“What’s going on?” Edmund asks while approaching the front door. Hand still on the gun, prepared for whatever events might unfold.
No responses. The tension could have been cut with a dull knife. Assessing the situation, Penny held onto a shotgun that was dangling by her side. Clyde was backed into the corner of the front porch like a caged animal. No blood or wounds seemed to be visible. Which was a good sign because Edmund did not feel like hauling his mother off to jail. Still, everyone remains silent. “Well, is anyone going to tell me what happened here?” he said.
“Nothing happened, I was just asking Clyde to leave,” Penny said.
“More like escorting me outside with a shotgun,” Clyde responds.
Penny ignores this comment but kept a visibly firm grip on the barrel.
“What were you doing here, to begin with?” Edmund asks.
The caged animal had a hurt look in his eyes. “Can’t a brother just stop by to say hello to his own mother?” Showcasing the point, his hands raised towards the woman standing in the doorway. “Any guess how she greeted me? With a shotgun. Yes, a damn shotgun.”
“That’s also the same way I greeted you back on that fateful day a few years back,” Penny remarks. “Do you remember why Clyde?”
Silence.
“Boy, I asked you a question!” Penny states while aiming the shotgun at Clyde.
“Alright, simmer down mom. There’s no need to escalate the situation, please put the gun back down. Better yet, return inside and I’ll make sure Clyde leaves the house, alright?” Edmund says. The last thing this family needed was another report on record. This address was infamous within the town and therefore, the department. “Please, go back inside. Clyde will be leaving the property as requested.”
After a moment's hesitation, Penny lowers the gun, heads back into the hallway, and closes the door firmly.
“Golly, I sure do miss her sunny disposition,” Clyde says. His whole body relaxes as if the caged animal finally notices the open door. “Thanks, my brother.” In a dramatic show, Clyde moves to slug Edmund in the shoulder.
Before he can make direct contact, Edmund leans backward to avoid the physical touch. “Time for you to leave,” he says.
The wounded look of the caged animal returns and for a split second, Edmund feels sorry for the little brother he once loved so much. But that emotion passed just as quickly as it arrived.
“Whatever you say, Officer Terrell,” Clyde says while walking down the front porch steps.
Edmund watches, “hey Clyde, why did you show up at the house?” Curiosity got the best of him and now he yearned for the truth.
Without turning his back, Clyde shouts, “honestly I don’t remember why. I was just walking the streets and my feet lead me here.” He looks over the shoulder, “this will always be home. Even if I am no longer loved nor welcomed.” And with that, he left Edmund alone on the front porch. Both of the estranged brother’s hearts were aching but were too stubborn to forgive one another.
Family is blood but the secrets that weave through each family can easily break that bond.
Edmund joins Penny at the breakfast nook corner. The shotgun is missing but the look of hate is sketched all over Penny’s face which also reflects in the body language. She looks like a ball of furry with her legs and arms crossed. A rumble bubbles up from Edmund’s stomach. He should eat something but he no longer has an appetite. “You doing okay?” He asks while sitting across from his brooding mother.
“Fine,” she replies curtly.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks.
A long pause.
He searches around the kitchen to make sure nothing had been stolen nor damaged. Clyde might steal but Penny would gladly shoot a hole in the wall to make a statement. The lonely bottle of whiskey caught his eye.
“Just finished tea time, huh?” He stands and walks towards the counter. “I was wondering where this bottle went.”
“He just came to the front door and pounded on it, which about gave me a damn heart attack! You should be grateful you don’t have to carry me out in an ambulance.”
“Nor a body bag,” Edmund says while leaning against the counter.
“Your brother will be in that body bag before me!”
“Yeah, probably but that doesn’t mean I should be taking you to jail for shooting a man that came knocking on the front door. Why grab the shotgun, to begin with?”
Penny harrumphs. “You would’ve grabbed the gun too if you heard the manic way he was hitting the door. I thought for sure some crazy had wandered off the street begging for money. Turns out I wasn’t too far off from the truth.”
The reality of this statement settled in deep and a moment of reverence reverberated from the walls.
“Is that why he was here? Asking for money?” Edmund asks.
“I dunno, we got into an argument. But I am sure that’s why he showed up. Why else would he come back?”
Edmund ignores the question, “what did you argue about?”
Silence from Penny while staring out the bay window.
“Mom, what did you argue with him about?”
In a whispered tone, “you know. Don’t make me say it out loud.”
He knew all too well what she was implying and left this statement as is. Moving away from the counter, he approached Penny who was holding back tears. The Terrell’s rarely show any affection through physical touch but Edmund knew this was the time to make an exception. He gently places a hand on her shoulder, “I know momma. You’re safe now.”
With that simple and kind gesture, he retreated to the kitchen to make a sandwich. Not that he had much of an appetite after this interaction but he still needed the nourishment. “I have to return to work but I’ll call Denis to return home. I don’t think Clyde will come back to the house but I’d feel better knowing someone else was here with you.”
He pulled the cell phone out and dialed the library knowing full well that his wife had her cell locked away. “Hello, can I please talk to Denis? Please let her know it’s Edmund.”
While he was on hold, he pulled the ingredients to make his lunch. “I am making you a ham sandwich, momma. You need more than tea and whiskey to survive. Besides, it looks like you just saw a ghost.”
