The Remembering (35 page)
Authors: Steve Cash
I turned to Opari and Opari turned to me. “Let’s go home,” I said. “Let’s go home for good.”
We bought tickets in Sydney and flew into Los Angeles using the same family emergency story we’d used hundreds of times in the past. We then flew on to Dallas, where in order to change planes we had to use the internal tram system connecting all terminals. Opari and I took our seats on one of the crowded trams and turned to look out the window. Across the platform another tram going the other way came to a stop. Just as our door began to close, the door of the other tram opened. Among the first out were a man about fifty years old and an unusual but striking-looking boy about twelve years old. The man was impeccably dressed, and he had his arm around the boy’s shoulders. The boy was dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans. They were in a hurry. The man had a perfectly trimmed beard that was showing a bit of silver, and even from a distance I could see his red ruby earrings. It was the boy who saw me, or should I say “felt” me first. He stopped immediately and stared at me from across the platform. In the next moment he reached in his jean pocket and pulled something out. He held up his arm, waving it at me, and in his hand I could see the Stone of Dreams. He smiled a bitter smile, showing off his perfect white teeth, and in a matter of seconds our tram was gone.
St. Louis is beautiful all year round, but in the spring, in May and early June, it is especially so. We landed in the afternoon. The sky was blue and clear, and the temperature was seventy-five degrees. It felt good to be alive and good to be in St. Louis.
Georgie was sitting in her car waiting for us outside the airport, along with her new border collie, Solomon. Sadly, she told us she had put Carolina to sleep two years earlier. “But you never knew Solomon,” I replied.
“Oh yes I do, Z,” she said with a smile. “He is everywhere in that house.” Georgie was fifty-eight years old and had taken over her father’s position at Washington University. She also resembled her mother, Antoinette, more than ever. On the drive back to the big house, I asked Georgie if she could take a slow detour through Forest Park and as we were driving through she asked Opari, “How long will you two be staying?” I had my head out the window smelling and feeling the air just like Solomon. “As long as this place is here,” I shouted back.
• • •
A day later Opari and I bought bicycles and began exploring St. Louis the way two twelve-year-old kids should in the summertime. We went everywhere every day and at night we usually went to the ball game if the Cardinals were in town. June and July passed by and Opari and I hardly ever talked about what was approaching; however, we did discuss how many children would make a good family. She wanted three. I told her that was fine with me.
August started hot and has stayed that way. Yesterday was one of the hottest. Today is August 21, 2017. Right now, it’s 1:14 in the afternoon and I’m sitting with Opari next to Baju’s sundial in the “Honeycircle.” Today, a total solar eclipse is occurring along a path from Oregon to North Carolina, passing directly over St. Louis at precisely 1:15
P.M
.
Georgie had to work today, but before she left this morning, I told her Opari and I would be growing up now. “Sure, Z,” she said, “and I’m going to be getting younger.”
I just glanced up and it is beginning. The moon is sliding into place. It is getting dark. There are no birds singing. Opari’s hand is waiting for mine.
“Now, my love.”
“Yes. Now.”
“It’s clear as a tear, ain’t it, Z?”
—R
AY
Y
TUARTE
, on many occasions
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S
TEVE
C
ASH
lived on the West Coast while attending college, then returned to his birthplace of Springfield, Missouri, to become an original member of the band the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. He is the co-author of the seventies pop hits “Jackie Blue” and “If You Wanna Get to Heaven.” For the last thirty years, he has played harmonica; written songs; performed all over Europe, the United States, and Canada; raised his children; and read books.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Labezomorro: (Cockroach)
Chapter 2 - Zori: (Luck)
Chapter 3 - Orbain: (Scar)
Chapter 4 - Hezur: (Bone)
Chapter 5 - Itzalpe: (Shade)
Chapter 6 - Ametsharri: (Dreamstone)
Chapter 7 - Bidaitari: (Traveler)
EpilogueTable of Contents