Echoes of a Distant Summer by Guy Johnson

Author:Guy Johnson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781588361998
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-10-18T21:00:00+00:00

A few blocks away from Elroy’s building Jackson pulled the car to the curb and turned off the engine. He stared into the lights of the passing traffic, seemingly lost in thought.

Elizabeth gazed at him with concern in her eyes. “Are you all right?”

He exhaled and turned to her. “This is a big night for my family. A son who has been lost has been found. I have made the first move in correcting a tragedy that has gone on for more than sixty years. I had no idea it would affect me emotionally. Elroy looks so much like my father and grandfather that it’s eerie. I was actually getting choked up in his apartment.”

Elizabeth commented, “I thought our departure was a little abrupt, but it wasn’t apparent to me that you were upset.” She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. Her face was illuminated only intermittently by headlights, yet the warmth in her expression was obvious even in the semidarkness. “Why do you think you were affected so deeply?”

“I don’t know. I just felt the floodgates weakening. Since my grandfather was killed I feel like I’m holding so much back, so many unresolved things that they’re slopping over the dam I’ve built to keep them from overrunning my thoughts.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, thoughts like I’ve wasted a lot of time resenting my dysfunctional family. The truth is I didn’t even have it as bad as some others in my family. I wasn’t abandoned in an orphanage. I didn’t suffer that level of isolation. Then there’s the realization of all that has been lost as a result of Elroy’s absence and all that could’ve been had he been part of our family. My father and mother might both be alive. I’ve wasted so much time trying to understand my grandparents’ intentions when they can’t even explain their actions.” Jackson shook his head resignedly. “There’s been so much unnecessary pain and unpleasantness. And I’ve come too late to remedy this injustice. At best I’m putting a bandage on a wound that’s scarred over but will never heal.”

Jackson grimaced and rubbed his neck. “Damn! I’ve really got a crick in my neck. Hmmm, let me take you home.” He started the ignition and pulled slowly out into the night traffic.

Elizabeth observed, “You sound like you could use a hot tub or a therapeutic massage. That’s the therapy I use whenever my work or my life gets me uptight or depressed. I think some deep-tissue work might help you release tension and I know just the place on Judah and Ninth.”

“It’s not the deep-tissue work I had hoped you would offer me,” Jackson replied with a sad smile. “But if you recommend it, let’s do it.”

It was a short, twenty-minute drive to the hot tub and massage parlor. Upon arriving at the parlor, Elizabeth went to the women’s side while Jackson went to the men’s. Due to the fact Elizabeth took time to wrap her hair in towels to protect it from the ambient moisture in the air, she did not get her massage immediately.

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