A Desert Reckoning by Deanne Stillman

Author:Deanne Stillman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781568586915
Publisher: Nation Books

TENDER GOODNESS

Sit in the mud, my friend, and aspire to the skies!

—Ivan Turgenev, “Enough”

FOR TEN YEARS OR SO, DON’S FAMILY HAD NO CONTACT WITH him. There were occasional letters but that was it and they grew concerned, especially as word of his son’s plight began to reach them and they enlisted the aid of a cop to try to track him down. Finally they were able to find him in his tent in the Mojave, and from then on they were back in his life. As much as they tried to keep Don afloat, there was not much anyone seemed to be able to do for his son, Jello. It was clear to all concerned that the teenage boy was in big trouble, sinking deeper into his drug use, enduring a violent household, and finding refuge either on the streets or in the homes of others, such as it was. There was a summer during which Lynne and Peggy had brought Jello to Mobile, Alabama, their hometown, so he could get away from everything, spend time with his grandparents, and possibly learn that things didn’t have to be so hard. Of course such knowledge is not acquired easily, and during the period he was visiting his family, it became clear that there was only one way to fix this boy—his father.

But could two broken people save each other? It had happened before, just as prison inmates are coupled up with abandoned dogs or wild horses and then remake each other and form a new kind of union. It would take some coaxing on the part of Don’s sisters; he had not seen his kids in ages. Told to stay away by his ex-wife, figuring that they were being taken care of by her new husband, and quite possibly okay with not having the responsibility of being a parent, he had not really tried to make contact. At some point, with his daughter Rebecca’s help, the idea of a reunion was broached. It happened at Bob’s Big Boy in Riverside, the town where the kids were living; considering that Don was on a budget and that kids love burgers, it was a natural choice.

But it wasn’t just the burgers that made the place a favorite for kids; there was the Big Boy himself, a giant-sized icon with big blue eyes and tousled hair, wearing red-and-white checked overalls and carrying a cheese-topped double-decker on a platter, presiding over the entrance to every Big Boy in the chain, Bob’s or otherwise, ever since 1936, when the enterprise had been dreamed up, reportedly in response to a hefty six-year-old who would sweep the floor at what was then called Bob’s Pantry in exchange for giant burgers. Goofy and embarrassing or ironic and collectible by today’s standards, the cheerful sentinel served an era well, welcoming all the hungry souls who dined under its shadow and providing giant platters of burgers and fries that led to a moment of satisfaction. And too, there were other delights,

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