Joey grinned up at her.
“It’s okay Ma, we’re okay, we just want to lie here a little longer. Robbie and I got stuff to talk about.”
Robbie also grinned up at her.
“Mom, this is kind of brother-stuff, we’ll be out soon enough, just leave us be, we’re alright now. Please, mom?”
Sarah shook her head, but left the room smiling. Somehow, and she wasn’t sure how, Robbie had gotten through to Joey; his smile at her had been his old smile, his voice had lost that dull, dead quality, and his eyes had been alive, not listless and disinterested. He was back; his brother had pulled him back from wherever he’d gone; somehow he’d known exactly what to do to snap Joey out of his half-dead state.
Back in the sitting room, both brothers lay on the floor, gazing at the ceiling in silence. Eventually Joey stirred.
“If you ever speak to me like that again, ever, I WILL kick your ass, that’s a goddam promise!”
Robbie grinned.
“Yeah, whatever, you’re full of shit; tell it to someone who cares!”
Joey laughed and sat up, then clambered to his feet, extending his hand to Robbie to pull him upright. As he did, he punched him on the arm.
“Thanks, bro!” he whispered, then flopped down on the couch.
“So what next, Rob, what do we do now?”
Robbie sprawled on the other end of the couch, staring pensively at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts.
“Okay, Joey, this is what we’ll do. You need to get away, you need a break from Daly City, from work, from all… this…” He waved his hand, conveying in that one gesture all the sadness and gloom that had gathered in the house. Joey grimaced, shaking his head.
“I can’t just… run away, just leave town like that; what about Joe, what about work..?”
Robbie cut him short.
“You need to leave this behind for a while; face facts, bro: she’s gone, and you moping around here like some lost soul isn’t gonna bring her back, and really isn’t doing you or that little boy any good. I kind of know how you feel, Joey, really I do; when you lost her, so did I; she was my big sister when I needed one real bad; she was my family, I only had you, and mom, and her, and I loved her as much as you did.”
He closed his eyes briefly as he massaged his temples, his voice low and vibrant, loss and anguish clearly discernible just under the surface.
“I miss her too, Joey, believe it; I miss her every single day, and so does Casey; she was her big sister, and her best friend; she can’t bear to watch any of those damned movies anymore, because Karen’s not there with her, eating popcorn and crying with her; we’ve got a big hole in our lives too, but we all have to find a way to let her go.”
He leaned back and studied the ceiling again for a moment.
“You have to get away for a while, a few weeks, a couple of months, long enough to get your head out of your ass and back where it belongs! Don’t worry about Junior; he’s gonna stay with Casey and me; he’s been pretty much part of us for months now, while you’ve been… wherever the hell you were. Don’t worry, you know how Robbie loves him, they’ll be good for each other, and Casey loves and cares for him like he’s ours, so you know he’ll be okay. Gramma Rosie’s close by as well, and mom, so you don’t need to worry about him; the family’s got it covered. Take as much time as you need, a month, three months, six, however long it takes. Get your life back in shape, and come home when you’re ready; we’ll all be waiting for you.”
Robbie could see Joey considering the idea, so he let him think it over. After a few seconds, Joey spoke again.
“It sounds like a good idea; I could do with getting away from here for a spell; y’know, one time I seriously thought about taking the “Lady Midnight” out and just sailing away, just letting the tides and currents take me wherever they wanted; perhaps you’re right, some time away sounds real good. What about work though? I can’t just drop everything…”
Robbie grinned again.
“Actually, you can; as of today, you’re taking Leave of Absence for an indefinite period, due to family circumstances. Elio’s already squared it away with payroll, and thanks to you, your team of marketing geniuses have several months’ worth of marketing strategy and proposals to work through, so you can leave with a clear conscience; in fact, you’re leaving today. I booked you a flight before I came here, so better get started packing, you have a plane to catch.”
Joey looked at him in astonishment.
“Flight? What flight? Where the fuck am I going?”
Robbie smiled.
“You’re going home, meathead; your old home; you’re going back to Springfield, to mom’s old house on Bixby. Casey thinks you need to be around familiar places and familiar faces for a while, all the things that were around you when you were growing-up; I happen to agree with her, so you’re going. It’ll be good, I promise!”
Joey looked sideways at Robbie.
“You knew how this was going to play out, didn’t you?”
Robbie grinned.
“‘Course I did. Let’s face it, bro; to me, your mind’s like an open book; a very small book, with very big print…”
Joey grinned back and gave him the finger.
“Fuck you, butthead! I’m gonna go pack. Just try and not lose my kid while I’m gone!”
*
Joey stepped out of the cab and stared up at the house he’d grown up in. In the nearly three years since he’d last seen it nothing seemed to have changed. The porch looked swept clean, the small front lawn was clipped and neat, and the flower-beds on either side of the porch were well tended and colourful. Sarah had said she’d asked her friend Jonah to keep an eye on the place; obviously people had taken the knowledge that Jonah Hollister was looking after the house to heart and left it scrupulously alone and untouched.
He walked up the porch and put the key in the door. As he was fumbling with it, the sound of someone clearing their throat meaningfully behind him made him spin around, almost dropping his keys and flight-bag.
“And just what you think you’re doin’, boy?” drawled the tall, hard-faced man standing at the foot of the porch steps, his ageless face smooth and hard as porcelain. As Joey stepped out of the shade, the man grinned, a mere skinning of his teeth, but it suddenly made him look a little less forbidding.
“Damned if you ain’t the spit of Sarah’s daddy! You must be Joey; I ain’t seen you since you was three or four. Your mama asked me to keep an eye on this place. I guess I can let go fer now. You here for long, young feller?”
Joey nodded.
“A few weeks, just until I…” The man cut him short.
“Sshhh, your mama told me all about what happened, and I’m real sorry. Sarah tells me she was a good girl; there ain’t too many of them these days, and I do grieve for your loss; she was your wife, and that makes her one of us. Sarah’s real worried about you, so you need anything you just lemme know. You’ll find the gas and electric’s back on, I had Southwest Power out here this morning gettin’ you all set-up again, and AT&T put your phone back on for you; they also gave you somethin’ called ‘DSL’, and fitted an internet Hub, whatever in hell they are. My niece came in and cleaned up a little for you as well, and there ain’t no need fer thanks; Sarah’s home folks, and my friend, too, and I reckon she’d do the same fer me if I needed it. Y’all take it easy now, and there ain’t no-one gonna trouble you, not ‘less they want me explainin’ things to them!”
Joey was touched by his sincerity, remembering how clannish some of the families around here could be, and grinned briefly at the thought that his mom was nearly two thousand miles away, but this man still thought of her as ‘home folks’. This must be Jonah Hollister, one of the notorious Hollister triplets, the one family in Springfield you most definitely did not want to piss-off. Jonah ran his hand through his buzz-cut grizzled hair and nodded at the house.
“Luna stocked you up a little as well. All the essentials are in the pantry or the icebox, and I reckon you know your way ’round town real good, so I won’t insult you and tell you where the stores are if’n y’all need anythin’. Your mama’s old Riviera’s in the garage. I got the charger on it; keep it on fer another couple hours and she should be good to go. If you need me, Luna’s got my number; she’ll look in on you now and then, she’s a good girl, just like her mama. Rest easy boy, your mama told me you was here to try and get over your girl, you just get to it, no-one’s gonna disturb you. See you around, son, and remember, you need anythin’, anythin’ at all, let Luna know.”
With that he turned and climbed into the nondescript Ford pickup parked on the street and pulled away.
Joey grinned again and went into the house, looking around in wonder as he did so. Nothing had changed; apart from a couple of pieces of heirloom furniture she’d taken with her to California, it still looked like his mom lived here and had just stepped out for a moment. Most of all, he felt a weight lift off him as he relaxed properly for the first time in what felt like forever. No matter that he lived in California now, this was always going to be his home, and he was back.
Joey dumped his flight bag and laptop on the hall table and walked through the house, soaking in the feel of being at home again, the soft siren song of childhood familiarity calling to him. A picture on the sideboard of him and Karen taken at their prom caught his eye, his heart suddenly turning over and pounding, and his breath catching in his throat as he saw that familiar image again. He stared at it for a long moment, then reached out and slowly, deliberately, turned it face-down.