Jesus Land: A Memoir

And within the pictures we’ll be the one ones no longer smiling for the digicam and the visitors simply because we're puzzling over Jerome shivering within the pole barn approximately to devour pet food, and mom will see those images and say that we're ungrateful. now not thanksgiving. There’s a recess earlier than the pumpkin, apple, peach and banana cream pies; David’s recruited to transparent the desk, so it falls to me to feed Jerome. I achieve this reluctantly, taking my time as I wad turkey and yams in tinfoil. David nudges me to rush. mom sits together with her sister at the couch chatting approximately missionaries and the boys sprawl in entrance of the tv. “Put a hat on,” mom calls from the couch, while I inform her I’m going to ensure the puppy has water. “You lose part your warmth via your head, you recognize. ” I rush to fetch a stocking cap from the mudroom closet sooner than she notices I’m now not donning a coat. It’s stopped snowing, and powdery drifts ripple over the panorama like a frozen sea lower than the darkening sky. “Jerome, I received your food,” I say after I input the hushed murkiness of the pole barn. I stand by way of the door, impatient for him to come back get it so i will be able to go away. “Jerome? ” There’s no solution. What if he’s mendacity in look ahead to me? I lay the nutrients at the ground and raise a pitchfork from the lengthy line of instruments putting at the wall. “Jerome? ” I stroll round the John Deere preserving the pitchfork in either arms, like a baseball bat. The nest seems empty, yet I poke it with the tines to make certain. it really is. I decide my coat off the floor and dirt it off. He should have feared I’d rat him out. Or that Dad could stroll in to teach Uncle Jake his farm toys. As I take aside his nest, returning the hay and rags to their rightful destinations, i locate Lecka’s bowl the other way up, icy chunks of pet food exploded over the concrete flooring. Did he destroy it in rage or starvation? the place did he cross? They’re predicting an ice hurricane this night. “The Cowboys are up via six! ” Uncle Jake yells while I stroll throughout the entrance door, donning my coat and hiding David’s and the blanket lower than it. i look on the television; miniature males swarm over a eco-friendly box. the ladies are actually within the kitchen, speaking in low voices because the espresso computing device gurgles. David’s downstairs within the rocking chair subsequent to the woodstove. The faint ghost of his mirrored image haunts the window, and he stares at it as he rocks backward and forward. He does this much in recent years, rocking and looking at himself. “Jerome’s gone,” I say, dumping his coat and the blanket in his lap. “I’m now not surprised,” he says, laying his arm over them. “Where do you feel he went? ” I ask. He shrugs. “Somewhere higher, i am hoping. ” “Well, do you need to move search for him? ” I ask, stunned at his nonchalance in any case his past problem. “We may perhaps say we’re jogging the puppy. ” “If he left, it’s simply because he doesn’t are looking to be came across. ” The basement door opens and the noise of soccer and well mannered grownup laughter drifts all the way down to us. “Time for dessert, kids,” mom calls. “Your Aunt Cathy made a staggering Dutch apple pie! ” David will get up and walks to the men’ bed room.