Chapter 100: A Case Of Memorial Impairment

Parking Lot, Terrow Heights Apartment Complex, Baltiney, New York...

 Dark eyes scanned the surrounding lot and the apartment complex that Ken Ryker had been so accustomed to venturing into whether or not he'd been under the influence. On this particular morning, he'd been on the verge of returning to being under the influence despite having gotten himself to the place in one piece nearly sober. He took a few moments to shut off the engine and rested his head against the backs of his hands as they landed against the thick steering wheel. He took in a deep breath as the familiar sensation of his aching head subsided long enough for the drugs to begin to take effect once more. Ryker Kennison had been particularly volatile when it came to the very vivid memories of his dead wife and children, the most clear image in his already weary mind had been his youngest dead son, Carter who had been the one he tended to favor given his looks and personality mirroring that of his late mother. 

He recalled it being close to the boy's birthday in the present time and thus the home movie Dean had elected to watch had been quite triggering for him despite his insistence that it held no meaning to him. Ken took another deep breath and exited the car noting his less-than-ideal parking exploits as he shuffled out of the front seat and made his way, stumbling as his tall lanky frame came into full extension once he'd been fully out of the car. Despite his weariness, Ken had put one foot in front of the other and made his way toward the apartment complex before him. It had been a rather familiar place he knew like the back of his hand. 

It was the place he frequented most of all on his bad days, and this was most certainly a bad day for him as he stumbled up the stairs and toward the familiar apartment's dark brown door with the numbers he'd memorized without effort even when under the influence. 

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Apartment 274, Terrow Heights Apartment Complex, Baltiney, New York...

 It wasn't unusual for Valencia Ramos to find herself rising from her bed to the sound of constant knocking at her front door. The time of day or hour of the night had not been a means of worry for her as she had known all too well who had been on the other end of it. There had not been much of a surprise for her when she found a rather giddy Ken Ryker on her doorstep, reeking of booze, sex, and dirt for some odd reason or another. His dark eyes blazed with lust and the giddiness of his cocaine-induced stupor had been evident to her as well. 

"Ken?" she said feeling a good deal of concern for her future husband.

After entering the apartment, Ken slowly dropped down to his knees before her and trailed his hands along her legs pulling her close as he kissed her belly. He seemed to be preoccupied with the idea of her pregnancy to give her any real answers so Valencia just ran her fingers through his messy hair and closed the door behind them. 

It wasn't the first time he'd come to her all out of sorts and it wouldn't be the last, knowing what she did about his dead son's birthday, she half expected to see him in a state like this. She just didn't expect it to be triggered so early. 

"Come on...let's get you out of those dirty clothes and into the tub," she said evenly still running her fingers through the ailing man's wild dirt-filled black hair. 

Ken didn't object as he planted a slow kiss on her belly before getting back to his feet towering above her as always as she took him by the hand and escorted him toward her rather nicely decorated bathroom. 

The apartment had been surprisingly spacious despite only her being the main tenant since Ken had elected to pay for it given his distaste for her previous living arrangement with a former roommate who had her guests and interest in their long-standing affair. 

Claudia had been her name. 

Claudia Silk. 

Ken couldn't stand her ever since their first encounter, she'd been something of a headstrong brunette and didn't much like the look of him, an older businessman seemingly taking advantage of a young impressionable girl, it showed how little Claudia had known about Valencia given it was the other way around and Ken had been the impressionable one ever since his awakening from his coma.

Valencia had figured what Claudia didn't know wouldn't hurt her but Ken had insisted on getting her, her place, mostly so they weren't disturbed even if he wanted to have sex all over the apartment, Valencia had not been surprised Ken had behaved in true Ken fashion when she'd gotten the place, they managed to hit every room before finally breaking in her bed on the first night. 

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The Bathroom, Apartment 274, Terrow Heights Apartment Complex, Baltiney, New York...

Valencia sighed as he simply did as she instructed while she ran the water her dark eyes taking note of Ken's naked body as he discarded his dirty suit and allowed her to instruct him further when it came to him climbing into the warm water. She moved about the place without a word as she filled the bath with various scents and oils before seeing to tossing his dirty clothes into a nearby hamper and fishing out a towel and pajama bottoms she'd purchased for him some nights back for just such an occasion. 

Ken seemed to relax a bit in the tub, his dark eyes still giddy from the drugs and his thick cock already at attention as the warm water swirled around him. Valencia shook her head as she set to work getting him clean, insisting on bathing him herself given his condition and level of filth once he entered her apartment. 

The older man gave no objections as she moved the soft warm cloth along his bare body lathered with soap and water as he sat patiently allowing her to conclude her goal of washing him. His massive cock had been high above the water's surface despite the tub being easily filled and the warmth felt good along the older man's aching muscles further contributing to his relaxed state as much as the coke had. 

"Sera...." he said in something of a breathless whisper as he closed his eyes in the wake of the sharp shards of memory bombarding his still weary mind. "My Sera..."

Valencia fought the urge to tense when she took note of Ken's demeanor and recalled his tendency to forget that she wasn't his late wife. She supposed whatever happened to trigger this splitting session of his had been major. Five years she'd been down this road and back with Ryker Kennison and had known all too well the twists and turns despite his tendency to leave her and return at his leisure. 

Never once had he strayed too far, given the implication of his severe attachment to the ghost of his dead wife being familiar when it came to Valencia herself. She'd put up with his cheating, and outbursts, even his selfish designs and all because she knew deep down that he couldn't help it. Their initial bond had been stronger than anything she had ever known and the constant fear of hearing the awful words from his accident kept her on her toes when it came to Ken and his antics. 

Ken reached up with a hand dripping from the warm bath water and stroked her cheek as she continued to scrub him with the cloth. Valencia had been more than a bit annoyed at being wet and the disturbance of his showing up at her apartment in such a state, but she simply sighed and leaned into his touch, a touch that despite the wetness she'd craved more often than not despite his cavalier treatment of her and her feelings toward him. 

"I fucked up again didn't I?" he asked breaking the rather awkward silence that had fallen between them. "I know I did...I...I can't help it sometimes...Baby, I have a thing for blondes...I don't where it came from..."

Valencia had recalled that Dean Hudson had been blond when she had seen him at the engagement party. There were several blondes that Ken had been so bold as to bed during their arrangement beforehand and she'd wondered why he'd suddenly been so interested in them. 

"You can't leave me this time...that girl was....was a mistake and last I checked she drugged me so...don't...don't look at me like that...you can't leave me this time because I put a baby in you and you're going to be my wife now so...you can't leave me Sera...you can't leave me," said Ken still off his rocker as his dark giddy eyes peered into Valencia's confused and equally dark orbs. 

"Ryker..." began Valencia only for Ken to pull her into a heated kiss as she leaned against his body as he maneuvered near the edge of the tub splashing a good deal of water onto her as his wet chest came into contact with her body. 

She had melted into his kiss as she had so many times before nearly forgetting that she'd been bathing him once she'd dropped the washcloth. Ryker had always had this kind of effect on her, from the sound of his voice to his touch making her heart skip a beat, it was always an intoxicating experience to be swept up in his presence, and even with him drawing her in as he often had when under the influence or just seeking her for personal pleasure, she'd been powerless to want anything other than what he'd been willing to offer her.