Paradise at Main & Elm by Barry Brennessel

Author:Barry Brennessel [Brennessel, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay fiction
Publisher: MLR Press
Published: 2017-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Resonance

Sethville Junior High was the high school until 1956, when they built “the new school,” as people still called it. The entire campus of four buildings—primary and elementary, in addition to the junior and senior high—stood on the outskirts of town. Not the most convenient location, some might argue, but scenic. And the surrounding land offered the largest playing fields of any school in the nearest three counties. This was also beneficial for the marching band, to which Tyler LeFoy belonged. Because of her son’s passion for music, Millicent LeFoy sat in the parking lot leafing through a magazine as the distant pounding of the bass drum and the bleat of muted trumpets echoed between buildings.

Poor kids sound so off today, Millicent thought. She was, after all, a musician in her own right. Oboe and piano. Julliard? Oh, yes, she’d been accepted. Nearly screamed herself hoarse when the letter came all those years ago. But her parents had other, less bankruptcy-inducing plans for their only daughter.

“Work for a couple years, Millicent,” her mother said, “and then if you want to go to that school, we’ll have a serious talk about it.”

That school. “But, Mom, it doesn’t work that way.”

“Listen to your mother, young lady,” her father said, without even looking up from the lamp he’d taken apart to rewire.

Besides, there was her boyfriend to consider back then. Darden, one of the Big Five football heroes who played for the Sethville Skyhawks. They had been dating since the seventh grade.

He’s so handsome, her friends would say, those muscles, and that name is so exotic. Do you think it’s a made-up name? Or wasn’t there some actor named Darden? Back in the ’40s? Have you guys, you know… Oh, don’t be so shocked, Millicent, everyone’s… you know…

“What about Darden?” her mother would remind her constantly, when the Julliard letter kept magically appearing on the kitchen table or in the telephone nook. Sometimes even on the vanity in the bathroom, for heaven’s sake. “Boys like him don’t come along every day, you know. Your aunt. Look at your Aunt Jane.”

Be careful, Millicent, or you’ll end up a spinster! A spinster, like your poor Aunt Jane! Only a slow, painful death could be worse for a woman. Cancer or spinsterhood. You choose.

“Hey Mom!”

She hadn’t even heard the music stop. Or remembered starting this article on how to prune apple trees in a tri-cordon esplanade. Strange looking way for a tree to grow.

“Oh, Ty, you scared me. I didn’t even see you guys walking back.” She tossed the magazine on the back seat. “How did it go? Are you guys ready? Big homecoming weekend. Huge. This is the big one.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Mom. Nothing like adding to my stress.” Tyler opened the back door, and put his saxophone case on the floor behind the passenger seat. “We’re nowhere near ready. Mr. Judson screamed at us all rehearsal. Mostly us woodwinds.”

Millicent smiled at her son. “That tells you how important this is. Rehearsing all these extra hours.

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