>3<
I feel like Goldilocks when the perfect porridge slides down her throat and safety covers her as she dozes off in just the right bed.
Before hopping into Emmie's Volkswagen Beetle, Matt pulls up. He hands me my nana's list.
"Hey! Once you're done with Emmie, Grid, I need you to go back to the house and give nana her meds. Emmie, is it okay if you drive her home?" asking Em hesitatingly because the drive is a long one.
"Oh, it's fine. I wanted to stop by and visit Retta anyways." Retta is the nickname for her full name, Henrietta. She only allows us to call her that because of her love: Henry down the road. Henry and Henrietta... Heard of anything cuter? I think not! His nickname for her is Retta because he can't bring himself to saying anything other and now Henrietta can't hear her own name without protest.
"Ah, thank you so much. Grid, I have one more hour then I'm picking up Jay and we're going shoe and grocery shopping," he says with a small smile.
"Oh Matt he will love that!" I exclaim with deep surprise, "If you can, try and find ones that light up for him. And don't forget about Ezekiel bread!"
"I'll try and gotcha. See ya ladies," and as fast he drove in, he's driving away with black smoke leaking out of the engine and my heart grateful that he decided to think of Jay.
We hop in and I turn on her fancy bluetooth feature. I press my name and turn on my chilled playlist from my phone. The whole car ride with Emmie consisted of questions about Luke, asking how we began. It was actually difficult to answer. I didn't know how we really started besides the fact that one stormy night his frumpy uncle came home with two boys in his backseat and I happened to take a peculiar notice.
It was a rainy evening where the rain pitter pattered for a while, drip-dropping on leaves, making makeshift homes until they fell to form muddy puddles. Then the rain would swell inside the clouds and explode across the land. Lightning cracking quickly across the skies with thunder right on its tail. I was sitting on the front porch swing, stroking Jay's hair gently while watching God's power reign across the countryside. He would point towards every bolt and scream in delight. Jay wasn't one of those kids that shied away from storms or danger or emotions. Things typical kids try to avoid. He tried skateboarding when he was six because he saw Tony Hawk on TV and wanted to overcome deathly falls like him, he desired to climb the tallest trees on our land when Matt and I told him not to, and he loved watching action movies, especially Jason Bourne bounding away from awful men with guns. His innocence mixed together with these interests always made me giggle. He loved watching men seek justice on TV through torture and bullets but then any violence in nature brought him to tears. When a coyote would kill a rabbit, when birds would fight over bird seed, when chickens would disappear during the night, or when possums were found dead on the side of the road, he would squeeze his tear-filled eyes and burrow his head in my side. He was tough, but he was tender.
There was something so intriguing to Jay about lightning and thunder that almost comforted him. That he knew his feet were secured to the ground and that nothing could hurt him. That God created the skies and their wet displays. He trusted Him to water the earth and create mighty atmospheres in people's lives.
As we sat on the porch, Ted Fletcher drove up in his big black truck, spewing mud out of his back tires. Past our front driveway, he turned into his across the way. He stopped abruptly and opened his door to slam it back brutally. Two tall boys crawled out of the other side door and hustled back to the bed of the truck. They heaved two suitcases out and one punched the other, the one with the glasses, playfully on the shoulder. I could tell Ted was disgruntled by their presence and the enduring rain. They rushed inside to avoid as much wetness as possible and poof, they were out of eyesight.
"Grid, have you seen them befo... Whoa. Are you okay?"
"Yes I'm fine and no, never before."
"You're crying!" he's pulling at me, but I'm up and muttering, "We should go back inside, it's getting pretty bad."
"But Grid!!!"
We're shuffling through the doorway and I look back through the sheets of rain to see a light flicker on in Ted's upstairs bedroom. For some reason I feel like a part of myself had just flickered on itself.
***
"Uh, hello!! You're leaving me hanging! I mean, it's considerate of you to be silent while I drive because well I need all my focus, but I'm already so curious in y'all's bidness, you have gotta keep going," she says making faces at the road that crack me up.
"Sorry, I was thinking back to the first time I saw Luke," laughing, "It was a while ago and hard to forget because it was so strange."
"Well spill!"
I tell her how we didn't even meet for two weeks, but whenever a storm would pass through the countryside I would feel the overwhelming urge to cry with hope. The boys were best friends, twins as I saw it, and looked stunningly similar but acted incredibly different. The one without glasses always seemed to be out with friends and running aggressively down the gravel road, while the other wasn't seen much besides working in Ted's fields. They played basketball in Ted's driveway and were constantly teasing each other. Whenever Ted's guests or anyone would visit the house, the one without the glasses shook hands eagerly while the other boy would stand aside, gratefully letting his brother talk.
My room happened to have a perfect view of Ted's house, so whenever any action started to boil over I would peek through my window to unashamedly stare. Not much happened when Ted lived there alone before, but ever since these boys arrived, people from who knows where appeared with obvious deep knowing of the two.
Emmie perked up at the thought of Luke having a twin, but to me, the thought of my best friend dating someone who looked almost exactly like my boyfriend freaked me out. She said she really wanted to meet him, but secretly I was hoping they wouldn't get along.
I told Emmie about when Matt said Ted's plums were finally in season. Matt had an odd love for plums in which I never questioned; whatever makes him happy, I'd help him get it. That day, he had to have a meeting with Diana, the nurse who was helping our nana, and then bring Jay to the dentist.
So I strode over to Ted's with my favorite wooden basket to receive some plums like I did every summer. My heart tried to stay calm because this was a normal thing! It wasn't something out of the ordinary. Then why was my heart beating so rapidly?
I reach the door and my hand is rapping against the heavy wood with my usual five knocks. Instead of a large, ugly man opening the door with a distinct smell of Home Depot, I'm faced with two piercing blue eyes. They look right through me and it's like someone snatched my breath right out of my lungs. He smelled of tangerines and was sweltering in sweat.
"Hello...?" he asks.
"Oh! My goodness. I'm sorry! I came to pick plums for Matt," I say rushingly.
"Who's Matt?" and a british accent blossoms through his words.
"Whoa, I love your accent! He's my older brother and Ted lets us pick some every summer."
"Ha, well thank you. I suppose I should bring you around back," he says with a grin, "I'm not a big plum fan myself, but they are rather beautiful."
"I agree. Thank you so much. I'm truly sorry to intrude! If Ted was here, he'd know me..."
"Oh I believe you. He's mentioned you. And I've seen you before."
"Really. That's interesting... He is an interesting character though," I say with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah I've discovered that," he laughs, "But yes, he's mentioned your peach trees and your parents. Deacon and Florence." At the mention of my parents, my jaw clenches and heart slows.
"Oh yeah, my parents were really close with Ted," I say with steady eyes on his forehead, "Um. Who are you exactly?" I say, laughing as we're entering the orchards.
"Oh, I'm Hayden. Nice to meet you," and he bows with a stellar wink, "here are thee lovely plum trees!"
"Wow they really are beautiful this year. You're a twin, correct?" I say selectively choosing the deepest purple ones.
"I am," he says kicking the dirt, "he's a gent. We're not very alike although we do look quite alike."
"What's his name?"
"Luke."
Why has breathing become so hard?
"So Luke and Hayden Fletcher. So how're you related to Ted?"
"Well, let me stop you there. We prefer 'Hayden and Luke Fletcher' actually," and then he's giving me a wink, "He's our uncle. Our mother's brother."
"Oh okay. So why are you here now?" A loud boom comes from inside the house as if someone slammed the door then dropped a fridge on the floor.
"What was that!?" I say almost dropping the plum in my hand. Hayden is already bolting towards the house leaving me behind with only the company of the fruits. I quickly pick a heavy one towards the bottom and dash towards the house, clutching my basket tightly.
"What was th-" I begin to repeat, but the words stop right in their tracks. Standing before me in the kitchen are two humans that look practically identical. Hayden is on his knees leaning over his apparent brother, looking at his bloody ankle.
"Dude, that's one gnarly bite." Luke is nodding and grimacing with eyes pinned shut.
"Let me see," I say instinctively, bending down to inspect the damage. Luke and Hayden look up at me at the same time; what a strange feeling to be stared down by two almost-the-same faces.
"You're the girl...from... across the street," Luke gasps, breathless. And even though I didn't just run inside from some animal like him, my breath abandoned me as well. His accent makes everything sound so wonderful and in the instance he spoke, my heart began an undying race. Every beat in my chest trying to thump faster than the last.
"Yes," I whisper.
"You're even more lovely up close," and he starts looking up and down my face, but slowly a pained expression fills his. I get up quickly and run to the nearest closet, hoping there to be a washcloth inside.
"There's a towel under the sink," Hayden says, getting up to get soap out of a cabinet.
"You think the animal had rabies?" I mutter softly to Hayden.
"He said it was a raccoon out in the fields, so who knows," he says with concern dripping on his words. I soak the washcloth in water and soap, then run back to Luke to see him writhing in agony.
"If it was a raccoon, I think you should call an ambulance. My brother has had bites before and it's better safe than sorry," I say back to Hayden, "Raccoons aren't usually violent animals. They only attack when they feel attacked themselves or are rabid."
I'm patting the wound as best I can, but the blood keeps a steady flow and my heart keeps thumping. It doesn't seem like just a bite. I run to get another towel to apply on his leg and lift his leg above his heart, to help slow the bleeding. I hear Hayden on the phone in the other room periodically getting louder as he paces closer to the kitchen.
Because we were so far out, Hayden had to call Emergency Medical Services instead of 911 and the whole wait for the ambulance was severely stressful. We exchanged phone numbers and he told me that I should go with Luke to the hospital; I was honestly shocked he let just me go. Once the Medical Services arrived they asked about the animal and Hayden said he'd go with an animal inspector to the blackberry bushes to search for it. He told them Luke had Hemophilia and that I was "family." My head swiveled quickly to Hayden at the sudden amount of trust just laden on my shoulders. We piled into the ambulance with my heart hopping and watched Luke's face the whole ride.
When we arrived at the hospital, Hayden called saying the animal was in a state of nervousness and did appear to have rabies. The doctors took care of Luke, giving him the appropriate shots and medication for his condition. I've never felt so attached to every embellished medical word a doctor spoke before.
Emmie stared at me as I told the story. Her blue eyes taking in the image I was unraveling before her through my memory. She nodded consistently, sipping from her coffee that steamed with desire to be acknowledged with dreamy looks.
I paused to take in my long missed best friend. It struck me at how she had escaped my mind for the summer. She left me for Nicaragua and I stayed where I was born and raised. I had grown with the corn, while she had grown with people possessed by lifestyles covered in poverty. I wrote her letters when I had something interesting to share, but her interesting was probably just the simple act of a trip to a restroom. Why is it, when life becomes so mundane, we exaggerate the occurrences of anything that pokes out of place? Why can't we shift our mundane? Why can't it be treasured like all the special "poking-out-of-place" events?
I sit there again, staring at Emmie's swirls of steam and let her poke at my "poking-out-of-place" meet-up with Luke and Hayden.
"So........ YOU FREAKIN' BECAME A PART OF THEIR FAMILY THE FIRST DAY YOU MET THEM?! WHAT. AND LUKE HAS HEMOPHILIA?? ISN'T THAT A RARE BLOOD DISEASE??? I NEED MORE DETAILS, GRID!!"
She's practically becoming all of the caffeine surging through her coffee cup, as if she sucked out every drop and left liquid behind in its place.
"Yes!! I know! It's crazy, but I instantly felt the weight of it too. It didn't just feel like a weight temporarily dropped on me, it felt like it was load I was willing to carry for something greater than me."
"Girl, that is poetry." She stares at me and dramatically pulls out a suave character, "'When did you become a poet?' they ask, 'ohhhhhh, it's just the mystical powers of lovvvvvve' she answers."
"Emmieeeee," I laugh, and she instantly laughs with me. After laughter she counters with a reminder of her past unanswered question, "Hemophilia??"
"Oh. Yep. Right.... He has that."
"Ah!!! I know!! But how does he deal with that?? Without it being obvious?"
"Well, he's cautious. He works in Ted's fields against his doctor's, and my, wishes, but he has grown accustomed to touching everything delicately; even me."
"Wow, now that you say it, I remember him almost floating away earlier."
"He does that," I giggle, reminiscing the way Luke knows his way around everything. It's like he saw the world being made when God made the earth, like he can feel it as if he was blind.
"Well will his children have it?" Emmie wonders aloud.
"Well his mom was a carrier and you'd think that both twins would receive the gene, but Hayden was the lucky one. I've done my research and discovered that because Luke does has it, he will most likely bestow the carrier gene to his daughters, but his sons won't be affected."
"This feels like a straight-up biology lesson."
"Ha, I've never been so into biology and genetics in my life," I laugh again with utter agreement.
We wonder like this for hours, trying to read inbetween the lines life has given us. We imagine our future lives with children and careers and responsibilities. We wonder about destiny. We wonder about true passions and gifts. We wonder about friendship. We wonder about love.
When the sun finally sets, I can't help but release the feelings I have through three pitiful words. They can only measure up slightly to all that I feel for this friend.
"I've missed this," I say.
"Me too."
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dedicated to Kimmy<3
He felt strongly for the robins digging through dirt in search of juicy worms for their young. He felt for the squirrels that were so misunderstood in his eyes. He felt for the ugly bugs that startled you half to death if found inside your home; the ones you'd squish eagerly before they moved out of your eyesight.