by Nathan Roden
“Okay,” I said. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, as well,” Veronica said. She picked up her coat.
“Let’s go, Skyler,” Veronica said. “Wylie has a plane to catch.”
Veronica started toward the door. Skyler hugged me tight, and I hugged her back. Skyler leaned back, and suddenly her lips were against mine. My eyes were wide open. So were hers. This lasted for about two seconds. I’m not quite sure who quit first.
“I’ll see you later,” I said.
She winked at me.
“I’ll see you later, too.”
I walked to the gate for our next flight, feeling a little guilty. Or maybe a lot guilty. And maybe that’s why I realized how close I was to Boston.
“What was that all about?” Q asked. Holly looked at me, probably wondering the same thing.
“Skyler’s record company wants to go back to work on an album after the first of the year,” I said. “So, I guess they haven’t given up on me.”
“That is excellent news!” Q said, slapping me on the back. “I’ve always said if a thing is meant to be, nothing will stand in its way.”
Holly, I was just thinking,” I said. “You’ll want to spend time with your parents; get them settled in and everything. I’m thinking that since I’m so close I should go and see my parents for a couple of days.”
Holly smiled. I’m not sure that it reached her eyes.
“I think that would be a good idea,” she said.
“That reminds me,” Q said, taking out his phone. “I need to have some more beds delivered to the castle.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Holly. “I need to talk to Duncan.”
“Is he going as well?” she asked. “Well, silly me. Of course, he is.”
“Hey, Duncan,” I said.
“Hey,” Duncan said. “What did your old pal Skyler want?”
“She still wants to work with me,” I said. “Or, rather, her mother and her other people still want to work with me. The single we recorded is doing really well. They want to start up again after New Year’s.”
“That’s cool,” Duncan said. “Better timing, anyways.”
“Yeah,” I said. “No doubt. Say, Dunk. Since we’re so close I’m gonna go see the folks for a couple of days. You wanna come?”
Duncan looked uneasy.
“I don’t know, Wyles,” he said. “What good will that do anybody?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Do you want me to come?” he asked.
I stared at him for a few seconds, and then I nodded.
“Yeah. I do. Give me a few minutes. I need to call Nate.”
“How’s it going, Nate?” I asked.
“Fine as wine,” Nate said. “You guys on your way back?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We just landed in New York. Say, would you mind watching Toby for another couple of days?”
“Not a problem,” he said.
“I just thought I should go and see my parents, since I’m this close,” I said.
“Are Holly’s folks still coming here?” Nate asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “We…sort of have their house, so…”
Nate laughed.
“Yeah, there’s that,” he said.
“How’s it going at work?” I asked.
Nate blew out a long breath.
“It is what it is,” he said. “What is it…like eight days until Black Friday? Can’t wait, Bud.”
“Well, enjoy it while it lasts,” I said.
“Why?” Nate asked. “Are you going to have me fired?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I said. “I just had a meeting with Skyler and her mother—here in the airport.”
“Yeah?” he said. “What about?”
“The single that we recorded? It’s tearing up the world, that’s all,” I said. “They’ve got Disney on the hook for an animated feature soundtrack. They still want me—can you believe it? We’re starting up again after the first of the year.”
“That’s great!” Nate said.
“No, that ain’t great,” I said. “What’s great is that I’m bringing along my very own rhythmically challenged drummer!”
“Shut…shut up!” Nate stammered. “Are you serious? You’re not yanking my chain…?”
“I am totally cereal.”
“You’re cereal?” he said.
“I am Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Cap’n Crunch with freakin’ Crunchberries, Dude,” I said. “Congratulations, Pop Star.”
“Hoooooly crap, Batman!” Nate said. “I’ve gotta…I’m gonna need to…”
I laughed.
“You’re gonna need to breathe, Son—before you pass out,” I said. “I should have some specific dates before Christmas. Oh, yeah. And tell Toby that he’s gonna be a Dad.”
“What?” Nate said.
“Yeah, he went for a quick little visit and knocked up Skyler’s Westie,” I said. “Seven little Tobys—swimming in the soup. I saw them myself.”
“Well you little rascal,” I heard Nate say. And then I heard him yell.
“Tooie! You’re gonna want to hear this!”
“We’ll see you in a few, Nate,” I said.
“Don’t rush on our account,” he said. “We’re all good, here. Awesomely good.”
I tipped the cab driver and stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Well?” I said. “Are you ready?”
“Of course not,” Duncan said. “How could I possibly be ready for this? I don’t know why you wanted me here.”
I took out my phone.
“You’re gonna call them?” Duncan asked.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
“Wylie?” my mother said. “Is that you?”
“In the flesh, Mom,” I said. “How are you?”
“I just finished stuffing the turkey,” she said. “I’m not sure why I bother. Your father eats like a bird, and Jessie does, too. But we do have lots of stray cats around here lately, who will be more than happy to help with leftovers. How is everything down yonder in the south?”
“Good,” I said. “Pretty good. Do you know that the Christmas lights across your front porch are crooked?”
“I paid the neighbor’s kid a few dollars to—,” Mom said. “Where are you?”
“In the front yard,” I said. “It’s kind of cold out here.”
The front door flew open seconds later, and Mom threw her arms around me. She was wearing a housecoat and slippers. She had flour on her hands and smelled of orange peel and I loved every ounce of her.
“You sneaky, sneaky, little devil!” she said. “Get inside this house right now! John! Johnny! You’ll never guess who’s here!”
I expected my father to meet us at the door, but that didn’t happen. My mother looked at me.
“I don’t guess he heard me,” she said. “He doesn’t leave his room very much,” she whispered.
She pulled me along down the hall.
“Johnny?” she said. “Look who’s come home!”
I hardly recognized my father. He was a good thirty pounds lighter than the last time I saw him. And he looked thirty years older. He was in a robe and barefoot, and was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the only window in the room. His hair was too long, and it stuck out like he hadn’t combed it in a while. He was days away from his last shave, and his beard had more white hair than dark.
He smiled at me and stood up with some effort.
“Wylie,” he said. “It’s so good to see you, Son.”
I hugged him, and he hugged back with surprising strength.
“Great to see you, too, Dad,” I said.
“Listen,” my mother said. “You two will have a lot of catching up to do. I’m going to run over and pick up Jessie. She’ll be so excited!”
“Sounds great, Mom,” I said.
“Do you need me to pick up anything for you, Wylie?” she asked.
&nb
sp; “No, Mom,” I said. “I don’t need a thing.”
“You’re sure?” she asked.
“Sure, Mom,” I said. “When you bring back Aunt Jessie, I’ll have everything I need.”
“I’ll be less than an hour,” she said. “The turkey will be fine. You just have a nice visit with your father.”
“Will do, Mom,” I said. “Drive safe.”
My dad sat back down in his chair.
“You’re looking good, Wylie,” he said. “I saw you on television. You were really good.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Mom told me about the deal with your wife.”
“Tina,” he said while he looked out the window. “Her name is Tina.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Tina.”
“Your mom is doing very well,” he said, “Got her own business and everything. Doing real good. She’s taking care of me; because, as you can see, I’m pretty much a mess.”
“You just need some time, Dad,” I said. “Things have been a little rough for you, that’s all.”
Dad covered his face with his hands. After a few seconds, he took them away.
“How can I tell one of my boys that I could never get over losing his brother?” he whispered.
“Hey, it’s okay, Dad—”
“It is not okay, Wylie,” he said. “But nothing in my life ever prepared me for that—for watching him waste away like that.”
“Maybe it just takes some people longer to—”
“It’s been ten years, Wylie!” he said. “Do you really think—?”
He covered his face with his hands again.
“Can you believe that I’m yelling at you?” he laughed. “When I think of how I used to preach to you boys about being responsible—about studying hard, and making good grades, so that you wouldn’t end up—”
“Being dancing monkeys,” I said.
“Being dancing monkeys,” he whispered. “I lost my job, and now look at me. I’m no good to anyone, Son. Worse than that, I’ve become a burden.”
I felt the sting of tears turn into a tickle as they ran down my cheek. I looked across the room—at the solemn, semi-transparent face of my big brother. I lifted my chin. Duncan shrugged his shoulders.
I held out my hand to my father. He looked at my hand, and then looked me in the eye.
“I’m not sure that I deserve to shake anyone’s hand,” he said.
“I’m not sure of anything right now, Dad,” I said. “But I do know someone who would like to talk to you.”
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A Sneak Peek at
Book Three of the Wylie Westerhouse Series
Two
Tara Jamison
London, England
Tara Jamison lagged behind the rest of her classmates. As always, they divided themselves into their respective cliques. The giggling pretty girls led the pack. The sexually frustrated athletic boys vied for their attention by roughhousing each other. If Tara identified with any of the students, it would be the small group of bookish nerds. They were the only ones excited about that day’s field trip to the London Zoo.
Tara found herself friendless again after her father’s eleventh military transfer. She was accustomed to being ignored, teased, and even bullied by her fellow students. No one ever trusted “the new girl”.
Tara’s longest stint at any school had come just two years ago in Prague, Czechoslovakia. That was where she made her last real friends. An intelligent and witty pair of twin sisters lived just down the lane and attended the same school. Tara was devastated when her family had to move away again.
She gave up.
Since relocating to London, one or two girls had made an effort to be nice to her. Tara distanced herself from them.
“Hurry it along, Miss Jamison,” one of the class chaperones prodded her. “If you are separated from the other students, you could be left behind. What a scary place this would be at night—all alone with wild animals.”
“I think I would prefer that to this,” Tara said.
“I beg your pardon, Miss?” the chaperone asked. “What was that, Miss Jamison?”
“Nothing,” Tara said.
“Nothin, Ma’am, if you please,” the chaperone said.
Tara hurried to catch up with her classmates while pretending not to hear.
Tara caught up with the others outside of a large cage with a tree in its center. Several ropes hung from the ceiling along with two tire swings. The cage was home to twenty monkeys. Half of these were either eating or lounging while the others swung from ropes or tree branches. A solitary monkey stood alone in a bare corner.
“What do you suppose is wrong with that one?” a girl asked. She giggled and pointed.
“That must be the new girl!” the tallest of the boys said loudly. The children laughed. Even the two adult chaperones could not hide their smiles.
The tall boy’s name was Cedric Johnson. Cedric was quick to make fun of Tara because it made his friends laugh. That was not the only reason that Cedric paid attention to Tara. In spite of her awkwardness and lack of social standing, Tara was very pretty.
On every occasion that Cedric teased Tara in front of their classmates, his eyes lingered on her. This left Tara confused and a more than a little afraid.
“Look! Bears!” cried one of the boys. The children ran to the barrier fence in front of the Black Bear enclosure, which was just past the monkey cage.
“Roar!” Some of the boys leaned over the railing and shouted down at the two bears in their sunken habitat. Some of the girls joined in with their own noise-making. The bears remained passive. They looked bored.
Splat!
Two girls screamed when something bounced off of their bare arms. These girls were standing the closest to Tara. The girls looked up and saw one of the monkeys clinging to the cage behind them. He gnashed his teeth. One of his arms extended through the bars. What hit the girls were small pieces of what he had thrown in their direction.
The majority of it hit Tara Jamison on the back of her head.
It was monkey dung.
The other children laughed hysterically for about three seconds.
What happened next was something that Tara would barely remember.
What happened next was something that Tara’s classmates would never forget.
In fact, it would haunt their every waking hour. For some, it would haunt their dreams.
The laughing children did not hear Cedric when he began to yell.
“Hey! HEY!”
They did not notice that Cedric’s feet were no longer touching the ground.
No one paid Cedric any attention at all until his body tilted toward horizontal. He floated ove
r the railing—over the railing and above two fully-grown black bears.
Cedric’s confusion turned into terror. He kicked his feet, his arms became windmills, and his screams filled the air. His screams were soon joined by those of the other children.
Cedric’s cell phone slipped from his pocket and hit the floor of the bear’s enclosure. It shattered and the sound brought the bears to their feet. Cedric’s wallet fell and bounced off of a bear’s head. The bear gripped the wallet in its jaws and shook its head back and forth. Bits of leather and plastic and pieces of currency filled the air.
The huddled children were terrified, but unable to look away. As they pushed against each other, one of the girls lost her balance. She fell hard on her backside. She was facing away from the bears—and directly at Tara Jamison. The girl screamed.
Tara’s eyes rolled up in the back of her head. Her entire body glowed with heat from an unseen source. The monkey dung slid from her hair and landed on the concrete with a sizzle and a wisp of smoke. Tara’s hands were at her side but away from her body. Her fingers were splayed and trembling.
The screaming brought people running from every direction. A man with a video camera was recording the event. Seconds after he pointed his camera at Tara, a boy fell against his side. The man lost his grip on the camera and it clattered to the ground. The lens shattered against the concrete.
In a single instant, Tara returned to normal. In that same instant—Cedric Johnson fell to the floor between two angry black bears.
The fall broke Cedric’s collarbone. He rolled onto his side, screaming. One of the bears roared and raised a huge paw. Cedric covered his head with his hands just before the bear struck the top of his head. Cedric’s head hit the floor face-first—breaking out two of his teeth. The bear’s claw tore out a patch of Cedric’s hair along with a patch of his scalp.
