After a while, Charlie looked around, surprised at how far he had come. He was almost to Edna's. He decided he'd go see her after he got dressed.
He walked past her house, a beautiful, two-story Victorian-style home, hoping she wasn't outside.
To his dismay, she was sitting in her rocking chair on her porch. She noticed him right away and waved. He waved back. He couldn't just keep going; he never could just keep going if she was outside. He opened the gate to her white picket fence, closing it behind him, crossing his arms across his chest again, and hoping he could vanish.
"Hey there, Charlie!" She called out in her slightly raspy but surprisingly strong voice.
"Hi, Edna," he replied, face flushing.
Edna grinned. "Perfect timing! I was just thinking a bowl of ice cream sounded wonderful right now! Come sit on the porch, and I'll get you a bowl too."
Charlie opened his mouth in protest, but Edna had already stood up and was opening her screen door. Not wanting to offend her, Charlie headed to the porch.
On his way, he surveyed Edna's yard. Her flower beds had been reduced by quite a bit and were mostly covered with plastic and wood shavings now, except for the small one she kept on the front of the house, which had a few cheerful petunias spaced evenly around a well-trimmed rose bush. He couldn't help but wonder who had done the work for her. He had helped her weed the flower beds earlier that spring, but the wood chips and the petunias were new. The lawn was freshly cut as well. Charlie had been mowing the lawn for her, refusing payment, but her lawnmower had died last week, and he didn't have a way to get his lawnmower to her house. He'd have to remember to ask her who he got to mow her lawn.
A white and yellow cat approached him. At first, he shied away, but he remembered the warmth he had gotten from the kitten, so he reached out and petted it, even allowing it to rub against his legs before it wandered off.
He walked up to her porch and sat down on her wrought iron swing, his favorite spot. He did have to admit, it was nice to be out of the sun, but he felt so weird being exposed like that in front of her. He tried to distract himself from the thought as he focused on the cheerful tinkling of the wind chimes and watched a few hummingbirds dive and swoop as they fought over the feeder.
Edna returned a few moments later, holding out a bowl. "I hope you like orange sherbet!"
Charlie's heart beat faster as he took the bowl, not daring to look at it. "Thanks, Edna," he grinned weakly.
She grinned. "You're welcome. It's my new favorite." She sat down on her rocking chair.
Charlie looked down at his chest, then up at Edna shyly. "I'm, uh, sorry I'm not... decent."
Edna chuckled. "Oh, Charlie dear. I raised three boys. I'm not afraid of a little sweat." She pointed to his rocks. "What you got there?"
Charlie grinned as he held the rocks up one at a time. "I found another horn coral fossil up on the bench. And this cool rock. I've never seen anything like it!"
He passed the silver rock over to Edna. She felt it, registering its weight, and let out a low whistle. "You know, not too long ago, a chunk like this would have drawn people from all over looking to strike it rich."
Charlie's eyes grew wide. "Really? What is it?"
Edna turned the rock in her hand. "I'm no geologist, mind you, but the silvery parts are lead sulfide, or galena. It's a common ore for lead, but what makes it really exciting is that it often contains silver as well. There was a time that this country was crawling with prospectors looking for stuff like this." She handed the rock back to Charlie.
Charlie's eyes grew wide as he held the rock. "Silver? That's cool!"
Edna nodded. "Good find!"
Charlie ventured a taste of the sherbet, trying not to look at it. He didn't want Edna to feel bad if he didn't eat it, and he was getting very hungry.
Edna watched the hummingbirds dance, then said quietly, "You just missed your mama. She was here, oh, about a half hour ago."
Charlie sighed, "Oh, how is she lately?"
Edna frowned and peered at him sharply. "You need to tell her how much it's bothering you, Charlie."
Charlie looked away. "It's fine," barely masking the bitterness in his tone.
Edna peered over at him. "Charlie."
Charlie shook his head. "She's always wanted to do something like this, Edna. She loves it, and you and everyone else need her."
Edna sighed, "True, I couldn't live here anymore without her. But you need her too, Charlie."
Charlie shrugged. "I'm fine."
Edna looked at him quietly. Charlie looked down at the ground and shifted uneasily.
Edna sat back and gazed off in the distance. Charlie brought a spoonful of bright orange sherbet up to his mouth, shivering as he glanced at it. A tear trickled down his face, and he set the spoon back down and gazed at the wind spinner hanging on the porch, twisting and turning in the breeze. He sighed, swirling his melting sherbet with his spoon.
"Edna, have you ever... done anything that you've regretted and that you've never been able to fix?"
Edna shook her head. "Oh, never, dear. I've lived a perfect life."
Charlie looked down at his bowl. "Oh."
Edna chuckled. "Boy, if you believe that, I'll sell you the live mastodon in my backyard, too."
Charlie shook his head and grinned.
"Charlie, a person can't get my age without making a lot of messes."
"So... what do you do?"
Edna sighed. "Try to fix what you can, forgive yourself, and move on. At least, that's what I hear helps. I'm still working that out. There... are a few things I still need to sort out myself."
Charlie furrowed his brow. "Really?"
Edna sighed. "You'd think someone my age would learn how to avoid hurting others, but I've made a lot of mistakes over the last few years, too, and I should have known better."
Charlie continued to swirl his sherbet.
"Something you want to talk about?"
Charlie stared into the orange soup. "I'm sorry... I can't."
Edna picked up the cat that had been rubbing against her legs, set it on her lap, and started petting it.
"I think you'll work it out, Charlie. The fact that you want to make things right says a lot. Do you remember how we met four years ago?"
Charlie nodded. "You... had fallen in your yard, and I saw you as I was riding by on my bike."
Edna smiled at him softly. "You did much more than that, Charlie. You called 911 and got help, and you stayed with me the whole time, doing what you could to help and comfort me until the ambulance came."
Charlie shrugged. "I... just did what I could. It... wasn't much."
Edna shook her head. "You did the best you could. And you talked your mama into adding me to her clients so I could come home from the hospital instead of being stuck in an old folks home. You've been watching out for me ever since, Charlie. You and your mama. And," she stroked her cat, "You've helped me care for my cats, even though I know you don't like them."
Charlie looked down at a calico cat resting on the porch. "Is it that obvious?"
Edna chuckled. "Yes, but you still take care of them. It says a lot about a person who still treats other people or animals kindly even if they can't do anything for them, especially if they don't like them."
Charlie blushed, and they sat in silence. Edna's head started to bob. Charlie set his bowl down, stood, and touched her shoulder. "Would you like to lie down?"
Edna's eyes fluttered open. "Could you just help me to my recliner, dear?"
Charlie nodded, lifting the cat gently off her lap and setting it on the ground, then taking her bowl and setting it aside as well. He propped the screen door open, then gently held onto Edna's shoulder and helped her stand. She wrapped her arm around his neck and grinned. "It's not every day that I get to put my arm around such a handsome young man, you know."
Charlie grinned and blushed again as he helped her inside and into her recliner, making sure she was comfortable, then gazed at the pictures on her wall. She had a beautiful picture of herself and her husband, Harold, who had passed away long before Charlie met her. She was in a flowing white wedding dress, and he was in a nice suit. They were standing in front of what looked almost like a castle. He looked closely, realizing for the first time how young Harold and Edna were. An engraved plaque was under the picture. It read, "Edna and Harold Martin, July 8, 1933."
Charlie went outside for the bowls, then brought them back inside and washed them in her sink.
Edna was asleep when he returned from the kitchen. He tucked an afghan around her gently and walked out the front door, pausing for a moment to look at another picture of Edna and Harold, surrounded by their three sons, their wives, and several kids. He'd met several of them. They all lived far away, but visited when they could. He'd always wondered why she stayed in Silver Creek instead of moving closer to one of her sons, but he figured that Silver Creek must be home for her.
Charlie let the cats rub against him as he went to the shed where Edna kept their food, and even scratched a few of their heads. He filled up their food dishes, then filled their water trays with Edna's hose. He took another look at Edna's yard as he picked up his rocks from where he had left them on the porch and walked to the gate. He realized that he had forgotten to ask who was taking care of the lawn now. Whoever had taken care of her lawn had done a really good job.
********
Cade rubbed his sore arm and flexed his hand and fingers and wiped the sweat off his brow as he stepped back and admired his drawing. At least tried to. It was ok, but he needed so much more practice. Practice he wasn't likely to get again until school started in the fall and he returned to this stuffy, smelly, hot cupola. It was getting to be way too much, even naked and with the vents open all the way. He stretched and yawned as he took another look at his very amateur drawing, frowning. The books said to "draw what you see." He'd seen a lot of flab and a prominent foreskin.
He sighed. If he didn't draw his face, would it still be him? He set his jaw. Yes, this was him. He was going to draw his face.
Cade gazed at the ugly penis on the wall, then at his picture. He pointed at the graffiti and, in a high falsetto, called out, "Oh, you've spray-painted a penis on the wall. You immature boy! Oh well. Boys will be boys."
He then gestured to his own drawing and cried out, in an even higher falsetto, "Oh, horror! You've drawn yourself NAKED! You filthy creature! And you even drew your... your... THINGY! Oh, depart from us, you horrible freak!"
He glanced between the two pictures and sighed.
Cade fingered his chain as he stared at his picture. Well, there it was.
Fuck, he hoped no one ever saw this.
He tipped his head and studied his picture again, then leaned in and made a few additions.
After a few moments, Cade stepped back and admired the additions. Now he could draw his face. After a break. He glanced at the heavy cloth attached to his mirror and stuck on a nail, and smiled. He walked up to the mirror and unfastened the cloth.
"Maybe you guys should look at yourselves too," he said quietly as he looked around the room, draping the cloth across his back and stretching it out lengthwise. He stepped back and grinned at himself in the mirror, then started softly singing an optimistic, popular song about flying, laughing at himself when he failed to remember the lyrics, while swooping around the room and gazing out the windows. He pictured himself flying above the valley over the mountains to the east, careful not to get too close to the sun, to somewhere he could just be himself. No more pretending.
Then he saw them.
Two young boys, pointing in his direction.
He froze.
"Fuck."
His wings fluttered to the ground.
Heart racing, breaths quickening, throat going dry, hands trembling, penis stiffening again, he raced to grab his sketchbook, tossing it under the mattress. He yanked on his shorts, crammed his feet into his shoes, grabbed Charlie's shirt, and raced down the ladder, pausing to close the hatch behind him, plunging him into the darkness of the attic.
He thought about hiding in the attic, but someone would be bound to notice the lock missing. So he reluctantly headed down the walkway and into the closet, where there was just enough light for him to find the padlock. He paused briefly to listen to the hallway.
Silence.
Cade yanked Charlie's shirt on over his sticky skin and carefully opened the door, blinking in the light, checking to make sure the coast was clear. He slipped out into the hallway, closed the door, fastened the hasp, and put the lock back in place, watching the hallway carefully as he did.
***************