Come Get Me (5 page)

Coming to where the main area of the town
used to end, Jim saw that there were a scattering of things the
outside world had been able to inflict on the old place.
Surprisingly, a couple of new fast food joints had popped up. They
looked as if they’d sprung from the ground already made and ready
to serve like so many of the ones he was used to in the city. One
day it was an empty lot, the next there was a new place to buy a
burger on your way to work. A Wal Mart was probably being birthed
somewhere nearby if he didn’t know better. Seemed like every place
no matter how big or small had one of those now a days. Not seeing
one immediately present he chuckled imagining his town just might
not rate highly enough on the big organizations food chain to get
one. Yup, he thought, the old town was quite a ways behind the
times but it was very slowly catching up. Maybe too slowly.

Jim tried concentrating on his driving but
found it difficult as he looked from one place to another, his neck
on a swivel, remembering old times. He drove past the tree that
he’d been standing under when he received his first kiss at the age
of seven. Looking for another tree close by that he and his friends
used to climb all the time, he was surprised to see it wasn’t there
anymore. In its place stood a sign that proudly proclaimed that
this spot and all the surrounding area was going to be the location
of a new Wal Mart.

I guess we do rate, he thought sadly. That
tree had been a great place to sit on hot summer days, of which
there’d been quite a few, and just relax and enjoy the breeze.
Whether they were sitting there reading comic books or just talking
about anything that came to mind, they were always cool.

Thinking of comic books brought back memories
of one of the places he’d already passed. The old grocery store.
When he was little his group of friends would go there almost daily
to buy penny candy from the wall behind the register or to read
whatever comic books they might happen to have available which
usually wasn’t all that many but for the four of them were enough.
It seemed like they spent half the summers there. The owner never
seemed to mind. It was the exact opposite in fact, she actually
encouraged them. She always told them reading was good for them,
even if it was funny books and that a little candy never hurt
anyone. This last part she always said with a wink and a secret
type of smile only reserved for the kids. Thinking about the little
old lady brought another sad smile to his face. Everybody in town
used to call her Grandma. It didn’t matter if you were an adult or
child, she was Grandma to everyone. Whenever you went in the store,
there she was sitting behind the counter on her little
uncomfortable looking stool. She ran the place all by her lonesome.
Jim’s smile slowly faded as he thought of her. She was just another
part of his past he would regret not having had a chance to say
goodbye to. She’d surely passed away many years ago. There was
probably someone new sitting behind the counter who probably wasn’t
near as nice as Grandma had been. He didn’t even think he wanted to
go there while he was home. It just wouldn’t be the same. That was
Grandma’s place and anybody else sitting there would just tarnish
his memory of her.

Finally arriving at what was surely the new
outskirts of town he drove only for a few more seconds before
turning down the first street he came to that lead to one of the
two main housing developments the town boasted. Jim never
understood why people chose to live here. It wasn’t really close to
anything. There were no car factories or plants or anything for
that matter that needed a lot of workers and yet the town still
seemed to somehow exist. The next closest town, or what passed for
it anyways, was a good forty five minutes away. A few of his
friends’ parents had commuted when he was little so maybe that
explained it. People wanted that rustic feel or something.

Discarding the ‘why’ people lived here
thoughts he turned his attention to the development itself.
Everything he could remember of his childhood seemed to center
around New Ways Estates. From the moment he was born until the
exact moment he finally left. Tommy and Rob’s families also lived
in the development not too far from Jim’s so it had been almost
inevitable they would eventually meet and become friends.

The three of them used to say they had been
destined to meet like heroes they’d read about in their story
books. The only member of their group who didn’t live there was
Pete. His family lived in the slightly more upscale development on
the other side of town. The people who lived in that neighborhood
liked to look down their noses at everybody else. It wasn’t that
they were better than the rest of the town they just thought they
were. At least the adults did. Kids being kids, money didn’t stop
them from meeting Pete one day while they were out playing and
becoming the best of friends. In another town the money thing
might’ve separated them but not here. The place was too small.
Friends were made wherever they could be. Once the four of them had
found each other there was no separating them. Their developments
were on almost opposite sides of town which could have caused a
problem but they quickly learned bikes were a great invention and
put them to good use. They were a wonderful way of ensuring they
could play together whenever they wanted.

Jim made a few unconscious turns as he made
his way through the development. All his old memories were flooding
back. He wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going. He
was pretty much operating on instinct. Eventually he turned down a
street that made what he was thinking of and seeing come together.
This street was the one that led home.

Pulling up slowly in front of his mother’s
house he glanced at the front lawn and tried not to think too much
about how he and Tommy had once played there when they were little.
Try as he might he couldn’t help but think of all the scrapped
knees and grass stained pants they gotten there which made him
quickly get out of the car and make his way to the door before he
started crying. When he was only a few steps from the door it swung
open and his mother stepped out with a sad smile on her face. He
walked the few remaining steps and came to a halt in front of her.
They stood looking at each other for a few seconds until he finally
couldn’t hold it in any longer and began crying. She reached out
and gently wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace
murmuring soothing words in his ear as he wept. Seeing her had just
made it all come crashing in.

She’d been there when they’d scrapped their
knees. She’d been the one they asked for drinks after playing in
the hot sun all day. She’d been the one that could always be
counted on to be there when they needed her. Even thought she
didn’t always approve of him Jim realized he wasn’t the only one
who had lost Tommy, his mother had too.

After he ran out of tears and collected
himself he stepped back, wiping his eyes with his sleeve and a
sheepish smile, and looked at her. Not much had changed since the
last time he’d seen her. She'd gone a little grayer in her short
brown hair, mostly around her temples, and might’ve added on a
pound or two. Other than that she was the same. If he had to place
an age on her he didn’t think he’d be able to, to him she always
looked young. One thing that wasn’t different was that he still had
to bend down to give her a hug and kiss. Ever since he’d turned
fifteen he’d been taller than her. With him now standing at six
feet even she only reached to about his chin. He smiled thinking
how big she used to seem to him and how he’d used to have to look
up to her, now she was looking up at him. It was funny how things
changed. She somehow managed to raise him and his sister without
any help or major mess ups, so no matter what her height he would
always look up to her.

“How are you doing honey?” she asked
sympathetically as she took his arm and led him to the house.

“Bout as well as can be expected,” he said
after thinking about it for a few seconds.

Walking through the living room Jim glanced
around curiously. He hadn’t been home in a while and was interested
in seeing if his mom had changed anything. When he was little she
was always rearranging the furniture trying to make the place look
bigger but everything seemed to have remained the same since the
last time he’d visited. There were a few more pictures hanging on
the wall of his sister and her family, but other than that there
was no change. He tried to ignore the empty area on one wall mom
set aside for him and the family she hoped he might one day have.
He didn’t like looking at it. For some reason he always felt guilty
when he did. Jim didn’t know if that space would ever be filled. He
hoped with all his heart it would, but right now he just didn’t
know.

Turning his thoughts to something else he sat
at the table and watched his mother busy herself. She went to the
refrigerator and pulled out a plate with a sandwich on it out.

“I figured you would be hungry when you got
here so I made you this,” placing it in front of him. After making
sure he started eating it she went back to the counter and poured
two cups of coffee from the obviously freshly brewed pot and
returned to the table. Sliding one in front of him she took a seat
and took a sip of hers.

“It may be a little hot, so be careful,” she
said as if trying to find something to say. He couldn’t help but
smile. He was almost thirty years old and she was still watching
out for him. She probably worried more about other people than she
did herself.

While he ate she did most of the talking.
Mostly it was the normal polite small talk people engaged in after
not seeing each other for a while, tinted with a few personal
things such as how each of them had been and who was doing what in
the family. It was mostly a one sided conversation. Jim’s life
wasn’t exactly what anyone would call exciting. Mom on the other
hand made Jim seem like a shut in. She bragged almost constantly
about the grandkids and his sister while he interjected every once
in a while with a question or told her how boring his job was. She
finally asked him if there was anyone important in his life which
he sadly replied to with a quick no. He just as quickly reassured
her that he was definitely looking for someone after seeing her
face. It almost broke his heart. She wanted him to have someone
almost as bad did. Course she also wanted more grandchildren to
spoil. Seeing he wasn’t really in the mood to talk about it she
eventually changed the subject to something a little more neutral.
After what seemed like forever their conversation turned to the
town and the people he’d grown up with. At first he didn’t really
want to talk about them too much knowing Tommy would come up. She
told him a story about one of the boys he’d went to school with
getting drunk and passing out in the middle of Main Street he
slowly came around and started asking about more and more people
he’d known. Somewhat surprisingly, a lot of the people he went to
high school with were still living in town and making quite a
living doing it. Granted they all pretty much commuted back and
forth, but regardless of that they were still here. There were some
who’d moved away and never been heard from again.

When Rob’s name popped up she told him quite
proudly about how he was doing such a great job as a deputy and how
all her friends agreed that he might make a great sheriff one day.
The old one was bound to retire soon and Rob was respected enough
that he could probably get the job with little problem. Just the
mention of the old sheriff made Jim feel uneasy. They never had
seen eye to eye. He hoped he could make it through his visit
without running into him (he didn’t want to think about what would
happen they did meet).

Jim’s mother was telling another story about
Rob which made Jim smile as he thought back to when they were
younger. Back then each of the boys had called each others’
mother’s “Mom”. They were almost constantly over each other’s house
so it was only natural. Jim’s mom really was almost like a mother
to the other kids though. That was why she was so proud of Rob. Jim
wasn’t jealous in the least. He knew other guys in his position
might be but he wasn’t. He was just glad Rob was around. He hadn’t
done many things his mom could brag about, she had to have someone.
Since it wasn’t him it might as well be one of her other “kids”.
Rob was as much one of her sons as he was and she took pleasure in
how well he was doing so that was all that mattered.

Talking about Rob led to talking about others
from his group. Pete was the next victim but she seemed to hedge
around saying anything definite about him. While it was true all
the boys had been part of each other’s families when they were
little there was an exception. Pete’s family was just that. There
was nothing wrong with them, they were just somewhat snobbish. None
of the boys even thought about calling Pete’s mother “Mom” they
hardly ever even heard Pete say it. It was always “Yes, ma am’” and
“No, ma’ am” around her. Because of that they hadn’t hung out
around there much. Jim’s mother had always liked all of Jim’s
friends and hated saying anything mean about them so Jim knew it
really bothered her to talk bad about Pete. If she could’ve said
anything good she surely would’ve talked about that instead, but
unfortunately there wasn’t much good to talk about concerning Pete.
In Jim’s opinion he kinda brought it on himself by living out on
the edge of the woods all by himself. She felt sorry for Pete and
the unfortunate things he was going through. Jim’d heard he hadn’t
had an easy time of it since he’d left. He’d also heard, from his
mother, that Pete was hardly ever seen in town anymore except on
the rare occasion he needed something. On those occasions he always
showed up shabbily dressed, looking like some type of homeless
person. If that wasn’t bad enough he made things worse by mumbling
and talking to himself. He said things most people couldn’t
understand but some of them did and they spread rumors. If anyone
tried talking to him he just started rocking back and forth and
mumbled something back at them. Luckily not too many people tried
talking to him, his body odor kept them away pretty much. Rumor had
it he didn’t bathe much. Recently, and this was what really upset
his mother, some of the kids had taken to teasing him. They’d also
started going out to his house at night and throwing rocks at it.
The sheriff never caught anyone but his mother had heard them
talking about it on more than one occasion. She’d gone and told Rob
about it and he said he’d drive by every now and then and make sure
Pete was ok but that was all he could do unless something worse
happened. Mom didn’t think that was enough but knew there was
nothing really Rob could do unless he caught the kids in the
act.