Evenin'.
Well, even being new to posting here, I
know that this is way over at 1.330 or so words!! Hope ya don't mind. Tried to figure a logical place to cut it into two pieces, but it just didn't flow that way. Will try to do better next time, drag it out over a couple of days.
So, here it is.
Thanks again.
***************************************
“Yes sir, it’s snowin’ mighty hard over here, don’t think I can make it to the road.”
“Yes sir.”
“I don’t mean to be puttin’ ya out like that.”
“Yes sir, thank ya, sir, I’ll tell ‘em for ya. And Merry Christmas to ya, too, sir.”
Ennis hung up the phone and looked over at Jack and his parents. “Mr. Murchison says ta just stay ‘n bring the truck back after Christmas. They’re closin’ early t’day anyway, ‘n won’t be open t’morrow, ‘course. And he said ta wish ya a Merry Christmas.”
“Well, now that that’s settled, why don’t you two go upstairs and figure out where Ennis’ll be stayin’? Plenty of rooms up there, no one but Jack sleepin’ up there these days, take yer pick. Will be nice havin' a guest for Christmas, Ennis,” said Mrs. Twist.
After the boys had thanked her for the cocoa and bounded up the stairs to explore bedrooms, Mrs. Twist turned to her husband, still sitting in his chair at the end of the kitchen table.
“Don’t be givin’ me that look, Elaine Twist, ain’t seen it in fifteen years, don’t cotton to be seein’ it again so soon.”
“Sixteen years, five months ‘n three days to be exact. The day ya did that horrible thing ta our son when he couldn’t reach the toilet.”
“Told ya I was sorry, was drunk.”
“Never said it to yer son. And never told ‘im he was doin' a real good job even though he breaks his back tryin’ to get ya to notice him, thinks he can never please ya. Ya tell me about ‘im all the time, why don’t ya tell ‘im, too? You’re a hard man, John.”
“Couldn’t tell ‘im, I’m his father, fathers don’t say things like that.”
“Where’d ya ever learn that? Ya can tell ‘im if ya wanta, he’s not a child any more, he’s a grown man, ‘n still wants his father’s love.”
“Man? Ya call him a man, knowin’ what kind he is and what his kind does with other men, and now bringin' his ‘partner’ inta our house? Not sure we’re doin’ the right thing, havin’ the two of them under this roof and upstairs alone ta boot. ‘Not the marryin’ kind’ is he? Hmmf. Know what that means, and know our son is the same, and the Bible says…”
“Know all about what the Bible says, and it also says ta love yer neighbor like ya love God and yerself, and ta keep holy the Sabbath, and not ta kill, and not ta covet. Says a lot a things, John, and ya best be thinkin’ about all a them things, and not just the little bits ya wanta hear and repeat. Don’t like it much myself, but God made our son so He must love ‘im, know I do, and know you do too even if ya don’t say so.”
“No tellin’ what them two are doin’ upstairs, too quiet if ya ask me. Tell ya, it ain’t right, and if I find out, I’ll…”
“You’ll do nothin’, John, and ya’ll never go upstairs unless they ask ya, it’s their place now, mebbe the only place they can be together safe fer now. It’s our son you’re talkin’ about, and the young man that’s his partner. Don’t ya see?”
“See what?”
“The gift that’s been given to us. Ya want yer son to stay, help out, learn ta ranch properly, take over fer ya when the time comes. Mebbe that’ll never happen, he’s got that itch ta see the world, our son does, like your brother had. Ennis, he’s our gift, too, and he's givin' us Jack, he’ll keep Jack here for a while, and they’ll work the place and learn ranchin' real good from ya. And then they’ll go ‘n see the world together, I just know it, and mebbe they’ll come back after a spell ‘n settle with us, mebbe not. But Ennis’ll keep our son safe ‘n teach ‘im ta be careful wherever they go. And fer that gift I thank the Lord and so should you. And another thing, I’ll do nothin' to make our son wanta leave ‘n stay away, ‘n ya won’t do nothin’ neither, John Twist, or so help me Hannah I’ll….”
“You’ll what?”
Mrs. Twist settled into her chair at the table, suddenly aware of how she had spoken to her husband, hardly the dutiful wife. She looked at her hands in her lap, until she heard a soft chuckle coming from her husband of thirty years.
“Woman, that’s the most ya’ve said ta me in months.”
She chuckled back and looked up. “Husband, think that’s the most I’ve said ta ya all year.”
John sat quietly for a few minutes, turning his empty coffee cup in his hands on the red and green Christmas tablecloth. He took a deep breath and looked at his wife of thirty years.
“S’pose I should be sayin' a few things ta my son, things I shoulda said b’fore, overdue things. Won't be runnin' ‘em off, if yer worried about that. It’s just… just… I want so much for him, mebbe he gets his dreamin' from me and Phil. Known fer some time about his choice, and tried to teach ‘im to be hard, ‘cause that’s the way a the world. Mebbe I been too hard, shoulda said more, but I just cain’t do it, don’t have the words ta say what I feel when it comes ta him, ta tell ‘im, never had... And the Bible, hard ta put that aside even fer yer own kin.” John brushed his fingers across his forehead, shaking his head slowly. Made up his mind, put his hand back on his coffee cup.
Speaking softly he said, “Did ya hear ‘im, Elaine? He called me ‘dad,’ not ‘daddy.’ Yer right, he’s a grown man, time ta let ‘im find his own way, he’s chosen a hard one, hope he learned enough ta be safe with his par… with Ennis. And I’ll think on that love business in the Bible, never did care much for the hellfire and brimstone crowd, mebbe why I ain’t set foot in a church since Jack was a little one.” He thought some more, and continued.
“Think I’ll go up… I mean call upstairs, and see if mebbe Ennis would like the room with the big bed in it, the one next to Jack’s. Be more comfortable fer him, bein’ tall ‘n all… and it’s at other end of the house from our room downstairs, so they won’t be botherin’ us with all their yackin’ all night. Need my sleep if I’m gonna still run this place proper like. So will they. Better remind ‘em of that too. Got chores need doin’, even on Christmas Eve.”
He moved to get up, but Mrs. Twist covered his right hand with hers, effectively keeping him in his chair, and told him quietly, “Thank you, John.”
“Not sure for what, still not sure it’s the right thing we’re doin’,” he replied shaking his head.
“Fer givin’ me an early Christmas present.”
“What?” he replied with a slightly furrowed brow.
“Fer givin’ me back the John Twist that I married.”
John covered her hand with his other one, rubbing his thumb over hers, and his blue eyes smiled into her hazel eyes.
John and Elaine didn’t realize that their son and Ennis already knew about the present from his father. They didn’t see two men barely twenty years old, sitting on the top step with an arm around each other’s shoulder, listening to the end of the conversation downstairs like a couple of kids half their age. Jack smiled through his tears, and put his head in the crook of Ennis’ neck. Ennis just held him close and whispered, “Merry Christmas, l’il darlin’,” and kissed his hair. Jack held on tighter, now with both arms.
Outside, the storm began to ease up, and the sun peeked through the clouds, sending tentative streaks of warm gold across the cold white.
Topic: Introducing the "Jack with Ennis" Fan Fic Game - the BetterMost Edition (Read 2170317 times)