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Post by TJ Wagner on Jan 22, 2014 23:49:47 GMT -5
I have so many unfinished stories out there - so many that I keep promising to myself that I will finish one day but never seem to get around to doing so. Of all my stories, however, this is the one that I feel is truly 'the one.' This is the story that I have to finish, and maybe posting it here piece by piece will actually help me in doing so. "Johnny and Matthew" was started some years back. A friend and I was listening to a song and starting discussing the video we would make for it. The more I fleshed out ideas for a video, the story started coming together. It's grown to the point that only a small portion resembles the original idea. I wrote out several chapters at one time, but all but the first chapter was lost due to a bad virus on my computer. Thankfully, I had saved the first chapter on another site, and so that's what I'm posting today. I appreciate all who take the time to read it. Johnny and Matthew
Gently, I allowed my fingers to trail along the cool pearls about my neck, watching as the stranger with sad eyes staring back at me from the mirror did the same. This necklace is the only thing I have that belonged to my mother. As a child, I would often sneak it out of the old jewelry box to wear. I would touch each individual pearl, hoping to feel some bit of warmth that had been a part of my mother. I knew her face only from an old, grainy photograph. She was smiling in that picture, standing arm in arm with a man that only vaguely resembled my father, but I had no voice to go with that smile. I didn't know what she sounded liked or how the touch of her hands felt. All I had were her pearls and one, worn picture. "Grace?" His soft voice and light knock upon my door interrupted my thoughts, and I blinked a few times as if waking from a dream. "I'll be ready in a moment," I called back, my voice sounding distant in my own ears. Quickly, I straightened my dark dress and crossed the room. I opened the door to leave, allowing my memories to flood inside. A woman walked out of the room as a girl of eight danced inside.
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"I want to decorate Mama's grave!" I announced defiantly, clutching a handful of pale wildflowers in my hand. I had never heard of Decoration Day before that morning when someone had mentioned it in church, but now I was determined to mark the grave of the mother I had never seen. Pa turned his bleary, red eyes toward me. Only his eyes moved. The rest of him was hunched over the splintered, wooden table like a sack of flour. His mouth remained shut as if it had been nailed together, and his silence annoyed me. "Where's Mama's grave?" I demanded. I had never spoken to Pa in such a tone before, but now I was too aggravated to think about what might happen. He growled slightly, the sound seeming to come from somewhere deep inside him, and he slowly began to straighten himself. Normally, the sight of the giant who was my pa towering over me would have frightened me into submission, but today I stood my ground. Pa tried to stand, but his feet slid as if he had placed them on a sheet of ice. He threw down a heavy hand to balance himself, almost tipping over his cup of precious shine. Giving up the effort, he fell back into his rickety seat. "Get her outta here," he groaned. I started to protest, but I felt a hand touch my arm. Before I could say another word, I was gently guided outside by my brother, Johnny. Of all the people in the world, I think I loved Johnny the best. He was only four years older than me, but he seemed so wise and somehow ancient in his twelve years. He had dark brown hair that could be unruly, but he wet it down and combed it flat every morning. It was eyes that really caught your attention though. They were dark, almost black and looked as deep and mysterious as a well. There were times you could just see thoughts and plans twisting in those dark eyes, but other times what was going on in his mind was a mystery - even to me. I let him lead me into the sun-splattered hills for a while before jerking my arm away as I was angry. He didn't try to hold on to me and allowed me to pull away easily. "Why won't Pa tell me where she's buried?" I grumbled, frustrated tears welling up in my plain, hazel eyes. Johnny sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said. He didn't even attempt to smile. "But why?" I cried, tears now streaming down my pale, freckled face. I didn't want to cry, so I wiped away the tears stubbornly before they could drip off of my chin. He took another deep breath before raising those mysterious eyes to meet mine. "'Cause Mama's not dead," he answered in a quiet tone. Color and sound drained from my world as I stood transfixed as an oak tree. Johnny's words whirled around in my head like angry hornets, but I just couldn't make sense of their meaning. "What?" I finally managed. "Pa told me not to tell you," he explained, "But I reckon you're old enough now, and I hate lying to you." He paused for a moment as if letting the truth sink home. "Mama ran off right after you were born. I think Pa would prefer to think that's she's dead instead of just gone. That's why he stays so stinkin' drunk all the time." The flowers I had been holding all of this time fell from my numb fingers as I struggled to find my voice. "Did she leave because of me?" Johnny stepped forward and hugged me. "Course not," he said, "She just ran off to some city. Not everyone can live in the hills you know." I nodded and tried to take comfort in his words, but my heart kept shattering more with each painful beat. It was like an acid voice inside of my head kept chanting, "She's alive. She's alive. She's alive." In a way, it had hurt less to have a mother who was dead instead of now knowing that she was alive and just had never tried to see me. Despite my brother's words, I couldn't push aside my fear. Was it my fault she had left? Is that why Pa couldn't seem to love me? Stepping way from Johnny, I ran towards the solace of the hills, stomping the fallen wildflowers I had meant for my mother's grave.
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Post by TJ Wagner on Jan 23, 2014 10:39:37 GMT -5
Here is Chapter 2, which I just finished writing. One thing I wanted to mention is that I make a lot of references to eastern Kentucky and that's mainly because that's where I'm from. The town is based on a real town. I danced along the dirt path as I listened to the sound of the early morning birds as they celebrated a new day. At home there were times when poverty seemed to smack me in the face, but not here. In the hills, I was the queen of the most beautiful land. There was the stump that served as my throne on days that I had time to play. Around the stump, roots from nearby trees created natural steps that were covered in a thick, green moss. I like to think of that moss as a rich carpet, and I often wondered if that’s how carpet really felt to your feet. I had only seen carpeting from a distance when the front door of the Cline house in town had been left open and I only saw it for a moment. It was blue, but it looked so soft and inviting. Today I didn’t have time to stop and play because I had to hurry on to school. Although I left early each day, long before Johnny, I usually only barely arrived on time because I took so long to look around and enjoy the beauty. Determined not to be late, I willed my feet to keep moving forward until I finally made it to the edge of the woods where I could see the town. Junior was a small, muddy town that looked like a scar scratched into the land. There were a series of small, nearly identical houses setting in a row like fat hens huddled together during a rainstorm. Those were the coal camp houses. On into town was a restaurant called Moonies. I had only been inside a few times, but it always looked too dirty and dusty for me to have much of an appetite. Besides, everyone in town really knew that the main business was a hastily built room behind a small door where moonshine and other liquor were sold. That was illegal, but everyone just seemed to ignore it was even there. Next to Moonies was a small general store with a wide covered porch and chairs that always seemed to be occupied by old men. I walked past all of these as I made my way to the center of town to a large two-story building that was Junior School during the weekdays and served as the meeting house on Sunday. It was an impressive structure in our little town although it needed a fresh coat of paint and the roof needed to be patched. Supposedly it had been built by some people up north trying to bring education to this part of the country. I didn’t really care how it came to be, but I was thankful for a chance to learn – and ever more thankful we had more than just a one room schoolhouse. Just as I made my way up the large, stone steps, the bell rang and all the kids ran inside. I saw Johnny as he sped past me, but he didn’t take the time to say anything as he hurried upstairs. With a sigh, I walked inside and placed my lunch pail at the back of the room and took my seat. I did like school. I loved reading and learning about the world, but I didn’t really like my teacher, Miss Clark. She was a skinny, old woman with steel gray hair that she wore in buns so tight I was surprised that she could blink, and I think she had come from up north with the people who had built the school because of the way she talked. I don’t know why she taught here. It was obvious she hated the town. She always talked about how dirty and backwards it was, and she seemed to think the same about most of her students. At least, she thought that about the poor kids and me in particular. I was always getting in trouble or having my grade marked down for little things even though I tried my best to be a good student. The worst part was that Miss Clark taught first through fourth grade, and I had gotten started late so I was now only in second grade. I had two more years with her. Johnny was in sixth grade, which was held upstairs. He told me that Mrs. Sanford, the teacher for 5th through 8th was really nice and good to all the students, and I looked forward to the day that she would be my teacher. For now, I would simply have to put up with Miss Clark. The day moved by slowly, but I had thankfully avoided most of Miss Clark’s attention. When the time for lunch finally came, I excitedly jumped from my seat and retrieved my lunch pail. I had packed some mill gravy, a few biscuits from the day before, and a special treat of cooked apples. Most of the kids from town went home to eat, so I walked around them as I looked for Johnny so that we could share lunch. At first, I didn’t see my brother and I was just about to call out to him when I rounded the corner of the school and saw something that froze me in my tracks. Johnny was standing there with his back up against the school looking up at Gunner Prichard, who was the meanest boy in the school. Gunner was big for his age, and he should have graduated school long before but he couldn’t pass the classes. He was that dangerous combination of dumb and mean, and he seemed to find no greater pleasure than picking on other kids. His greasy brown hair flopped into his small, dark eyes as he pushed Johnny and tried to get him to fight. “Gimme yer lunch,” he growled. “I don’t have any,” Johnny answered, trying to turn away. Gunner shoved him hard, and I saw Johnny’s head hit the wall. His dark eyes flashed, but he didn’t attempt to fight back because he knew he didn’t have a chance against the much taller, stronger boy. “I said gimme yer lunch!” Gunner shouted, “I’m hungry!” I couldn’t stand to see Johnny being bullied like that and I started to rush forward so that I could give Gunner our food so that he would leave my brother alone, but someone else stepped forward before I could. It was my brother’s best friend, Matthew. “What’s going on here?” Matthew asked calmly as he walked over to stand by Johnny’s side. Gunner paused. He wasn’t smart, but he wasn’t completely stupid either. No one really cared about Johnny or me, so he could pick on us without ever getting into trouble. Matthew, on the other hand, was one of the richest families in town. It was in his house that I had glimpsed that beautiful, blue carpet, and if Matthew complained people listened. “Nothin’,” Gunner grumbled as he stuck his hands in his pockets and lumbered away to find someone else to bully. Smiling now that the danger had passed, I ran over to Johnny and Matthew and I could help but compare the two. Side by side, they seemed like complete opposites. Johnny was tall and lanky, while Matthew was shorter and slightly stockier. Matthew’s hair was a dirty blonde color and his eyes seemed to reflect the blue from the skies, in such contrast to my brother’s dark hair and nearly black eyes. Yet, they seemed to complement one another and we as close as if they were brothers. “Thanks Matthew,” I said. “It’s nothing,” he replied, seemingly embarrassed, “So how’s it going, Gracie?” I giggled. Everyone else called me Grace, but I loved the way he said Gracie. “Fine.” “That’s good,” he said, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you both. My birthday is Saturday, and I’m going to have a party. I want you to come.” “We’d love -” I started to say, but Johnny interrupted me. “Sorry, but we can’t,” he stated, “We can’t come on Saturday.” “Oh,” Johnny managed, and I think his feelings had been hurt, “It’s okay, but I just wanted you to come.” “Yeah, but we can’t. We have something we have to do on Saturday. Come on, Grace. Let’s go eat lunch while we still have time.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me away, leaving Matthew standing alone. “Why did you lie to him?” I demanded as soon as we were far enough away, “We’re not doing anything this Saturday. I want to go to the party!” “We can’t go,” Johnny hissed. “Why not?” I asked, “If you don’t want to go, then at least let me.” Johnny whirled around to look me directly in the eyes. “And what are you going to bring as a present?” he questioned, “When people go to birthday parties, they are supposed to bring presents.” This stumped me, and I finally realized with Johnny had turned down the invitation. Still, I really wanted to go to the party. I had never been to any party before, and I wanted a chance to go inside that house and check out the carpet. Johnny and I sat down to eat, but the food had little flavor to me. Quietly, I chewed my food but my mind was a million miles away as I thought about how I could go to my first party.
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Post by TJ Wagner on Feb 5, 2014 21:21:26 GMT -5
I've had this story idea for some time, but I had never written past chapter one. Here's Chapter 3 in all its glory. Chapter 3:
It had been hard to hide the emotions on my face that morning over breakfast. I kept fidgeting in my chair as I ate, my eyes darting between Pa and Johnny. At any moment I expected them to see exactly what was on my mind and call me out on it, but that didn’t happen. Pa had already been more than a little drunk during breakfast so he had gone to bed as soon as it was over, and Johnny went hunting. He said that he wanted some meat for supper, but he seemed like he had something else on his mind. I didn’t question it because it seemed to me like the lucky break I had wanted.
Still trying to act as if all was normal, I quickly washed up our few dishes and cleaned the kitchen. The house was oddly silent. I could hear the faint sound of Pa’s steady snoring coming from behind the curtain that led to his room, but nothing else made a sound. I realized that this was the best time to set my daring plan into motion.
First, I got out my good dress. I only had two dresses really. There was the blue flour sack one I wore every day to school and around the house, and then there was my good dress. It was an actual store bought dress that had been given to me a couple of years prior. When it had been new it had been bright yellow with a lace trim on the hem and on the sleeves. Time had faded the color and the lace was tattered, but it was still the nicest dress I owned. Normally, I only wore it to Sundays when I went to the meeting house. I made sure that I was still alone in the house before quickly putting on the dress. Afterwards, I ran an old brush through my hair to make sure it was tangle free. I wished that we had a mirror, but Pa had broken the only one we had owned. While I couldn’t see myself, I felt confident that I looked the best that I could for the party.
The second issue was that of a present. I stood by the curtain for a long time listening to Pa snore before I stuck my head inside his room. He was lying on his side facing away from me and he certainly looked asleep. On the wall near the door were some shelves Pa had put up at one time and those shelves were covered in small carving of animals and people. When he had been young, Pa had been quite handy with a knife and could carve just about anything. These days his hands shook too badly for him to carve well, but he was still proud of these little figures. There were so many, I hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t miss just one as I carefully removed a tiny wooden bear. It wasn’t a store bought present, but it was nice and I didn’t think Matthew could have anything like that.
I had the dress and I had my gift, so now I just had to hurry on to the party. The sun seemed to shine a little brighter than usual as I skipped down the path, and I didn’t even take time to play. It was an exciting day, and I didn’t want to waste one minute getting to Matthew’s house. Even the little town looked happier and more alive as I ran down the street.
Matthew’s house was at the far end of town, and it was the biggest house in the area. Like our school, it was two stories and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many rooms it had. Outside it was white, and it must have been washed often because it didn’t have the stain of coal dust like all the other houses, and the shutters were a bright, vivid green. It was the house where I peeked in once and saw the rich blue carpet, and now I was thrilled that I might actually get a chance to feel that carpeting. Could it be as soft as the summer grass? I didn’t see anyone going inside, so I figured I was simply early as I walked across the broad porch up the massive door. I tried to act confident as I knocked upon the heavy, wooden door, but I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. This day was like a dream come true.
After a moment the door opened and I found myself looking at Matthew’s mother. I had never really looked at her before and I realized that other than hair color, Matthew must have taken after his father in looks. His mother was a small, scrawny looking woman with pale skin and large, dark eyes. Her mouth was set so tightly it looked like her lips were trying to crawl inside her mouth, and she only held it tighter when she looked down and saw me.
“What do you want?” she demanded in hard tone. She wasn’t from the area and her accent sounded odd to me.
I gave my best smile. “I’m here for Matthew’s party,” I explained, holding up the bear carving so she could see that I hadn’t come empty-handed, “He invited me.”
She scowled as if I had just said a dirty word. “Get out of here!” she demanded, almost like she was talking to a stray dog, “You don’t belong here.”
“But I was invited,” I repeated, but it was too late. Matthew’s mother slammed the door in my face and I was left standing there in my best dress and holding the simple carving. Tears welled up inside me and I felt ashamed. Suddenly I realized why Johnny had been so adamant about not even trying to come to this party. I turned and ran all the way home. My heart pounded in my ears as I let my tears roll freely. It was odd that I had been so happy earlier and found the world so beautiful when now everything looked pale and ugly to me. The sun must have hid his face behind a cloud with shame as now shadows were cast where it had been bright and sunny.
Things hadn’t changed when I got back to the house. Johnny must have still been hunting and my Pa hadn’t woken. Quickly, I changed out of my good dress and put the carving back on the shelf where I had taken it. Truly everything here was now the same as it had been. Only I had changed.
Johnny came home a few hours later with a couple of squirrels. Normally, I loved squirrel and gravy, which I made that night, but I didn’t have an appetite for it this time. My heart still ached over the way I had been treated and I couldn’t help but wonder why it had happened. What had Matthew’s mother meant when she had said, “...your kind?”
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Post by TJ Wagner on Feb 17, 2014 20:18:01 GMT -5
Chapter 4: Chapter 4:
If Matthew had any idea what had happened at his birthday party, he never made any mention of it. I was still hurt on Monday when school rolled around, and Johnny had asked me a dozen times what was wrong. Matthew didn’t ask a single question, however, and he seemed to be in a good mood. At lunch, he bought me and my brother a special treat of some leftover birthday cake. I’m sure it wasn’t as good as it had been on Saturday when it was fresh, but it was still delicious and I appreciated it.
The odd thing was that Matthew’s mother was not the only person around that seemed intent on separating Matthew from us. Miss Clark seemed almost horrified when she saw us playing together once and had threatened to spank me – although I had no idea what it was I had done wrong. Other adults acted the same way. Their eyes would follow us and you could just see them whispering and shaking their heads. Even Pa had grumbled once that we “…had no business together.” I often wondered why people acted like this, but it was a complete mystery to me.
As time went on, it became harder and harder for us to just hang out together. I could tell this really bothered Johnny, although he never come out and said anything directly. Sometimes, he was actually a little mean to Matthew, but I thought it was just because he was hurting inside. I know I valued every moment we could spend as a group.
That’s why I was so happy the day we all went fishing together. It was early spring, two years after the birthday incident. We had barely gotten to see Matthew for a while, and it was just like old times. Well, almost like old times. I had always loved being around Matthew, but these days I both looked forward to it and was also embarrassed. When he’d look at me and smile, I’d feel my foolish cheeks blush and I’d have to look away. I knew that to him I was still just a kid: his best friend’s baby sister. That didn’t change the way I felt, however, and I only hoped that it wasn’t obvious to everyone. For now, I simply sat a little to the side where I could get a good view of Matthew while he and my brother talked.
“This sure is a nice day for fishing,” Johnny said.
“The weather’s perfect,” Matthew agreed, “Too bad no one told the fish that.” He pulled up his empty line and examined his hook.
Johnny laughed. “I wish it could stay like this forever.”
Matthew turned and looked at him fully as he tossed his line back into the water. “So do I,” he replied in a quiet tone. He squirmed a little as if he suddenly had become uncomfortable. “What are you going to do after we graduate?” he finally asked.
Johnny shrugged. “Go to work in the mines, I guess,” he answered.
“Why would you want to do that?” questioned Matthew, “There’s no life in that.”
“Well what choice do I have?” returned Johnny, “It’s not like there’s a lot of jobs around here or anything.” He plucked a few leaves of grass with his free hand as he spoke. “But it’s not going to be forever or anything,” he continued, “Only until Gracie finishes school. After that, we’re getting outta here.”
“Where are you going?” Matthew asked. I leaned forward because I also wanted to hear this answer.
“Don’t know,” Johnny said, “I just know there have to be a better place out there.”
Matthew leaned back and looked up at the sky. “I guess so,” he stated, as he let out a slow breath. “I’m leaving after I graduate.”
“But that’s only a couple of months away!” I cried. I hadn’t planned on getting involved in this conversation, but this news wasn’t something I could ignore.
“I know,” he said, “Mom wants me to finish my education up north since the school here only goes to eighth grade. Then, I’ll come back here and take my dad’s part of the mines.” He closed his eyes. “I’m leaving, but I’m not going to get away. I’ll never get away.”
“So we’ll both end up in the mines,” Johnny mumbled.
I was prepared to argue that Matthew needed to stay when a terrible pain suddenly struck me in the chest. It was hard to breath and it seemed like all color had been drained from the world. I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or get sick.
“Grace, is something wrong?” Johnny asked.
I nodded. “I have to go!” I yelled as I jumped to my feet and ran back towards the house. I couldn’t have put into words the terror I felt, but some part of me simply knew that something was wrong. As I tore through the bushes and briars, I feared that any moment I would see some sort of tragedy up ahead. Behind me, I could hear Johnny yelling something, but it his voice was very faint and distant.
Finally I made into the clearing and found myself staring up at the simple little shack that had always been my home. From the outside, everything looked okay but my heart was still beating crazily in my chest. Never slowing down, I ran inside.
Nothing was out of place.
I didn’t understand why I had felt such terror, but now I was exhausted. I collapsed into a rickety chair as I struggled to catch my breath. A few minutes later, Johnny came running inside and he also was gasping for air.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
I gave him a thin smile. “I just had this terrible feeling something was wrong,” I said, “but I don’t know what it was all about. Everything looks fine.”
Johnny glanced around the room and saw everything was how we left it. With a slow, measured stride, he walked over to Pa’s room, pushed aside the curtain, and stepped inside. I heard him talking to Pa for a few minutes, but then he pulled back the curtain to look at me.
“Everything’s not fine,” he said in a trembling voice, “Pa’s dead.”
I shook my head vigorously as I jumped to my feet and hurried into the room. I wanted to argue with Johnny and point out that Pa was often hard to wake up, but the moment I entered the room I knew the truth. You could smell the vomit and death. There was no telling exactly how long Pa had been dead since we weren’t to disturb him, but I figured it had happened some time in the night.
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Post by TJ Wagner on Jul 31, 2014 22:30:56 GMT -5
I've actually been writing on this again. Chapter 5:
In the books I had read, funerals often happen on dreary, rainy days. It’s like the whole world itself was grieving along with the friends and family, but this wasn’t true in Pa’s case. Johnny and I were standing by the recently dug grave watching as Pa’s casket was lowered when I realized that it was a beautiful day. The sky was high and almost faultless blue. A gentle danced through the fields causing the soft, green grass and wildflowers to dance to the rhythm of a singing blue jay. It made me a little angry. I know to most everyone else my pa had been an ornery cuss but he was, had been, my pa. It didn’t seem fair that no one else was going to miss him and the world was just continuing on brightly as if this was a regular, ordinary day.
Pa’s funeral was a pitiful thing. Other than Johnny and me, only the preacher, Brother Fletcher and Miss Burnett was there – and Miss Burnett went to all the funerals to sing a few hymns. There were a couple of men there to lower the casket and to fill in the grave, but they hung back laughing and talking during the actual funeral. I hated the way they acted. It was like Pa was nothing more than some rotten peelings they were burying underground. Only I cried. Johnny remained as cold and emotionless as the rock we used to mark the head of the grave and everyone else just seemed to go through the necessary motions.
I hadn’t been listening to the preacher, so I was surprised when I felt Johnny take my hand and say it was time to go. Whispering one final goodbye to the pa I had never understood, I wiped away my tears with my free hand and turned to leave, but then I saw Matthew standing by a tree several feet away. To my guilt, I felt my cheeks flush and my heart race, and I couldn’t deny I was happy to see him. I ran over as Johnny followed slowly, almost reluctantly, behind me.
“You came,” I gushed, “Thank you so much.”
Matthew smiled gently. “I wanted to come,” he said, “I’m really sorry about your pa.”
“Why didn’t you stand over with us?” Johnny asked. His voice had a strange edge to it that I didn’t quite understand, but I saw Matthew flinch slightly.
“I don’t want Mom to know I was here,” he admitted.
“Did she tell you not to come?” demanded Johnny.
“Well, not directly,” replied Matthew, “but I knew that she would be upset.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked down at the ground for a moment. “Like I said,” he finally continued, “I’m really sorry. So what are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?” questioned Johnny, “We’re going to survive. That’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to have to quit school and start to work in the mines.”
I whirled around because this was the first I had heard of this plan, but Matthew spoke before I had a chance. “You can’t quit school now,” he said, “We’re going to be graduating soon. I thought you wanted to graduate.”
Johnny snorted. “Things change,” he returned, “Some of us have the luxury of being able to go to school and some of us don’t!”
“But, Johnny,” I spoke up, “You always said education was important. You would let me quit back when I thought I couldn’t stand Miss Clark another day.”
His expression softened slightly and I saw his mouth twitch in a peculiar way. “It is important – for you. We’re still going to get out of this place one day and your education will be the key.”
“But if you’re going to quit then I’ll quit!” I insisted.
To my surprise both boys quickly yelled out “No!” at the same time. “You can’t quit, Gracie,” Matthew pleaded.
This seemed to be the one thing they were in agreement about. “You can’t quit,” reiterated Johnny, “If you do, then I’ll be giving up my chance to graduate for no reason. I’ll go to work in the mines so we’ll have food and everything, but you have to stay in school.”
I had never heard Johnny talk so seriously about anything before, especially not about school, so I just nodded dumbly. This seemed to satisfy my brother who nodded in return and walked away leaving Matthew and me to watch him go.
“Do you think you can talk him into not leaving school?” Matthew asked, “I really want us to graduate together. “
“I don’t know,” I said, “When he gets determined to do something; it’s hard to change his mind. I’ll try.” “Please do,” Matthew said, “I don’t know why, but he’s so angry lately – especially at me. Do you know what’s wrong?”
I shook my head as I continued to watch Johnny. He was now only a distant shape on the horizon but I couldn’t help but feel that the distance between us was far farther than it looked. I had to wonder if I would ever be able to reach him again.
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