Pain's Joke

Chapter 16

  Later that evening, Jonas was watching cartoons on TV when he heard Paul's truck pull up in front of the house. He jumped up from the couch, turned the TV off and ran to his room, hoping Paul wouldn't notice he was there. To the benefit of Jonas, it worked. Paul opened the front door, walked directly to the bedroom and began stuffing his clothes into an old, tattered duffle bag. After a few shirts and a couple pairs of jeans, he threw in a couple pairs of socks, some clean underwear, and his aftershave. He carried the bag to the kitchen, where he took the remaining three cans of beer. After he shut the fridge door and zipped up the duffle bag, Paul turned around to leave, and he noticed the flowers on the table from Reverend Chambers. He picked up the heavy envelope with the greeting card in it. It only read, “Dolores” on the front. He knew he didn't buy it for her.

  “That goddam whore,” was all Paul said as he threw the card down on the table and stormed out of the house. He pulled out of the drive and headed toward the bar for a quick one before going to the factory to begin his shift.

  Jonas listened closely to the door to be sure Paul had left before he opened the bedroom door. He walked to the living room, turned the TV back on, and flopped onto the couch. The images on the screen and the noise from the speakers were just background static to Jonas, however. His mind was occupied with the conversation he had with the reverend. He didn't understand what the old man meant when he said Jonas had already helped him. They hadn't even come up with a solid plan, really. To Jonas, the reverend seemed different somehow. He couldn't quite figure it out, but in some way, the old man seemed almost hopeful, and that gave Jonas some relief. But not so much as to overcome the pain of the news that he may no longer be able to see him, talk to him, or spend time with the him. It all depended on whether Dolores would give him permission, and he didn't expect his mother to be receptive to the idea at all. Jonas spent the next two hours lying on his back on the couch, with his head turned toward the TV, staring at the flickering images which started to cast a bluish glow onto the walls as evening turned to night.

  Jonas had been lying on the couch in a daze for so long that he was startled when he heard Dolores speaking to him. She was standing at the end of the couch, her smock draped over her purse in her left hand, and her car keys still in her right hand.

  “Jonas, where's Paul?”

  Jonas pulled himself up by the back of the couch and rubbed his eyes.

  “Was Paul here, Jonas?” she asked as she turned off the TV.

  He cleared his throat, “Yeah, I went to my room when he came home. But he went to the bedroom and rustled around in there, then went to the kitchen, messed around in there, then he said something and left. I couldn't make out what he said.”

  “Oh,” Dolores said disappointed. She dropped her purse, smock, and keys onto the coffee table, sat in the recliner and began taking off her shoes. She briefly thought about telling Jonas that Paul might not be living there anymore. But she quickly changed her mind. “He's your son, not your shrink,” she thought to herself, and decided to wait.

  With her toes, Dolores nudged her shoes under the coffee table. She let out a long sigh and pulled the lever on the side of the chair. The footrest swung out with a loud, metallic clang, and the chair back made a clicking, clinking noise as it lowered. She turned toward Jonas and asked, “Could you get a cold pop from the fridge for your tired momma, honey?”

  Jonas groaned.

  “C'mon, I just got home, my feet are sore. Please?”

  “Okay,” Jonas said as he got up from the couch and stretched, “but I want to talk to you about something.” He shuffled toward the kitchen, and returned with a can of pop and the card from the old man.

  Dolores took the can and eyed the card. “What's that?”

  “It's from Reverend Chambers. He came by to give you that and the flowers.”

  She closed the recliner and stood up. “What flowers?”

  “Here in the kitchen. He said I should put 'em in water, but I don't know how to do that, so I figured I'd wait for you to come home.”

  “I don't know what he's up to, but if he thinks –” she said as she walked toward the kitchen.

  “Momma, he's trying to apologize. Open the card.”

  She picked up the bouquet and examined it suspiciously. Then she returned it to the table and tore open the envelope. Inside the envelope was a greeting card, and on the front was a picture of a butterfly resting on a daisy. She opened the card to find that it was blank, but the reverend had enclosed a neatly folded letter which was written on personal stationery.

  She unfolded it and began reading aloud, “Dolores, I know you distrust me, and probably rightly so, but I felt that I needed to talk to you. Please understand that I had the best of intentions when I got involved in that fiasco. I really only wanted to help everyone, and I got swindled by that con man as much as everyone else. I lost a large portion of our savings in that mess. Worst of all, I lost my beloved wife. But what I've learned since then, and largely in part to your son, is that we're all only humans after all. We make mistakes sometimes, even when we're trying to do what is right. And what separates us from the evil in this world is not whether we do wrong, it's whether we're able to admit our faults and seek forgiveness from those we've wronged. I have lived with the burden of guilt weighing on me everyday since, and now I'm trying to be at peace with myself, and my Maker, and hopefully, with you. Please accept my most heartfelt apologies. Unfortunately, they're all I can give you. Sincerely, Rev. James Chambers II.”

  She folded the letter and returned it, and the card, to the envelope. She didn't know what to think. First, Paul leaves her, then the old man was trying to apologize, all of this added to the aching in her feet and her head. She was completely spent from her long shift, and her tired mind was trying uselessly to process the day's events using information gathered from her exhausted emotions. She just wanted to go to bed.

  “So?” Jonas asked softly.

  She blinked back the tears which were forming in the corners of her eyes. “Let me sleep on it, Jonas. I just have to get some rest. I have to go in to work early tomorrow, so if you're not up when I leave, you're going to have to fix yourself breakfast. You need to brush your teeth and hit the hay, too.” she said as she kissed the top of his head and walked to her bedroom.

  Jonas stood up, but he had been reclined for so long that the rapid ascent made him dizzy. He wobbled in front of the couch for a few seconds before regaining his balance and retiring to his bedroom.