Jim was pulled from his revelry by a touch on his shoulder. Blinking a tear from his eye he didn’t know was there he found Jill looking at him with an understanding smile on her face. All his life, Grandma’s natural surroundings seemed to have been behind the counter at the store. He’d never thought of her any other way. Seeing this other side of her and how much all the kids actually had meant to her opened his eyes to just how special of a woman she actually was. All the kids coming and going from her store messing things up had never been a bother to her because they were the family she never had.
Knowing this made seeing her just that much more special to Jim. Taking a last look at old friends he saw something else that was surprising. Grandma was quite the collector of penguins. All the shelves that didn’t hold a picture had penguins of some sort on them. He never even knew there were that many different things with the funny looking creature on it. It brought a smile to his face almost as much as the voice he heard coming from another part of the house.
Any feelings about not being welcome that might still have lingered were quickly dispelled when Grandma’s voice broke the silence that Jim hadn’t realized existed. He didn’t catch all of it but heard something about her being in the kitchen and what was taking them so long to get there. After walking down a dim hallway with even more pictures on the wall the arrived at a door. Jill stepped aside with a smile so Jim could be the first one to enter. For some reason he found that he was nervous, but before it got the better of him he pushed open the door and entered.
Grandma was seated at a small table and looked almost like he remembered her looking when she was behind the store counter. He couldn’t help but smile as a smile brighter than his own spread across her face.
“Jimmy,” she squealed doing a good impersonation of a fifteen year old, “finally found time to come back and visit an old woman huh?”
Walking to where she sat he saw that she looked just as he remembered her. Maybe a few more wrinkles here and there but other than that she was still the same old Grandma from his memories. When Jim was little she’d always seemed much bigger than him, like most adults, but now looking at her as she stood to greet him she seemed much smaller. Of course he’d also gotten a lot bigger over the years.
Reaching her and not knowing what to do he took a minute to look at her. From this new perspective things were quite different. Now instead of her being taller than him he found that she was actually about the same height as his mother. Her hair had always been sorta grayish but now seemed almost white. Looking at her he could see just a hint of where Jill had gotten some of her looks from. The resemblance was strongest in the eyes and nose but he saw it peeking out in a few other places too. A lot of people said that he himself looked a lot like his grandmother but he couldn’t see it. How could a guy look like a girl was the thing he always wondered and never understood.
Jim smiled as he stood wondering what the proper protocol was when you saw an adult you knew as a kid. He wasn’t left to wonder for long though. Grandma unexpectedly reached out and embraced him in a rib cracking bear hug. She might’ve been old but she was surprisingly strong.
“I’ve known you too long to be shaking your hand or any other stupid thing like that young man,” she said releasing him after a few seconds and taking a step back to look at him. “Heck, I’ve know you since you were just knee high to a grasshopper. Not that way anymore though is it? Anyway, don’t be treatin’ me like some little old lady you have to treat like she’s made out of eggshells. No coddling or anything like that when you come to see me. Hell, you’re the one that’s all skin and bones not me.” She looked at him for a few seconds to make sure he knew she was joking then continued. “Then again looks, as they say, can be deceiving. I remember you were always a good little boy and now that I see you, I’m guessing you’ve probably grown up to be quite a nice young man. At least I hope you have considering how my granddaughter’s been looking at you.” Jim quickly glanced at Jill only to find her red faced and trying to find a closet to go hide in. Grandma didn’t seem to notice. “You look good,” she said. “You sure are a welcome sight for these old eyes.”
Jim was only a little uncomfortable with the welcome he’d received. They’d always been friendly but she seemed to have actually genuinely missed him. He was deeply touched to think that someone other than his mother cared about him that much and felt a little bad for not having made the effort to come see her before now. It was a lucky thing she was still alive. He hoped she would be around for a lot longer. He would definitely have to come back home more often than he had. Maybe his mother wasn’t the only thing he’d left behind after all.
“Hi, Grandma,” he said with a silly grin. “How have you been?”
“How do you think I’ve been?” she snapped back. “I’ve been getting older and more worn out as the days go by. I’m thinking one of these days pretty soon it might be time for me to take a rest. One of those long ones if you know what I mean.” She said this last part as if she were trying to elicit a response of some sort. Just as she’d probably planned Jill quickly chimed in.
“Don’t talk like that Grandma. The only kind of rest you’re going to be taking is when you go to sleep later on tonight. You know I really don’t like it when you talk that way.”
Grandma gave her a sullen look but as she turned back to him he saw a smile quickly spread over her face and just as quickly disappear. She’d gotten what she wanted and been scolded for it but now it was time to move on. Speaking to Jim, she asked all the normal things like how he’d been and what he’d been doing all these years. She asked almost as if he’d been avoiding her or something. He couldn’t help but laugh and began telling her about his life and how it had gone since leaving town. When he got to the part about how he wasn’t married she quickly asked Jill if she’d heard him. Jill, to her credit didn’t turn as red as she had the first time. Deciding not to embarrass her anymore than she was he acted like he hadn’t noticed anything and went back to talking to Grandma although with a smile a little bigger than he’d had before.
They talked about the town and who had come and gone since he’d left. Most of the people she mentioned were only vague memories as far as he was concerned but he listened and actually found himself interested in what had become of everyone. Grandma seemed to enjoy talking so he let her do it.
The conversation eventually reached the topic Jim knew was coming but short of leaving couldn’t there was no way to stop it. Tommy’s death, or murder as he was now thinking of it, brought a halt to what had previously been an enjoyable evening. He didn’t have the heart to tell Grandma he didn’t want to talk about it. He just hoped she wouldn’t take too long.
After a few minutes of silence Grandma realized he wasn’t going to be too talkative about it so began quizzing him on what he’d found out so far from the people around town. Not knowing where to start he just told her everything with the exception of things Rob had said. She agreed with him when he told her he thought it was strange the way everyone had been told what happened was an accident. After he was done she didn’t seem to be satisfied. She told him she knew the official story but wanted to know what he’d found out unofficially.
He knew she was talking about what he’d found out from Rob but didn’t know how she knew he’d told Jim anything. Then again they had been best friends so of course Rob had told him stuff. Jim had promised not to tell anyone but after thinking about it for a minute he decided that the two women could be trusted with the secrets. Besides they weren’t about to go running out the door shouting his information to the world. Grandma seemed to know everything that happened in town anyways and Jill wasn’t going to tell anyone so he figured Rob was safe.