Sassafras, Part 64

Rick


“Okay,” Joan nodded, then looked at me. “What’s something you can’t do?” she asked. “Something you want to do but never have?”

“Ride a roller coaster. I’ve always wanted to ride a roller coaster.”

“You never rode a roller coaster? Did you grow up on Mars or something?”

“No. I keep imagining the little carts coming off the track and flying through the air. Or the people just falling out of them, or the whole damn thing collapsing. Roller coasters are just wrong.”

“Oh, I love roller coasters. There’s just something about all the twists and turns and dips, the sudden feeling of weightlessness. It’s magic. When I was little my family used to go to Six Flags near St. Louis every summer. At least, we did until my dad died. We never went after that. This summer we’ll go to Six Flags. If I’m still here. If I’m in New York, I’ll take you to Coney Island and we can ride the Cyclone. The best roller coaster in the world. If you can ever come to New York.”

“Let’s just plan on Six Flags for now. How about you? What’s something you’ve always dreamed about?”

“I’d like to ride a horse. I mean really ride, not just sit on a horse while some guy leads it around in a circle. Go fast and jump over things.”

“I can’t believe you grew up in the country and never rode a horse!”

“I grew up here in town. You act like I was running around barefoot on a farm with a bunch of pigs and chickens. I was a city kid. The closest I ever got to a horse was reading Black Beauty.”

“You don’t know what you missed. I spent summers with my cousins on a farm near Topeka. We rode horses all the time. My mom still has a picture of me when I was about four or five sitting on this giant white horse. I think her name was Annabelle.” Joan got the funniest look on her face, then I noticed Bill and Joan were both staring at me.

“I guess you were naked?” Joan asked.

“Of course. How did you know?”

“Do you think I should go ahead and unpack right now?” Joan asked Bill.

“You might as well wait until after dinner.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Instead of answering Bill walked into the living room. When he came back he had a deck of cards. He picked one out and handed it to me. “Does the picture look anything like this?”

“Well, I was never blonde, but yeah, that’s pretty close.” I noticed the bottom of the card had The Sun printed on it. “Is this the card you were talking about earlier?”

“Yeah, that was the one card in the reading I couldn’t figure out, and it was the one that was supposed to show why Aunt Jo would decide to stay in New York or move back here. So I guess you’re staying, huh Aunt Jo?”

“I guess so. I don’t want to fight fate. Besides, I like the idea of dating royalty.”

“Royalty?” I asked.

Bill flipped through the deck and started putting cards down on the table. “These two represented Sassafras. You’re the king, just like Elvis.”

”Oh, my God,” Joan said. “You’re my dog, too.” She pointed to the card with The Moon printed on the bottom. “When I called Maria and told her I met somebody she asked if I met a man. I told her no, I met a German Shepherd. She said I should rub your belly.”

“Dude, she just called you a dog.”

“Yeah, I know. I have this uncontrollable urge to scratch myself all of a sudden.”

Joan stuck her tongue out at me. “Very funny." She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her forehead. "I see a flea bath in your future.”

The phone rang and Bill jumped up to get it. “Really? Yes! Okay, yeah. I don’t know, let me ask. Hey, Aunt Jo, can I go over to Scott’s and play X-box for a while?”

“I guess. Are you going to school tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he grumbled then spoke into the phone. “Yeah. I’ll be over in a minute.” He put on his coat and started walking to the door. “Bye, Aunt Jo. See ya later, Elvis.”