Sunday, September 1, 2013

Jefferson (Short Fiction)

My soul mate is ninety-four years old, but when I was born he was just eighty-five. His name is Jefferson and he lives in the old people home where I take my piano lessons. Mama says a soul mate is the person who understands you even when no one else in the world can. I asked if Daddy was her soul mate and she says No, no, you're right, I guess I haven't met mine yet and then I say I'm sorry and she laughs and says Oh no Annie it's not because of you but that's not what I mean, what I mean is I'm sorry she hasn't met hers 'cause I've met mine and she says Oh really and I say Yes, yes I have his name is Jefferson and he's ninety-four years old. Then Mama laughs and says He's older than your grandpa and I say how old is grandpa and Mama's quiet for a moment and I can tell she's doing math in her head and then she says I guess he's eighty-nine, and then we're at the old people's home and I get out of the car and say Bye Mom and she says Aren't you forgetting something and so I get back into the car so she can give me a kiss and I say Gosh Mom you're so sentimental and she laughs and says Where are you learning these words and I say Jefferson! and run away from the car.

I'm a little late to my lesson and Ms. -- you say it Mizz not Miss, says Mom, there's a difference -- Tapoltsky is waiting for me and she has the metrynome running already, 65. When I have trouble with a stanza and Mizz Tapoltsky is telling me Again, again, do it again, Jefferson is there and he gives me a smile like he knows it's not that I don't know what to play it's just that my fingers aren't moving the way I want them to. And when Mizz Tapoltsky says Annie have you even been practicing I can hear Jefferson laugh 'cause he knows I've been practicing, 'cause I promised him I would and 'cause he told me that if I do my fingers will grow long and speedy.

After lessons Jefferson and I drink cans of Sprite while I wait for Mom to come pick me up. Jefferson asks me what I like to do in my free time and I tell him I like playing on my iPad and he says if I keep doing that my eyes are gonna go blind. I ask him what he likes to do and he says he likes to listen to audio books and talk to pretty girls and I narrow my eyes at him and say What pretty girls you been talkin' to and he says Just you, sweetheart and I laugh. I ask him what he was like when he was my age and he says he liked girls and I say You like the pretty ones? And he says Of course I liked the pretty ones, I liked all of 'em, but none of 'em as much as I like you. I tell him about the boys at my school, They don't like me at all, I say, they call me fat and lame and Jefferson laughs and says You just gotta give 'em time and I say how much time and Jefferson raises his eyebrows and says Give 'em eighty years and I say But I don't have that much time and Jefferson laughs and calls me precocious and I ask him what that means. It means you know more than you should and I say Well then you're precocious too.

Sometimes we just sit there sipping our Sprites quietly and then when we reach the end of the can we slurp sounds at each other until one of us laughs, and then we both do, and then sometimes a nurse will come by and say Stop that, Mr. Jones, I guess because they're worried the tubes in his nose are gonna fall out or something, but I don't think it's such a big deal because one time one of them did fall out and Jefferson just stuck it right back in and said Good as new! and that made us laugh some more.

But your soul mate should be someone you don't just laugh with, we talk about life things too. One time I asked Jefferson about Mrs. Jefferson Jones and where was she and was she his soul mate and he says Yes, yes she was, and I know that when adults talk about people like that, all past tense, you're not supposed to ask anything more so I shut up but because Jefferson is my soul mate he knows I want to hear more. We met when we were just a little older than you, and I say Really? And he says Really, and he says How old are you anyway and I say I'm fifteen and he laughs and says Now I know you're lyin' and I say Okay I'm nine and he laughs. Don't rush it kid he says and then he grins at me and I can see where his gums change colors and I say I don't need to rush it 'cause I already found my soul mate and he says Oh really who's the lucky guy and then I get quiet 'cause I thought he knew it was him.

In the car ride home I ask Mama if you're always your soul mate's soul mate and she thinks for a moment and says I think so, I think that's how it works, and then I chew a little on the end of my hair and she says Stop that Annie and I say Okay but you can have more than one soul mate right and Mama says I guess that'd have to be true, and I say But what about your soul mate's soul mate, are you their soul mate too, and she says Give it time. Everyone's been saying that to me lately but I don't know why, or where I'm supposed to give it, or if I've even got it to give. I go straight to the piano when we get home and I practice practice practice so that next Sunday will come sooner, 'cause Sundays are always over too soon and six days is a long time to go without your soul mate, you know? It's a good thing soul mates are forever, I say to Mama and she says As forever as anything and I don't know what she means with that kind of secret talk and I know if I ask she'll just say Give it time and so I just keep practicing, Minuet in B, dun dun dun-dun. I sit there and I play. I even use the metronome. Tick tock tick tock. I'm givin' it all I got.