CALL OF THE MOON

Chapter 2

About fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to a large blue and gray mobile home and parked in the driveway. In front of the house, there was a small wooden porch with a couple of chairs and a small table sitting on it. Also, the bushes and the yard were nicely groomed, and the flowers in the bushes were colorful and vibrant.

Oddly, the house seemed to look familiar, and then I realized that this was the place my dad used to bring me here when I came out to visit. Delighted, I stepped out of the truck and walked up to the porch. There was an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair, smoking a tobacco pipe. That man was Bill Clearwater.

The old man and the smell of the smoke brought back familiarity. Graciously, I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Bill was an older man, with russet-colored skin. He secured his dark long hair with silver streaks of gray at the base of his neck in a ponytail.

Unfortunately, the man was in a wheelchair. Even when I was a kid, Bill Clearwater had always been in a wheelchair. The boys told me the story about how a wild animal had attacked Bill while he was hunting with his buddies. The creature tackled him to the ground and tore his hip to pieces.

Bill had spent a couple of months in the hospital, while medical staff tried to piece him back together, but they didn't have any luck. So, now he had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. I really felt sorry for the old man, but it never seemed to get him down.

"Sammy, my dear child, it is so good to see you," said Bill, and I couldn't help but giggle with excitement. I hadn't seen the old man in years, and it felt good to see him again.

"Mr. Clearwater, how are you?" I asked.

He puffed out an enormous cloud of smoke, and it smelled of pipe tobacco and mint. The smell reminded me of my younger years when I used to come over and play with his boys.

"Good. Come sit down. The missus and the boys should be back real soon."

He patted the seat next to him. Politely, I nodded and sat down next to the old man.

"You know, you have grown up from that lanky, thin child you used to be,” he said.

I giggled, as the old man's backward, improper way he talked flooded my mind with memories of the old days as well.

Pleased, I looked around, and I saw that the place really had never changed much. The house was the same color, the tire swing still hung from the old oak tree that was in the middle of the yard, and I could still see my and Corey's initials still carved into the side of the wooden railing when you came up the steps.

"I have missed you and your family," I said sincerely as I looked back at him, and he patted my knee.

He looked at me with love in his eyes and smiled.

"We have missed you too, child, but you are finally home now, to stay," Bill said with a grin, and I smiled.

It was good to know I was still welcome, even though I had been gone for so long, but the Clearwaters always treated me like family when I was a kid, so why would I expect anything different from them now?

"The boys will be so happy and surprised to see you. Your pops and I never told the boys you were moving back home," Bill chuckled to himself, and I looked at him, surprised.

My dad could never keep a secret, and he had no game face whatsoever. Then, I remembered the fact that Bill and my dad liked to play tricks on all of us kids when we were little, so my shock quickly faded away. These two old men were still up to their tricks.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically, and he laughed a little harder. He gave me a knowing look and I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, you and my dad actually kept a secret?" I asked in shock, and he leaned forward as he looked at me in question.

"Your dad and I have always been able to keep a secret. So, I don't know what you are talking about," Bill said smugly, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, right!" I said as I rolled my eyes, and then I looked at him with a sideways glance.

" Would you really put your boys through that?" I added.

"Put them through what? I had to keep you a secret from them. Those boys would have bugged me to no end about when you were going to show up. Besides, they are big boys now. They can handle a little surprise,” he said as he coughed.

Suddenly, I looked at Bill, concerned, and then I looked at the tobacco pipe in his hand, and then I looked back up at him.

"Maybe you should be more worried about not sucking on that old pipe anymore, rather than playing mean old tricks on your kids," I said sternly.

Bill laughed and sat back in his chair as he looked at his old tobacco pipe.

"This thing? Oh, pish posh,” he grumbled as he puffed on the pipe again.

I shook my head at him. Suddenly, the old man's eyes lit up, and he looked at me with an evil grin.

"Well, don't you worry, your secret is about to be out. I think I hear the truck now.” he said, as his brown eyes sparkled at me.

Bewildered, I looked at the frail man in the wheelchair and I shook my head. I still couldn't believe that he would keep this from his sons. Also, I was shocked that he and my dad kept it a secret from the boys that I was coming home. My dad wasn't one to keep secrets or play jokes when it was something serious. As I heard the sound of a truck coming closer to the house, I stood up and I curiously looked at the driveway.

At that moment, an extended-sized, four door, black pickup truck pulled into the driveway next to my truck and parked. There were a couple of slams of doors and then a voice.

"Hey, where did this old thing come from? It wasn't here when we left,” a male's voice said.

"I think dad took it to get a tune up. He said he had a buyer for it,” a different male's voice explained.

At that point, I couldn't make out who was talking, but I was sure that it was Sam, Jacob, and Corey. Their voices have definitely changed since we were kids.

"Now boys, hurry and get that meat in the freezer. No need for it to spoil. Then what would I feed a pack of starving pups?" said a woman's voice.

I knew that voice. Marta Clearwater. The wife of the old man in the wheelchair and the mother of the three boys I grew up with. It sounded like music to my ears.

Wait, did she say a pack of starving pups? Do they have dogs now? I wondered as I waited patiently for them to come around the truck.

"We have got company, so hurry," I heard her say, and Bill had an eager look on his face, like he was just as excited as I was. I shook my head and stifled a laugh.

After a moment had passed, I saw the elderly woman come around the truck. Her dark almond eyes were full of love when she saw me. Marta's long silver hair was tied behind her back like Mr. Clearwater's. Happily, Marta smiled at me and held out her arms. I walked over to her and hugged her tight, and when the embrace ended, she pulled back and looked at me with misted eyes.

"How long are you staying?" Marta asked as she searched my eyes.

Immediately, I glanced at Mr. Clearwater, and the man was grinning ear to ear. Heavily, I sighed as I guessed the boys weren't the only ones left out. I thought as I turned my gaze back to the elderly woman.

"Mama Clearwater, I am here to stay. I moved in with my dad. My mom has a new boyfriend, and they wanted to go traveling. I wanted to stay in school, so I went to my dad's," I explained to her, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Evidently, I knew that was part of a lie, but I didn't want to get into my mom's paranoia. It was best just to keep things simple for now.

"My baby is home to stay,” she murmured, and I hugged her again, lovingly.

She ended the embrace, headed up to the porch, and she looked at her husband as she smacked him playfully.

"You knew, you old coot!" Marta said.

Bill nodded, and they both began laughing. I smiled. Bill and Marta had always had a fun and loving relationship. The only time I ever saw them fight was when Marta would get mad at Bill for some dumb thing he had done. It felt like I was at home being around them.

"Did you and the boys get everything you need?" He asked her and she nodded.

"The only thing I didn't get was the fish at the market. They were all sold out,” she said disapprovingly and shook her head.

"Oh, mama, we can get fish another time," Bill said with care.

"Well, Elliot is down at the waterfront with Carl to pick up some fish," Marta added, and Bill nodded.

Elliot? I thought as I looked at Bill and Marta oddly.

The three boys that I used to play with when we were kids were Sam, Jacob, and Corey. I don't remember the fourth boy.

"Who's Elliot?" I asked.

They looked at me for a moment and then they looked at each other. Bill looked at me in question as he cleared his throat.

"Our youngest son. You don't remember the baby we had when you used to come and play with the boys?" He asked me. I thought for a moment, but I could not remember a baby.

"I don't remember him," I said honestly.

Marta looked at me and smiled.

"It's okay. You were young and more interested in playing with the bugs and the boys, than you were interested in doing stuff with me and the girls. Carly and Izzy were always helping me with Elliot, while you guys played on the beach and in the backyard,” she explained with a grin.

"Oh. Well, I can't wait to meet him," I said, politely, and I returned her smile.

Suddenly, I was swarmed by three russet-colored muscular bodies, dark hair, and two pairs of honey-colored eyes, and one set of green-gold eyes.

"Sammy!" Sam, Corey, and Jacob exclaimed in unison.

They were very happy to see me, as I was thrilled to see them.

Sam was the oldest of the four. He gave me a welcoming brotherly hug. Then it was Jacob, the third to last born. He hugged me, squeezing me a little harder than I had expected.

"Welcome home Sammy!" He chimed.

Finally, there was Corey. He was the second oldest, and my childhood best friend. He looked at me with those honey gold green eyes that made me melt and pulled me close into a loving embrace. Oddly, this embrace differed from Sam and Jacob's hug. It was lasting, and it seemed like time had stopped to let us enjoy this moment. However, I thought it was weird with him hugging me like he was. It felt like it was more than a friendship hug.

"I'm so glad to see you," he whispered, happily.

"I thought I would never see you again,” he added, and I giggled.

He pulled back, not taking his hands off my shoulders, and he looked at me seriously.

"How long are you staying?" He asked as he held my gaze, and I smiled as I looked at him.

"Indefinitely," I said cheerfully, and he smiled an ear to ear grin as he hugged me tighter.

"Damn, bro,” said Jacob, as he laughed.

"Let the girl breathe."

Sam and Jacob laughed at their private joke, and I felt Corey chuckle as he let go of me. He gave me an apologetic look and said,

"Sorry, Sammy," Corey said, apologetically.

I looked at him and bumped my shoulder into him.

"Don't be, no harm done," I said with a smirk.

Noticeably, his cheeks had turned red, and he smiled bashfully.

"So, Sammy, how do you like the truck?" Asked Bill with a grin, as I stepped away from Corey.

"Oh, Mr. Clearwater, it's perfect. Really!" I said ecstatically, and he smiled back at me.

"Thank you so much," I beamed.

"You are welcome, my dear. Hey, can you let your pops know I will come over tomorrow to watch the game with him?"

"I will, Mr. Clearwater," I responded politely.

At that moment, he had a disgruntled look on his face, and I wondered what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, concerned.

"Sammy, please call me Bill. Mr. Clearwater sounds so formal, and you are family,” he said firmly, and gave me a solid look.

Graciously, I smiled and nodded. After that, he then turned to Sam, Corey, and Jacob, and he had a serious look on his face.

"Boys, don't forget about tonight's run," Bill stated clearly, and the boys straightened.

"Yes, dad,” said Sam, and Bill nodded.

I looked at them oddly.

What does that mean? Tonight's run? I wondered as I looked at all of them.

I looked at Corey with questioning eyes. He looked at me and shook his head. The look on his face told me I should just drop it.

"Well, I am going in, to see if mom needs help in the kitchen. You boys wait for Elliot to come back home,” the boys nodded, and then Bill then turned his gaze on me.

"Sammy, you are more than welcome to stay for dinner. I know Bob doesn't eat right. I'll go call him,” he adjusted his wheelchair and looked at me.

I felt like I couldn't say no, so I nodded in agreement. He smiled widely, and Sam held the door for him so he could wheel himself inside.