The Passenger

by Jacqueline Druga

  “You may not. But … okay, we need to get back to the kids. They are waiting for us to take them outside.” She reached over and secured the lid on the tin of cookies. “They will enjoy these.”

  “They are going to tease me. They’re teenagers.”

  “It’s a chance you have to take.”

  “Oh. Wait. I forgot the game pieces. Here.” He handed her the tin. “I’ll be right there.”

  “Don’t take long.”

  “They’re right in the office.”

  Tin of cookies cradled in her arms like a baby, Haley stepped into the church.

  Grant stopped walking on the pathway. “A church? My son is in a church? I thought maybe a hospital or institution with the amnesia.”

  Marge shook her head. “No one wanted him to go to an institution. Not when he was still learning about himself.” She and Joe led him to the doors.

  It baffled Grant, it truly was the last place he expected to be taken.

  When they opened the doors, he heard laughter and a woman’s voice saying something.

  He was so nervous, his heart beat so strongly, everything sounded muffled and felt dreamlike.

  It was a beautiful church. Old fashioned with old style pews on both sides. The walls were a pale blue. They attempted to modernize; Grant could see that.

  There was a large altar with a choir section in the back. A stage was built on the left side with steps that led down behind the pulpit.

  A group of teenagers were on the stage, a young woman with them.

  She walked down the steps to the altar and the teens followed her.

  Marge whispered in Grant’s ear as they neared. “That’s Haley, Pastor Rick’s daughter.”

  When Haley reached the bottom step, she looked over and smiled. “Hey, Maw-Maw, Joe.” She turned to the group of teens and instructed them to hang tight, then made her way to the aisle. Her hand extended to Grant. “How do you do, I’m Haley.”

  “Grant. Grant Truett. Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you new in town?” Haley asked.

  Old Joe answered. “He’s in town for a spell. Not sure how long.”

  “He wanted to see the church,” Marge said. “Is Chip around?”

  “Oh, he just ran to the office. We’re taking the teens outside for group today. He came up with a game. You know how kids like to compete.” She crinkled her nose. “He promised he’d play for them after the game. Look.” She snickered and held up the tin. “He made cookies.”

  Marge immediately looked at Grant and placed both her hands around his.

  Grant conveyed an ‘I told you so’ look and then all expression dropped from his face. He felt the blood form a ball and shoot straight to his gut when he saw Jonas step on to the stage.

  “Okay, I’m back,” Jonas announced. “We can go outside, let me grab a guitar.”

  “Chip,” Haley called him. “Can you come here?”

  Grant couldn’t blink, he couldn’t move. Every bit of his insides trembled, and his mind repeated over and over, ‘Look at me. See me. Know me. Please.’

  Jonas trotted down from the stage and across the altar to join them.

  “Chip, this is Grant Truett,” Haley introduced him.

  “Nice to meet you, Sir.” Jonas extended his hand.

  Grant felt like he was frozen in a surreal moment, stuck somewhere in a dream, shaking his son’s hand in what seemed like slow motion. Looking into his eyes.

  His stomach flipped a little with the slight disappointment Jonas didn’t know him. But it was brief, because he was astonished when he looked at Jonas.

  Was he the same guy? What happened to him?

  He had a couple scars on his face, tiny ones, but his face was fuller and had color. No longer was his hair long, it was short and looked clean. The biggest thing of all … was the way Jonas smiled. He smiled widely and genuinely.

  “Nice … nice to meet you, too.” Grant felt Marge squeeze his hand for support and he also felt Joe put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Mr. Truett is in town for a spell,” Haley said. “He’s not sure for how long. He wanted to see the church.”

  “Cool,” Jonas said. “Everyone finds a home here. Trust me. We have a really cool, new contemporary service, you should stop by.”

  “Jonas is now heading up the service as music leader,” Haley said. “Millie is so happy about that. Takes the pressure from her.”

  “Really?” Grant asked. “You pick out the music for services?”

  “And play,” Jonas replied. “Say, by some chance you don’t play, do you?”

  “I … I actually do,” Grant replied. “I play keyboards, piano.”

  Jonas looked at Haley then back to Grant. “We are in desperate need of a keyboard player. You wouldn’t by chance want to join us while you’re in town, would you?”

  His request took Grant’s breath away and he could barely respond above a whisper, “Son, I would love nothing more than to play music with you. It would mean a lot.”

  “Awesome.” Jonas shook his hand again. “This is great. We have rehearsal tonight at seven.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “We’ll be waiting. Right now, we have to take the youth group outside.” He pointed. “Maw-Maw, Joe, catch you later?”

  “You bet, bye, Chip,” Marge said, giving another squeeze to Grant’s hand and released it.

  Grant stood, unable to move. He watched Jonas and Haley gathered the teens. Again, the blood rushed into his ears, muffling the sound of everything but his own fast beating heart.

  His arm weighed a ton, and he could barely lift it to wave as the two of them and the teen group left.

  “Grant,” Marge called him softly. “Are you all right?”

  Grant nodded, took a step forward and turned. “My son,” his voice cracked, then, trembling with emotions. “I have not … I have not seen him so healthy in …” He closed his eyes. “I haven’t seen him smile in ...” He choked on his words. “Years. This was more than I expected. This is …” Grant couldn’t finish his sentence.

  He held it in when he saw his son and everything he fought not to show came barreling forth and Grant was overcome. Weakened by it all, overwhelmed with relief, gratefulness and emotions, in the center aisle of the church, not far from the altar, Grant dropped to his knees and broke down.

  TWENTY

  Pastor Rick adamantly argued over how unethical he believed it was, he verbally expressed how appalled he was at the notion they weren’t going to tell Chip his true identity.

  “Do you hear yourselves?” he asked, passionately. “Do you? This young man has been struggling with his identity for weeks and now we know who he is, and you don’t think we should tell him? Do you not think this man …” He pointed to Grant. “Would like nothing more than to tell his son how much he loves him and how worried about him, he was.”

  Marge shook her head. “You aren’t listening. It’s not what Chip wants.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Pastor Rick leaned back in his chair.

  “He said it,” Marge defended. “The only reason Grant is agreeing to this is because it’s his sons wishes.”

  “I know he said it,” Pastor Rick replied. “But did he mean it? Maybe … just hear me out. Maybe he just knew deep down in his soul he wasn’t leading a … how can I put it, model life? Maybe he knew and just didn’t want to have to face it.”

  “Oh, he did,” Marge said. “He told me he didn’t believe he was all that well behaved. I’m paraphrasing it nicely. But he didn’t want to have that confirmed, he wanted to remember because to quote him, he didn’t want himself to have to fit the narrative.”

  Grant sighed out loudly. “I hope not. To be honest with you Pastor, I’m afraid if we tell him what he was like before, how he acted, either he won’t believe it or will feel like everything he is doing here isn’t worth it. I’m actually afraid of when he does get his memory back. I don’t know how the Chip you know will react to remembering how Jonas was.�
�

  “Not telling him because we’re afraid doesn’t make it any less wrong,” Pastor Rick said. “We’re just supposed to keep calling him Chip?. Deceiving him? How is he going to feel when he finds out we all knew?”

  Old Joe spoke up, “Like we kept our word to his wishes. Besides, how do we know this isn’t what God wants?”

  “We can’t presume to know what God wants,” Pastor Rick argued. “Besides, why in the world would God want him to not remember?”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” Marge replied. “Maybe God needs him to see who he can be before he remembers who he was. And maybe God needs you, Grant, to spend time with him and remember who he was before he went down that destructive path. I know these past few years you probably missed him even when he was in the next room. Because he was not the boy you raised, loved or sacrificed for. I know. I bet Chip isn’t all that far off from Jonas before troubled times.”

  Joe added. “But Jonas won’t remember even when his memory comes back. When they take a bad path, they pretend that person never existed. It makes them feel better or less guilty about how they are acting.”

  “As good of arguments as all of you give,” Pastor Rick said. “I’m not convinced.’

  Marge nodded. “Then let’s ask someone else who spends a lot of time with him.”

  “Who?”

  A single knock on the door, then Haley opened it and walked in.

  “Wow,” Joe said. “The Lord works fast.”

  Haley looked confused when she entered the office. “I can come back.”

  “No,” Pastor Rick said. “Just the person we needed to see. Come on in. Where is Chip?”

  “He’s with the group out back. What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Haley, this is Grant Truett,” Pastor Rick said.

  Haley nodded. “Yes, we’ve been introduced.”

  “But you weren’t introduced to him as Chip’s father. He’s been searching for his son.”

  “His … his …” Haley stuttered. “His father. Mr. Truett, I am relieved to hear you were looking for him. I’m so happy for him. Is his mother here?”

  Grant shook his head. “No. She’s home. This journey was mine and I have to tell you, I can’t believe what I am seeing in my son.”

  “He’s gone through a metamorphosis since the accident,” Haley explained. “He was angry and not very nice.”

  “Yes, well, that sounds like Jonas.”

  “Jonas.” Haley smiled. “That’s his name? It’s so fitting. I think he may not have remembered who he was, but he held on to how he always felt. Then that faded because he didn’t know why he was so angry.”

  “Haley,” Pastor Rick drew her attention. “You don’t seem shocked Grant didn’t immediately tell Chip who he was.”

  Haley shook her head. “He was with Maw-Maw, and she knows Chip doesn’t want to be told who he is, he wants to remember himself.”

  “Do you agree with the decision not to tell him yet?” Pastor Rick asked.

  “Absolutely.” She nodded. “Mr. Truett, I don’t know who Chip was before that accident, but I’m sure he is nothing like the Chip we have now. That’s because he is free from the burdens that bound him to that personality. He needs to know who he is eventually, yes. But he needs to remember who he is. That’s what he wants. For one month, he wants to try to remember and I think we need to give that to him.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Pastor Rick said. “We hold off. It’s going to be difficult for me, but I will do it.”

  “In the meantime.” Marge grabbed Grant’s hand. “This time you will spend with him, talking, playing music. It will be a joy for you getting to spend time with him, seeing him healthy, without the ‘walking on eggshell’ feeling or worry he will erupt at any time.”

  “How do you know this so well?” Grant asked.

  “Joe and I have been there. Only you have a happier ending,” Marge said. “And since I have been there, I need you to resist thinking once he knows who he is, he’ll just relapse or this is just another cycle he goes through. It’s not, I believe with all my heart it is not.”

  “You say that with such certainty,” Grant said.

  “I do and I can. He has a chance to see and experience life through fresh eyes without any preconceived notions or prejudice,” Marge explained. “And that … is a gift.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Are you convinced?” Doc Jenner placed a coffee down in front of Russ as he joined him at a table outside Roasters Café.

  “Convinced of what?” Russ asked. “Thank you.”

  “That’s he’s not faking it.”

  “I never said he was.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “No, I suggested it and …” Russ picked up his coffee. “I believe it’s real. Old Joe told me he watched Chip. Watched him for signs and Chip didn’t even flinch when he saw his father. Not one iota. And Joe knows how someone like Chip can manipulate.”

  “What now?”

  “I think it’s wrong not to tell him who he is, but it’s the collective decision to hold off for the one month mark, which is in another two weeks. I can hold off.”

  “I talked to my son,” Doc Jenner said. “He’ll be calling you. He’s going to talk to the state police. But there’s very little we can do unless he admits it.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If we can connect him to that guitar …”

  “Russ …”

  “Hear me out. I’ve been thinking about this since Grant Truett arrived.”

  “Go on,” Doc Jenner said.

  “Now … we know Chip’s last drink of the night was drugged. More than likely this Doug guy was the one who did this. A bit of revenge for fighting with his buddy.”

  Doc Jenner nodded. “Sounds like a motive.”

  “This guy Doug knows what kind of drug this is and follows Chip. He follows him. Sees him get into the wreck. Now, Chip has told Joe, Marge, you, everyone about this passenger who spoke wisdom, he said, ‘I got you’ and pulled him out of the wreckage.”

  “Yes, he did. But what does the passenger have to do with Doug?”

  “Doug was following him. You said yourself this drug was hallucinogenic. What if there really wasn’t a passenger? What if the guy he thought was in the car was a hallucination of this Doug? The words of wisdom, his own thoughts and remorse. Doug, seeing the crash, pulled him from the wreckage, saw the guitar and took it.”

  “Why take it all the way to Fremont?”

  “Chip went missing in Iowa. Why not another state? Is it far-fetched?”

  “The only thing far-fetched is making Doug the passenger,” Doc Jenner said. “Everything else, Doug following him, pulling Chip out, taking the guitar, it all fits. Now, all you have to do is prove it.”

  “Oh, I will. Nothing ever happens in this town. Trust me …” Russ lifted his coffee. “I’m on it.”

  ◆◆◆

  Where was Cate?

  It had been hours since Grant left the Rat-Tat-Tat and told her he was on his way to Williams Peak to follow a lead. He sent her a text when he arrived at the police station and called her immediately after they left the pastor’s office.

  No answer.

  At first, he thought she was mad at him for not calling right away. But that wasn’t Cate’s style. He didn’t leave a message, he just waited a few minutes and called her again.

  After his third call, Grant realized she probably went into work and they weren’t allowed to have their phones on the floor. Hating to do so, he sent her a text,

  Cate, call me. I found Jonas. He’s fine. No, he’s better than fine. He’s fantastic.

  This was not the way to deliver the news, but he didn’t want to not let her know.

  He went back to the hotel by the bar and checked out. Boasting to the manager he found his son, before returning to Williams Peak, he called the bar and told Chelsey and he thanked her.

  Grant decided he was going to stay
in Williams Peak. They had a Motel Six just on the outskirts and he got a room there. Jonas had given himself a month’s time limit to get his memory back, and since Grant had taken a leave of absence, he had all intentions of staying right there.

  He was hoping Cate could take time off as well. They could be there together. Grant was happy, he felt so happy and just wanted to share it with the world, especially Cate.

  Once he checked into the Motel Six, he saw it was after four and she would be done working. Still, no answer.

  At that point it had been long enough, and Grant started to panic. Had something happened to her? Then he realized she probably just got in the car and was on her way. The moment she heard about a lead; he could see his wife just driving to meet him.

  Cate never spoke on the phone in the car. She was one of those people who kept her phone far away.

  Figuring that had to be it, he called Jessie.

  “Hey, Daddy,” she answered the phone.

  “Hey, Sweetie. I’ve been trying to reach your mother. Not sure if you talked to her. I sent her a text. I found Jonas.”

  Silence.

  “Jess.”

  “Daddy, you found him?” Jessie asked with a shock sound to her voice.

  “I did. He’s fine, Jessie, he’s really fine. He had lost his wallet at the bar and the accident caused some memory loss.”

  “When … when did you tell Mom?” Jessie asked.

  “A few hours ago.”

  Suddenly Jessie’s voice turned cold. “She didn’t say a word to me about you finding my brother.”

  “You’ve talked to her.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know if she’s on her way here?” Grant asked.

  “No, she isn’t on her way there. She’s right here.”

  “With you.”

  “Yep. Here.”

  There were a few seconds of quiet.

  Cate spoke timidly. “Hello.”

  “Cate? Cate, where have you been?” Grant asked. “I’ve been calling and calling.”

  “I know. I was working. I … didn’t have my phone. I needed to take my mind off of your being out there. I was so nervous. I didn’t expect you to get an answer so fast. Then I saw your text.”