Goliath
Page 19
*** Chapter 26 ***
As it normally was, the room was in total darkness except for the glow of light coming from the computer screen. “Please enter your password:” prompted the screen. The complex combination of letters and numbers was carefully entered.
“Welcome, Goliath” flashed on the screen. The cursor scrolled down further and a single “>” prompt appeared.
“Transfer of package successful. Project complete,” he typed.
Suddenly the door flew open and light filled the room. “Grandma!” David said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d knock instead of just barging into my room!”
“Sorry,” Grandma said. “It’s time for supper,” she said as she left, leaving the door partially open.
David looked at the prompt on the computer screen and typed “Waiting for next assignment.” He closed the laptop and carefully slid it into his soccer bag, under the piece of plastic at the bottom of the bag so it wouldn’t come into contact with his sweaty socks and jersey. He picked up the small piece of leather that still sat on the desk, the one with the Goliath name on one side and a weird combination of letters and numbers that was the secret password on the other, and put it into the bag along with the computer. His uncle had tried to teach him the limerick to say to himself to help him remember the password, but David always seemed to forget so he wasn’t quite ready yet to get rid of the aid just yet.
David looked at the latest jersey from the American team that he pinned up on his wall. He thought of his best friend Alex who had exchanged his jersey with number 19 from the American team. He knew Alex didn’t know that he had sewn the tiny disk into the name on his jersey and he didn’t have to know. All David had to say was that it was important to exchange jerseys with a certain player and that was a good enough reason. Best friends are like that.
David had to come up with a new plan when Frenchie had been taken out in the accident. Sewing the disks into suits like his uncle had done was no longer an option. When the old way doesn’t work anymore, new ideas are required.
Finally, David looked at the World Cup soccer ball that he had carefully cleaned and polished so it looked like it had never left the box and thought of his Uncle Alan. He remembered the day he had jogged around the track with his uncle and the bizarre request he had made to continue on his work if anything ever happened to him. He was sure that his uncle was just on one of his bipolar fantasy trips so had agreed, but the events that followed convinced him it was no illusion. He remembered rescuing the laptop and hiding it in his soccer bag before their house was broken into.
Uncle Alan had been right. David hadn’t killed Goliath with his slingshot like in that old story. Goliath would never die. David had become Goliath.
* * *
The funerals were held about ten days later. Edward Bronson’s funeral was covered by the press and attended by hundreds and hundreds of people. Alan’s funeral was attended by about twenty people, mostly family and people from the menswear store, and wasn’t mentioned at all in the newspaper.
David wore the suit that his uncle had set aside for him for his high school graduation. Robert wore the leather coat that Alan had planned to give to him at Christmas. And Henry wore the last suit he would ever get from his brother.
Henry wrote the eulogy for this brother, with assistance from Laura. Although Henry knew what he wanted to say, he couldn’t seem to get it into words without her assistance. As Henry was wrapping up his remarks at the service, he noticed three people sitting at the very back of the church. One was Greg Blackwood. The second was Frenchie Bouchard, although most people wouldn’t have recognized him because he wasn’t wearing the flashy clothes he normally wore, just a plain black suit. Henry didn’t recognize the third man.
Outside the church after the service, Greg and Frenchie came up and offered their condolences to Henry and the other family members. Henry noticed David talking to the third man in the garden area beside the church. They shook hands and then David came over to join the rest of the family.
“Who was that you were talking to in the garden area?” Henry asked David.
“He didn’t give his name,” David said. “He said he was an associate of Edward Bronson and would be continuing on with Mr. Bronson’s legacy. He said he hoped that I would be continuing on with Uncle Alan’s legacy.”
Henry had never thought of his brother leaving a legacy and wondered what that meant. But David knew exactly what he meant.