Brian rolled his eyes and laughed. “More goddamn secrets? Is that what adulthood is like? One secret after another, this secret rolled on top of that one? Is that what I have to look forward to the rest of my life? Lies and cheating and secrets? I wish I was the one that died on the ice.”
He waited for a reprimand, a scolding, the cold, harsh look in his mother’s eyes, the shrug of entrapment in his father’s.
It didn’t come. Uncle Tom stared into the early morning twilight. Stars still filled the sky but less so towards the east where a faint glow grew on the horizon. “Can you smell the ocean, Brian? Not just the salt, not just the brine. Can you smell the cold? Listen.”
Brian’s face reddened. “Another fucking game? What is with you two?”
“Humor me. Listen. Breathe.”
The sound of the waves seemed louder. Brian looked at his uncle and cocked his head slightly. “Your breathing in rhythm to the waves?”
“You want to know the truth and so you shall. What do you want to know?”
Brian rolled his eyes. So many questions, wehre to start.
Okay, simple. “How come you and Aunt Leslie speak Gaelic so much?”
Tom looked at Leslie and smiled.
“Do you remember what I said about touch? It has something to do with that. It has to do with Gaelic asking ‘Conas tha thu?” and not ‘Dè dèannaibh thu?‘ It asks ‘Who are you?’ instead of ‘What do you do?'”
“Because you can’t know who someone is unless you can touch them?”
Tom nodded. “See? You’re learning already. Now let me ask a question. Ever heard of quantum mechanics?”
Brian looked down and shook his head. He knew Uncle Tom and Aunt Leslie were smart but did they have to make him feel so stupid?
“You’re not stupid, Brian. It’s just that nobody’s given you the chance to be smart. Let’s start now. Okay?”
You have to be a paying subscriber (Muse level (1$US/month) or higher) to view the rest of this post. Please Login or Join Us to continue.
No Responses