Jeremy Stone by Lesley Choyce Page B

said.
    I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
    to put you through all this.
    To drag you in.
    You okay?
    Not yet, she said.
    But I will be
    soon.
    I wanted to ask about what happened
    back there at the petroglyph.
    I wanted to know the whole story.
    But my grandfather’s gentle, invisible hand
    was over my mouth
    and he was shushing me again
    and assuring me
    that words
    didn’t always
    work.

Language
    I stopped speaking again after that.
    Like Old Man had said,
    words don’t always work .
    So, Mr. Silence, what is it this time?
    my mom asked.
    Everything, I wanted to say,
    Everything and nothing.
    Guess everyone has a right
    to clam up sometimes.
    Maybe we should go see that shrink again?
    I shook my head, no.
    How about Jack the sideburned psychic?
    Sure, I nodded, why not.
    When we got to the office an hour later
    JTSBP took one look at me and said, Oh boy, this kid has been through the wringer.
    Maybe he got into some bad drugs,
    my mom offered.
    I shook my head no but Jack jumped in and said, This one has been traveling through dimensions.
    What kind of dementia? my mom asked.
    Dimensions, Jack repeated. Other realms.
    He was looking in my eyes
    and seemed to be reading my thoughts.
    Sometimes people go silent like this, he explained. Can’t quite put all the pieces together and they are waiting for everything to make sense again. Is that right?
    I nodded.
    Jack closed his eyes. Now I see the old man, he said, just like the other time. But he’s kinda faint. I see two other shapes of something but they’re very fuzzy. All I can tell is that they are young, but I can barely make them out. Do you know who they might be?
    I didn’t want to go there yet.
    No, I said out loud. I don’t.
    Jack opened his eyes. You found your voice, he said. So you had some encounters … out there. (He spread his hands outward in the air.) And it threw you for a bit. Now you are starting to come back.
    I guess you could say that, I said.
    My mom was crying now.
    Jack said, What do you want to happen next?
    I want
    my father
    home,
    I said.
    Jack looked at my mom.
    She stopped crying
    and opened her purse.
    She looked at her cell phone,
    hit a programmed number
    and gave it
    to me.

Far Away
    It rang more than five times and I thought he wouldn’t pick up. It was earlier out there and maybe he was still asleep. Or maybe he was awake and knew who was calling. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to his wife or his son. Maybe he was out of minutes.
    But then he answered.
    Hello.
    Dad?
    Jeremy.
    JTSBP closed his eyes. I knew he was asking angels or spirits or somebody to help out here.
    Hey, Dad, I said,
    I was thinking.
    In that slow, funny way he had,
    my dad said,
    Thinking is a good thing.
    I was thinking
    maybe
    Maybe what?
    Maybe
    you could
    come home.
    That’s what you were thinking?
    Yeah.
    Oh boy.
    Silence on the line.
    But something was happening. I could feel it. Like electricity in the room. I felt like a little boy again who missed his father. I wanted to plead with him, beg him if need be.
    But I didn’t.
    Oh shit, he said.
    Oh shit, what?
    Oh shit, you won’t believe
    who just came into the room.
    Who?
    Your grandfather.
    Old Man.
    Yep. Haven’t seen him
    in a dog’s age.
    Why do you think he’s there?
    He says because I need strength.
    He’s giving me
    some kind of lecture.
    He does that a lot these days.
    He been hanging out with you?
    Sometimes.
    Old Man is smart but
    he can be a pain
    in the butt.
    He can get you in trouble.
    Tell me about it, I said.
    He’s telling me
    I should go home.
    I dunno.
    Dad.
    If I lose you, it’s ’cause
    I’ll be out of minutes.
    I gotta pay for both
    outgoing and incoming calls.
    Dad?
    Yeah?
    Old Man might really mess with you if you don’t do what he wants. You know what he’s like.
    Oh, I know that. It’s just …
    Silence.
    Just what?
    I’m embarrassed to say
    I don’t have any money.
    What about