Tiffany entered through the dirty screen door and announced to Lonnie and Vince in her best sorority girl voice she was Puppy’s new wife and she was as happy as a speckled pup to meet them. Not wanting to share the moment, Dave picked up his suitcase, went to his car, opened the trunk, put in his luggage and unlocked the car door. Sighing, he plopped behind the wheel and put the packaged Bible next to him, ready to put the key in the ignition.
Puppy? It was Allan’s voice, much to Dave’s dismay.
He glanced over to the passenger seat where sat Allan, dressed in a navy blue suit, white silk shirt and a pink tie. His hair was no longer gray but a short cropped dark brown and his teeth no longer yellow but white and all in place. No nicotine stained his fingers, and his nails were manicured. Serenity shone in his eyes. In short, he appeared as he never did in life, without the scars of mental illness and homelessness.
I just came back to say it’s okay.
“It’s okay?”
And to say I’m sorry. Don’t think badly of me. Remember, I’m the only one who believed in your dreams.
“It didn’t help when the only one who believed in me was crazy.”
I know. Allan paused to look at the house and back at Dave. So you’re leaving them behind, right?
“I guess.”
You know, hate does absolutely nothing for you except kill your soul.
“That’s a smart thing for a crazy person to say.”
Didn’t you know? After you’re dead, you don’t have to be crazy anymore.
Dave smiled and replied, “I’m glad.”
Another thing I’ve learned. Allan leaned toward Dave, with a seriousness he had never possessed in life and in a tone more mature than ever before. All those times I ran off from home, from college, jobs and from half way houses, it was all such a waste. You can’t run away from yourself.
For a long moment Dave considered his older brother’s observations and then looked over at the house. He removed the key from the ignition, got out of his Jaguar with the Bible package under his arm and walked to the front porch. Turning back he saw Allan standing in the driveway. “I’m curious. Up there. Did you meet Davy Crockett?”
You’ll never believe it. I am Davy Crockett. Or, at least, the spiritual essence that was Davy was me too. I know it’s confusing. You’ll understand when you get there.
Allan blew Dave a kiss and disappeared. Dave entered the front door and tried not to smile when he saw Lonnie standing and peering at the butterfly tattoo on Tiffany’s shoulder.
“You can touch it if you want to,” she said with a giggle.
“Puppy,” Vince said, looking up to see his brother standing in the front door.
Lonnie turned around and said with a laugh, “Ain’t this little gal something? I ain’t never seen a woman with a tattoo before.”
“It’s just a little one, Pappy,” Tiffany said with affection. “It’s okay if I call you Pappy, isn’t it?”
“Darling, you can call me anything you want.” He smiled at Dave. “Puppy, I haven’t seen such a cute little darling like this in I don’t know how long.” He laughed until he stopped to add, “And her name ain’t Tympani. It’s Tiffany. Now that’s a cute little name, Tiffany.”
Vince walked to Dave and said, “I like her, Pup. She makes pop laugh. I haven’t seen him laugh this hard in years.”
“I’m glad you came back, Puppy,” Lonnie said. “You got to help us eat all those groceries you bought. Now, all you kids sit down and watch Rawhide while I make lunch.”
“No.” Tiffany put her arms around Lonnie’s waist which made him laugh again. “I’ll fix lunch while you boys watch TV.”
“She’s a firecracker, ain’t she?” Lonnie said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Tiffany walked to the kitchen but stopped when she saw all the dirty dishes in the sink. Turning around she put her hands on her hips. “First I have to clean up this mess.”
“No, let me clean up the dishes,” Vince replied, stepping to the sink. “I messed things up so I ought to clean them up. It’s not going to kill me to get my hands in soapy water.”
Kissing him on the cheek, she said, “That’s sweet of you, Vince. We got a deal then. You wash dishes, and I’ll fix lunch.”
“Well, boys, we better do what Tiffany tells us, or she’ll beat us up.”
“That’s right,” she said with a giggle. “I will.”
Dave held up the Bible package. “I guess I can wait until after lunch to mail it.”
He put it on the table, walked over and sat in the middle of the sofa. Tiffany sat on his right and, to his surprise, Lonnie sat to his left instead of in his lounge chair. Leaning back, he decided being close to his family was not that bad.
“Dad, if you feel up to it, tomorrow you and I can go to the lawyer’s office and start work on that guardianship.”
“Well, if that’s what you want to do, son,” Lonnie said, staring at the television screen. “It’ll be fine with me.”
“Which lawyer are you going to?” Vince asked as he filled the sink with hot water, adding liquid dish detergent.
“Is it the one who did your will, Dad?” Dave said.
“Yep.”
“Fred Long.” Dave looked over his shoulder toward the kitchen.
“Hell. Fred Long was the assistant DA ten years ago who got my driver’s license taken away. I don’t want that jerk sticking his nose into my family’s business.”
“Now, Vince, you shut up. This don’t concern you. It’s between me and my baby boy.”
“Yes, sir,” Vince said like a chastened child. He concentrated on washing plates, cups and glasses. “I guess if you went by me, you couldn’t go to any lawyer in town. I’ve had bad luck with all of them.”
“Shush. Wishbone is saying something. He sure cracks me up.”