you guys like for dinner?" Laura interrupted.
"Don't bother cooking, I'm taking you ladies out for a nice dinner. Go get ready, I'll make the reservations." Baxter said with a smile.
Though she was still firey mad at Baxter, Laura couldn't help but smiling. She truly did have an amazing husband. The girls set off into their rooms and got fixed up. Due to their faces when they looked into the mirror, they sure needed to get ready. For they had mascara still running down their faces from all the tears they had shed.
Baxter took the girls to Carrabbas in Hickory, Laura's favorite restaurant. The food was delicious. It was wishful thinking that the night would end on a good note. From there, they picked up Edward from Laura's mothers house. He had been staying there so he wouldn't have to be around all the chaos. He was too young to understand.
Everyone went to bed early that night, trying to ignore the pain they all felt. Baxter prayed that they would be able to hold a funeral for Jonathan. "Wait, what about Annarae! She needs a memorial service too!" Baxter screaned.
 He awoke his wife. "How could we forget about her? I'm sorry Baxter, all the craziness must have made us all forget. Call the hospital in the morning. Surely they will allow it when they're done observing her body. Hopefully Buck will have good news in the morning and we can have them a double funeral. We will invite all our old friends. It will be easier to say goodbye if we are with the company of our old friends. Go to bed sweetheart. I love you."
Baxter tried to sleep but that wasn't an option anymore. He had lost two people who had been so important to him at one point. He tried counting sheep but nothing worked. So he just prayed. Prayed for good news, prayed for forgivness, and prayed that nothing else he held dear to him would be taken away.
It was 9:30 A.M. when Buck called back. All the praying had worked. The police department were going to allow his loved ones to take his corpse.
Immediately after the phone call, Baxter called the hospital and asked to be connected to the morge. As he had thought, they would give up her body as soon as they were done examining her stab wounds. The doctor he spoke with said it would take between five to seven days before they could release her, but that was okay. Thank God for good news.
It ended up taking nine days before the morge gave up Annarae's small body. That was still okay, by that time, they had arranged the funeral completely. They invited everyone; all family members, old teachers, and then of course, the group of old friends: Geo, Danielle, De'vell, and severall others. This had been the first time they were all united since their last  meeting with the support group. It was time to put aside their differences and become friends again. At least for Annarae's and Jonathan's sake.