The Passenger by Jacqueline Druga (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📗

guitar, but he also pulled out his phone and took a picture.

◆◆◆

“Thomas Walters.” Haley hunched down by the tomb stone and pulled some weeds. “He was a veteran. A really nice man. He used to come to the fish fry to help for as long as I can remember.”

Jonas did the math on the tombstone. Thomas was eighty-nine when he passed away.

“And you do this every week?”

Haley nodded.

“I don’t understand why,” Jonas said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but Thomas doesn’t know.”

“We do. Cemeteries are memorials to those we lost. When there’s no family around someone has to keep that memory alive, this is our way of doing it.”

“Did you ever not want to be so nice?”

Haley laughed. “What?”

“You’re nice.”

“No, I’m not that nice.”

“Yes, you are. Your dad, even the chief. Everyone is so nice. But you’re young, do you ever feel like just being bad?”

“Bad? Like?”

“Go out, have some drinks …”

“That’s not being bad as long as you don’t overdo it,” Haley said. “It’s not a sin or bad to drink, the sin is to overindulge. And to answer your question, no. When you’re fulfilled in life and happy, you don’t need to do things that aren’t good. At least that’s my opinion. Why are you asking this, do you feel like being bad? Is that calling you?”

“It’s not that. No, it’s …” Jonas turned his head and paused.

“Chip?”

“Marge,” he spoke softly. How did he miss her? She was fifty or so feet away, sat on what looked like a marble bench, her back was to Jonas. “Can you excuse me? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure. But Chip, she may want to be alone.”

“I understand. I just want …” he pointed, then turned and walked over to Marge.

She never heard him coming.

“Maw-Maw?” Jonas called her name.

“Oh, hey, Chip.”

“Are you alright?”

“Hmm. Yes.”

“I saw you and wanted to check on you.”

“You can sit if you want.” She patted the spot next to her.

“I will.” As soon as Jonas sat down, he saw the headstone.

Matthew Baker.

He was thirty-one.

Jonas looked at Marge.

“My son, Matt. We lost him a year ago today.”

“I … I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

“I’ll leave you be.”

“No, Chip, stay.” She reached over laying her hand on his. “More than you know, I’m glad you are here. I’m … glad you stopped and talked to Joe last night.”

“He was really helpful.”

“Good. I’m glad.” She sighed out and looked at the grave. “I can’t believe it’s been a year. It feels like only yesterday he was looking in the fridge for something to eat. You know … when we met, the first moment I saw you, you reminded me so much of him.”

“We look alike?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “Aside from being thin. It was the lost look in your eyes, the cry for help that seeped from you. And I don’t mean just from the accident.”

“I know what you mean,” Jonas said. “I get the feeling I wasn’t a very good person.”

“No. We’re all good people, we just make bad choices. Choices which can cost us dearly. Matt … Matt struggled with choices. He was …” she glanced at Jonas. “Struggling with demons. He liked ‘the drink’, he had his substance issues. Didn’t matter how much we loved him or wanted to help, he did his thing. One night, he argued with us again and took off. That was the last time we heard from him. They found him on a side of a hill near Fremont. He had fallen, broken his femur, and passed out from too much drink and blood loss, died there alone.”

Jonas closed his eyes. “Oh, Maw-Maw, I am sorry.”

“It hurts you know. To think of him alone out there. But he’s at peace now. I know it. He’s not fighting those demons anymore.” She squeezed Jonas’ hand. “When you happened upon our town, everyone wanted to help you. I especially wanted to help you. I kept looking at you and thinking, ‘this boy has a mother out there whose heart is broken because she doesn’t know where he is.’ And I made a vow, no matter how angry or nasty you were, for her, you would be fed, clothed, warmed and cared for. You would not be alone.”

A lump formed in Jonas’ throat. “Thank you.”

“You have a family out there, Chip, you may not know who you are, but they do. They’ll find you. They love you that much.”

“Then for their sake, I need to do the right thing. I need to make sure I’m on the right path, because I don’t think I was.”

“One of those memory feelings?” she asked.

Jonas nodded. “Yeah. A big one, I’m learning a lot here. I’m scared, I’m scared to find out who I am.”

“Correction, who you were. You’re scared to find out who you were. I think you’re finding out who you are truly, the only thing you need to remember,” She smiled at him. “Is your name.”

◆◆◆

They came in through the rear entrance of the church. A single glass door that was a back way into her father’s office. Haley didn’t want to walk through the church with a milkshake in her hand. Not when there were nine teenagers waiting on her.

She set the keys on the bookshelf in her father’s office. “Like I said, Chip, you might want to leave that milkshake here. Those kids will make you feel guilty for having it. They’ll just stare.”

Jonas laughed. “I’ll leave it here.” He took one more drink and set it on the bookshelf, as well.

“You sure you want to join teen group today?”

“What’s the difference between teen group and youth group?”

“Age. This group is older.” She pulled the office door closed.

“What are we doing with them?” Jonas asked, walking with her toward the sanctuary. “I mean, what are you doing with them?”

“Milly is supposed to be here for the sing along, then we talk about scripture that applies to their lives and have pizza.”

“Ah, Milly is the eighty year old organ player?”

“That’s right.”

“They’re going