Phone Calls
Wednesday, June 30
8:45 AM
Will - "Can I speak to Bart please, thank you Mrs. Matthews"
Bart - "Yeah, I'm here."
Will - "Did you hear?" almost whispering.
Bart - "Did I hear what?" why was Will so strange.
Will - "You know Tom Kirkwood's racing pigeons, the ones he keeps out by
his garage,?"
Bart - "Okay, already, what a bout 'em."
Will - "Someone broke in yesterday afternoon, killed 5 of them, and
spray painted '5 down faggot' on the door, then let the rest of them
go."
Bart - "What!", then in a lower voice, "are you sure?"
Will - "Jenny told me, she looked kinda scared when she came back from
town with my mom. I asked what was wrong, and she told me about the
birds, then started hugging me, and wouldn't let go. She said it was all
over town."
Bart - "Give Todd a call. I'll see you bout 1:30"
8:58 AM
Todd hung up the phone. Slammed it down to be exact. "Assholes" He
said without thinking. When he turned, there was Grams staring at him
questioning him with her eyes. He quickly turned away from her and said
"I .. I'm ... sorry. I know I shouldn't talk like that." His grandmother
walked to him and put her arm around his waist It's been years since she
could put her arm over his shoulders. "Something wrong, TK?"
"Grams, it's just someone vandalized Tom Kirkwood's place and
killed some of his birds. Grams? how can people do that?" Todd is
suddenly exhausted, "I'm going to go sit on the porch, okay?" His
grandmother nodded then asked "Can I bring you some tea?" "Yeah, Grams,
thanks."
2:05 PM
Bart - "I'll get it! It's for me!" Yelled down from his room. Picking
up the phone, "Matthew's, Bart here."
Ted - "Bart, it's good to hear you. Is Will there?
Bart - "Yeah, I suppose you want to talk to him, instead of me?"
Ted - "Damn right."
Will - "Ted, are you there?"
Ted - "It's me. God! it is so good to hear you and know you're there."
For the next 20 minutes, the brothers exchange the little and large
things that have been happening around the home and farm. They were
reveling in hearing each other's voices. Then Bart's mother called up to
him, "Bart, please come down here. There's someone here to see you."
'Maybe, Todd got here'. Bart ran down the stairs, until he saw
Will's sister, Jenny there. His mother had already returned to her
kitchen. Jenny said, "Bart please, I hope I'm not too late. I know Will
is here and you're expecting a call from Ted. Please," she starts
tearing up, "Please, I would like to talk to him, too"
Bart is dumbfounded, "Jenny ... Jenny ... You got it all wr ... "
damn it, he can't say it. He looks into her eyes and says, "Jenny, he's
talking to Will right now. Quick follow me." Taking two steps at a time,
he flies up the stairs. "Will! Give me the phone now!"
Not sure why, Will hands Bart the phone after telling Ted, that
he's not done. Bart says into the mouthpiece, "Ted, can you hold a
minute? Be right back." pressing the hold button on the handset. Then
Jenny walks into the room to the absolute amazement of Will. "Will,
please, can I talk to Ted?" Will is speechless but he nods to her.
Bart hands her the phone, and says just press the hold button.
"Ted? Is that you? This is Jenny."
Ted can't believe his ears, "Jenny? How? ... Oh! Jenny! I miss you
so." He has a tough time going on, "How's my little angel?"
Hearing the emotion in his voice, Jenny, driven by her all too
real fears, "Ted are you all right? Nobody's bothering you, are they? I
love you. You know that don't you. I really do, I don't care about mom
and dad. You'll always be my special guardian angel." By this time, Will
walked to the window overlooking the backyard with the creek in the
distance. He's crying now, and doesn't want anybody to watch. Bart,
nearly in tears himself, comes up behind Will, wraps his arms around
him, and hugs him as if there were no tomorrow.
Eventually, they can hear Jenny, " ... Ted its terrible, somebody
killed the birds then spray painted 'faggot' on the wall. I thought
about you and Will and wanted to run away from them all. ... YOU have to
stay safe for me. ... Will, too. ... Bart and Will aren't as smart as
the think they are. ... They think I'm just a little girl, so they can
joke around in front of me and I wouldn't catch on. ... I'm not as
stupid as they think."
From down the stairs, Bart's mom calls up, "Bart, come down here. I
made some lemonade and a plate of cookies for you and your friends."
When he returns, Will and Jenny are sitting close together, with the
phone receiver tilted so that they could both listen. Both talking at
the same time.
Bart goes and sits at his computer and starts playing some game or
the other, trying hard not to eavesdrop. He's startled by a tap on his
shoulder, Will hands him the phone, "Ted wants to talk you before he has
to go to work."
"Bart here."
Ted replies, "Bart thank you this meant a lot to me, more than you
know."
"Ted, that's all right. You'd do it for me."
Never liking to beat around the bush, Ted says, "Bart, you and
Will, and Todd have got to be careful. ... Don't do anything stupid. ...
Watch Will, sometimes he gets goofy ideas, and he always wanted to be a
knight in shining armour, out saving the world. There are a lot of times
you can't. Be careful my friend, and take care."
3:17 PM
Bart - "I'll get it! It's for me!" Yelled down from his room. Picking
up the phone, "Matthew's, Bart here."
Gary - "Bart it's good to hear you again. Will there?"
Bart - "Nah, he left already. He decided he had to talk to Jenny. She
showed up here while we were talking to Ted. Knocked the shit out of
me."
Gary - "Did she know about the call?"
Bart - "Yeah, but I'm sure Ted'll tell ya all about it. You're probably
wonderin' if we're still coming."
Gary - "You could say that it did cross my mind. So are you?"
Bart - "Yeah, but I hope you don't mind we invited our friend, Todd,
along."
Gary - "No problem, the more the merrier."
Bart - "He's a really nice guy too."
Gary - "Just what kind of excuse are you using?"
Bart - "It's really wild. Zack, Shelley, And Todd were already going to
KC for some Blues festival that weekend."
Gary - "You mean the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival, Yeah I heard
about it.
Bart - "Anyway, they were planning on camping and stuff. So we got our
parent's to agree to let, me and Will go too."
Gary - "Great!"
Bart - "Gary ... Will and I are still planning to stay with you guys for
the weekend, Okay?"
Gary - "Fine, in fact I've been making plans for the four of us. I got a
couple things in mind. Thanks again. Talk later. Bye"
Bart - "Bye."
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