Josh twisted his chin to hold the phone and fell into
the chair. "Yes, yes, this is Josh. Oh, hello, Mr. Maloney. Yes. Yes,
very interested. Yes. Yes. Oh. Can I let you know tomorrow? I was
just talking things over with my grandfather. I think I told you that
he's one of the most important people in my life. Yes. Yes, I'll call
you about ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Goodbye." He set the
phone on the edge of the chair and gave his grandfather a desperate look.
"One of the most important people in your life, am I?
I'm flattered."
"That was Mr. Maloney. The guy in Detroit. Ms.
Parsons' old boyfriend."
"At the automotive school? You sounded very
agreeable when you were talking with him. What did he want?"
"Well, he's still holding a place for me. For this summer.
Did you know who's going to pay for all of that? He finally told me.
It's a scholarship fund. They didn't need all of the money this year
for their regular students so there's enough for me to go to
school there for two years, all expenses paid. Go figure." He slid to
the floor and sat, legs splayed.
"So you told him yes? You're going to go to Detroit?
That's wonderful, Josh. That's a wonderful decision." His
grandfather smiled at him.
"No. No, I didn't tell him that." Josh shifted his legs.
"He needs to know by tomorrow morning. I told him I'd call at
ten o'clock. I can do that from school. From the guidance office.
That's no problem."
"But I thought that you and Cindy were getting an
apartment. It's going to be a long commute."
"If I do that, I'll go to Stratham Tech."
"That would be wonderful, Josh. They've got an
excellent program." He still had the same smile.
"And if I work for Gus? Would that be wonderful,
too?" Josh rolled over and climbed back into the chair. He fixed
his grandfather with his eyes.
"Yes it would. I'm biased, you know. I am your
grandfather. But any of those would be wonderful, if you made the choice.
If you were the one who said, `Yes, this is the thing for me.' " A
wave of his hand punctuated his remark.
"How come you're the only one who's honest with me?"
"Lots of people are honest with you, Josh. Cindy is
being honest when she says that she wants you to live with her. Gus
is being honest when he says he'd like to have you work for him.
Mrs. Carlson is being honest when she says she wants Cindy's
door open."
"But you're the only one who cares about me."
Josh straightened in the chair. Was that true? Was his grandfather
the only one?
"We all care about you. I may appear not to have
ulterior motives, but I also may be the most biased of all. The thing
that would make me happiest would be to have a grandson who
had chosen his own destiny, who did what he wanted to do."
"That's what you always say."
"Yup." That same smile.
"That makes it hard for me."
"Yup." The smile only broadened.
"You're impossible."
"I'd like to think I'm just consistent. Look, son. It's
late. You've got school tomorrow. Go to bed, and let me know in
the morning what your decision is." He stood up and reached for
the lamp.
"You know what I think, Gramps?"
"Yup." He turned to face his grandson.
Josh laughed. "How come you always know what I
think before I do? You know where I'm going to end up even before
I know I've started to move."
"We're not so different, you know. But I do have a fifty
year head start. And I do a lot more thinking. I'm not as impulsive
as you are. Not anymore." He tipped his head and laughed.
"So tell me. Tell me what I'm going to do."
"Oh, no. You won't catch me like that. We
Allensons weren't born yesterday." Now they were both laughing.
"Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Gramps. Sit down. Sit
down and listen. I think I've got it figured out. Will you at least tell me
if I'm right?"
"I'll try." He eased himself back into the chair.
"Gramps, I'm gonna go to Detroit." Josh looked as if
the forcefulness of his statement had surprised him.
"That's what I thought."
"Is it the right answer? Is it the right thing to do? Will
Mom be upset? Will you be okay? Can I go? Can I leave all of you?"
The forcefulness was gone.
"Of course you can. And we'll be all right. I've told
you that. And I do think that you've been working up to this answer
for weeks now. Maybe since the day you came back from your trip.
I suspect from the moment you saw Detroit, or at least from
the moment when you wowed them with your guess about the
defective spark plug."
"It wasn't a guess."
"Okay, then. Your psychic ability. Car tune-ups
without opening the hood. Just put your hands on the hood. Oh,
mighty one." His grandfather bowed slightly.
"I suppose it was lucky. An educated guess, let's say.
But how come you knew way before I did that this was the right
answer? How do you do that? Are you the psychic one?"
"I didn't say it was the right answer. I've told you, I
don't think life is that simple. I just think it's a good answer. And
maybe the best of the answers you see right now. You've only got
two things left to do." He stood up again and turned out the floor lamp.
"Two? What's that? Pack and go to the airport." Josh
stood up too.
"Uh, oh. That's what I was afraid of. No. Two hard
things. Well, one should be easy. That's to go to bed and sleep soundly
on your decision. I don't want you stealing my pie again. But I
think you'll be all right."
"And the other one?" But Josh already knew what it was.
"This is the hard one. You've got to tell your friends
what you've decided to do. Tell your mother and Gus and Miss
Ingersoll. Fred and Holly Parsons." He paused. "And Cindy."
"How can I tell her? How can I say, `Hey, Babe. It's
been fun, but I'm leaving town. I'll write.' She'll go ballistic."
Panic twisted his stomach.
"What else are you going to do? Let her call here and
have me say, `Oh, yes. I think he's in his room. Whoops. My
mistake. He's in Detroit.' That's going to make it easy?"
"But she's got our plans all made. She's counting on
us living in Newmarket next year. This summer. What am I going
to do? What is she going to do?" He was pacing around the
small room.
"Humph. You're not as observant as I thought you
were. All you notice about that girl is how gaga she is about you.
There's a lot more to her than that."
"Well, yeah, but still."
"Still, nothing. I think you'll be surprised at how tough
that little girl is. Oh, I may be wrong. But I think she likes you a
lot more than you think she does."
"Huh?"
"Time for bed. I'm going to turn in, and you should come
to bed pretty soon. School, and all these people to talk to. But I
think you'll find some surprises tomorrow." Josh watched him go out
the door and listened to his footsteps on the stairs.
"Um, Cindy. Cindy, I know we've been having lots of
fun and that I'm special to you and I've changed your life, but
I'm going to Detroit, so so long, maybe I'll see you when I get
back." Yeah, right. Even the wall couldn't listen to that with a
straight face.
"Hey, guess what? Nope. No, I'm leaving you. It's
over. So long." Quick and to the point, but that old knife was
slashing at his insides again.
"Detroit offers some wonderful opportunities for me,
and I've decided that you should come with me. You can wait
tables while I go to school." Yeah, right. I guess Gramps was right.
It's time to go upstairs.
Josh undressed and slid into bed. His fears of a
sleepless night twisted in his mind for maybe thirty seconds before he
fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
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