Josh drove quickly through the night, afraid of what
he might find. Gran could be sick, or dying. She'd seemed frail lately.
But it could be Gramps. Or maybe Miss Ingersoll had had
another fall. That was the trouble with caring about so many people.
They could all hurt you.
The house seemed quiet as Josh pulled into the driveway.
No ambulance. No doctor's car. No excitement of people in
the windows. He jumped out and raced to the door.
"Ma? Ma, I'm home. Where are you?" Immediately,
he was sorry. He shouldn't have screamed, not if someone were ill.
He went into the living room. His grandfather sat watching TV.
"Hi, Josh. You're home early. Everything okay?"
Seinfeld reruns. How could he be watching TV when there was a crisis?
"Where's Mom?"
"Oh, she and Miss Ingersoll went out a while ago. I
think they'll be back pretty soon. Can I help?" He muted the TV
and looked at Josh.
"Mom called me. She called me and told me to come
home right away. She said something was wrong, and she needed me.
Where is she? Where did she go?" Josh felt the old panic rising
in his chest. "Gramps, I need to find her. She called me. She
needs me." His hands were twisting beside his body, trying to reflect
his words.
"She and Mildred and maybe Holly were going to
get together for dessert somewhere. They didn't say where. What
did she say when you talked with her?"
"I didn't talk to her. Mrs. Carlson did. She said
Mom needed me right away. I came home as fast as I could. Maybe
I was supposed to go somewhere else. I'll call. I'll call Mrs.
Carlson and ask her where I was supposed to go." He grabbed the
portable phone from the chair and punched the speed dial.
"Mrs. Carlson? Josh. Where was my mom? Where did
she call from? Where was I supposed to go?" His grandfather
watched Josh twist with confusion as he listened.
"Okay. Then can I talk to Cindy? She's what? Gone
to sleep? But she still had tons of homework to do. Uh, huh. Okay.
Tell her I'll see her in school tomorrow." Josh dropped the
phone onto the coffee table.
"What's going on, son? Come sit down."
"Thanks, Gramps." Josh fell into the overstuffed
armchair and stared at his grandfather. "I don't think Mom called at all.
I think Mrs. Carlson made up the phone call. Why would she
do that? I thought she liked me. Why did she send me away?
And why couldn't she just have said that they had things to do,
and would I leave? I would've done that." Josh rubbed his
forehead with his hands.
"I think she does like you. Was something else going on?"
"No. No, Cindy and I were just talking about next year,
and suddenly she comes right in without knocking and says Mom
wants me at home. Something weird's going on." Josh couldn't sit still.
He got up and began pacing around the room.
"It sounds weird to me too, Josh. What exactly were
you and Cindy doing when she came in? Was her mother upset
about something?"
"No. We were just talking. Cindy was arranging my life
for the next two years and her mother comes in and goes ballistic.
Over nothing."
"Well, maybe nothing was going on, but what did
her mother think was going on? Could that be important?"
"We were just talking. No, we had finished talking.
Cindy had my life all arranged and packaged. And then she jumped on
me and then I tickled her and then her mother walked in. Nothing
was happening." Josh held out his hands.
"Sounds like wild sex to me."
"Wild sex? What do you mean, wild sex?" Now Josh
really was flabbergasted.
"Happens all the time. That's all teenagers do these days.
In the streets. In the parks. In the schools. In Cindy's bedroom."
"Hey, wait a minute. We were just talking. Nothing
was going on." Why was he getting angry at his grandfather?
"Listen to what you said. You and Cindy were laughing
and screaming and having a tickling fight while Mrs. Carlson
stood outside the door. And then she burst in and sent you home.
Seems pretty clear to me. If it sounds like it, it must be happening."
Josh looked at his grandfather in disbelief for a few seconds and
then burst out laughing.
"You got it, Gramps. That must be what happened.
Why does everyone think we're having sex? What is the matter with
all you grownups? Don't you have anything else to think about?"
"Oh, now wait. I thought you were having a tickling
match when Mrs. Carlson walked in. Don't lump me with the rest
of them. I'm one of the good guys." Gramps snapped off the TV.
"Oh, you are, Gramps. You are. Poor nervous
Mrs. Carlson. She must think I'm a bad influence on her sweet little girl.
But Cindy's the one who's gung ho on living together
in Newmarket next year. She's got an apartment all lined up for
us and even got me an application for Stratham Tech. All I have to
do is nod my head. What could be better than that?" Josh settled
into the chair again.
"Choice? What about you having a choice in all of this?
I thought you wanted to go to Detroit. Or work for Gus. I've
never thought you were very keen on Stratham, at least not right away."
He turned in his chair so that he could see Josh clearly.
"Don't you think that living with Cindy would be a
good choice? I thought you liked her. I thought you said it would
be fine to move in with her. How come you're changing your mind?
What's different? What's the matter with everyone?"
"Now, Josh. Settle. We've been over this. Any one of
your plans is good. Any of them will set you up for the future. All I
want for you is the best. And I think that involves you making. . . ."
The phone rang and Josh grabbed it.
"Hello, Allenson residence. Will you hold for just a
moment, please?" He looked at his grandfather.
"Oh. Oh, yes. I just want you to be the one who
chooses. That's all. The choice should be yours." He pointed to the phone.
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