Lifeblood

2 Movin'-1

2

Movin'On to the next task. Nelson's wedding was in the books, and he and Tamara were on their way to the Poconos for a two-week honeymoon. Jonah, meanwhile, worked in an urgency of his own as he busily packed the remaining items he planned to bring with him to the estate.

“Never thought I'd be doing this again,” he muttered to Reena as he zipped his gym bag. “I feel like I'm back home, nervous as hell, packing for undergrad.”

Reena slung another of Jonah's bags onto the couch and relaxed her weight on the side of it. “In many ways, you are doing just that,” she replied. “New life, new things.”

“Thankfully, it isn't all new,” said Jonah, more than relieved by that fact. “I know the people I'm living with, and I know where I'm staying. It's just being back in college again—with kids.”

“Jonah, it's not like you're forty years old in a class of eighteen-year olds that are barely out of pampers,” she deadpanned. “And just think—Bobby, Liz, and Douglas go to LTSU as well. They'll help you fit right in. Liz was overjoyed when she found out you would take her suggestion.”

It had been Liz Manville's idea that Jonah enroll at LTSU after his place of employment got pulverized. Jonah did it with very little protest, and he was anxious to get started in the Creative Writing program there. Also, he'd be an official full-time resident at the Grannison-Morris estate with his friends. Jonah also couldn't forget that it was a welcome distraction from what he'd recently experienced in the city. He'd come face to face, yet again, with Creyton, but that time, he was in a cunning disguise and had gone by his first name, Roger. Since Creyton had been disguised, he had easily infiltrated all their lives, and they had unwittingly provided almost every detail he needed to go through with his plans—

Jonah gave himself a mental shake. Why was he thinking about that now? It was over and done with. Plus he'd need all his wits about him on this new phase of life he was about to take.

“It was very nice and thoughtful of you to sublease your apartment to Nelson and Tamara,” said Reena.

“You have no idea,” said Jonah, thankful of the excuse to put his mind on other things. “I know that they will only be here a year at most, but Nelson was living in an efficiency studio; basically a glorified bachelor pad. You should have seen his face when Tamara asked to come back to his place the very first time. I'm doing him a favor, but he deserves it. Well, we'd better head on out now, friend.”

Jonah wrote a quick note for Nelson and left it on the kitchen counter for when he and Tamara returned from Pennsylvania. Then, after he tied up some loose ends with the landlord, he and Reena were off. Jonah had been steadily moving his stuff for the past three weeks, so the two gym bags in his trunk were the only things left that needed transport. There would be no usage of the Astralimes today, as Jonathan did not allow that power to be abused, so road trip it was. That was completely alright with Jonah, because the scenery on the highway, the sight of the quasi-urban buildings giving way to fields and trees, and the pleasant conversation with Reena whittled away the time most satisfactorily. Indeed, in no time at all, they were off the highway and at 927 Jay Houston Road, where their friends, Bobby and Alvin Decessio, resided.

“This is the address, isn't it?” asked Jonah, who uncertainly pulled into the driveway.

“You really think I'd let you get it wrong?” said Reena with narrow eyes.

“Oh yeah—of course not.”

“Let's go on in. Terrence will be showing up any minute, and of course, Bobby and Alvin will want to see you.”

When Jonah and Reena stepped out of the car, their muscles felt full of gratitude for being released from the space. Jonah regarded the Decessio home, and took in every detail.

It was a two-story brick house that was comfortably placed between a white house on the left and an aquamarine house on the right (Jonah wondered momentarily what that owner of the latter had been thinking). The porch was spacious enough for lounging, which put Jonah in mind of Fourth of July grilling and comfortable birthday parties. He had been raised in a small, five-room home, and had spent his adult years either in dorms or apartments, so he could see why Alvin, Bobby, and Terrence, who had been adopted into the family at thirteen, loved this house so much.

Jonah and Reena made it about four paces when they heard a shout of welcome from the family room, followed by the front door banging open. Bobby was out the door first, followed by his older brother Alvin, and they were followed by two people who could only be their parents.

Mr. Decessio was tall and burly, like an athlete who'd retired, but had taken the steps necessary to not go to seed. It was no mystery which parent Bobby took after the most. Mrs. Decessio was a slight-framed woman with a friendly face that was lined, but not hardened by any means. She vaguely reminded Jonah of some of the women his grandmother had been friends with in her church when he was younger. As the four of them came to greet him and Reena, Jonah noticed something else: Bobby had gotten his father's bulk, but his mother's height.

“Jonah!” said Bobby exuberantly. “Reena! 'Bout time you got here! How are you?”

He took Jonah's hand in both of his and shook vigorously, while Alvin gave Reena a hug. Mr. Decessio shook Jonah's hand next, and regarded him with interest.

“It's nice to finally put a face with a name, Jonah,” he said. “Terrence, Bobby, and Alvin have told us all about you. So is it true that you're going back to school?”

“Yes, sir,” said Jonah. “I'm getting back to my writing.”

“Oh,” said Mrs. Decessio with sudden interest. “So you're going into the Creative Writing program. You had better keep focused in there; Bobby has told me all about how that woman who teaches it is quite a distraction.”

She threw a stern look at her youngest son, who stared back innocently.

“Mom, what's the problem with noticing a good-looking, single, older woman?” he asked.

“I'll answer that,” muttered Reena. “Liz.”

Bobby face went red. “Shut up,” he managed, but soon, all of them were laughing.

“How are you doing, Alvin?” asked Jonah.

“Doing well, thanks,” said Alvin in his usual preoccupied-sounding voice. “And also,” he added in an undertone as they stepped up the steps to the porch, “Bobby is way off. Calling Professor Rayne good-looking is a tragic understatement. She is gorgeous.”

Dear Lord, thought Jonah, I need to hurry up and meet this woman myself.

They all seated themselves in the chairs on the Decessio porch, where Mr. Decessio eyed Jonah once more.

“So Jonah,” he said, “where did you grow up, exactly?”

“In a town named Radner, sir,” responded Jonah. “It's in the northeastern part of the state, about twenty minutes from the state line.”

“Huh,” said Mr. Decessio. “Can't say I've ever heard of that place.”

Jonah snorted. “I assure you, sir, no one has heard of Radner but the two hundred people who have resigned themselves to live there,” he said.

Bobby looked at Jonah like he'd grown an extra limb. “You grew up in a town with only two hundred people?” he demanded.

“Yeah,” said Jonah, who widened his eyes in dramatic fashion. “Kind of makes Rome—with its population of five thousand people—seem like Nirvana, huh?”

Everyone laughed again, and Jonah randomly turned his head so as to crack the slightly stiff muscles there.

His face froze in that direction.

At the street corner, which was visible from the house, was a very tall hooded man. He was so tall that it seemed like the top of his head was almost level with the bottom of the stop sign. Jonah blinked, but in that space of time, the man was gone.

“Jonah, what's wrong?” asked Reena.

Jonah's gaze remained on that spot, despite the fact that there was no longer anything to see there. “Nothing,” he lied. “I—I just thought I saw Terrence.”

“Nope!” called a familiar voice. “Because I'm right here!”

They all turned, and the weird occurrence vanished from Jonah's mind. Terrence was there, with a big grin on his face. He was clad in khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt almost as bright as his grin.

Everyone made a beeline for him, and there were hugs all around. Terrence laughed and seemed to brace himself so as to avoid being knocked over by the six people invading his personal space.

“Where did you come from, boy?” demanded a grinning Mrs. Decessio. “We were out here to greet you!”

“I know!” said Terrence mischievously. “I told the driver to pass by the house! I paid him extra to make a loop and drop me off a street over so I could sneak up on you!”

“You BUM!” laughed Bobby. He and Alvin grabbed Terrence's shoulders and practically marched him up the porch and into the house.

* * *

Terrence regaled them for hours on end with stories about the vacation. It was obvious that he enjoyed the rapt attention from everyone present. Terrence was giddy as hell as he described everything in great detail, using his deeply tanned hands to animatedly accentuate the most exciting points. Jonah couldn't help but feel a little jealous of his friend for two reasons. He had never even been on the western coast of the United States, let alone Hawaii. And he also knew that Terrence, who ate enough to feed a small football team, had undoubtedly tried every cuisine that was available. Hell, he probably had two helpings of everything. Despite that, he hadn't gained one pound to show for it. Terrence actually looked thinner than he had the last time they'd seen him. Jonah just couldn't understand how someone could have such bulletproof fat cells.

“You would not believe the people that just stay for weeks on end,” said Terrence with incredulity. “I mean, my brother and his family do that, of course, but he a retired, rich football star. Some of those other folks, though—they ain't famous or anything. Just retirees and whatnot.”

“I wouldn't mind retiring there,” said Mrs. Decessio longingly. “Just think, Arn; going to Hawaii for two or three whole months, and staying in one of those vacation rentals. Would be nice to get away from where everyone knows everything about you.”

Mr. Decessio smiled. “Now Connie, we've been here thirty-four years, and haven't ever had bad experiences living here.”

“No, we haven't,” conceded Mrs. Decessio. “Relocating from New Jersey to here was a great decision. But there isn't anything wrong with changing things up every now and again.”

Reena, who had been born in Hawaii and lived there for several years before her family relocated to Virginia, thumbed through Terrence's pictures with interest, while Bobby grilled Terrence about sports.

“Well, they do have rugby there,” Terrence remarked.

“Rugby?” said Bobby, raising an eyebrow in skepticism. “Did you play some?”

“What do you think?” Terrence asked. “Lloyd wouldn't have had it any other way. It's pretty sick and painful without those pads they have in football.”

Bobby's eyes narrowed. Jonah knew that if anyone questioned his beloved football, there would be hell to pay. Damage control time.

“We all know that the awesome vacation opportunity was only a small part of why you went,” he said to Terrence. “So how did the reconnection go with Lloyd?”

“Oh,” responded Terrence, and some of the elation replaced by seriousness. “We had plenty of time to talk. It turned out that he didn't share many of the opinions his parents had about me. It was a breath of fresh air to voice our views on things without that man and woman there to influence them.”

Terrence took a deep breath. It was clear to Jonah that his adoptive parents' treatment of him was still a sore subject.