Common Sons by Ronald Donaghe

Author:Ronald Donaghe [Donaghe, Ronald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0595097081
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2000-06-26T14:00:00+00:00

* * *

Tom was sitting on the far side of the pickup, with his arm out the window. His hair blew in the warm, night air. On the east end of town, Joel pulled off the road in the darkness and cut the engine.

Tom looked around. “Why’re you stopping here?”

“The graveyard? You know, see who’s in town, tonight.” They watched the steady stream of cars pass them on the highway and make u-turns in the road by the Luna Drive-in Theater.

“There go the Crawfords,” Joel said. He remembered Bill’s cold behavior and Nicky’s warning to get a girlfriend. Tom pointed out Mike St. Germaine’s new Corvair as it followed close behind, followed by several Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and the Bensons’ Cadillac. For just a second, Joel’s heart pounded a little faster when the Cadillac u-turned and headed back their way. Melissa Benson’s silver-blonde hair billowed out of the driver’s-side window; one dainty wrist was draped over the top of the steering wheel, guiding the car over the smooth roadway. She was staring straight ahead and, as though she had seen Joel’s pickup parked under the evergreen trees in the dark, she gunned the engine and the Cadillac almost skidded, leaving only the glow of its taillights. He sighed with relief. “There went my old girlfriend.”

“Melissa Benson—I know,” Tom said flatly. “When I first moved here, I went out with her sister. She pointed you out to me one time.

That’s how I knew your name. Did you know she had a crush on you—Debbie, that is?”

“Melissa’s older sister had a crush on me?” Joel asked, laughing. It felt funny even talking about it.

“Yeah. She didn’t know I was just as anxious around you as she was!” Tom ducked his head, embarrassed that he’d been so blunt.

“C’mon, Tom. Don’t. We’re doing okay. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. We won’t talk about anything that gets you down.”

But Tom laughed. “No. I’m fine. I just surprise myself sometimes. I told you I know what I want. And I did have a crush on you!”

From the west another flock of cars was coming up the street, their headlights playing through the cab of the pickup. In the flickering light, Tom’s face was streaked in shadows that moved from his chest and up his neck across his dark eyes. They blinked in the sudden flashes. Joel saw that he was still bothered despite what he had said. “I want you too, Tom,” he said, softly.

“Joel!”

Tom jerked up in the seat and looked past him. “Who said that?”

“I don’t know,” Joel said. He watched the cars that had just passed. “I think it came from that Mercury. The one turning around.”

They watched as the white Mercury swayed in a large loop left and off the far side of the road, where it parked. Sure enough, the driver kept glancing across the road. His face would be clearly lit in the glow of car lights, then flicker out like a candle in the darkness. Joel recognized the car. “Think that’s one of the Johnson boys,” he said to Tom, “But I don’t know which one.

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