Backstory by William L. Myers Jr

Author:William L. Myers, Jr. [William L. Myers, Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

He remembers now that, after his father left, his mother was forced to sell their home, move them into an apartment. A vision appears of him and Jimmy late at night, lying in their creaky double beds in their shared bedroom, the ancient window air-conditioner struggling against the sweltering August air. The next morning, they would start sixth grade in a new school.

He hears Jimmy stirring and whispers to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t be scared about tomorrow. It’ll be all right.”

The room is quiet for a long while. “Are you scared?” Jimmy asks.

The truth is he isn’t afraid. Not at all. “A little,” he tells Jimmy, hoping to make his brother feel better.

“I don’t like going to a new school, where I don’t know anyone,” Jimmy says.

“You know me. All we have to do is stick together and we’ll be okay.”

“That’s what Mom always says.”

“Well, she’s right sometimes. And she’s right about that.”

Another long silence. Then he hears Jimmy’s bed creak and he knows Jimmy has turned on his side to face him. “Why did Dad leave?”

Jimmy has asked him that a hundred times. Asked their mother a hundred more. The answer is always the same. “Not because of us,” he tells his brother.

Money was tight for a long time after his father left, but things eventually got better when his mother landed a job as a secretary at the district attorney’s office. A few years later, things got better still once his mother had her hooks in Howard. Then they had to move to Kournfield for a couple years.

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