Justice For Eric Kleemeyer

Eric’s Story

Part Two

The Apartment

    It was a new year but it was not starting off with any notable distinction. The alarm clock went off in Eric Kleemeyer’s apartment signaling it was time to get up and go to work. He had set the alarm as late as possible trying to take advantage of every minute of valuable sleep time that he could possibly squeeze out of the night. Such luxuries have their price and now he would have to hurry to prevent being late for work.

     All in all things were going pretty well with Eric’s job at CostCo. He had recently earned a promotion that was accompanied by an increase in duties and so far he was handling the new work load just fine. This level of dedication and responsibility had not always been the case with Eric but things change, people change, and the very fact that they believed in him and he could see the positive results of his efforts was enough to make him want to really apply himself this time   Eric did not want to let this employer down because after all, who really knew how just far he could or would eventually go with this company. Based on what he had experienced so far he was willing to give them the benefit of any doubt because Eric believed CostCo’s actions and attitude towards him had merited in return his respect for them and showing such respect meant being late for work was no longer acceptable behavior.

     Jumping out of a quick showerEric was confronted with his drastically dwindling supply of clean clothes. He made a mental note to remind himself that he needed to do some laundryYsoon. His mother had been out of town the past couple of days seeing in the New Year with family and friends in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Paradise California. She had gotten home late last night. Eric had spoken to her on the phone making sure she had arrived home safe and sound. They talked briefly about her trip and then he had advised his mom of the severity of his laundry situation so she was expecting him. Now all he had left to do was to remember to get over there and do it.

     It was great finally having his own place. Eric had moved into the upstairs apartment on the corner of Monroe and Manchester avenues with his friend Mike just about a year ago. This new found independence was not really so much a complete jump to freedom as it was a movement towards separation that was actually being accomplished in series of stages rather than one big move. In other words Eric had moved out of his Mother=s house but not necessarily away from his mother’s house because he was still just two miles from her place. This meant everything he needed; from money, to food, to laundry, to a warm hug were always just mere minutes away.

     Of course there had never been any real hurry to get away from home because Mom=s was a pretty comfortable place to live. Ever since the divorce when he was just a kid Eric had been the oldest male in the household which by default made him the man of the house. It had not just been Eric and his Mother in the house either. There were his twin brothers Adam and Danny who were only a few years younger than Eric. Even though the twins could be a major pain to help look after he still loved them dearly. Eric knew that the boys looked up to him so it was a relationship and a responsibility he took seriously.

     Eric also maintained a close relationship with his two younger female cousins Katrina and Laura who lived nearby with his maternal aunt Cindy. Eric, along with his brothers came to be extremely protective of the girls. His aunt also was divorced so as the oldest and closest residential male many “man of the house” type duties fell upon Eric who was glad to shoulder them. Eric saw the girls almost every day and if for some reason he did not physically see them he always spoke to them by phone making sure everything was alright.

     Just as Eric was getting older now and growing into manhood so were the twins. Danny enlisted in the Navy and Adam joined the Marines. They had not only moved out, they had really moved out. Danny was assigned to a destroyer so he was usually out at sea. Adam had been stationed in San Diego until he was deployed to active duty as a gunner in Iraq. The interesting thing was that all three men still had their rooms back home at Mom=s.    

     This actually made sense because the process occurring here was really one of people moving on with their lives without so muck moving away from their roots. The bond between this Mother and her sons was remarkably close, loving, affectionate, and supportive. When Eric had a problem he could go to his mother, not as a child but as an emerging adult, and he could talk to her about anything. In sharp contrast to the war zone some teenage infested homes become the house Eric and his brothers grew up in was a sanctuary. All their friends would hang out there, particularly those kids who didn’t exact key fit in easily elsewhere would seem to  naturally gravitate towards and feel accepted at Eric’s mom’s house. The truth is that they attracted kids like stray cats, not that there was ever at any time a shortage of strange animals in residence as well. There was many a morning that extra bodies could be found sleeping on the couch or the floor.

     Now Eric had his own place, not because he had to but simply because it felt like the right time to do so.

     One thing about Eric, he loved to talk on the phone and it was not uncommon for the battery on his mobile unit to be in need of recharging. In addition to speaking to his mother about her trip on Sunday night and his cousins he also talked to Lisa who was a young lady he was currently seeing.

     Much like friends, girls had never been at a shortage for Eric. Not only was he tall and fit with wavy blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a bright ever present smile… he was also strikingly handsome. Those good looks combined with the fact that he was a genuinely nice guy tended to make the ladies take notice which was fine with Eric.

     Eric and Lisa had known each other for seven or eight years attending both Santa Clara High School and New Valley Continuation high School together but they knew each other only as friends. Then a couple of months ago things changed when Lisa noticed a more serious side to Eric beyond just the immature good time partier she had previously known. Now he seemed to really have his head on straight as tried to make something out of himself. She even went so far as to describe Eric as a “workaholic” when it came to his dedication to his job at CostCo.