Going Home

by Jan Prins

  All day long, Zach hurt his brain to find a solution, but did not find him. Balend he came home and said to his sister “It is not possible that Ethan goes to a school, does not seem to exist here in Bowie. So there’s nothing else than that I’m looking for a job for the night, night watchman or something. Then you can stay on Ethan. Maybe I think of something else, but now I do not know any other solution. “Merry looked at him if he had gone mad. “I’m very sorry for your Zach, but that really is not possible. I have just been applying for jobs and they want me and may start next Monday. “Zach looked at her and was speechless, he plopped down on the couch and thought: there is my sport career! Thanks to my mother!!

  Sport

  The following Monday afternoon, Merry left an angry looking Zach who had no choice to play with Playmobil o.i.d with his little brother. Merry had to live with the big brother’s grumpy in recent days. But - and he could not change that - she cycled through the Whitemarsh Park to the White March Park Drive where the new Sports World gym was located. From the outside it looked very nice with all the billboards to draw attention to so that new customers would come. Eventually she stepped inside to start her new job. It was only ten minutes away from their house, ideally just. She reported to her boss Boris who introduced her to her colleagues. It seemed to her nice and smooth colleagues. Then he asked for her size to be able to get the right service clothes for her. Boris returned with beautiful sportswear that she quickly put on. Curiously she looked in the mirror at the hair and discovered on the back of her jacket the exciting text “Fittest of the World”. She gleamed completely, what she saw quickly and sportily! She always went to her own gym Planet Fitness, but this gym where she was going to work now was very different. During the tour of the gym she noticed the very modern interior with a luxurious look and the latest equipment from the brands TechnoGym and Matrix. This gym clearly aimed at the better and especially the younger audience.

  She was explained the operation of the reservation system, the cash register and the coffee machine, and when it was clear she could start her own work. It turned out Merry soon that the hours that she was going to work were the busiest hours of the day. The clients came straight to the gym from school or from their work. It was a pleasant crowd and people crowded around the reception bar for a cup of coffee or a soft drink while talking to each other. From a vending machine one could get a sandwich or another quick bite and that went on at that hour of the day. Merry had the biggest trouble to keep up with the demand for coffee because it was a complicated and new device. Just when she thought about the sweat on her forehead that she would never succeed, she came to the aid of a colleague. He introduced himself as Chad and was a good-looking boy, slightly older than herself, whom she had not seen before because his service had just begun.

  Together they worked away the hustle while he explained to her the operation of the coffee machine. He was very friendly and helpful with a good sense of humor and Merry felt immediately attracted to him.

  It was time to go to baseball training, Zach got on his bike and swung his sports bag over the wheel and headed to the sports fields at Prince George`s Stadium. The sports fields where he liked to train with his mates and of course to play matches. They always had a lot of audience and their Bowie Baysox Baseball Club team was very popular and did well in the competition. They had a large group of regular supporters and their own group of cheerleaders who always put the mood right. Here on this spot lay his heart and now he even found the basis here for a further sport career. With the scholarship he had in all likelihood, he could continue to grow in baseball and if everything went well he could become professional and start earning well. And now, now he had to tell his coach and then his teammates, that he could not train anymore. Who knows what that would have for consequences…

  With lead in his shoes, Zach stepped down on his baseball coach “Hux, may I speak to you?” “Of course boy, all right? What can I do for you? ”” I have a problem coach, unfortunately it is no longer possible for me to attend the training sessions. “Hux’s mouth fell open, he could not believe what he just got out of his mouth Dear pupil had heard, this could not be true? “How is that so?” He babbled. “Well, the problem is that my mother has to work longer and that I have to adapt to my little brother”, Zach explained hesitantly. “But, boy, now the season starts I can not miss you at all. But would you be able to play with our first game? This is essential for you because the scout will come to you before he decides on your scholarship. Boy you just have to come, your whole career stands or falls with it. It is decisive for the rest of your life … “And that is how Hux talked seriously about his best pupil to convince him of the importance of being the first match of the season.

  “Okay Coach. I will play along, I promise, but I do not like these training sessions ”” Fine, fine, just leave those training sessions when you’re there !! “And with that promise, Zach joined the training for the last time. Meanwhile, Hux considered him questionable: what is the matter in that family that such a boy puts everything at risk, even his entire future, he wondered.

  It was as if a stone had been rolled from his chest now that he could have arranged it with his coach, relieved Zach cycled to Ethan’s school to pick him up. He put him on the back of the bike and drove home. They put the bike back in the shed and went inside where he poured lemonade for his brother. Suddenly there was a bell and he opened to see who was there. It turned out to be a mother from school who came to ask if John, a classmate of Ethan, could come to him for a few hours because she urgently had to go to the hospital with her other child because she had fallen. Of course that was possible and John and Ethan went to explore the house together and play as little boys can do. Zach had no child left.

  That gave him the time to look again at the found computer files on the old laptop and tablet if he could get more out of that. The found USB stick, which had been removed from the tombstone of his deceased father, was also subjected to a thorough investigation. But the tablet and the laptop did not reveal any more secrets than he had discovered before: analyzes about countries and correspondence that he could not attach to, even the USB stick had strange documents, but that seemed to be more orders. But he could not get out of the codes and the languages were very diverse, it also seemed like a secret code. No matter how he looked at it or thought, it always came down to the same thing: what did his parents have to do with this?

  Wait a minute, there are also two prepaid phones, just take a look. That was to be expected, the batteries were drained. Once searching in the box with old cords etc. Yes, after a long search, he found two old charging cords that fit. Zach plugged the cords into the telephones and plugged the plugs into the wall socket and, yes, the phones were switched on. He was lucky because there was no security and so he could see if there were phone numbers in the memory. Unfortunately that was not the case, so he tried to dial a dialing number under the dial keys and yes he called with one phone - which they had found in the hall closet - via key number one and to his surprise the other phone rang. about. Nothing happened under the other numbers. Then he tried it the other way with the device that they had discovered in the tombstone, but that did not work. He checked the other numbers and under number two the device started dialing a number. After some time, he recorded and heard a woman’s voice asking: “How hot is it in Washington?” He was terribly surprised, “twenty degrees Celsius.” Apparently that was the wrong answer because the connection was broken without any comment. Zach stared at the two planes as if stunned.

  The voices of two little boys brought him back to reality and he quickly went to them.

  Mint Leaf

  They all had school holidays now and so they started a new schedule: If Ethan did not attend school two days, Merry would join Ethan in the morning until three in the afternoon, after which Zach took over. He missed the baseball training because it always started at four o’clock. He was still looking for a solution for this. It was very nice for
Ethan that his boyfriend John had promised to come again and maybe it could be the other way around, time would tell.

  It was now half past four and Merry grabbed her sports bag and drove to her Sport World gym, she got dressed there and was promptly at four o’clock behind the reception to begin her job. Thanks to Chad, she now knew how the coffee maker worked, which gave her a calm feeling. The cash register and the reservation system on the computer also went as they used the machines more and more. Slowly she began to feel more familiar and she enjoyed contact with the customers. They were very different people, young and old, but most were young and hip, the so-called hipsters. You could notice that they were generally doing well and could afford the luxury of such an expensive gym. It was definitely an exclusive gym. In addition to the reception and bar, there was also a large reading table where the customers could sit, use their coffee or drink and read or use their cell phones. If it was quieter, Merry could also sit there and it soon happened to her that customers were going to have a chat with her. She noticed that there was a great need for this, they clearly needed a listening ear. Merry quickly learned that listening well consisted of listening, nodding on time, shaking his head, and occasionally saying a “sensible” word. They came to pour out their hearts, not to get a reply. An understanding and sweet smile also always worked wonders.

  During a break Chad came to sit with her and they drank a Coke and soon they became more acquainted with each other. He had just completed his High School and had found a job here that he liked and suited his interest. He did this work for a few years - also during school time and the last year he had successfully completed a Personal Trainer course so that he could now apply it in practice. He enjoyed it very much. “If you get the chance to do that too, I highly recommend that,” he says enthusiastically.

  It was no different than that their conversation also came to their families and he told them that his father was a teacher, his mother nurse, and that they lived in Bowie all their lives in the Madeley Lane. “And how are you at home?” She saw that question coming and she was already afraid of it, because what should she say? ”” Well, we live in Leal Lane, close by and we are with three children, I have an older brother, Zach and a smaller brother, Ethan, who will soon be six years old. My father unfortunately passed away and my mother works in an office for which she often has to go on a business trip. She is gone now, too. “She said truthfully, she did not want anything else about the rest. Fortunately, the break came to an end and they both went to work again.

  As Merry cycled out of the street on her way to work, Zach looked after her and his eye fell on the grass, now grown up in the garden. Time to tackle that, he thought, took his brother outside and walked with him to the barn. He gave Ethan a small rake and asked if he wanted to help him rake the grass he was going to mow. He thought that was very interesting and a little later you saw them both busy. Zach was behind the lawn mower and Ethan was raking in his own way.

  It was quite a job, but after an hour the lawn looked pico bello and he helped Ethan to rake up the grass and throw it into the bin. They were going to put the rake and the mower back in the shed, and after they had done that, Zach looked around and wondered what was and what was standing there. He had never noticed that, but what did that motor of his deceased father do, and then also his bike. On closer inspection, he saw a few more bicycles, a sewing machine, two computers, some fans, cabinets, an old stove, etc. “What do we have to do with that?” He muttered to himself. Suddenly he got an idea “If we sell it now? Nobody needs that. Then we have some money again, we can use that well. “

  So thought, so he went to check everything, whether there was anything else in that cupboard, whether there was anything on those computer files and the like. That was not the case and he started to make pictures of them on Facebook Marketplace. He would also later in the house again in the basement and in the attic to see if there was more. Could be sold immediately. While checking the stuff he also looked in a second box that he found in a corner. To his astonishment there was an old electronic device in it that did not mean anything to him. What was this for a thing? He quickly took a picture of it and searched through Google for similar images to find out what it was for the device. After some searching it turned out to be a Telex machine with which messages were sent earlier, until the invention of the fax machine made this kind of equipment redundant. With a big thinking on his forehead, he thoughtfully looked at the Telex. “How did he get here now?” He murmured, will show him to Merry soon. He took the Telex inside to see what he could do with it. His little brother bounced behind him, who thought it was all very exciting.

  In the course of the evening, Merry called her brother Zach to tell him that her service was running out and that she came home later. It was a white lie because she had planned to go to the club where her mother so often went to The Mint Leaf. The address was found in her mother’s notebook and this afternoon she had seen that the address was exactly between that of their home and the gym, at the Safety Turn. After her service, she cycled there.

  Once there she first looked around and saw an old building in front of the Whitemarsh Park, it looked very dark and mysterious. It did not invite and you could not really imagine that there was something to do. Hesitantly she walked up the sidewalk and called. It took a long time for someone to slip into the door, who opened the door for her and let her in without saying a word. She followed the slumbering man, walked in and ended up in a cozy room with a bar and many seats, the curtains were completely closed. She looked around and only saw curious eyes on her until she heard a familiar voice. “Hello Merry, nice to see you,” said Shadow, the man who had visited her home and asked for her mother. He came to her and introduced her to the others “Friends, this is Merry, the daughter of Caro, whom we have been missing so much lately. Do you want a cup of coffee? “He then asked friendly and sat down with her at a table where more people were sitting. “What brings you here, Merry?” That was hard to say. “Yes, I miss my mother Carolyn very much and I was actually just curious about what kind of club she was a member of, why you call her Caro and so on.” The other attendees nodded comprehension and a conversation arose in which they gave their personal memory of Caro shared with her.

  From all the memories of the club members present it became apparent that she had been a member for almost ten years, an extremely active member who had also meant a lot to her fellow club members. She came often and was never too bad for a listening ear and often helped members who had a hard time advising on how to solve them, but sometimes she also helped them financially.

  On party evenings she performed invariably and could play the songs of Madonna beautifully, but she did not turn her hand for an opera song either. It also occurred regularly that she sat down in the conservatory and worked on her tablet, she wrote beautiful poems that she later recited. “Poems?” Mumbled Merry, surprised. “Yes, wonderful and very profound.” “Unbelievable, I’ve never seen her read one poem before, let alone recite! But what made the most impression on you? “The members looked at each other, who would dare to say it?

  “Well” Shadow began hesitantly “What has touched us all deeply is that she was able to predict the future. She then retired as a fortune teller in a separate room above that was only illuminated by a candle on a round table. You sat opposite her and she then read the lines in your hands very concentrated and then flawlessly displayed your past and then predicted your future. I still see her sitting like this, dressed all in black and tied around her head with a red handkerchief. She also does that professionally for anyone who wants to, at the top of that special room. “

  Merry looked at Shadow if he was crazy: “And you’re sure we’re talking about my mother?” She finally asked in astonishment. “Very sure, because she was always talking about you and your brothers, she was undoubtedly your mother.”

  “But before I go, can I ask some more questions?” She was nodded encouragingly and she continued, “
What is the purpose of The Mint Leaf? And how do you actually become a member? “Shadow started answering her questions:” First of all, I want to tell you that the members have chosen me as chairman. therefore I will answer your questions. This is an ordinary social club, a kind of club where sociability and friendship are paramount. Various activities are organized. There is a bridge club, an investment club, a reading club, a billiards group and the like. Membership is in principle open to everyone, but we work with a trial membership of a month in which we check whether the candidate member and we fit together. There is nothing mysterious about it, on the contrary we try to achieve as much fun and friendship as possible. “

  They talk like that for a while, but Merry became tired, also through all the information and announced that she wanted to go home because it was getting late too.

  “Will you come back again? We would really like that, maybe we can help you now that your mother is gone. You’re always welcome! We miss her too and hope every day she gets in again. “It was with a heavy mind that Merry picked up her bike and drove home, she had a lot to tell Zach about….

  Absconding

  It had turned a bit late last night, Merry had reported on her meeting at The Mint Leaf, and Zach had heard it all with amazement. “It is that you told me, otherwise I would have declared the person who told me to be crazy,” he said and then told her of his discovery of the Telex machine that was now in the middle of the table. “What have our parents kept hidden from us for a lifetime?” She said shudderingly. “But it is a good idea of you to start selling all those surplus items. Totally agree with you. And when Mama comes back and makes an objection, well then she should not have left us alone in this way. “