Common Sons

by Ronald Donaghe

  The waitress flirted playfully with the twins, but hovered over Patrick when she stopped at the table. “You promise to come see me in about four years, hon?” she had said to Patrick finally, as the Reeces were getting up to leave. “And bring that cute twin brother with you!” Patrick and Detrick had enjoyed the attention. And at the cash register, when she made them show her their muscles, Patrick got embarrassed and laughed hard. He and Detrick ran outside together.

  On the way out of the cafe, Henry, Jr. took Douglas’ hand. “Will you always be my dad?” he asked shyly. Douglas hugged Henry, Jr. to him. Henry’s head came up to his stomach, and he patted it. “I reckon.”

  Sally Ann frowned at her brother. “A’corse, Henwee! I be ya’ sista too, and Tommy be my bwudda! Mommie said.”

  On the way home, the twins giggled like boys again and Tom slipped his hand into Joel’s in the darkness. Eva sang Sally Ann to sleep. Douglas drove with the window down, his elbow hanging out of it. “Welp,” he said to no one in particular, “I got me one pack of helpers now.”

  Joel smiled at Tom in the darkness. Then he leaned forward and tapped his father on the shoulder. “Does that mean I can get out of my chores now?”

  Douglas chuckled but didn’t say anything for a moment. His head swayed back and forth with the rhythm of his driving. Looking around in the darkness, he said, “Think maybe we can double our livestock, Joel, plant some fruit trees, build ourselves a real barn now.”

  “I got you, Dad.”

  A time to break down, and a time to build up.Tom thought happily.

  Sunday, July 4, 1965

  Douglas and Eva sat in the living room enjoying the rare opportunity to relax alone. As usual, the television was on, more to provide faint light than anything. Douglas’ arm rested lightly on his wife’s shoulders. He was listening to her. In profile he saw remnants of her beauty, now settled into the faint beginning of middle age. She was talking softly.

  “I guess I’ve got to rejoin the PTA at Mimbres now, with Henry starting second grade.” She laughed silently and laid her head on his shoulder. “Then Sally in kindergarten next year. It’s just like starting over. Douglas, it seems like yesterday that I registered Joel in school, and I thought, my last one! Now he’s turned eighteen.” She sighed. “The Fourth has always been such a big day for Joel. Wasn’t Sally awed with his birthday cake tonight? With the lights off, she looked so cute sitting on Tom’s lap, so bright-eyed you could see the candles glowing in them. I think the twins enjoyed the fireworks though, more than the children.”

  He patted her. “They’re more like grandkids the way they’ve taken up with Joel and Tom. Tom especially. I’m sure proud to have him with us. You know he makes Paddy and Dete study now, trying to get them ready for high school? He took it on himself to get them interested. He even corrects their speech. And they just love it. They’re really trying.”

  “They must have been pretty far behind in their learning,” she agreed. “But you’re right. If anyone can teach them and help them with their schoolwork, it’ll be Tom.” She sighed again. “You really don’t think we’re too old to have children again?”

  “We’re young yet, honey. And I’ll have so much help with the farm work now, I’ll just supervise. I’ll get fat.”

  “Sure you will, Douglas. You’ve been working harder than ever, helping the boys on their house.”

  “Have you seen it?”

  “Of course! I went over this afternoon. Tom just had to show me the new refrigerator.” She sat up and pushed him playfully. “You’re an old softy, Douglas. I seem to recall they were hired hands. That was the deal wasn’t it?”

  “It was a birthday present. And besides, I’m their landlord. They’re paying me rent, so I didn’t mind plumbing the place. They needed electricity.”

  “And a bathroom, and a gas stove.” Her voice seemed sad and Douglas studied her face and listened carefully for the reason. “Douglas, Tom is a beautiful young man, and it hurts me every time I think about his parents disowning him. At the funeral, he tried to say hello to his mother, and she just turned on her holy heels and walked off.” She wiped her eyes with her hand. “But you know I’m having a lot of trouble…with things, the way they’ve turned out.”

  “I know you are.” He squeezed her. “And I’m proud of you for trying. But don’t you think—”

  “Time? Douglas, you keep saying that. I don’t think your year is going to make a bit of difference.” She laughed suddenly. “Even I can’t decide who’s more in love with the other—” Her voice caught on a sob. “But it still hurts.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I imagine it does.”

  “And I’ll be the first to admit it isn’t easy on them either. I got put on the spot yesterday when I went grocery shopping at the Farmer’s Association. You know the Lynn girl, the checker?”

  “The blonde? Jeannie?”

  “Yes! She made a big fuss about getting me in her line. She started going on about what a tragedy it must have been. I thought she meant the Strouds. Then she said, ‘At least you have the courage to show your face, when everyone knows your son is a queer.’ I felt like slapping the smirk off her face! And she was talking so loud and pretending to be sorry for me.”

  Douglas laughed in spite of himself. “So what did you do, Eva?”

  Eva laughed bitterly. “I told her it took more strength than courage to show my face, considering all the gossips I had to push out of the way just to get my shopping done! I couldn’t deny it. And I thought, if I feel embarrassed, Joel and Tom will, if people do things like that to them.”

  “And they will, Eva. They will. I’m not having an easy time of it either, what with the boys down at the Ford outfit, for instance. I guess in Common, small as it is, a thing like this gets around. I bought spindles for the picker the other day. One of the boys says loud and clear how he’d horsewhip his son if he caught him with his hands in another man’s pants. But I don’t pay it any mind. They know as well as I do, if I take my business elsewhere, they’d have a hard time of it. And I’m not one to fool around with their joking if they take it too far. Claud Benson, the owner, cleared that fool out pretty damned fast.” Douglas chuckled. “I didn’t say a thing, but I guess Claud knows I help support his expensive tastes.”

  From down the hall they heard Sally Ann cry out. Eva got up to check on her, and Douglas switched off the television. He stood for a moment in the darkness. How long people would badger them was hard to say. Eventually, they would get bored with the subject and find something else to whisper about; but he didn’t think much would change between Joel and Tom—and, damn it, he wouldn’t interfere. Douglas Reece was proud of his son. It took character to make a go of things in a place like Common. He also felt proud of Tom and loved that boy for trying to stand up for himself; and considering that fool of a father had disowned him, he wasn’t about to let Tom go fatherless.

  * * *

  Sally Ann and Henry shared the big double bed in the guest room. Eva tiptoed across to the bed and clucked at the two sleeping children. They were a tangle of arms and legs, completely uncovered. Henry’s arm was lying on Sally Ann’s throat, and she was snoring from the pressure, taking in short, strangled breaths. Her little fists held Henry’s pajamas. Eva couldn’t untangle them without waking them up so, as best she could, she moved Henry’s arm. It was so thin and brittle Eva felt tears burn her eyes. It would take a lot of nourishment to make these young ones healthy. She placed his arm across Sally’s nightgown and held his small hand for a moment. “Better days are coming, honey,” she whispered. She pulled the covers up over them and went into Joel’s old roomMost of his things were still there. The twins had been staying here for almost a month, and yet not a thing was out of place. So much were they in awe of Joel that they acted as though his room was a temple. Eva couldn’t imagine what a thrill it was for them to sleep in his room. Their new clothes were folded neatly and placed on the chest of drawers side-by-side. Their new boots were lined u
p at the foot of the bed. They had intruded on this space with the greatest reluctance, and even though Joel had said, “Just shove my stuff aside,” they hadn’t touched it.

  She stood quietly over them, her hands clasped. They had taken the death of their parents the best, the death of Eddie the worst. How they felt about Kenneth she was never able to figure out. She lightly touched Detrick’s forehead. It was cool to her touch. They both slept on their backs, both pairs of arms outside the covers; they were breathing softly. In the dark, it was hard to tell them apart except for their habitual sleeping arrangement. Eva reached over Detrick to touch Patrick’s cheek, a gesture she made with love each night for all the children from the Stroud family.

  “I’m awake,” Patrick said.

  “Oh, honey, you should be sleeping,” Eva whispered.

  Patrick rolled over on his side and propped himself up on an elbow. “I ‘as.was just thinking about Eddie, Mrs. Reece. Mama believed in heaven. She told me once that Eddie would go to heaven before any of us. And now she’s there too.”

  “Yes, honey. I’m sure she is.”

  “Well, do they see each other?”

  Eva wanted to burst into tears. “Oh, Paddy, of course! And you know what?”

  “What?”

  “I’m sure they’re also very happy.”

  Patrick swallowed. “I was hoping they were. Thanks, Mrs. Reece. I was worried, is all. Me and Dete and the children, we’re lucky. I hoped Eddie and Ma and Pa—and Kenny too—’as better off now.”

  “Well, don’t fret, honey. They are. Good night.”

  “G’night. Mrs. Reece?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  “Kenny. What about him?”

  “I don’t know. But I think he will be taken care of because every person is a miracle. Special.”

  “He was bad, though.”

  She sighed. “When you get angry, there are right ways and wrong ways to act.”

  “I know. But, well, he always said it warn’t fair, us bein’ poor. He ain’t lucky like me.”

  “Paddy, your brother didn’t plan to kill anybody. When he got angry, he just didn’t control it. And then, seeing what he did, when he killed himself, I think showed how bad he must have felt. Just please, come to me any time you feel like talking, about anything at all. Anything, you understand? We’ll try to figure it out together.”

  “Okay, Mrs. Reece. Thanks.”

  “Paddy? I know I can’t replace your mama, but I would really love it if you would think about calling me Mom, like Tom and the little ones. Douglas and I are going to keep all of you and raise you just like our own. Okay?” She listened and heard him crying. “Paddy? What’s wrong?”

  He snuffled. “I was afraid Ma would cry if she heard me call you Mom.”

  Eva patted his cheek. “I have a feeling she would think it was just fine; you know, she and I were good friends when you were born. And I lost two children when I was a lot younger. I sure would like to have you kids fill their place.”

  “All of us?”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Patrick sat up and hugged her across his twin. He kissed her cheek. “Goodnight.Mom.”

  She closed the door softly and, as was her new habit, she slipped outside on the back porch and peered across the yard toward the irrigation pond. The electric lights Douglas had installed at the boys’ house shone through the darkness. They had cleared so much brush from their land that the little house stood out now, like a light in the wilderness.

  Very faintly, she heard sounds coming from inside and outside their house. One or the other of them had worked constantly on it since they had moved in. Just this afternoon she had dropped by to visit with Tom and the changes astounded her. The smell of new wood was everywhere. They had framed in a small front porch and Tom had served her iced tea there. Now that Tom had settled into the small house and now that he seemed less depressed about his parents, Eva saw that he was still nervous around her. That realization made her feel less unique in her own pain. As Tom went in and out of the house, she stayed on the porch and listened to him talk and watched him work, secretly appraising the miraculous changes in his features. His eyes radiated his boyish happiness. His face was sunburned and his dark eyes seemed confident. He gave her a grand tour. Inside, the kitchen appeared less dismal than it had on the first day she had seen it. The refrigerator and the stove helped bring a brighter gleam to the small room. Outside, the yard was cleared for trees and shrubs.

  “When do you rest, Tom?” she had asked.

  “We don’t!” he laughed. “We stayed up all night last night drawing plans for the rest of the house.”

  “Rest of the house?” The idea of such permanency dismayed her.

  Tom told her that Joel planned to become his father’s partner after high school, as they had always assumed he would.

  “But aren’t you going to college in the fall?”

  He waved his hand as though the idea were frivolous. His face brightened. “In a few years. Right now, I feel too free to get caught up in school. Joel and I, well, the future is so open, I want to enjoy being with him.”

  Later, when she got up to leave, Tom had stood up next to her, smiling earnestly. “I always feel like explaining everything to you, so you won’t feel so badly, and I can’t tell if you feel okay or not. I really do want to contribute to this family. Maybe I should go to school, you know? But when I see what I can do best, Joel and I will decide.”

  “Give them a year,” Douglas had said. The year seemed too short to bring Joel back, to make him the way he was. The fact of Joel’s sexual life with Tom, who now smiled and talked about their plans, assailed her hope that in a year, Joel would admit that he was wrong. As she gazed out at the light from her back porch, she quietly let go of her old hopes for Joel and only hoped that he could be happy.

  CHAPTER 19

  May 1966 (One Year Later)

  They held hands, he and Sally Ann, outside the front gates to the Reece home, standing by the side of the road. It was almost four o’clock, and Sally Ann was excited and impatient. Occasionally, she evoked laughter from Tom with her single-track mind. They had been here all of ten minutes, but she thought it was forever. “Ain’t they ever gonna come, Tommy?”

  He looked down at his little sister. She came up almost above his waist now. Over the past year she had grown at least a foot. She was still thin, but her arms were healthy and suntanned. Her cheeks were dirty as usual, but Eva had cut her hair short and it bobbed and bounced as she squirmed and jerked. Dressed in her pants and a boy’s shirt, she looked tough now, a tomboy. “It’ll be along in a minute, honey. Remember I told you it was the last day of school and all the kids had to clean out their desks and lockers?”

  “I ‘member, Tommy. But when?” She looked down the road and tugged excitedly, “I see it! I see it!”

  Tom felt excitement too, knowing that it was finally over for Joel. In the distance the bus was still no more than a spot of yellow, but Tom’s heart pounded in his ears, his anxiety growing as the bus drew closer. Joel’s last year of school had been rough for him. Too many people knew Joel, and too many people spread the old stories.

  New stories grew continually out of a few facts and a lot of lies, and when school started, Joel was attacked from all directions. On the bus to school the first day of class, when the students like Bill Crawford and Nicky Coleman boarded at Mimbres for the last eight miles to the high school, Joel was the butt of their jokes. They wondered aloud if Joel really was a queer. On that first day, Nicky sat in the seat behind him and whispered gruffly, “You fuckin’ the preacher boy?”

  “Nicky was pissed, because I said it was none of his business,” Joel had told Tom. “But I didn’t care.” Tom had tried to tell Joel that it was reckless not to deny it, but Joel was shocked at Tom’s attitude. “Why should we hide it?” And he got into several fights at school, because he challenged every passing remark he heard. “They make it sound dirty!”


  “But do you always have to make an issue of it when they call you names?” Tom asked.

  Joel had simply shrugged. “It’s not the names, Tom. I don’t mind being called what I am. I just can’t see apologizing for it.”

  When he got beat up once by a gang of ag boys who got him alone in the agriculture classroom, Tom had tried to tell him enough was enough. Joel had laughed through swollen lips, “You think I look bad? You shoulda seen them when they got through with me.”

  The worst day had come at the beginning of boxing season, though, when Joel tried to rejoin the team. The other members got him in the shower, fully clothed, and beat him until he said he wouldn’t join. They turned the water on and left him there. Tom had received a call from Bill Hoffins, who could hardly talk, and without being able to understand much of what he said, Tom knew that something terrible had happened to Joel. At the hospital, the doctor told the Reeces that Joel had two fractured ribs and a broken nose, then added sadly, “Looks like he was also kicked in the groin a few times.”

  Bill and Joanna Hoffins were there, as well; Joanna with flowers she didn’t know what to do with, until Eva collared a nurse and got a vase; the coach holding onto Joel’s hand, talking to him in a soft voice. “Well, Kiddo,” he said to the groggy patient. “I’m canceling the boxing meet coming up in Albuquerque. Those boys teamed up against you, Joel. So I guess they deserve to be punished as a team.”

  Tom had not been surprised at the punishment Bill Hoffins’ chose for the boxing team for their attack on Joel. It would mean the team would lose any chance at a state championship that year—with or without Joel.