My name is Dorian Dragonsire. Yep, crazy last name, right? Well, my mother changed her name, legally, while she was pregnant with me. Acording to her, she and my dad broke up and she didn't want him to be able to find her. She was always a fan of the Lord of the Rings novels, and she said she took her inspiration from that. She was Guinevere
Morgan, now it was Jennifer Dragonsire.
Despite changing her name, she never settled down in one place for very long. The first thing she did was buy an RV. Not a new one off the showroom floor, but a restored 1955 GMC Scenicruiser. It started it's life as a Greyhound bus and was converted into an RV sometime in the 1970s. She bought it for ten thousand dollars cash in December 1984 in Burbank California. She never said who she bought it from, but judging from amount of shag carpeting, wood paneling, and the circular bed in the sleeping area, it was someone from the porn industry. The fact that when I was 17, I found Ron Jeremy's name carved into the bottom of the wood paneling of my bunk, hidden by the mattress I was finally allowed to replace.
Jennifer was three months into her life on the road when she found out she was three and a half months pregnant. She drove until the week I was born, on July 11, 1985 in New Orleans Louisiana. She stayed put for two months. That was the longest we ever stayed in one place, until I turned 18.
Anyway, obviously I was home schooled. I never had any real friends. When I turned 18, we finally settled in Jacksonville, Florida. I was able to go to high school, graduate, and get a diploma. Nothing else really changed, pretty much kept to myself. I tried to just go home the first week of school, but the football coach saw me leaving and stopped me, basically guaranteed me a starting position if I joined the team.
So my big goofy ass, officially became a football player. I was 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 290 lbs. I was solid muscle, but I had never worked out a day in my life, never had time. The most I ever did was run to the park store at whatever trailer park we were staying at. First thing coach did was get me into the weight room to see how strong I was. Bench press : 800 pounds
Squat : 1200 pounds
Deadlift : 1200 pounds
Leg-press : 2000 pounds ( I could have done more but there was no more room for plates on the machine).
Coach jokingly asked if I was human. Obviously, with my strength, technique didn't really matter, I could over power anyone i was up against. So first time playing football, I was starting defense tackle. I knew nothing of the game except the basics of what I saw on the TV, Coach just showed me how to get in the three point stance and told me to go after the ball once the opposing quarterback said hike. So that's what I did. Apparently I broke several school records doing it. Football was fun, a nice change from going home and reading like I was planning on doing. However, I didn't have the passion for the game everyone else on the team had, so it didn't really make me any friends.
I also was finally able to get a job. Nothing to fancy, just changing oil down at Billy Bob's Garage. I had been helping my mom on the maintenance of the GMC since I was 6 and took over when I turned 12. Needless to say, I knew how to change some oil.
Once I got my high school diploma, I enrolled in technical school. Sure I had scholarship offers for football, but I didn't want to have something I didn't have a passion for dictate my life, so I said no to all those offers. All of them were for schools out state, and I didn't want to leave mom when we finally just settled down. I enrolled in the four year program they had, which had finance, business, and management classes mixed in.
While I was in technical school, I moved out of my mom's RV. Into my new to me 1996 Chevrolet 2500 truck camper, in the plot right next door to hers. A customer at Billy Bob's sold it to me. He was an older gentleman. He said couldn't drive it any more and had no use for it. I had about eight thousand dollars saved up, so I offered it to him. He took my money, counted out three thousand dollars, handed it back to me and told me to save it for a rainy day or to invest in something.
***
It was time for my last final at technical school. I went next door to say goodbye to my mom like I do every morning before class. She wished me luck and kissed me on the cheek. I told her I loved her too and kissed her back on her cheek. 4 hours later, I was done my last final, walked out of class to see a Jacksonville police officer walking up to me.
"Dorian Dragonsire?" he asked.
"Yes, what seems to be the problem officer?" I asked.
"Come with me please," he said.
I followed him into and empty classroom.
"Please have a seat," he said.
I sat down at one of the desks.
"Son, I'm sorry to tell you, but your mother passed away 2 hours ago," he said.
"What? How? She was fine when I left," I cried out, tears streaming down my face.
"She collapsed walking to the park store. Apparently she had a heart attack," he said.
"How? She was only 46 years old," I stammered.
" Witnesses said she confronted a tall well built man with long white hair. She was yelling "Why are you here? We agreed I never had to see you again."" the officer said. "She then turned around, walked a few paces and then collapsed. The man did not stick around."
"Can I see her?" I asked.
"Of course, son," the officer said. "I'll drive you, since you're probably not in any condition to drive right now."
I just nodded my head, tears still streaming down my face. I followed the officer out to his cruiser and got in. 15 minutes later we pulled up to the town morgue. The officer let me out and showed me through to the waiting area. "I'll let them know you are here," he said
"Thank you, sir," I replied dejected.
5 minutes later, an older woman pushed through the doors and beckoned me closer. "Dorian?" she asked as I walked up.
"Yes ma'am," I replied.
"Follow me," she said.
I followed her down the hallway, my pulse pounding in my ears. She opened the door and then I saw my beautiful mother, laying on the table covered in a white sheet. I rushed forward, bawling, as I grabbed her hand to hold it. "What am I going to do now, Mom?" I asked her, despite knowing she couldn't answer me. I closed my eyes and put her hand to my forehead.
"Live!" I heard her exclaim in the back of my mind. "Live and be good"
I opened my eyes wide, put down her hand and backed away, not knowing what was real anymore. I turned to the lady who showed me back here. "Thank you. Someone will be in contact with you after I make preparations," I said, taking the business card she handed me as I stormed out of there.
Back in the waiting area, the officer was waiting for me with a plastic bag. "Here are your mother's affects. CSI has gone through them already, whoever that man was, he did not leave anything of himself behind. All they found was some reptilian skin on the arm of her blouse, most likely from a wild gecko or iguana from the trailer park," he stated.
"Thank you, officer," I said as I took the bag from him. "Would you mid giving me a ride back to my truck on campus?" I asked.
"Not at all. Follow me," he said, walking back to his cruiser.
15 minutes later, I got out and thanked him for the ride. He handed me his card, as well as a card for grief counseling. "In case that man shows up again, or you just need someone to talk to."
"Thanks," I replied as he drove away.
I got in my truck and drove back to the trailer park.
***
Five days later, after a small ceremony of myself, Billy Bob, and a few neightbors from the trailer park. I am walking out of the funeral home, carrying my mother's urn. I decided to get one made with a red dragon scale pattern for her and her love of Tolkien.
A Lincoln Towncar pulls up just as I am about to get into my truck. A short old man with a long white beard wearing a 3 piece suit gets out. "Hello, Dorian Dragonsire. I'm Arturo Merlin. I was your late mother's attorney. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make the ceremony, but I'm glad I caught you before you left," he exclaimed. "If you can follow me to my office, we can get the will reading out of the way."
***