"But--I don't--can't--"
"Now, James, your father and mother knew best."
"But they didn't know about Paul Brennan. I won't go!"
"You must."
"I won't!"
"James," said Grandmother Holden quietly, "you can't stay here."
"Why not?"
"We're not prepared to keep you."
"Why not?"
Grandmother Holden despaired. How could she make this youngster
understand that eighty is not an age at which to embark upon the process
of raising a five-year-old to maturity?
From the other room, Paul Brennan was explaining his side as he'd given
it to the police. "--Forgot the land option that had to be signed. So I
took off after them and drove fast enough to catch up. I was only a
couple of hundred yards behind when it happened."
"He's a liar!" cried Jimmy Holden.
"That's not a nice thing to say."
"It's true!"
"Jimmy!" came the reproachful tone.
"It's true!" he cried.
His grandfather and Paul Brennan came into the kitchen. "Ah, Jimmy,"
said Paul in a soothing voice, "why did you run off? You had everybody
worried."
"You did! You lie! You--"
"James!" snapped his grandfather. "Stop that talk at once!"
"Be easy with him, Mr. Holden. He's upset. Jimmy, let's get this settled
right now. What did I do and how do I lie?"
"Oh, please Mr. Brennan," said his grandmother. "This isn't necessary."
"Oh, but it is. It is very important. As the legal guardian of young
James, I can't have him harboring some suspicion as deep as this. Come
on, Jimmy. Let's talk it out right now. What did I do and how am I
lying?"
"You weren't behind. You forced us off the road."
"How could he, young man?" demanded Grandfather Holden.
"I don't know, but he did."
"Wait a moment, sir," said Brennan quietly. "It isn't going to be enough
to force him into agreement. He's got to see the truth for itself, of his
own construction from the facts. Now, Jimmy, where was I when you left my
apartment?"
"You--you were there."
"And didn't I say--"
"One moment," said Grandfather Holden. "Don't lead the witness."
"Sorry. James, what did I do?"
"You--" then a long pause.
"Come on, Jimmy."
"You shook hands with my father."
"And then?"
"Then you--kissed my mother on the cheek."
"And then, again?"
"And then you carried my birthday presents down and put them in the car."
"Now, Jimmy, how does your father drive? Fast or slow?"
"Fast."
"So now, young man, you tell me how I could go back up to my apartment,
get my coat and hat, get my car out of the garage, and race to the top of
that hill so that I could turn around and come at you around that curve?
Just tell me that, young man."
"I--don't know--how you did it."
"It doesn't make sense, does it?"
"--No--"
"Jimmy, I'm trying to help you. Your father and I were fraternity
brothers in college. I was best man at your parents' wedding. I am your
godfather. Your folks were taken away from both of us--and I'm hoping to
take care of you as if you were mine." He turned to Jimmy's grandparents.
"I wish to God that I could find the driver of that other car. He didn't
hit anybody, but he's as guilty of a hit-and-run offence as the man who
does. If I ever find him, I'll have him in jail until he rots!"
"Jimmy," pleaded his grandmother, "can't you see? Mr. Brennan is only
trying to help. Why would he do the evil thing you say he did?"
"Because--" and Jimmy started to cry. The utter futility of trying to
make people believe was too much to bear.
"Jimmy, please stop it and be a man," said Brennan. He put a hand on
Jimmy's shoulder. Jimmy flung it aside with a quick twist and a turn.
"Please, Jimmy," pleaded Brennan. Jimmy left his chair and buried his
face in a corner of the wall.
"Jimmy, believe me," pleaded Brennan. "I'm going to take you to live in
your old house, among your own things. I can't replace your folks, but I
can try to be as close to your father as I know how. I'll see you through
everything, just as your mother and father want me to."
"No!" exploded Jimmy through a burst of tears.
Grandfather Holden grunted. "This is getting close to the tantrum stage,"
he said. "And the only way to deal with a tantrum is to apply the flat of
the hand to the round of the bottom."
"Please," smiled Brennan. "He's a pretty shaken youngster. He's
emotionally hurt and frightened, and he wants to strike out and hurt
something back."
"I think he's done enough of that," said Grandfather Holden. "When Louis
tossed one of these fits of temper where he wouldn't listen to any
reason, we did as we saw fit anyway and let him kick and scream until
he got tired of the noise he made."
"Let's not be rough," pleaded Jimmy's grandmother. "He's just a little
boy, you know."
"If he weren't so little he'd have better sense," snapped Grandfather.
"James," said Paul Brennan quietly, "do you see you're making trouble for
your grandparents? Haven't we enough trouble as it is? Now, young man,
for the last time, will you walk or will you be carried? Whichever,
Jimmy, we're going back home!"