Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 00:25:09 -0400
From: C. E. Jordan <c.e._Jordan@mailandnews.com>
Subject: The Village Boy - 16

The Village Boy
(c) c.e. jordan

zedzero5@hotmail.com

>From last episode:

     The two boys turned to leave. "Oh, Jer, wait a second." I took out a
cell phone and gave it to him. "This is yours, call me if you ever need
to... and you can call for a car anytime you want to, that number's on
speed dial, okay?"

     "Wow, thanks Charles." And he hugged me.

     "'Bye baby, have fun."

     "'Bye, Charles."

     Pausing at the green door at top of the steps, still dragging Jeremy's
backpack, Kevin turned and waved goodbye to me.


                        THE VILLAGE BOY - part 16


"Dark coloring and black eyes are more closely related to the sublime, blue
eyes and blonde coloring to the beautiful

`Of The Beautiful and Sublime' -- Immanuel Kant


     I was alone again. It wasn't very long since I had left Kevin's
apartment. Riding along in silent comfort, even the spacious confines of
the large car had become quickly oppressive. Acutely aware of Jeremy's
absence, I rolled down the tinted windows to let in some of the noisy life
from the streets. The wind brushed like feathery fingertips across my face,
touched my eyelids, and pushed into my nose. What I really wanted to do was
turn the vehicle around and bring Jeremy back home with me. That was a
childish, selfish impulse, but an honest one.

     Outside, a car horn tooted. A UPS guy, his skin the exact colour of
his plain brown uniform, dodged the onrushing traffic as he tried to carry
too many packages at once; someone yelled, "Fuck you," to somebody
else. And a young girl in pigtails was a red flash as she ran into a corner
`bodega'. But these rapidly passing snapshots of life outside the car
couldn't erase the picture of my boy from my mind. I couldn't help laughing
at myself. I was such a romantic fool. The truth is, just a few minutes
away from him and I was already missing Jeremy.

     I had just rolled the windows closed when my phone rang.

     "Hello?

     Muffled sounds, music, and the murmur of low voices met my ear.

     "Hello?" I asked again.

     `Hi, Charles." It was Jeremy.

     Now, not quite an hour since I left him at Kevin's, I was so totally
surprised to hear J's voice so soon, I found myself almost yelling, "Hey
kiddo! What's up?

     I tried to lighten my response as I continued chatting, "You miss me
already?

     "Nope.

     "What? You mean you don't miss me?" I made my voice sorrowful
pretending my feelings were hurt.

     "Naw, man, I don't miss you," Insisted my hard-hearted boy. This was
followed by a duet of treble giggles. Obviously the two were on a
speakerphone. And at that moment, while listening to my young love's voice,
nothing could hurt me.

     "Okay, then, I guess I got to find two nicer boys to take out this
weekend.

     "Huh?" Asked Jeremy.

     "What?" Hearing Kevin's lighter voice caused me to smile.

     "Ahhh... um... okay, I miss you! I miss you!

     "Me too..." Chimed in Kevin, "I miss you too...

     At which point there was lots of boyish laughter from the other end of
the phone.

     "Okay then, I'll call your mom later Kevin, and I'll talk with you
guys about what were going to do when I see you again, have fun.

     I disconnected feeling a lot better after that quick chat with the
kids.  A weekend of carefree fun before bringing Eliza home on Monday would
be a good thing for Jeremy... for all of us, I decided.


                                   ****

     "Son of a bitch!" That expletive came from the front seat. My driver
today, Rafael, floored the brakes and I looked up just in time to see a man
stumble against the front of our car as he tried to run past us. He was
attempting to beat the traffic lights.

     I took another look at the young man who had made it unhurt to the
opposite side of the street. A beat-up guitar case was slung across his
shoulders, and he stopped briefly to make a quick apologetic motion toward
us. As he turned away, his long shiny hair flew away from his face and I
did a double take. Something about him was very familiar. The slim body and
long hair, the sloe eyes, and the olive skin... this fellow was the
spitting image of Jeremy!  He even wore brilliant silver and jade jewelry
just like those Jeremy decorates himself with occasionally. Eliza had
mentioned that the jewelry was old, a gift from the Native-American mother
of Jeremy's dad.

     My heart almost stopped beating. Of course! Jeremy's dad! Maybe this
guy was just a look- alike, an incredible coincidence, but not such an
unusual happening in a big city like New York.  Perhaps I was wrong, but
somehow, I knew in my heart I wasn't. The man appeared to be in his late
twenties, perhaps thirty, or so^Å just the right age. It had to be. I
could feel it in my bones. I was pretty sure I had just seen Jer's father.

     "Stop! Stop the car!" I yelled at the startled driver. His head
swiveled back and forth as he tried to negotiate a quick stop in the busy
traffic. Finally, he was able to pull the big car within a few feet of the
curb. I jumped out before it had quite stopped moving. "Sorry, Rafael,
thanks, but I gotta catch this guy... you can go, thanks again..." And I
was off running, dodging and pushing among the pedestrian crowd. I suppose
they thought I was just another New York crazy and made way for me. I could
barely see the shiny black hair and the dull black guitar case bobbing half
a block in the distance. I thought, "Please God, let me catch up to him.

     I never stopped to think about what I'd say if I caught up. I didn't
even know Jeremy's dad's first name, or his last. It had never occurred to
me to ask. Jer used Bell, Eliza's family name as his own. And exactly what
did I expect from this man? He ran away from his responsibilities to Jeremy
before the boy was even born... why would he care about him now? I guess,
to be fair, it should be taken into consideration that both he and Eliza
were practically children at the time. But none of those questions really
mattered at the moment. What was most important to me right then was
catching up to him.

     The breath tore raggedly from my throat as the sudden exercise took
its toll on my body. Still, I pounded up the sidewalk scaring dogs and
trying not to trip folks who got in my way. The distance between the
longhaired figure and me steadily narrowed.

     Then he raced recklessly across an intersection and nearly got run
over again. `Damn,' I thought, `he's gonna get himself killed before I
could even talk to him.

     On the corner of Twenty Third Street and Seventh Avenue, the traffic
lights switched to green again and I could see Jeremy's adult look-alike on
the opposite side of the street. He was about to walk down the steps of the
downtown IRT subway station. I ran across in no time and flew down the
steps behind him. I could see the man and one other person waiting as the
train roared into the station. It was now or never. I stuck my hand into my
pockets but I had no tokens to enter onto the platform. I turned to the
token booth clerk to buy a token but the doors were already opening on the
train... so I did what I had to do. I ran to the turnstile and jumped over
it all the while yelling over the rumble of the engines, "Hey, sir! Hey
mister! Wait... please!

     The guy finally heard me and looked over his shoulder as he stepped
onto the train. He looked understandably alarmed. After all, a wild-eyed,
complete stranger was accosting him in big bad New York City. I didn't
blame him at all for being scared. He stayed inside the subway car and
approached the door tentatively, saying nothing, but obviously curious
about what I wanted. So, now what could I say that would make any sense to
him? As the engines thrummed and the train doors began to slide close, I
reached into my pocket and pulled out my card.  Jeremy's adult clone
automatically grabbed the card. I yelled above the noise, "Please, call
me...  it's about Eliza Bell!

     The doors slammed shut and the train began moving, but not before I
saw the young man's reaction. His eyes and mouth popped open in
surprise... no, it was more like shock. The last I saw of him, he had his
forehead and hands pressed against the door as he tried vainly to pull it
open again.

     Yes! I thought, triumphantly, I was right. And it was very obvious he
still cared. So... what now?

     I stood there for a moment then exited the platform. The clerk in his
bullet-proof Token-booth was yammering something angry through his loud
microphone in a thick accent I couldn't quite understand, so I went over
there and paid for the trip I didn't take. "Well...  " said the man a bit
more clearly, as he took my money, "at least you have a conscience.

     Whatever.

     There was a vague odor in the subway staircase; the pervasive smell of
old piss. It had probably been used as a rest stop by the nighttime
homeless. I walked up the stained and dusty steps back onto the busy sunlit
street, waiting for my heart to stop racing, waiting for my mind to start
thinking rationally.

     I walked uptown aimlessly for some minutes and ended up at the corner
of Eight Avenue and Twenty-third Street. The warm delicious smells
emanating from a nearby pizza parlour caused my stomach to grumble. I
bought a slice and positioned myself near a corner window where I could
watch the world pass by as I ate and tried to clear my mind.

     The next move was up to Jer's dad... he could call, or he may choose
not to. If he does get in touch with me what will be the
ramifications... what would he think of Jeremy and I... our relationship?
What will happen when he finds out about Eliza's condition? Will he want to
take Jer away from me? No, we've legally tied up that loose end, though he
could possibly challenge me for custody. No. I definitely will not allow
that. But the biggest question is how, and when, to tell Jeremy about this.

     Well, at this point there wasn't a need to say or do anything at
all...  not until the guy actually called, `IF' he ever did. In the
meantime, before life got more complicated, I had two boys to entertain
over the weekend. I dialed J's new mobile phone. It rang for a while before
his breathless voice answered, "Hello?

     "Hey, Jeremy, it's me... you guys enjoying yourselves?

     "Oh... ya..." said Jer sounding a little peculiar.

     "You sound funny baby, what're you up to?

     "Uh... just............ wrestling." He seemed quite distracted.


     "Eating a very delicious pizza, err, what is the matter with you J?

     "Heh heh... oh Charles, it's Kevin, now he's tickling me to death!
Help!  Help!" And then he was laughing out loud, "Stop....... wait a minute
Kevy, Charles has pizza...

     "Oooooh... he does? Hey Charles, bring us some... pleeeze?" That was
Kevin yelling into the phone near Jeremy.

     "You really want me to bring some over there?

     "Yeah, I haven't had pizza for a loooong time... days!" Said my boy.

     "Oh... okay, okay. Is Kevin's mom back yet?

     "Ya... she's downstairs.

     "Good, I need to talk to her about taking you guys out this weekend,
and maybe about permission for Kevin to stay over a couple days, but I
don't even know her name.

     "Oh... when you bring the pizza, you can talk to her." That was Kevin.

     "Alright guys, I'll see you in a little while.

                                   ****

     I put away the phone. A jagged shard of bright sunlight fell through
the storefront glass of the pizza parlour and onto the table.  In the
air-conditioned room I could see the sun on my fingers but couldn't feel
the warmth of it. For a while I gazed blindly through the window at the
passing throng. Jeremy and Kevin were having a great time together, so it
seemed. It pleased me that Jeremy was happy with his friend. Still, I felt
a little twinge of...  something. Was I jealous that he was having fun with
someone other than myself? Damn. For my own sake, I hoped not.


(To be continued)