by R E Swirsky
CHAPTER 20
Sunday 12:45 Near Okotoks, Alberta, Canada
It was early afternoon when Richard steered the truck and trailer up the long gravel driveway of their rural property outside Okotoks. A cloud of soft, cream-coloured dust curled up behind them. It was good to be home, but the reason they returned home a day early still tickled at the back of his skull. Michael’s demeanour during the phone call he’d taken on Heart Mountain was disturbing. He’d purposely pushed the call to the back of his mind as he often did when he wanted to avoid dealing with sensitive subjects. He knew it would only stew and fester there. And it did. Michael was sliding. He was sure of it. Now that he was almost home, he let all his thoughts about Michael come forward, and with them oozed the worry he’d first felt when he called. And Michael should have called him back by now.
Michelle shuffled in her seat next to him, causing him to look over at her. She was staring up at the house, which was popping in and out of view between the poplars that lined the long road up to the house.
“He’s come back, you know,” Michelle announced.
Richard frowned. “Who’s come back?”
“Michael,” she replied. Her voice was quiet and soft, almost as if she had just woken from a heavy dream. “He’s not getting on that plane today.”
He stared at her for a second before setting his eyes back on the road. She was not making sense. “What makes you think that?”
“It’s a just a feeling I have. I sense things sometimes.”
He raised his eyebrows at her and continued driving slowly towards the house and to the rear where he parked the trailer along the back fence between trips.
“He’s here right now,” she added.
“Where here?” He looked over towards the house. “Here? Don’t be silly.”
It was a long way from the U of C campus out to where they lived, and Michael didn’t have a car. He wasn’t expected home for another ten days at least if he flew out to the coast as planned.
“I sense things too,” he said. “But I am more eager to know what the hell was up with him yesterday. If he is actually out here.…”
But how could he pick Michael up from the dorm this coming Friday if Michael left for the coast for ten days today? The conflict annoyed him again. He continued to stew.
Michelle pointed at the back door as it came into view. “See? Look at that. I’m telling you, he’s in there right now.” The screen door was closed, but the solid door behind it appeared to be wide open.
Richard was alarmed to see the open door. He pulled the truck in a large arc until they faced the house. He squinted out across the yard at the back door. The interior door was definitely open, and he shot a glance at his new wife. How the hell could she know Michael was back? He shifted the truck into reverse and slowly backed the trailer up against the fence. He looked again at the open back door. For some reason, he believed her. Michael had come home. But the concern was ripe as he thought about the questions he had for his son.
Michelle stepped out, grabbed a few bags from the back seat of the truck, as many as she could manage, and moved as gracefully as she could across the gravel towards the house.
“I’ll be up in a few,” Richard said and began to uncouple the trailer. He paused a moment and watched Michelle as she hustled across the yard, her arms overflowing with cloth bags filled with the unneeded groceries, a few blankets, pillows, and some clothes.
“I’ll bring in the rest of the stuff when I’m done!” he hollered.
Her tight little body wiggled with each step towards the house and it made him smile. She stumbled as she crossed the gravel and cried out when she almost dropped some of the bags, but she recovered quickly. He grinned.
“Careful!” he yelled. He watched her all the way until she was up the few steps and inside the house.