From the Journal of William Kidd

Entry #5

Journal,

Solomon’s here today.  He’s eating lunch with Maggie and seeing as Bill and I also each lunch with Maggie, I guess you could say he’s eating lunch with us.  He’s a scary dude, I’ve got to be honest.  When he sits it looks like he’s in pain and when he talks, it’s like he’s got a million secrets and one could come falling out at any second.  I guess, when it really comes down to it, both could be true.

He’s cool though, despite the fear he strikes into my very soul.  I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side, but since I’m not, I kind of like being around him.  He knows what he’s talking about.  He asks about my parents like he doesn’t already know that they’ve missed seven call-ins (which is actually pretty standard for them, really).  Make no mistake, Joe Solomon is cool.

When he asks me what I’m writing, I can’t tell him a whole lot.  When I tell him that the stuff I write seems pretty unimportant, he just nods.  “I used to think what I wrote was pretty unimportant, too,” he said.  I can’t imagine anything Solomon writes has ever been or will ever be considered unimportant.  “Ended up saving my life down the road."  What a cool answer.  What a cool guy.

He’s different around Maggie though, but I think almost everyone is.  She just does that to people.  She changes them.  It’s hard to be angry or cold around her because she’s so bright.  Not even Joe Solomon is an exception to this rule, it would appear, because he can’t stop laughing when he’s around her.  She even put mashed potates on his nose and all he did was laugh.  It’s sweet.  It makes me wish I were closer with my parents.

We’re having meat and beans for lunch today.  Maggie stole my roll and I let her.  She hasn’t been eating much since the other day.  Now that I think about it, that’s probably why Solomon’s eating with us.  He wants to make sure she eats.  I think Maggie’s probably had that figured out for a while now—she’s quick like that.  Usually she gets real pissed about that sort of thing.  “I can take care of myself,” she’d insist. 

Bill and I learned real quick not to defend her in front of the rest of the guys.  “It just makes me look weak,” she told us one day.  “Don’t stick your neck out for me.  I can take care of it on my own.”

It’s different with Solomon though.  He’s her grandpa, after all.  I think she’s just glad to have him around.  I know it’s not my place or anything, but I’ve just got to say it, Journal.  It’s about goddamned time someone listened to her, you know?  She needs people to lean on—that’s just kind of who she is, I think.  I guess it could be a weakness of hers, but she doesn’t treat it like one.  It’s weird.  And cool.  I'm really glad that she's got people again.

Solomon flies out tonight.  I don’t know where he’s going or when he’ll be back, but Maggie visibly deflated when he told her.  Solomon saw it, too.  I mean, I think he did.  He’s hard to get a read on, but when her smile vanished, his did, too.

I wonder how many meals she’ll miss this time.

Regards

Will