Chapter 6 (pt. 4)

“What?” she asked, blinking her eyes and giving her head a little shake as the memory faded from her mind, “what were you asking?”

“Nothing,” Jack said, “I was just saying that you never talk about your dad.” As he said it, he thought about his own father, their complicated relationship and the complicated feelings that came with it. “Do you see him much?”

Akua’s heart skipped a beat. She pulled a blade of grass from the red earth and began twisting it around her finger. “I saw him today…” she said, “I mean, I think I saw him today.”

It is, of course, a strange thing to have thought you saw your father. Jack immediately recognized the unusual nature of Akua’s statement.  His mind tried to piece together the possible scenarios that would lead to a child thinking she saw her father—none of them seemed enviable, and he felt a pang of guilt for having wallowed in self-pity about his own father all day.

Jack remained silent. Her words replaying in his head, I mean, I think I saw him today. There was uncertainty in her voice for sure, but also excitement. He knew Akua had more to say. He knew, also, that she wasn’t the kind of person who could be forced, so he waited and allowed her to decide how much more she would share.

After a long silence, she said, “He’s dead.” She stopped twisting the blade of grass and stared past her fingers at the ground.

None of this makes any sense. Jack was confused, but it didn’t show on his face. The confusion was buried by the deeper, stronger feelings he was experiencing. Jack didn’t understanding exactly what Akua was telling him, but he felt the importance of it, felt the weight of it. It was heavier than the sorrow of his lonely birthday, but he wanted to carry it with her. When Akua finally turned to look at him, all she saw, all she felt, was the concern of her friend.

So, she reached into her pocket, removed the scrap of paper and the photograph and told Jack everything.

Comments

  1. Molly HoganMarch 22, 2018 at 10:29 PM

    You have such wonderful pacing in your writing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 22, 2018 at 11:25 PM

    Taking in this moment from Jack's perspective, through the filter of his thoughts and feelings, proves vey effective.

    ReplyDelete

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