Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham (best short novels of all time txt) 📗

While Max worked, I went upstairs and filled the bathtub for Jimmy. Now that I had found my brother again, I wasn’t going to let him go. He would stay here, where I could take care of him. I’d take some time off work, maybe. Mr. Hindmarsh would understand, I was sure. Especially after he read Max’s story.

“Drink this,” Mum was saying to Jimmy when I returned. He was sitting up, his face stitched and bandaged, and wiped mostly clean. The beard was gone, and Jimmy looked so much younger. More vulnerable. I smelled strong coffee in the air.

Jimmy mumbled something, and Dad put his face in his son’s. “Please, Jimmy.”

I didn’t think I’d ever heard him say those two words together in my life.

Liam appeared on the steps. “Max!” he cried. “Jesus Christ, it’s really you. We all thought—”

“Yeah,” Max said, grinning. “I’m hearing that a lot. I think my new name will be Lazarus.”

Jimmy dropped his legs over the side of the table and was threatening to try and stand, but Max and Liam stepped in, putting his arms over their shoulders.

“Let’s go,” I said, and against Jimmy’s protests, I led them up to the bathroom. When they came out without Jimmy, I eyed them nervously. “Think he’s all right in there on his own?”

Max nodded. “He’ll be okay.”

I slumped back against the wall, my hands at my sides, feeling drained by so many emotions. I moved my hand slightly and felt a crinkle of paper in my pocket. Richie’s letter. I headed down the stairs, calling everyone to the living room.

“I know it’s late, but we need to talk about something.” Looking confused, they sat, then I held up the yellowed envelope, stained by years of sweat and secrecy. “It’s a letter from Richie. It’s for all of us. Whatever it is, I know he would have wanted you to hear it. Please stay.”

A hush fell over the room.

Mum stared at me, uncomprehending. “From Richie?”

“How?” Dad asked, suddenly pale.

“Max brought it back with him,” I said quietly, and everyone turned to where Max stood in the corner. “He kept it safe for all those years, and he never even opened it. It’s addressed to all of us, but I want him to hear it too.”

I held the envelope out to Dad, but he shook his head. “You open it, Molly.”

With the utmost care, I opened the envelope then gently unfolded the paper. The ink was faint, but it was undeniably my brother’s messy writing. I skimmed my fingertips over his words, braced for the unknown, then began to read aloud.

To my dear family,

If you’re reading this letter, that means I’m dead. But I guess you already know that.

I hate to say it, but after you read this, you might be glad that I’m gone, and to my eternal shame, I know I deserve that.

You see, I did something. I made a mistake. I mean, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but one in particular has haunted me. At one time I thought I could take this secret to my grave, that no one would ever know. But I’ve had lots of time to think recently, and I understand now that I can’t lie to you any longer.

I had obviously hoped to see you again and explain in person, but fate had other plans.

I threw the brick that changed everyone’s lives. It was me. It wasn’t Mr. Dreyfus, and it wasn’t a stranger. I did this to you, Dad. I did this to all of you.

I know you remember what I was like that summer, hanging out with Phil’s gang. But things changed for me on the night of the riot. I looked down over the field, where we were just supposed to play baseball, and I saw a war. Thousands of men cracking heads. Over what? Protestants versus Jews. But why? Why were we going after each other for something that was so personal? Whose business was it whether they went to a church or a synagogue? Everything had gone way too far. And when I saw Dad beating Max, caught up in the craziness of the fighting, something in me changed. I couldn’t get there fast enough, not from where I was standing, so I threw the first thing I could get my hands on. I never meant to hurt you, Dad. I just wanted the fighting to stop.

Every day since, I’ve thought about what I should’ve done. Now, the only thing I can do is tell the truth. I wanted an end to the fighting, but I was afraid to admit my part in all this. My silence only made things worse. And I have lived with that guilt ever since.

So now you know. They say confession is good for the soul, but mine feels terrible right now. You didn’t raise your boy to be a liar, and I’m ashamed of myself for not telling you sooner. I’m sorry I’m not there in person to apologize. I love you all so much. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me someday.

All my love, Richie

I stared at the letter, unable to move. My face burned. All this time, it had been Richie. Long ago, I had accepted the consequences of that night, of the damage that brick had caused, but now it all came back, and anger boiled inside me. Richie’s need to save Max had caused all that pain to both our families, but it was his cowardice that had ripped us apart.

I looked at Dad, who was bent over, his head in his hand. He was a different man from the proud sergeant he had once been, broken in body and spirit by Richie’s fear. Beside him, Liam held Mum, and she was quietly weeping. Where, I wondered, was their anger?

Dad eventually lifted his head, and his eyes moved to Max, who was staring silently at the wall. “That’s a hard lesson. Richie’s deed was done