Come Get Me (14 page)

“Any idea about what?” Jim asked after trying
to figure out what Gran might want. True, he’d known her when he
was little but that was a long time ago. He couldn’t imagine
anything she might want to tell him after all this time.

“No, no idea but whatever it is it must be
really important. She told me not to forget at least five times
before she left. She even tried to have me write it down so I
wouldn’t forget but I told her that was going a bit too far. I
mean, it’s our date after all right?”

He didn’t know what Gran wanted but according
to Jill it was important. They might as well go find out what this
was all about. He’d been looking forward to spending a night alone
with Jill but talking to Grandma wouldn’t take too long. Then the
two of them would have the rest of the night together.

“You’re right it is our date but it won’t
hurt to stop off and see Grandma for a few minutes,” he said,
“after that hopefully we can go do something else. There wasn’t
much to do around here when I left but I’m sure we can find
something.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find some way to pass the
time,” Jill said with an impish smile. Spending part of their first
with her grandmother obviously wasn’t what either of them had
planned but it seemed to make her happy so he didn’t mind doing it.
After that though is when the real date would start. He knew what
he wanted to do but wondered if it was along the same lines as what
she had planned.

He honestly didn’t mind taking a little time
to visit with Grandma. He hadn’t seen her in so long he’d been
hoping he would get a chance to visit her while he was home. Now
that chance had presented itself and he was glad did. If it hadn’t
been for this date he might not have found the time to see her and
knew he would’ve regretted it. She might not be around the next
time he finally made it home. His own grandparents died when he was
young, so Grandma had sorta become a surrogate grandparent. She
didn’t seem to mind too much. Why should she, it wasn’t like he
took much of her time. A kind smile whenever he came in and letting
him read whatever comics were on the racks wasn’t too hard.
Actually now that he thought about it she’d probably welcomed it
since she’d never been able to see her own grandchild.

When he was younger Grandma used to put up
with the kids from all over town being in her shop and making
messes but she’d always handled it without a problem. Whenever his
little group of hooligans showed their faces she’d be waiting with
a smile no matter how dirty or loud they were. There was a lot of
other stuff but one thing that stuck out, and he was always
grateful for, was that she’d never acted like a typical adult.
Other adults seemed to want the old standby of children being seen
and not heard but she was the exact opposite. She wanted them to
talk to her. She always seemed to have time for them not matter how
trivial the topic might be. Whenever she talked to you she did it
in a way that made that child feel important. She always spoke to
them like they were just little people and not kids. Whether it was
how much stuff they’d gotten for Christmas or if it was how many
frogs they’d caught down by the creek. It was all important to her.
If visiting her was all she asked from him then he figured it was
the least he could do to pay her back, just a little, for all she’d
done for him. Besides maybe it would be fun.

As they began walking Jill explained that she
lived with her Grandma and that it wasn’t very far away so they
could just walk there if he didn’t mind. She seemed a little
nervous talking to him at first but soon warmed up as the
conversation started flowing. Surprisingly she thought almost all
of his jokes were funny and agreed with him that there was
definitely something strange about Tommy’s death. Almost as soon as
that subject came up Jim steered the conversation to something
else. It was the first of what he hoped might be more dates and he
didn’t want to ruin it by talking about his dead friend. Jim missed
Tommy, but he was sure he’d understand.

They slowly strolled down the street towards
the edge of town talking and laughing like old friends. Jim was
actually surprised how well they were getting along. He usually did
abysmally when it came to talking to the other sex. He was mostly
glad he hadn’t put his foot in his mouth.

A lot of the houses belonged to one of the
two main developments the town boasted but there were a few that
had been built off by themselves. These were set closer to the edge
of the town, almost in the woods. They stood like lonely sentinels
guarding the inhabitants from unseen horrors that might at any
minute swoop down and devour them. At least that was how Jim always
thought of them. Many of the old places were left over from the
original families that had settled here and eventually helped the
town grow into what it was today. The developments were added later
on after others families who wanted to get away from the big cities
began moving to the area.

Sadly the town council in its infinite wisdom
did nothing to keep the lonely, old guardians intact. For the most
part they were run down, barely standing shacks. Some actually had
fallen into nothing more than heaps of old rotten wood waiting for
a well placed lightening strike to finally end their misery. They’d
been built well all those years ago but since they were no longer
occupied by anything other than an animal or two they’d fallen to
disrepair. There were no families moving to the town anymore that
wanted the problems that went along with owning one of the old
places. Jim briefly entertained the idea of buying one and fixing
it up back to the state it had once been but then his reality
reared its ugly head. There was no reason for him to do something
like that. He had no life here. He had his mom sure, but that was
about it plus he hadn’t been back in years. The idea died before
it’d really taken any shape. Glancing at Jill, he thought maybe
there would be another reason for him to stay soon.

A small smile spread across his face as they
turned down a road he recognized. He knew it almost as well as the
one leading to his house. It went to the only school in town. The
one he went to when he lived here. Jim didn’t know if it was still
in use but since the road wasn’t overgrown with weeds and trees he
assumed it was. Not that he’d seen many kids around since his
arrival. Parents were probably keeping them close to home after
what had happened to Tommy.

Trying to distract himself from morbid
thoughts he pointed out different birds and trees he saw to Jill.
He’d spent so much time in the forest as a kid he couldn’t help but
learn what certain things were. Jill asked how he knew so much
which eventually led to stories about all the mischief he’d gotten
into as child growing up here. It amazed her that one kid could get
in so much trouble. She had thought the town dull and boring but he
seemed to open her eyes to how much there actually was to do there.
At least if you were a kid.

They soon found themselves at the end of a
dirt road that branched off from the main one that in turn led to a
small house set slightly back near the wood line. Jill walked
confidently down the road and Jim followed to what was apparently
Grandma’s house. Following closely behind Jill he had to stifle a
laugh at the thought. When Jill looked questioningly over her
shoulder he had to explain that he couldn’t help but think of the
old Christmas carol. He whistled a few note and by the time they
were half way down the path they were both laughing so hard their
faces were red and Jim’s eyes were watering. He didn’t know what
was so funny about the whole thing and he didn’t really care. He
just liked hearing Jill’s laughter.

“I used to think the same thing,” she said
after catching her breath and opening the door of the porch. As
they’d walked up and before the unexpected bout of singing he’d
seen the house and found it to be what he would expect a lady like
grandma to live in. Thinking back over the years to the days when
he’d rode the bus this way he remembered passing the dwelling many
times but not thinking about who had lived there. They’d passed by
the little house everyday on the way to and from school, but he’d
never really noticed it before. He knew it was there but he never
really looked at it.

The house was a typical one story that had
obviously been built a long time ago but for all its age it still
looked ok. Just like he imagined Grandma would when he finally saw
her again. Grandma had most likely lived most, if not all, of her
life there and taken care of the place through the years. There was
evidence of a few minor modifications here and there that had been
made, the most prominent of which was the porch they were now
entering. It was in much better shape than the rest of the house.
He wasn’t sure but it stood to reason that it must have been added
after the original house was built. The small enclosure ran the
length of most of the front of the house almost reaching all the
way around to the side. Big screened in windows gave an
unobstructed view of the road and surrounding forest. The wood it
was constructed of was stained dark so that it would match the
house as close as it possible but the constant exposure to weather
gave it away. The wood paneling on the house itself was just a
slight bit lighter than the porch. The hinges of the door only
squealed a little as it slammed shut behind them. If nothing else
somebody took care of the door. Jim could imagine Grandma sitting
on one of its three chairs watching the kids pass by in the morning
on their way to school with a big smile on her face.

He felt like a bit of an intruder walking
into the house but the feeling quickly disappeared when he beheld
the homey environment he’d entered. If there was any other place in
the world that made someone feel as welcome he couldn’t think of
it. The inside just seemed to take your hand and whisper in your
ear that you were considered family and to stay as long as you
wanted. Everywhere he looked were pictures of people he knew. Not
that he knew Grandma’s family but then again looking at the
pictures he did. The faces looking back at him were filled with
smiles and laughter. They were picture of all of his childhood
friends. Here he saw the little girl that used to live down the
street from him eating an ice cream cone, there he saw the bully
that used to pick on all the smaller kids reading a comic book then
he came to a picture that just about took his breath away. Stepping
closer he saw faces he knew as well as his own. A picture of Rob,
Tommy, Pete and himself was nestled between two of other kids he
vaguely recognized. He actually remembered when it was taken. The
four of them were sitting outside Grandma’s store with their arms
around each other making weird faces at the camera. Grandma had
come outside one day while they were there and snapped it for what
she said was her family photo album. When they all protested saying
they weren’t in her family she just smiled and told them they may
not be flesh and blood but they were still her boys.

Jim was pulled from his revelry by a touch on
his shoulder. Blinking a tear from his eye he didn’t know was there
he found Jill looking at him with an understanding smile on her
face. All his life, Grandma’s natural surroundings seemed to have
been behind the counter at the store. He’d never thought of her any
other way. Seeing this other side of her and how much all the kids
actually had meant to her opened his eyes to just how special of a
woman she actually was. All the kids coming and going from her
store messing things up had never been a bother to her because they
were the family she never had.

Knowing this made seeing her just that much
more special to Jim. Taking a last look at old friends he saw
something else that was surprising. Grandma was quite the collector
of penguins. All the shelves that didn’t hold a picture had
penguins of some sort on them. He never even knew there were that
many different things with the funny looking creature on it. It
brought a smile to his face almost as much as the voice he heard
coming from another part of the house.

Any feelings about not being welcome that
might still have lingered were quickly dispelled when Grandma’s
voice broke the silence that Jim hadn’t realized existed. He didn’t
catch all of it but heard something about her being in the kitchen
and what was taking them so long to get there. After walking down a
dim hallway with even more pictures on the wall the arrived at a
door. Jill stepped aside with a smile so Jim could be the first one
to enter. For some reason he found that he was nervous, but before
it got the better of him he pushed open the door and entered.

Grandma was seated at a small table and
looked almost like he remembered her looking when she was behind
the store counter. He couldn’t help but smile as a smile brighter
than his own spread across her face.

“Jimmy,” she squealed doing a good
impersonation of a fifteen year old, “finally found time to come
back and visit an old woman huh?”

Walking to where she sat he saw that she
looked just as he remembered her. Maybe a few more wrinkles here
and there but other than that she was still the same old Grandma
from his memories. When Jim was little she’d always seemed much
bigger than him, like most adults, but now looking at her as she
stood to greet him she seemed much smaller. Of course he’d also
gotten a lot bigger over the years.

Reaching her and not knowing what to do he
took a minute to look at her. From this new perspective things were
quite different. Now instead of her being taller than him he found
that she was actually about the same height as his mother. Her hair
had always been sorta grayish but now seemed almost white. Looking
at her he could see just a hint of where Jill had gotten some of
her looks from. The resemblance was strongest in the eyes and nose
but he saw it peeking out in a few other places too. A lot of
people said that he himself looked a lot like his grandmother but
he couldn’t see it. How could a guy look like a girl was the thing
he always wondered and never understood.