Jimmy had a lot to think about. He was more than grateful that Mark was beside him, both in L.A. and here. The two friends had become so close that he didn't want to imagine not having him around.
When he and Mark arrived back at the cabin, Aunt Lily, Uncle Walter, and the kids didn’t question his state of dress or inquire as to how things went. They knew that it would take a while for him to process what happened and what he had seen
He went through the motions of taking a shower, getting dressed in clean clothes that he still had in his knapsack. After he was fully dressed, he took a bit of the food that was offered. The elk stew and fry bread were more than enough, but beyond taking a single serving of each, surprisingly he wasn’t feeling too hungry.
That night at the fire pit outside the cabin under the stars Aunt Lucille sat down next to him on the log bench. In the background, he could hear Mark and Uncle Walter nearby playing some sort of game with the kids. Those were the kinds of sounds that he remembered from when he spent his summers with his maternal family. Even now as a grown man, the smells, sights, and sounds of the place helped him to relax. It was what he needed after all he had seen and experienced on his vision quest.
“Auntie,” Jimmy began carefully, “Did my mom ever tell you about my real father?”
Aunt Lily was silent for a few moments before she nodded. “Yes,” she acknowledged. “Patrice told me on the night that the two of them had been together. As sisters, I knew she was seeing something in the woods. Of course, you know our people - there are some things you don’t discuss or speak their names out of fear or just not wanting to know. Anyway, I never questioned her version of anything she told me…..after.”
“Did she describe him to you at all?” Jimmy asked.
Lily let out a long sigh. “Just a little. Your mother said that he was at once beautiful, terrible, strange, and not quite human.”
Jimmy scoffed at the last. “Yeah. Definitely ‘not quite’!”
There was another silence between them, and it seemed as if the entire forest, including Mark, Uncle Walter, and the kids got quiet, too. Jimmy was certain that his aunt was choosing her words carefully, even though she had no idea what had happened to him during his quest.
“Jimmy,” Aunt Lily spoke at last. “There is nothing you can do to change my mind, your family’s mind about you. We love you, we helped raise you, and as you must know, we and the Mohawk People will always protect you as one of us. We have always suspected who or what your real father was. It doesn’t matter. Not to us.”
Jimmy let out a scoff and poked a stray coal back into the circle of stones that made the fire pit. “Not even if I end up being some huge dragon?”
Aunt Lily shook her head and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on the side of his forehead. “Hell, you’re already a rock and roll star! So you can believe me when I say, not even then.”
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Revelation
Date: 2021-11-29 03:49 pm (UTC)When he and Mark arrived back at the cabin, Aunt Lily, Uncle Walter, and the kids didn’t question his state of dress or inquire as to how things went. They knew that it would take a while for him to process what happened and what he had seen
He went through the motions of taking a shower, getting dressed in clean clothes that he still had in his knapsack. After he was fully dressed, he took a bit of the food that was offered. The elk stew and fry bread were more than enough, but beyond taking a single serving of each, surprisingly he wasn’t feeling too hungry.
That night at the fire pit outside the cabin under the stars Aunt Lucille sat down next to him on the log bench. In the background, he could hear Mark and Uncle Walter nearby playing some sort of game with the kids. Those were the kinds of sounds that he remembered from when he spent his summers with his maternal family. Even now as a grown man, the smells, sights, and sounds of the place helped him to relax. It was what he needed after all he had seen and experienced on his vision quest.
“Auntie,” Jimmy began carefully, “Did my mom ever tell you about my real father?”
Aunt Lily was silent for a few moments before she nodded. “Yes,” she acknowledged. “Patrice told me on the night that the two of them had been together. As sisters, I knew she was seeing something in the woods. Of course, you know our people - there are some things you don’t discuss or speak their names out of fear or just not wanting to know. Anyway, I never questioned her version of anything she told me…..after.”
“Did she describe him to you at all?” Jimmy asked.
Lily let out a long sigh. “Just a little. Your mother said that he was at once beautiful, terrible, strange, and not quite human.”
Jimmy scoffed at the last. “Yeah. Definitely ‘not quite’!”
There was another silence between them, and it seemed as if the entire forest, including Mark, Uncle Walter, and the kids got quiet, too. Jimmy was certain that his aunt was choosing her words carefully, even though she had no idea what had happened to him during his quest.
“Jimmy,” Aunt Lily spoke at last. “There is nothing you can do to change my mind, your family’s mind about you. We love you, we helped raise you, and as you must know, we and the Mohawk People will always protect you as one of us. We have always suspected who or what your real father was. It doesn’t matter. Not to us.”
Jimmy let out a scoff and poked a stray coal back into the circle of stones that made the fire pit. “Not even if I end up being some huge dragon?”
Aunt Lily shook her head and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, planting a kiss on the side of his forehead. “Hell, you’re already a rock and roll star! So you can believe me when I say, not even then.”