Part II; Chapter 3
Spring 2025
The Buick’s engine sputtered and coughed with exertion, making a strange “grr-ung-grr-grr-ung-ung-ung” sound as it tried to turn over. After the fifth attempt, I angrily tore the jumper cables from the battery, a string of curses tumbling from my lips. I refrained from kicking the bumper, choosing instead to lean, arms crossed, on the hood—after pointedly dropping it closed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shammy towel float through the air toward me; I lazily caught it, running the fabric over my hands more for the movement than the cleaning.
“You know, you should probably take this thing into the shop,” My uncle’s voice advised.
I snorted at his suggestion, shaking my head. “Yeah…I’ve been telling Dad that for months, if for no other reason than to get him out of the house. He keeps saying he’ll take care of it, when he responds to me, but it never happens. In the mean time, I’m late for everything.”
I looked up to see Uncle Taylor leaning against the car next to me. “Why don’t you use the Explorer or the Tacoma?”
“Are you kidding? Dad doesn’t trust me to drive his precious Tacoma, and he won’t let me anywhere near the Explorer. It just sits in the garage, as if she’s going to magically appear and need it one day.”
Uncle Taylor sighed, crossing his arms loosely in front of him. “Look; I’m not making excuses for your dad, but everyone process grief differently. Losing your mom was really hard on everyone, especially him. He’s made a lot of progress over the last few months, but he still needs some time. Just cut him some slack.”
“I’ve been cutting him some slack for the last year, Uncle Tay. I don’t have any more slack to cut. I just want my dad back. I don’t want to be the man of the house anymore, I don’t want to take care of Junia and Abe anymore, I don’t want to have to worry about paying the bills anymore.” I pushed myself off the bumper and reached into the Buick for my backpack and guitar case. “Will you just take me home, please?”
With just a nod, Uncle Taylor led me back to his Pathfinder. We drove back to my house in silence, the classic rock station on the radio so low it was barely audible. I kept my eyes trained out the window, watching the trees whiz by. The effect threw off my equilibrium, and I started to feel nauseous; I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the visual, but the feeling remained.
It reminded me of the feeling that crept in the moment I found out about the accident.
“We’re here, Shep,”
The sound of my uncle’s voice brought me back to solid ground, my stomach settling now that the vehicle was no longer in motion. “Thanks,”
“Any time, Bud,” he placed a hand on my shoulder, reassuringly. It lingered, Uncle Tay’s facial expression conveying a desire to say something else. Whatever he thought, he seemed to have decided to keep it to himself. After shaking his head and forcing a smile, he tilted his head and asked “Do you want me to come in and talk to your dad?”
Though I didn’t foresee any major breakthroughs, I silently nodded my agreement, then led him inside. It was loud on the other side of the door—so loud, I heard it as we were walking up the path. The sound hit like a wave when the door was opened; the television in the living room was blaring, and bass from Junia’s stereo thumped through the ceiling. Even louder than those were Abe and Junia. Abe was parked on the couch, Junia leaning over the railing on the second floor overlook, both screaming across the room at the other.
The simultaneously fell silent when they saw Uncle Tay walk in behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to guess the look he had on his face, and when he demanded every electronic device get turned off immediately, I heaved a gigantic sigh of relief. Neither my brother nor my sister really took me seriously when it came to dolling out discipline. I made my way to the kitchen as Uncle Taylor began scolding my siblings for their behavior.
A new pile of dishes in the sink greeted me; Abe had finished his homework and placed it on the table for review. There again weren’t any groceries worth eating. Closing the fridge door, I set about getting the dishes taken care of. Junia walked in a few minutes later, her head hanging. “I’ll do them, Shepherd.”
Though I knew her offer was forced, I allowed her to take over. She slowly emptied the dishwasher, her familiar attitude laced with sadness, but I couldn’t help feeling vindicated. Without the dishes to do, I checked over Abe’s homework, then began to help him pick up the mess of video games and food wrappers he had scattered across the living room floor. Uncle Taylor appears in the doorway just as we were finishing, his lips set in a firm line.
“Is everything ok?” Abe asked. “Is Dad OK?”
“Dad’s fine,” Uncle Tay assured. “He’s still not feeling well, though. I have an idea—why don’t you guys get a weekend bag together and come hang out with us this weekend? Aunt Natalie is making homemade caramel popcorn, and we’re going to have a bonfire outback and watch movies.”
With a flying leap, Abe chucked the video game case he had in his hand and bolted up the stairs to pack. Junia came into the room a second later, dramatically whipping her hands through the air to dry them. “Is Penny home?” she asked excitedly, not waiting for an answer before following Abe up the stairs.
“Go on,” Uncle Tay nodded toward the stairs. “I’ll finish up here.”
“I want to stay,” I replied. “I don’t want to leave him alone.”
“Are you sure? I think Viggo’s bringing his girlfriend and her sister over for the movies,” he winked at me.
“I’m sure. It’s just…he’s barely functional. Someone needs to make sure he eats, you know?”
Uncle Tay finally nodded with a shrug. “At least come let Aunt Natalie feed you dinner. You can bring some home to your dad.”
A home cooked meal did sound fantastic, especially Aunt Natalie’s. Having grown up with mom, Aunt Natalie’s cooking shared many of the same characteristics of my mother’s. Her southern cooking would be the closest to mom’s I’d ever get again, and I realized my mouth was watering.
With a weak smile, I excused myself from the room to say goodbye to Dad. As usually, he was wrapped up in Mom’s comforter on the bed. I sat down next to him, gently shaking his shoulder. The only verbal response I received was a grunt, however Dad did make an effort to pull the blankets down so I could see his face.
“Junie and Abe are gonna stay at Uncle Tay’s for a few days. I am going to go over for dinner, but I’ll be back later with something to eat from Aunt Natalie. Do you need anything before I go?” Dad shook his head before he covered himself with the blankets again. “Alright well…I’ll see you later, then.”
Without a word to anyone else, I walked out of the house, back to Uncle Tay’s Pathfinder.