The End of the Chaos by Nate Johnson

Author:Nate Johnson [Johnson, Nate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Amanda

True to his word, Joshua figured it all out. I wasn’t much help. But I made sun tea and sweetened it with honey. I packed a lunch for them every day. When Joshua barked his knuckles I wrapped his hand in a bandage. But the rest of the time I sat on a park bench in the shade with Charlie at my feet.

It was the second day when I pulled Tommy aside and asked him to explain. I would have asked Joshua but I hated bothering him.

Tommy said, “He’s taking things apart first. On the Beast. I just hand him tools or hold a wrench.”

I could tell the boy wanted to do more, I well knew the feeling. For the first time in my life, I fully understood the limitations of my blindness. Oh, I had always known it to some extent. But not like this.

Joshua was working so hard and all I could do was sit on a park bench and listen to him.

Later, at dinner that night I said to Joshua, “Tommy wants to help more. Is there anything you can have him do?”

I knew he was pursing his lips and thinking about it. Then he probably nodded before he said, “I’ll come up with something.”

And again, true to his word the next morning he handed Tommy a grinder and showed him how to smooth out the rough edges where he’d cut the trailer down. “I don’t need the electricity from the batteries. But if it runs low, I’ll start up the boiler.”

I could hear Tommy hopping on his good foot, eager to work. At lunch, while the three of us sat under the tree I asked Joshua to describe the trailer. But before he could start Tommy jumped in. “It’s about thirty feet long.”

“I got a short pup trailer instead of the long ones,” Joshua interjected then let Tommy continue.

The boy took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down. “It’s got eight wheels at the back, two doubles on each side. It hooks into the Beast just behind the boiler.”

I nodded, encouraging him to continue as the image began to form in my mind.

“Joshua cut off the big metal box that covered everything. I’m grinding down the edges so no one gets cut.”

“Will there be enough room for everyone?” I asked.

“No problem,” Joshua answered.

I sat back and let the image solidify.

But Tommy wasn’t done, he had to keep talking about his new favorite toy. “Joshua found a place with tires already on the wheels and used an air pump to fill all of them. Including the two we will use to replace the popped ones.”

I heard Joshua reach over and rub Tommy’s head and just knew the boy was beaming.

“As for the brakes,” Joshua said and I heard the shame in his voice. I knew he felt guilty about not thinking about them the first time. That thought also led me to remembering being tossed from the Beast.

I knew Joshua had been trying to save me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.