NOVEL NEXT 72) The Family Tree
72) The Family Tree
Captain Ebler sprung for takeout for everyone that was going in the next day and called for Johanson to pick me and the coyotes up to take us home, and to pick us up in the morning.
Even Brad took a few slices of pizza and shrugged when I gave him an odd look. “I like eating healthy, and trying to make healthy taste good, but sometimes I just want good.”
I had nodded, I got it.
Three so called ‘large’ pizzas were a bit much for six old people and two officers, so Chubby got a lot of crusts while Blue got to lick and nibble at the cheese caked onto the boxes. Wylina got a plate full of the loose topping shaken into one corner of the boxes before being poured out for her.
The salt was going to be bad for her, but after most of two pounds of puppy pellets, a handful of crispy meat bits wasn’t going to hurt anything.
Pulling up in front of my house both the army guys sat in place looking at the two Aveys standing in front of my porch holding hands and staring intently at the car. Johanson’s friend muttered, “Ah hell no.”
I cleared my throat making the friend jump, “I would like to ask two favors from you guys, or at least do one and pass the other one on to Ebler.”
Johanson looked at me in the rearview mirror and nodded.
“First, if I don’t come out of the Dungeon, but any of the coyotes survive, try to get them to my grandkid, she might need them if things go really bad.”
Blue whined and licked my cheek, Wylina shifted around to get my attention and gave me a nod. Alright, that was taken care of.
“Also, tell Ebler that Acey will make apples for him, or anyone he tells her to if they look after her and keep anyone from threatening to cut her down if she doesn’t produce.”
Both soldiers looked at each other, then at the girls, who were now fighting to hold back big grins. The friend turned around to look me in the eye. “It will be taken care of, I got family around here If no one else will do it.”
I nodded at him and felt a little bad that I had forgotten his name again. “I’ll put one of the houses aside for you in my will, and tell Vito to look after whoever you move in. You’ll need to introduce them though. You he knows.”
As I slipped out of the car in a rush of coyotes who realized they needed to water the lawn right now, I heard the friend whisper “Vito?”
“Hang up a minute guys, I got one more favor.”
I walked up to the girls and held my hands up to stop them from rushing forward to what was going to be a comfortable two teen one grumpy old man hug. “Acey, I’m going to need apples, as many as you can make without hurting yourself.”
They looked at each other and then held their hands out toward me, palms out, like she had often done from within her tree.
I took their hand and began pushing Life into them.
Behind me, I could hear the two men get out of their car, and begin whispering.
After a long moment, one Acey slowly sank into the ground with a yawn and a wave, as the other clutched my hand in both of her as she led me around to see the still falling white petals falling from the apple tree blossoms and the dozens of fruit slowly swelling on her branches.
“Could you boys gather those up and take them to Brad at the Elysium, and keep a few for yourselves.”
Acey jumped and rubbed at her butt with a hurt look at Johansons’ friend as he plucked off the first apple, making the man begin to franticly apologize before she clutched her hands over her stomach and bend over in silent laughter. Even rubbing at her eyes.
Johanson’s friend gave her a look of disbelief, then swore. “Okay, show me how to do it then.”
It seemed to mainly involve gently twisting the stems before pulling the fruit free.
That night I cooked up a big meal for myself and all the mootchers, then laid out a clean set of clothes.
And I wrote down some amendments to my will, I hoped Brad would have time to convert it into lawyer talk so I could sign it in the morning.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I looked at the clock and wondered what else I wanted to do before I tried to get to sleep.
It was three hours earlier in California.
“Hi Patricia. Is Bea still awake? Yeah I know she’s that old, but I wanted to give her an out if she didn’t want to talk to an old man… Hi Kiddo.”
We talked for a good hour as I gave her a cleaned up version of what I had done inside the bat house, my new job with the state, which got me wondering if there was any pay involved with that, and Acey’s little trick with her tree.
I didn’t mention meeting her dad, at all. “That was a yawn kiddo. Put your mom on and go to bed… I love you too. What do you mean, I’ve said that to you a million times. Okay, I’ll send you pictures of the coyotes and Acey, now hand the phone to your mom and go to bed.”
“Patricia, wait until the kid is really asleep then call me. Adult talk.”
I walked a barely conscious green girl out to her tree, then took a picture of the now healthy and growing tree as I had promised, “You asked for a picture of Acey Kiddo, that’s her.” and then I waited for my call.
My daughter in law got the part about me meeting Reed, and then I let her vent. “I’m listening Patricia, for as long as you need, but don’t wake the kid up.”
I had been calling her Patricia like Beryl always had ever since Reed had walked out on her, before that I had called her Pat like he had.
“Patricia, you know I stopped calling you Pat because that’s what Reed had called you, it wasn’t because I was pushing you away or anything.”
Or at least I wasn’t pushing her away any more than I was pushing everyone else.
She gasped, and then I heard her sob. She had hoped that was what it was but she had never wanted to ask in case it wasn’t. Which was just as well because I sure as hell hadn’t known that was what I was doing, it just seemed the thing to do.
We talked some more before I made her hang up, she had work in the morning, and I guess I did too.
I looked at Wylina as she and Blue took me getting into bed as their sign to jump up with me. In a moment I was going to have to lay down the law on the three squirming coyotes all trying to get on the queen sized bed with me, at their new sizes there just wasn’t room anymore.
But right now. “I got a daughter of some kind, don’t I?” I had known the woman for years as my son’s friend, then more as his wife, and my granddaughter’s mother. I should never have let what Reed had done change things between me and her.
I guess I had two people, human people, to live for now.
That thought was enough to help me get to sleep, I was going to need my rest to stay alive tomorrow.