Home is where your Heart is

Thomas on the Overpass

I skipped my morning run and slept the next morning. When I woke to the crowing of that stupid rooster, I wanted to strangle it. Fortunately for the rooster, when I tried to stand, my legs turned to jelly and I sat back down. He was safe for one more day. Every single muscle in my legs was sore.

Still, I hobbled into the kitchen for breakfast. "Are you okay Julie?" Mom asked when I groaned as I sat down.

"Fine,"

She shook her head. "I don't care what your father says. You are not going to practice today."

My jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? He wants us to train today?"

"He told me last night that the teams' hearts are strong, but their legs are not. They can run pretty fast for a long period of time, but when put to the test with that hill, they didn't have the strength to make it up it. He wants to train them in running up hills."

I confronted Dad as soon as he came back from telling the boys about the practice. "What are you thinking? We just had a meet yesterday. But they still have to wake up early in the morning, get up and work all day picking. On top of all that you want to make them do hill training? They are going to be exhausted! Where are you even going to find a hill?"

"The almond hull piles will work fine." I rolled my eyes at him, but I let it drop.

"So what do you want to do today?" Mom asked me. That was when I remembered. It was October 7th. I felt so stupid. How could I forget my own birthday? I guess I was so busy and focused on Cross Country that it slipped my mind. I was sixteen now.

"Can we go see a movie?"

"Sure,"

"You guys go without me. You probably won't be back before I have to go to practice." I was a little disappointed we wouldn't all be going together, but I knew he was right.

We had to go out of town to find a movie theater. By the time we got home, it was almost time for dinner. Mom began cooking right away and I helped her. "I got you a beautiful cake." Mom told me as she cut up potatoes. "Your dad is going to pick it up on his way home from practice."

Jamie set up the table and when dinner was ready, we all sat down. Throughout dinner, Dad's seat remained empty. My heart sank as I realized a sad truth. He had forgotten it was my birthday. He finally came in right as we finished eating and I noticed he was not carrying a cake.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." he said softly as he kissed my head. He knew he messed up.

"You forgot it didn't you? That's okay. I didn't want it anyway." I went to my room and Jamie followed.

"Please don't be sad Julie. No one should be sad on their birthday." She handed me a piece of paper. "I made you a present." It was a drawing of my running shoes. I laughed. For a ten year old, she was a pretty good drawer.

"Thank you Jamie." I gave her a hug. I did not want to stay shut in my room so I put on my shoes and headed for the front door.

Mom called after me. "Are you going for a run Julie?"

"Yeah,"

"Julie, I really am sorry. I know how much it meant to you..."

I interrupted Dad. "I don't think you do. I'm sixteen now. That is one of the most important birthdays for a teenager. It's the transitioning year between being a kid and moving toward adulthood. But to you it was not as important because you thought of it as just another birthday. You still see me as a little girl."

"Julie..."

"No Dad. Just let me be alone for a little while." I slipped out the door and shut it behind me. Still sore from yesterday, I stuck to a light jog. I left more and more of my angry emotions behind with every step I took until I was empty and a strange calm fell over me. I just ran, not knowing where I was or where I was going. I only snapped out of it when my cellphone started ringing. The time showed that I had been out for an hour and looking around, I saw that I had gone a long ways.

It was Dad calling. "Hello?"

"Where are you Julie? Let me come get you."

"Fine," I sighed and told him. He promised he would come as quickly as he could and I hung up and waited. Fifteen minutes later, Dad arrived in his Chevy. I hopped in and neither of us said a word.

We turned onto Highway 99 as it was the fastest way home and as I was looking straight ahead, I noticed a strange shape on the overpass. As we got closer I realized it was a person sitting on the rail, their feet dangling in the air. I leaned forward to see better. "Is that Thomas?"

"I think so." Dad muttered. He immediately turned off the highway and made his way back to the overpass. "Thomas quit today."

"What?" I exclaimed loudly.

"He kind of had a mental breakdown." Dad drove up onto the overpass and as the headlights hit the person, I saw that it was in fact Thomas. Dad got out of the car and cautiously approached him. I stayed in the car, but the windows were rolled down so I could hear them. "Thomas?" Thomas briefly glanced up. "What are you doing on the bridge, Thomas?"

"I don't know." His voice was thick and he kept sniffing.

"Who hit you?"

I drew a sharp breath.

"No one," My dad waited patiently and Thomas broke. "Alright, my dad, but it wasn't his fault."

"I don't know about that."

"Yeah, well you don't know about a lot of things, okay White?" Thomas snapped bitterly. "You haven't got a clue."

"Okay, then explain it to me. Help me figure it out."

"Look, he's a picker. He's not a foreman like Señor Diaz. He doesn't run a crew. He tries to get work wherever he can find it. Arizona, Texas, wherever. He got back yesterday and his baby girl was pregnant. So he just started hitting the wall, alright? I was trying to get him to stop and I just got in the way. If he hurts his hands he can't work. Do you get that?"

"Okay Thomas, I get it. Do you want to know why I'm out here?" he asked as he leaned against the rail with his arms crossed.

"No,"

"Too bad; I'm going to tell you anyway. I forgot to buy my daughter's birthday cake."

Thomas laughed despite his inner turmoil. "That's bad, White."

"Yeah, she thought so too and I can't blame her. What father forgets his daughter's birthday? She was so upset she came out here running. I'm lucky she allowed me to pick her up." I noticed Thomas turn his head slightly as if he were about to look back at me, but then he stopped himself. I think he was afraid he would see me judging him. I was far from it. Dad continued. "You scared me today. You did. You're scaring me now. So do you want to come off of there?"

Thomas shook his head. "Nope,"

"Okay then. Let me tell you the truth about how this ends if you fall from here. If you go off this bridge tonight, and there's every chance you might, you'll probably live. It's not that high, but I promise you there's no chance you'll ever run again. None. And I'm guessing right now running's the best thing you've got." The boy nodded, tears running down his face. Dad rubbed his back comfortingly. "It feels as if it might be the only thing you've got. Come on buddy." Dad suddenly wrapped his arms around Thomas and pulled him back onto the bridge. They sat there on the ground, Thomas wiping at his eyes and Dad looking relieved.

"So do you want to keep going with this Cross Country thing?" Thomas looked up at him for a moment and then nodded. "Me too," Dad helped him up and they got in the car. I wanted to say something to Thomas, but I didn't know what. I especially didn't want to make him feel embarrassed. In the end, I said nothing. At one point he caught my eye in the side mirror. I offered him a tentative smile hoping that would suffice instead. It did. He smiled back.