One Way Road - Cassidy Shay (red white royal blue txt) 📗

Growing up in a small town like Garden Valley hadn’t been easy for the Moss kids. Part of it was their dad, part of it was growing up on a farm. Part of it was because of Jared, and the trouble that he caused at school. And in a place without a single stop light, word got around fast. Amy and Theresa, the two youngest daughters, lived quiet, isolated lives, not necessarily by choice. As sisters of Jared Moss, they were off limits to any boys, and even the girls kept their distance.
Their older brother, Levi, had it the hardest. As a junior, he’d only taken morning classes so that he could go home and help tend to the farm and the animals that lived there.
The Moss family farm was the only farm left in town. While other families still had their animals and land, they grew small gardens of vegetables and flowers, not acres of crops.
Farm life had never been easy, but after their dad died, the family struggled even more to keep the farm in good condition. Paying the funeral costs and bearing the loss of a husband and father were just added stress that the family had to deal with. Levi had been forced to quit football, and had to cut his classes to help his mom.
Jared had simply withdrew from the family, from his friends. What had once been harmless pranks at school were now dangerous incidents that left the entire town scared of Jared Moss.
Amy and Theresa, in seventh grade, participated in sports and school functions, only because Levi insisted that they got their chances to be teenagers before they had to be adults.
Things got even worse when Grandma Jan died.
It was the beginning of what should have been Levi’s senior year. Jared was a sophomore, and the girls were entering the eighth grade.
Levi came home at lunch on the third day, already ready for the year to be over. The year before, he had only taken Chemistry and Algebra II, plus shop class. That meant that this year, he was taking the remainder of his junior classes. In order to graduate, he would have to spend a total of six years at Garden Valley High.
He put his stuff down and sat at the table. “What’s for lunch?” he asked.
His mom was at the sink, washing her hands. “I was thinking peanut butter and banana sandwiches. You always used to love those when you were little.” Levi nodded, but didn’t say anything. Lately, he’d noticed that she was always bringing up his childhood, like she wasn’t ready to accept that her oldest son was almost all grown up.
She got out the bread and a banana, and was reaching for the peanut butter when the phone rang. “I’ll get it.” Levi stood up from his chair and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Is Marie Moss there?” Levi glanced at his mom, and she shook her head. She hated talking on the phone.
“No,” he lied, picking at the dirt under his nails. “This is her son, Levi. Can I take a message?”
The line was silent for a moment. “Levi?”
“Yes.”
Again, silence. He heard the man clear his throat. “Levi, this is your uncle Charlie. I’m at St. Luke’s right now. I was in Boise for the week on business, and stopped in to say hi to Mom and Dad.” The voice was getting shakier with every word. “Your grandma just died.”
At first, Levi didn’t believe it. After all, he’d just seen Grandma Jan and Grandpa Harold the weekend before. They had been fine. There was no reason for her to die.
“Levi? Are you still there?”
He blinked a couple times. “What do you mean, she’s dead?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mom jerk her head in his direction.
Uncle Charlie sighed. “I mean just that, Levi. She had a heart attack. And she’s dead.” There was a slight pause, and Levi knew that Charlie was checking his watch, just like he always did.
“Okay. We’ll be down as soon as possible. Let me pick up everyone from school, and we’ll be right down.”
“No, Levi. Don’t being everyone. There’s nothing for them to see here. But I need you to come get Dad. He’s gone crazy, and I need him out of the hospital. I figured if you took him out to the farm, he’d calm down a little.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t bring anyone. Just come get him.”
Levi hung up the phone and headed towards the door, truck keys in hand. He threw a couple words over his shoulder at his mom, and then sped out of the driveway, dust flying.
He arrived in Boise in less than forty-five minutes, and he could hardly believe that he hadn’t gotten pulled over for speeding. As soon as he walked into the lobby, he saw Uncle Charlie standing next to his grandpa.
Grandpa Harold had wide shoulders and a tan that, even after years of retirement, hadn’t faded. His grey hair was neatly combed back, just like it always was. He wore his Wrangler jeans and a white t-shirt. The wrinkles in his face seemed to tell stories, stories that were never spoken. In seventeen years, Levi couldn’t remember having a single conversation with the man.
“That was fast,” said Uncle Charlie. He looked at his watch. “I have to get upstairs and talk with the doctor. He hasn’t eaten anything since this morning, but he says he isn’t hungry. Still, you might want to stop and pick something up, just in case.” He looked at Levi’s eyes for the first time. “Thanks for doing this. I’ll be up to the farm as soon as I can get everything settled down here.”
He left then, and Levi wasn’t quite sure how to approach the situation. He sat down in the chair next to his grandpa.
“Do you want something to eat?” No answer. “Can I get you some water?” Again, nothing. “Let’s go up to the farm, where you can get some fresh air, maybe sit in the old barn for a while.” Harold didn’t move. “I brought your truck.”
“I guess I should go see what kind of damage you teenagers have done to it, then.” Although the answer surprised Levi, he noticed that his grandpa was moving toward the door.
He led him through the parking lot toward the blue pick up. Levi loved that truck, and he knew that he always would. He had used to watch his dad work on it, until he was old enough to help. Even if the truck was running perfectly, they found something to do, working in silence. Levi assumed that his dad and grandpa had worked on it in similar ways.
They got in the truck and Levi pointed it in the direction of home. As they passed an old restaurant, Rocky’s Diner, Harold told him to stop.
“I want to eat here,” he said. Levi parked and they went inside, were seated at the corner booth. Levi had always loved it at Rocky’s. They played 50’s music, the waitresses were on skates, and then whole feel of the diner pulled you back in time. They stayed for over an hour. The whole time, Harold didn’t touch his burger or the shake, just leaned back with his eyes closed. When they left, Harold dropped a fifty on the table, then walked out.
By the time they got to Garden Valley, it was almost three. “Might as well go pick up Jared,” he muttered. Harold, as suspected, said nothing.
They pulled into the parking lot just as the bell rang, and Levi waved at a few of his friends. One of them, Zach, came to talk to him.
“What’s going on, man?” he asked, looking at the old, wrinkled man on the seat. “I thought you’d be milking cows or tending fences, or something.”
Levi just shook his head. “Family stuff. I’ll have to fill you in later.” He looked across the parking lot and saw his little brother, talking to a girl. “Jared! Time to go!”
About a minute later, Jared slammed the truck door. Harold winced, but said nothing. “What was that about, Levi? She’s the only girl who’ll talk to me. Why can’t you let me have a little fun?”
“If you behaved yourself, Jared, you wouldn’t have a problem making friends or getting dates. If you didn’t treat everyone like shit on your shoes, you’d have friends. But that’s not the case.” As he pulled out of the school parking lot, Levi thought about the other talks like this one that he’d had with Jared. Some had been in private, some in public, some quiet, and others loud. Each time, Levi felt exhausted, as if he was being forced to play a role too big for him.
The next few days were tough. Once again, the family faced funeral costs, as well as the sorrow of losing someone close. Unlike her husband, Grandma Jan talked nonstop. Stranger or friend, it didn’t matter. She had a lot to say, and never enough time to say it all. The entire family loved her dearly, and her death was almost as hard on everyone as their dad’s had been.
The funeral was a small, private ceremony, only the family was there. The next day, both Amy and Theresa quit the volleyball team. Jared began cutting classes. Levi tried his best to be the father and the brother, but somehow, he always fell short.
And in the middle of all this was Grandpa Harold. The plan was originally to send him back to the small house where he and Grandma Jan had lived since Marie had married their son. But when he began sleepwalking, they had to figure out something else.
It started the third day after Grandma Jan died. Levi looked out his window and saw a light heading toward the barn. He ran to get his mom, and they brought the old man back into the house.
The next day, while Harold was taking a nap, Marie and Levi discussed what to do with him. “We can’t let him live along, that’s for sure. Especially not on that corner,” Marie said. “He can’t live with Uncle Charlie. Sometimes he doesn’t get home from the office until two in the morning.”
Levi looked around the home he’d known his whole life. The old table and chairs had been in the family for years, as well as the rocking chairs on the front porch. The house itself had been standing for five generations, although repairs had been made when needed. He knew that, as much as the farm was his home, it was even more Grandpa Harold’s.
“Why doesn’t he stay here? We have the extra bedroom.” His mom was surprised at the suggestion.
“We can’t afford another person to feed, Levi. Besides, he needs someone to take care of him, and we don’t have any extra hands right now. Everyone has chores, and they don’t get finished until dinner time.”
Levi shook his head. “No, Mom. He doesn’t need constant care. He’s not ninety. Did you see how relaxed he was in the barn that first day? He needs familiarity. This farm is his home.”
She thought about it, but then shook her head. “We can’t afford it. An extra person is extra food, water, soap, electricity, everything. We can’t afford it.”
Levi couldn’t believe his mother. They were talking about his grandpa, and all she cared about was the extra cost. “So we’ll get more chickens. We can start selling eggs in