The Family Room Ch. 06

"It's been a while," I admitted.

"Well that's all right, fishin' is like family, it's in your blood. I'm Jerry, by the way, owner and proprietor." He extended a hand browned and hardened from years spent at the lakeside. I shook it.

The old fingers were leathery and strong. "Quite a grip you have."

"Fightin' cats will do that to you. Caught a catfish damn near fifty pounds right under that bridge last week."

"You have such late hours. When do you find the time to fish?"

"Hell, I'll be closing up soon, cats don't start feeding until after midnight. I'll let you in on another secret: all that fancy gear I sell, the reels and bait and whatnot, they aren't worth a damn for cats. All you need is a pole and worms."

Jerry looked at me, a gleam in his sunken eyes. "You don't look like you're in any hurry to get home, so why don't you come on down and fish a bit. You can use one of my poles, all you got to do is buy the worms."

I was in no hurry to go anywhere, so despite the strangeness of the situation, I agreed. I followed Jerry across the bridge and down to the lake. He talked all the way down the rocky incline about catfish. There was something so uncomplicated about him, not uncomplicated in a dim or stupid way. He knew what mattered most in life, for him that was fishing.

We sat on a pair of large rocks protruding from the uneven earth, limestone, smoothed by decades of floods and the backsides of weary fishermen. He had a lot to say, between cigarettes. I heard all about his first wife and their messy divorce, how he'd sworn he'd never repeat the process, but did twice more. The business at the bait shop had been declining thanks to the big discount stores underselling him, he cursed Sam Walton more times than I care to recall. He also talked about his scare with prostate cancer, his doctor's assured him it was probably nothing, but he had a follow-up appointment the next week.

I remained, freezing my ass off until the first rays of dawn reflected in the misty waters. I had listened to Jerry go on all night, nodding and agreeing when it was appropriate, all the while silently contemplating my own future.

"Well." Jerry lifted his old body off of the rock that had served as his chair. "I've wasted enough of your time, Rick. I guess after listening to this broken down old man your problems don't seem so bad."

"They're still pretty bad," I admitted. I handed him back the ancient pole he had loaned me.

"Keep it Rick, never know when you might feel like coming down here again. Maybe you can unload some of your problems the next time."

Of course I couldn't tell him about Julie, but I could ask his advice. There was no harm in that. "Jerry." My voice caught as soon as I spoke his name. He was stretching his cramped legs. "What if the one thing that made you happier than anything else, was destined to bring misery to everyone around you?" If there was ever anyone else I confided in it would be this old man. I hardly knew him, but Jerry had laid his own life bare in an effort to make mine seem a little less bleak.

"I would say to hell with everyone else. If she makes you happy, she's special."

"She is, but how---"

"How did I know it was a she? Why else would you be out here freezing all night with the likes of me?"

"I guess you're right." I yawned. "Sorry we didn't catch anything."

"Ah hell Rick, I never catch anything down here."

"But you said you caught a fifty pound catfish last week."

"That's just bullshit I tell the customers to buy whatever bait I'm trying to get rid off. Anyway, it got you to come down and listen to my bellyaching for damn near five hours. Honesty can be overrated sometimes, especially among fishermen, Rick." He clapped my shoulder and started up the hill.

I promised Jerry I would come see him again.

I pulled in the driveway just as Mom and Dad were leaving for work.

"That must have been some shift you worked at the Video Hut," my Dad said. I didn't feel like a confrontation, I was too exhausted. I shuffled past their car. "Rick, I don't mind you not being at the airport when our plane landed, you had work that was fine. But coming home at six in the morning?"

I leaned on the hood of their sedan. "There was something I had to straighten out." My sentence began and ended with a yawn.

"We're happy that you found someone special, Rick," my mom said, "but you had your us worried sick all night. Your sister fell asleep on the couch waiting up for you."

All night as I sat under the bridge I had replayed Erin's words to me. 'Julie could never be what I wanted her to be.' I realized then as my mother spoke just what it was; what I wanted Julie to be. "I'll talk to her," I said, kissed my mother's cheek, then ducked in the house.

I tossed my keys and vest on the kitchen table as I headed to the family room. Julie was on the couch, curled up, with a crocheted orange blanket draped over her body.

"Julie," I whispered sitting on the couch beside her. I touched her cheek, then nudged her head slightly. She whimpered and blinked awake.

"Rick?" She threw off the blanket and embraced me. "Why didn't you come home? Don't you know how worried---"

My fingers hushed her lips. "Julie," I said. "I want you to be my sister." She looked at me with sleep-starved eyes. "No matter what else happens, always be my sister and love me unconditionally."

She nodded and rested her head on my chest. She was breathing softly after a moment. I was exhausted, but couldn't sleep. I pulled the orange blanket over Julie and contented myself with holding her. As I held her warm body in my arms I hoped and prayed that I would never have to let go.

To be continued...