Andy’s dad drove them back to Todd’s house. He left Andy there with the other two boys after a short discussion. Both Geoff and Todd looked upset, and Andy convinced his father they needed his support. The three boys went into the kitchen, and Geoff, though he still seemed somewhat in shock and hadn’t said much since they’d gotten to the hospital, began making them something to eat.
Todd saw Geoff trying to open a can of soup and fumbling with it because with his hands were shaking. Todd slid off the counter stool he was perched on and walked over to him.
“You OK?” he asked, softy.
Geoff set the can down, then put both hands on the counter and lowered his head onto them. Todd put his arm around him.
Geoff mumbled his distress into his hands. “I can’t get it out of my head. Shooting those nails into his foot. It was awful.”
Todd squeezed him. “Yeah. It was. But it saved us.”
Geoff raised his head. “Why didn’t you want to try to get away, instead? He was way up on the third floor. We had a minute. We could have run for it, out the back door, and we’d have made it.”
“Two reasons,” Todd said, still speaking softly, compassionately. “One was my father. He needed help as quickly as he could get it, and leaving him there while we ran might have meant your father hitting him again and killing him on his way out. He probably would have. My father had seen him and could identify him. I didn’t want to take that chance. I wanted your father thinking about us, not him. I wanted to get him to the basement, and I didn’t want him leaving it once he was there.”
He stopped and shuddered, but then forced himself away from remembering it. “And number two? Think about it. Think about if we’d run. Then what? We’d have been out of immediate danger, but nothing would have been different other than that. We’d still have been worried about him getting you. Getting us. We’d never have felt safe until he was caught. This way, he would be caught and it would all be over. You…we’d…be able to stop worrying.”
Geoff stood back up. He looked at Todd for a moment, then walked to the counter and sat down next to Andy. He kept looking at Todd. “How come you were so calm? You should have been scared shitless, and instead you were figuring out what to do, and then doing it. You planned all that, and made it happen. I don’t understand. How could you do that? You must have been scared.”
Todd shook his head. “I was terrified.” He paused, then said, “I don’t know how I did it. I really don’t. I was scared. As badly scared as I’ve ever been. More, even.
When anyone was hurting me before, I’d never been afraid that they were going to kill me. Hurt me, yes, but not kill me. But it was different with your father. He was awful. Horrible. I looked into his eyes before I ran upstairs, and I didn’t see any compassion there at all. What I saw looked simply cold and determined. Looking in those eyes, I knew he was going to kill me. I was almost petrified by what I saw. For a moment, I was petrified.”
He stopped then and gathered himself. When he continued, his voice was stronger, and gained even more strength as he spoke. “But a lot has changed recently. I’ve changed, too. A lot of that is because of the help you’ve given me. I’d never have been able to do what I did if you hadn’t been working with me in the basement, helping me overcome some of my fears.”
He was looking so strongly at Geoff, Geoff finally dropped his eyes. Todd continued then, but with less intensity. “When your father started toward me in the entryway, I couldn’t move for a moment, but there was something in me that told me not to give up, not to let him do what he wanted to do. I knew I had to try to get away. And, I did.”
Geoff shook his head. “I’m supposed to be the brave one here. But I was the one who ran and hid in the basement. You did everything else.” He dropped his eyes to the counter in front of him.
Todd shook he head. “No I didn’t. You did the hard part. You had the courage to shoot those nails into his foot. That took so much courage—maybe more than I have. I don’t know if I could have done that. I might have, but I don’t know. You did it. You didn’t hesitate. You just did it.”
Geoff was still looking down, not meeting Todd’s eyes. Todd saw him shiver for a moment, then stop. Finally, he looked at Todd again. “Before I did it—when he began down those stairs—I made myself think of the times he’d humiliated me. Also the times he’d whipped me with his belt, or hit or slapped me. And I thought of the worst time, when he saw Ray raping me and he just laughed and walked away. I remembered how I’d felt, knowing he didn’t care about me at all. I think it was remembering that feeling that allowed me to do it. I knew I had to or we’d both die, so I thought about him laughing while I was screaming and needing his help. Then I put the gun on his shoe and pulled the trigger. And again, and again.”
He stopped and started trembling again. Todd moved his stool over next to Geoff’s and draped his arm back around his shoulders and hugged him for a moment.
After a time with neither of them speaking, Geoff finally raised his head, and then sat up straighter. “You know, while we were sitting in the hospital, I was doing a lot of thinking. And I remembered something. It was right after Ray started doing that to me every night that I started bullying kids at school. Before, I thought it was sort of me getting revenge on the world that made me do it. But now, I think it was something else. I think it was knowing I was nothing to my father, that he couldn’t care less that Ray was hurting me every night because I didn’t matter. That made me feel really useless. I think by hurting other kids, I was proving to myself that I could at least do something. I think I was trying to make everyone see that they should respect me, and that was the only way I knew how to do it.”
Todd felt Geoff tremble again, and said to him, “One thing you should think about, Geoff. You told me a while back that you didn’t have feelings for other people. For me when you were bullying me. But that isn’t true now. Is it? You wouldn’t be so upset about this if that were true. I think, now that you’ve been away from your father and staying here, feelings you’ve always had inside you have had a chance to come out, to get stronger. I don’t think you’ll ever again be like you were. It was just because of what you’d been through that you became the way you were. It was because your father had robbed you of any self–esteem you had. I know what that’s like, not thinking you’re worth anything. But you’ve been living here now, and your perspective has changed. You’ll never go back to bullying other kids again. You’ve got too much self–respect to do that now.”
Todd smiled then. “You’re not that kid you used to be any longer. Look what you’ve done since you’ve been here. Learning how to cook, building things with your own two hands, helping me with my own problems. I know you’re not a bully any longer, and you do too. I told you I’d changed a lot recently. You have too.”
He squeezed Geoff, wrapping his arm tighter around him briefly. “There’s something else you can think about too, instead of about what happened in the basement and how horrible it was. Think about this: you did what you had to do to save your life, and mine too, and my father’s. That’s what you need to think about. You saved three lives. You’re a hero, Geoff. Think about that.”
»»»» 0 ««««
Andy ended up staying the night. When that was decided, and approved by Andy’s parents, Todd felt a sense of relief. He was still shaky and didn’t want to be alone. Just knowing Andy would be lying next to him and holding him as he fell asleep made him feel much calmer.
Getting ready for bed, Todd was talking a blue streak. Andy allowed him to go on and on without interrupting him, and that helped too. Being able to verbalize all the different thoughts flying around in his head felt therapeutic. He hadn’t been able to do that before he had Andy, hadn’t been able to talk about his problems and worries with a friend. He hadn’t had a friend to do it with. He did now, and he was learning how comforting it was.
When they were just getting into bed, Andy finally had the chance to ask something he’d been wondering about. He’d hesitated before when Geoff was with them because what he wanted to know seemed a little gristly and he didn’t want to offend anyone. Now, however, he had the opportunity and took it.
“Can I ask something, Todd?”
Todd heard something in Andy’s voice and turned to look at him. “Sure,” he said.
Andy looked down, hoping he wasn’t being too morbid, then asked, “How did the paramedics get Geoff’s father to the hospital? How were they able to get him free? Did they pull the nails out somehow?”
Todd got a wry smile on his face. He shook his head as he answered. “No, they didn’t even try. They knew they couldn’t. Instead, they used a power saw and cut the step off. Then they took him with the step still nailed to his foot in an ambulance to the hospital. I found out when I was there that they had to take him into surgery to get it removed.”
»»»» 0 ««««
The following day was hectic. The police were insistent on speaking to Geoff, and they did so exhaustively. Mr. McCluskey was allowed to stay with the boy to lend him moral support, but Geoff proved stronger than anyone imagined he could be. Of course, the fact that he had nothing to hide, and that he didn’t have any familial feelings toward his father, helped.
He didn’t know what had happened to his mother or younger brother, of course. But he did know what had happened to Ray, and that his father had made and supplied meth for the town, and had forced Ray and Allen to sell it for him. That testimony alone would keep his father in jail for a long time.
Geoff came into Todd’s room that evening at bedtime after spending much of the day being interviewed, different policemen and assistant district attorneys taking turns. Todd was in bed, reading, when he came in. Geoff sat on the edge of it, looked at Todd, then looked away.
“I realized something today.” His voice was stiff and sounded very brittle. “I realized I don’t have to stay here anymore. Since I don’t have to worry about my father getting me, I guess it’s time for me to go. I’ll go back to school tomorrow, and I guess talk to Mr. McCluskey. He’ll probably arrange for me to go into the home for kids.”
He paused, and Todd saw him swipe at his eyes. His back was still turned toward Todd, so his face was hidden. “I just wanted to thank you. Living here has been the best thing I can ever remember.”
He stood up and started walking out of the room. “Geoff?” Todd said, his voice soft.
Geoff stopped. “Yeah?”
Todd got out of bed and walked over to Geoff. He took hold of his arm and dragged him back to the bed, and pushed him down so he was sitting on it. Then he sat down next to him.
“Geoff, you’re not going into any home. You’re staying right here. I’m still in charge of this house. But, you don’t need to worry about my father. You saved his life! He’s not going to object to you staying here. Even without the saving his life part, he likes you. Maybe even more than he likes me. Unless you want to leave, you’re living here now for as long as you want. We’ve got lots of money. We’ve got lots of room. And we’ve gotten used to you living here. We want you here, as a part of our family. What would Monica do if she didn’t have you to insult all the time? Huh? And who’d cook breakfast for Andy and me and then bug us about getting up to eat it? Forget about leaving. This is your home now.”
Geoff looked down at his hands, and Todd saw his shoulders begin to shake. He hugged Geoff then, and held him till he stopped crying.
»»»» 0 ««««
Monica walked through the busy corridors, looking at room numbers, then stepped into room 407. Mr. Mortensen was sitting on the bed. There was a white bandage still around his head, but he was dressed and looking impatient.
“About time!” he said, but his tone of voice belied the severity of the words. He was grinning. Monica scowled for effect, and then she too grinned.
“You ready?”
“Yeah, but I have to call the nurse. They said they’d stop the release if I tried to walk out. Here.” He reached for the call button and pushed it. “They’ll be here with a wheelchair in a moment.”
In a matter of minutes, they were in Monica’s car, on the way home.
“You feeling all right? Really?”
“Mmmmm. I still have a slight headache, a little buzzing in my ears, and sometimes my eyes get a little blurry, but they say that’s normal. Yeah, I’m fine. Four days rest from work made me realize something. I don’t really need to work the hours I’ve been working. The company is doing fine without me overseeing every detail. I think I’ll stop working 12 and 14 hour days.”
“Fine with me,” Monica said without taking her eyes from the road. “I can use a hand, moving furniture for vacuuming, taking down the curtains for cleaning and then rehanging them, polishing the silver, stuff like that.”
“Hah! You wish.” He smiled.
She chuckled. “Well, I’ll find something for you to do.”
“I was thinking of helping Geoff some in the basement.”
Monica didn’t respond right away, and when she did, what she said caught Mr. Mortensen by surprise. “It might be a good idea if you found something you could spend time doing with Todd, too. He’d like that.”
“Really?” Mr. Mortensen’s face lit up. “You think he would? I’d love that, but I always feel embarrassed around him. I know what I did to him, and can’t ever really get it out of my head.”
“He’s 14. He’ll be 15 next week. His birthday. A boy that age is starting to feel independent, but he’s also very aware of his father.”
She took a quick glance over at him. “I got that out of a book. I’ve been reading about fathers and sons. The two of you seemed strange to me, so I got a book out of the library. What it says, I can see happening with Todd. He watches you, and the book says teenage boys do that to see how they’re supposed to act when they’re adults. It says that Todd is more aware of you at his age than he ever was before, because he knows it won’t be long before he has to act like an adult himself.”
Mr. Mortensen squirmed in his seat. “Yeah, maybe. But I forfeited the right to have him to look at me that way.”
Monica turned briefly to look at him. “You’re wrong. Todd would love it if you’d spend more time with him. I’ve watched him and he’s even said some things to me. He’s not jealous of the relationship you have with Geoff, but he’d like one like that, too. You don’t criticize Geoff, you don’t tell him what to do, you just discuss what you’re doing, what he’s doing. You two are very comfortable together. Todd watches that, and I can see in his eyes how badly he wants something like that too.”
She waited, and when Mr. Mortensen didn’t reply, said, “At least give it some thought.”
He remained quiet, watching the scenery outside the car for several minutes. Finally, he turned back to her. “You really think he wants that? It’s funny, but the more I think I’ve lost him, the more it hurts. Of course I’ll spend time with him, if he’ll let me. I don’t think he will, though. Why should he?”
Monica snorted. “What’s this, a pity party? What you did, you did yesterday. This is today, and tomorrow’s tomorrow. Forget yesterday. It happened, but it’s gone now. I think that’s the way Todd’s thinking. Didn’t I hear him talking to Geoff earlier today about his dad coming home? He was excited. He wasn’t thinking about what you’d done to him all those years. He was thinking about what’s going to happen next. He’s calling you Dad now. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“Yeah, it means a lot. But he’s doing it because he thinks he owes me that, because he says I saved his life. All I did was get hit on the head!”
Monica was quiet for a moment, then said, “You might not know it. I got the whole story out of Geoff. Todd saved your life, too. Did you know?”
“No. Really? Did he? How?”
“He and Geoff could have just run when that man was on the third floor. They would have escaped easily. But they didn’t. Geoff asked Todd why, afterwards, and he told him because it would have left you in jeopardy. He stayed and risked both of their lives for you.”
Mr. Mortensen looked stunned, and Monica smiled. “That boy loves you, even though you don’t deserve it. Or didn’t. You’ve been acting a lot different recently. I think that head doctor’s been doing you some good. Being around Todd has, too. That boy is so strong, and so decent, and has so much love to give. He gives it to Geoff, and Andy, and me even. I think he’s waiting for you to let him in so he can give it to you, too.”
There was a long pause before Mr. Mortensen spoke again. “I’m not sure what love is. I never got any from my father. I never gave it to my wife, and certainly not to Todd. But I do feel something now, since Dr. Schwartz has been getting me to open myself up more, to let down my shield as he calls it. And what I’m feeling is all about Todd. The boy fills me with pride, and other feelings, too. I’m different when I’m around him, and I get a good feeling even just thinking about him.”
“Maybe you do know what love is. Maybe you’re feeling it. Let it breathe, give it some room. Spend some time with Todd. It’ll grow.”
They rode in silence then, but just before they turned into the driveway, Mr. Mortensen spoke again. “Monica? Thanks. I didn’t know any of that. I mean that he wants to spend some time with me, that he doesn’t hate me. I really didn’t know. I want to get closer to him. I didn’t think there was any chance of it happening.” He hesitated, and Monica heard his voice change. “You’ve given me hope.”
»»»» 0 ««««
“It was just an idea I had. I had it when you were babysitting Daniel. Remember? I said I should combine Daniel with a patient at the hospital for the good of both of them. It made me wonder, and I took Daniel in to meet him.”
Gordon had picked up Todd after school. The boy was going to babysit Daniel again that evening, and there would be fewer trips this way. Geoff was with him. He had wanted to meet Guenther, having heard Todd talk about the huge, friendly beast. He, like Todd, had never had a dog and was excited about seeing this one. Gordon was explaining why they had to stop by the hospital first. Daniel needed to be picked up from where he was spending time with his new friend, one who never talked but had bonded right away with Daniel. Daniel was happy to talk for both of them.
“It’s funny,” Gordon continued. “Even though Daniel’s not quite five yet and this kid looks like he’s seven, the two get along great. I’d swear Daniel can read his mind and tell the adults when he needs something. They play together really well. And the kid is making a lot of progress since I’ve had Daniel seeing him. I bring Daniel in three or four days a week now. He loves it, and the kid’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree when he sees Daniel coming.”
“What’s the kid’s name?” Todd asked.
“We don’t know. He won’t say anything. We’ve checked, and physically he’s fine. He simply won’t talk.”
They parked in Gordon’s spot. “You guys can come with me, or wait here. I’ll grab Daniel and we’ll be right back out of here.”
The boys decided to go too. They all went in a side door and walked down a hall. Rather than looking like a regular hospital, this one had cartoons painted on the walls, and the staff all wore brightly colored uniforms and smiles.
Gordon stopped at an open doorway. It was a large room with several kids in it, playing together in different groups. In the middle, Daniel sat on the floor, his back to them playing with a train set, with another kid, an older one, sitting on the floor facing him, and so facing the door. Gordon and the two boys walked in. The kid looked up, took one look at them, and cried, “Geoff!” He jumped up, ran to the older boy, and threw himself into his arms.
“Ralphie!” said Geoff, and enveloped the boy in his arms, then sank to the floor with him. They hugged each other, and both began to cry.
“Geoff! You know him?” Gordon was clearly excited. “That’s the first thing, the only thing, he’s said since he’s been here!”
“He’s my brother! I thought he was dead. I was sure my father had killed him.”
Ralph was working himself even tighter into Geoff’s arms, and had begun to suck his thumb. Daniel walked over and sat down next to him. He looked at Ralph, then tried sucking his thumb, too, but made a face and said, “Ewww, nasty!” Ralph looked at him, then took his thumb out of his mouth, looked at it and said, “Nasty.” Then they both giggled.
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd was excited about his birthday party. He was turning 15 and had never had one. Well, he’d had never had one he could remember. He kept meaning to ask his father about his early childhood, but hadn’t done so yet. He was afraid his father wouldn’t know anything about it, would have the same lack of memory of those days he himself did, and knew he’d be disappointed about that. The two of them were doing so well together now, he didn’t want to do anything that might upset that.
His wouldn’t be a typical teen’s party, mostly because he wasn’t a typical teen. He had very few friends his age and didn’t want to invite a bunch of kids he didn’t know. So, he’d given it some thought, and the people who were important to him would all be there. And one more.
It was the one more that had been difficult. It was difficult because he was still shy, this was someone who was a popular kid, and they didn’t know each other. And he’d been the one who’d had to do the inviting.
He’d gotten up his nerve by telling himself if he could face Frank Ryan, if he could face Vic Harper, he should sure as anything be able to face Diana Roberts.
And so he did. He waited for her not to be surrounded by friends, which took considerable waiting, but he managed it. He caught her at a drinking fountain, and waited till she was done.
“Diana?”
She looked down at him. He was so used to people all being taller than he was, it didn’t bother him.
“Yes?”
“Can I talk to you? I want to ask you something, but I have to explain, first.”
“You’re that new kid this year, aren’t you? Terry? Or Tom or something? I’ve seen you in the halls.”
“Todd. Todd Mortensen.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, we can talk.”
“OK. Thanks. But can we go somewhere and sit down? This is just a little complicated, and standing in the hall like this, some of your friends are sure to come up, and I won’t be able to finish.”
Something about how eager, or hopeful, or scared he was must have got through to her, because she laughed a little sympathetically, and then said, “Uh, where.”
“I know the perfect place,” he said. “This way.”
And he led her to the auditorium. The deserted auditorium somehow seemed the perfect place to ask her to come to his birthday party, and to come as Geoff’s date.
It took some talking, some real persuasive explaining because she had a poor impression of Geoff, and his saying Geoff had changed wasn’t very convincing, but he kept talking and eventually she caved. Reluctantly, but completely. More because she was taken by his sincerity than anything else. She said she’d be there. And she was.
The others attending were Mr. McCluskey, Gordon, Daniel, Monica, Andy, Geoff and Ralph. And of course his father. There was some awkwardness between Mr. McCluskey and Mr. Mortensen at first, but Mr. Mortensen asked Mr. McCluskey into his study, and closed the door, and when they came out ten minutes later, they were both smiling. Todd was pleased. Both of them were extremely important to him, and if they got along, that was really great.
Ralph was now a member of the family. Mr. Mortensen had had no problem getting him installed with the rest of them at the house. The boy was still going to the hospital every day, Monica having agreed to drive him, and he was making great progress. He was talking, but he was still terribly shy with strangers. He did most of his talking with Daniel and Geoff. With them, he had no inhibitions at all. Gordon had kidded them that Daniel’s verbosity had rubbed off too well on the boy.
He was beginning to show signs of bonding with Monica too, which was causing her to smile a lot.
With Gordon, Geoff and Mr. McCluskey all sitting in, a lady detective, sitting in Geoff’s room at the house, one he now shared with Ralph, had very gently questioned Ralph, and Ralph had told them that his father had put his hands around his mother’s neck, then put her in a hole in the ground and filled it up with dirt.
The detective tried to find out where the hole was, but all Ralph could tell them was it was out in the woods. What woods, and where, he had no idea. He was similarly vague how he’d survived until someone had found him and taken him to Gordon’s hospital.
However, questioning Ralph was just a formality as far as Vic’s fate was concerned. It had taken about a week, but someone had finally stumbled across the car Vic had ‘borrowed’ to leave town in after collecting Geoff from where he’d been secluded. The car had been hidden in a grove of trees not far from the Mortensen residence. The police had had it towed and it had sat in a secured impound lot for a few days before anyone got around to thinking about it, not knowing it was Vic’s. But when a report had come in that it had been stolen, the procedure was that it had to be searched before being released to its owner.
When the impound officials opened the trunk, the crime scene unit was called. They called for a fingerprint tech, and after he was done the body was removed and searched. A baggie of meth was found in one pocket of the body, and Vic’s fingerprints were all over it. It didn’t take long before the charges against Vic were substantially altered. Vic Harper wasn’t going to be getting out of jail. Ever.
At the party, there was lots of laughing, lots of eating, and Todd blew out lots of candles, all 15 of them. He opened his presents, marveling that other kids did this every year. It was a first for him, and it was among people he liked. His family.
Diana had been cool with Geoff at first. His evaluation of her had been correct. She definitely was a feisty girl, with strong opinions about how people should be. She was impressed, however, at how all these people seemed to respect Geoff, and he really did seem to have changed. He’d been loutish, ill–dressed and loud–mouthed before, and had always been looking for a fight. Now he was polite, respectful and seemed both smarter and quieter than she’d thought he was.
What really sold her, however, wasn’t how he looked. What sold her was that a shy young boy seemed to hang on Geoff much of the time. All the time, in fact, when he wasn’t playing with a smaller black kid. The shy boy would play with the smaller boy, then look up to seek out Geoff, and run to him. Diana watched. She’d seen younger kids hang on teens before. Almost every time, the teen would quickly get impatient with them and shoo them off, often rather brusquely. Forcefully. Meanly. Geoff didn’t do that at all. He’d hug the boy, talk softly to him, and make room for him where he was sitting. Soon the boy would go back and play with the smaller boy again. Those two would sit together. The small boy, whose name she’d learned was Daniel, had a book, and though he couldn’t yet read, he’d memorized it from the many times it had been read to him. He took it upon himself to ‘read’ it to Ralph, telling the story and matching word for word what was on the pages, turning them at just the right place. The two boys spent a lot of time giggling together too. But then, Ralph would get a look in his eyes, and start searching the room for Geoff, and back he would go to him. Geoff would welcome him no matter what he was interrupting. Diana saw that, and started to look at Geoff with new eyes.
Geoff wasn’t a bad looking boy. He had blond hair, a pleasant face now that he didn’t spend the day scowling, and being large didn’t bother her at all. She was larger than her friends herself. It was something they had in common.
Mr. McCluskey spent a few minutes alone with Todd at the party. They talked, and laughed, and Mr. McCluskey ended up hugging the boy. Todd hugged him back, fiercely, and they held each other for a long time. Finally, Mr. McCluskey kissed the top of his head, then released him and ruffled his hair. ”You’re all right, kid. Don’t ever forget that.”
“You’ve helped me believe that. I’ll never forget that. Ever.”
They smiled at each other, and then rejoined the others with Mr. McCluskey's arm draped over the small boy’s shoulders.
Todd saved his dad’s, Geoff’s and Andy’s presents for last. Andy’s was large and rectangular. And thin. Todd guessed it was a photograph and laughed. It didn’t take a genius to guess that.
He took off the pretty paper, and looked at the picture, then looked harder, studied it, and tears came into his eyes.
It was a large photo, 18 by 21 inches. Of Todd. But it was like nothing Todd had ever seen before.
It was a photo of his face. It had been taken when the boys were together one Saturday. They’d gone exploring behind Todd’s property, hiking on undeveloped land that was comprised of small woods and grasslands, low hills and pastures. They’d hiked a ways, all by themselves, with no one else in sight.
Coming to a farmer’s fence, a rail fence more designed to mark the property line than anything else, they’d stopped to rest. Resting their arms on the top rail, looking out over the pasture where a few cows were grazing off in the distance, they had soaked up the atmosphere of the day, enjoying the pleasure they had simply being together and the feeling of well–being shared by healthy teens.
Andy had moved away a short distance, then taken several pictures of Todd, stepping inside the fence to do so. Todd hadn’t seen any of them. Now, he was studying a picture of himself and seeing how he’d looked that recent day, staring off into a distance that was unknown, a distance not shown in the picture. Todd’s face was expressive, as always. But it showed things that hadn‘t been in former pictures, things that couldn’t have been. It showed resolve and blossoming maturity; self–confidence and hope; it gave the impression he was looking outward toward an unknown future, eager to meet its challenges, absent any of the trepidation seen in earlier photos.
What made the picture unique was the background. Andy had removed the pastureland and replaced it with a gauzy, gray fog. Todd’s face was the focal point of the picture and dominated the print. The surrounding fog was comprised of gray swirls and wispy filaments which appeared at first glance to be merely background. It was only by studying this closely that it could be seen that those swirls, that fog, were made up of lightly developed, almost transparent tiny images of Todd’s face. The remarkable aspect that only was apparent after studying the picture closely was that those delicate, filmy wisps of images changed perspective from those at the edges of the picture to the ones closest to the large picture of Todd in the center. The ones farthest from the center captured Todd as he’d been when he began the school year, and as the eye moved closer to the center, closer to Todd’s focused image, the gossamer images showed a progression of expressions and attitudes, showed the subtle transformation from fearful youth into one with manifest self–esteem and confidence.
Todd passed the picture around. There were startled gasps. Mr. Mortensen looked, and looked again, and tears started rolling down his cheeks. He passed the picture to the next person, then got up quietly and left the room.
“Andy, that’s wonderful, incredible” said Todd. Andy looked bashful, but was able to answer. “Thanks, Todd. It took a lot of work, getting it just right. I could only do it because I had a lot of negatives to work with. It was what they say in all those cheesy books and movies, a labor of love.” He grinned, and looked down, but then back at Todd again. “I know what that means now.”
Geoff’s present was next. It was about the shape of Andy’s, but considerably heavier and somewhat larger. When Todd felt the wrapping paper, it seemed like whatever it was, it was thick and heavy at the edges, very thin in the middle. He thought of a moment, then got a smile on his face. “A frame for the picture,” he guessed excitedly.
It was. Geoff had made him a frame out of some of the wood in the basement, working on it when Todd wasn’t around. The sides were made of ebony, the top and bottom of birch stained a lighter but complementary color. Geoff had used a decorative router blade and cut intricate and symmetrical patterns over the wide, flat surfaces. It was elaborate and impressive. What caught Todd’s special attention were four oval depressions, one in the middle of each side of the frame. Each depression contained a small oval photograph, none of which Todd had seen before. They were pictures of Todd, and in all of them he was smiling or laughing. In all of them, he was happy.
His father’s present was last. He had returned to the room after regaining his composure, just as Todd was opening Geoff’s gift. Now, Todd was opening his.
It was a small, flat package, and when the paper was removed, and the box inside opened, Todd just stared in wonder.
“Really?” he asked his father.
Mr. Mortensen smiled.
“Two?” Todd asked.
Mr. Mortensen smiled again. “Two, one for you, one for me. Two tickets for wherever you want to go. Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Cancun, Rio, Paris, or even something closer, like San Francisco. Or Alaska. Hawaii. Anywhere. But I get to go too. A little birdie told me you’d like us to spend more time together. I liked that idea so much, loved it so much, I thought of tickets to make it real.”
“But your job! I’ve never known you to take more than two or three days off at one time before. Never ever!”
Mr. Mortensen’s voice softened, and he spoke to Todd as though they were alone in the room. “I made a mistake, Todd. I made a lot of mistakes. Not getting to know you was the worst. More than anything, I want to make up for lost time.”
»»»» 0 ««««
Todd was getting off the school bus a few days later, looking forward to meeting Andy at his locker, when he saw a small kid get pushed from behind. The boy cried out and fell to the ground, then reached down and grabbed his ankle.
Todd rushed to his side, meanwhile scanning the crowd. He hadn’t been able to clearly see who’d done the pushing. Deciding the guy was long gone, he knelt down next to the kid on the ground and asked him if he was OK, if he thought he could walk. The boy, through tears he was desperately trying to keep from spilling, didn’t answer immediately, and Todd simply waited. Finally, the boy, in a soft, high adolescent voice, said he thought he could walk, that the ankle didn’t feel quite so bad now.
“You know who did this?” Todd asked him.
The boy looked frightened, but nodded.
A few kids had stopped to watch, and a larger boy said, “Aw, did the little boy hurt himself?” and laughed.
“Shut up,” said Todd, looking at the kid who’d said it and standing up. The two boys faced each other. Todd was the shorter of the two, but it was the other boy who was first to drop his gaze. The boy looked away and mumbled, “Sorry,” turned and walked off. The others who were watching decided they needed to get into the school and all moved away too.
“Has the guy who did this done other stuff, before?” Todd asked after turning back to the injured boy and kneeling down beside him again.
The boy nodded.
“Okay. Let’s go inside,” Todd said, helping the boy up. “You can lean on my shoulder if you need to. There’s someone I want you to meet. He’s the vice–principal.”
The boy stopped walking. He started shaking his head, pulling away. “Not Mr. McCluskey? No way! He’s mean!”
Todd laughed. “You have no idea, kid. No idea at all.”
The End