Soda Bottle Kid

  Rodney emerged from the haymow an hour later.
Clipper was milling around the stalls of the barn hoping to
find a mouse or other varmint.
  It started to sink in about being a jerk, and struggling with
his feelings of being somewhere new.
  "Clipper, We got a new place with Mom, we have to make the best of it."
Rodney headed for the house to find his Mom and Lenny moving boxes to
the rooms they belonged in and laughing about something silly.
 He smiled to see his mother happy, and took a new look on his surroundings.
Sure the old house needed paint, but the inside was as grand as the day it was built.
All the natural woodwork was in tact and the rooms with wallpaper,
spoke of a day long ago. Cherubs, and ivy and something, that looked like trophy
cups and olive branches. Rodney especially liked the old carriages with footmen
and the dogs chasing them. "Look, Clipper he looks like you!"
   " Mom, where are you?", Rodney asked as he climbed to the top of the grand staircase.
 Around the corner he saw his mom kissing Lenny.
  "Oh hey Rodney" ,  Lenny said. " How was the barn Lil Brother?"
  "Okay, So which room is mine?", Rodney asked, as if he hadn't seen anything.
    "Sunrise or Sunset?" Lenny said.
    "What?", Rodney quizzed.
     "Do you want to see the morning sun or sunset?", Lenny responded.
    " You can have the east room or the west room.", his Mom smiled,
     "I'm taking the bedroom downstairs."
 " I used to watch the sunrise before, I think I will watch it set for a while now."
  "The west room it is,"Lenny laughed.
   " Mom can I ride back with Lenny?"
   " I got to talk with Tank and the boys later", Rodney said.
  He needed to set up the meeting on the money and tell them where he moved.
  He needed to tell someone that he saw Lenny kissing his Mom!
  Tune in next week........


 

Soda Bottle Kid

Authors note., It has been sometime since I have written.

  I have allowed life to consume a part of me lately,
perhaps the last few years have elapsed.

So I return timidly to a story of a brave young man.

Rodney awoke to Lenny's horn on the International, coming up the drive.
   "Mom, Lenny's here!,
  "I know, Kate's voice lilted with some excitement.
  "Where are we going to move to?", Rodney quizzed.
  " It's a big house south of town."

 Rodney looked at Clipper, "I hope it has a barn."
"I hope it has a creek and pond and a lot of timber to hunt squirrels."

     "Howdy", Lenny poked his head around the corner , his blue eyes
 and bearded face beaming. "Ready to go Lil brother?"

  Rodney, turned and threw a big smile and hug at Lenny.
  "I'm so glad to see you" But before he could finish Lenny turned to Kate
"Are you ready?" He looked deep into her eyes. "I think we should get the
beds and big stuff first",  "Then we can spend the day getting the boxes
into the car and truck". Lenny had a sense of calm purpose amidst the
chaos.
  The truck roared to life with the first load, and they rolled down the gravel.
Rodney and Lenny with Kate behind in the car.
At the stop sign they turned south on the pavement each of them smiling from 
the sunshine and the promise of a new start.
 "Lenny, I'm worried about Mom", Rodney confided after a few miles.

  "You can't change things, Lil Brother", Lenny spoke in a serious tone.
   " You need to know that, now matter how you try, You can never change
what happens between other people."
   " I want to make everything okay," Rodney replied, "I want to take care of her."
   "I know, I do too." Lenny confided.
  With the jolt of the truck they turned into a drive with the most run down house
 Rodney had ever seen.
   " Is this it?" " Yep, It's a little rough. Lil Brother but it's home, for now.",
Lenny smiled and added," It has a barn!"
  The Turnpike cruiser followed into the drive, Kate emerged and said," home sweet home".
"Mom, It's a dump, how will I get to town to see my friends?"
 The words fell out of Rodney's mouth before he thought. 
 Lenny shot a glance at Rodney, but it was too late.
  His mom started to tear. Rodney knew he had messed up, "I'm sorry"
sputtered out of his mouth but, his apology was mute as his mom started to cry
into Lenny's shoulder.
  He ran to a foreign rundown barn and hid in the haymow.
His own tears starting to sting his eyes....I'm such an idiot he thought...

Authors note, I will try to stay at it.
Feedback welcome.