He beckons to his mother, who is standing between him and the harbor. She is outlined in light.
“Let’s go,” he calls.
She nods, and walks toward him.
Harry says, “Jamal? You ready?”
Jamal is nodding to the music. He performs a shimmy, half in and half out of the shadow of a stone.
Will speaks.
Jamal watches from inside the music.
2035/ “Where are you going?”
“I told you.”
“Where?”
“I’m going down to the bay. I won’t be too long.”
“What’s in that box?”
“I’ve told you this five times.”
“What?”
“It’s your grandfathers’ ashes. Do you remember your Grandfather Will?”
“No.”
“We went to see him, oh, more than a year ago. You were very small then. We flew to New York and we stayed in his house with him. He was very old.”
“I know that.”
“These are his ashes. His and Harry’s. I’m going to go put them in the bay and then I’m going to come home and we can start the garden together, all right?”
“I want to come.”
“You can’t come. I’ve told you and told you this.”
“Why not?”
“Because I need to go alone.”
“Why?”
“Well. Because I lived with Harry and Will a long, long time ago.”
“When you were a little boy.”
“That’s right. So now I need to be by myself when I put their ashes in the bay. I need you to stay here with your momma, and when I come back we’ll plant the garden. Okay?”
“I want to come.”
“You can’t.”
“I want to take the box to the car.”
“Okay. Will it make you happy if I let you carry the box to the car? Here.”
“It makes a noise.”
“What?”
“It makes a noise.”
“Well, sure, if you shake it like that. Be just a little bit careful, okay?”
“What’s inside?”
“Ashes. I told you. Just some ashes.”
“They make a noise.”
“It’s ashes and little bits of bone. It’s nothing to be scared of.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Don’t I know that? You’re not afraid of anything, are you?”
“I can hear them.”
Michael Cunningham, Flesh and Blood
(Series: # )
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