Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“You have a collect call from Angola State Prison…”
Roman went through the motions of accepting the call. His father said nothing, but he could tell by the breathing, his old man was there. Listening.
“Hi, Daddy. I know you can’t say nothin’.” He blinked back tears. “I just uh… wanna let you know that I saw what I needed to see. The other day, you and I were emailing each other about new TV shows, movies and such. Well, I’m going to tell you about a movie I saw at an independent theater with my fiancée.”
He heard some shuffling noises, and then things grew quiet on the other end of the line. “I saw this movie about this soldier, right? His father was a soldier, too. They had a difficult relationship when he was comin’ up as a boy, but got to the point where they were talkin’. Gettin’ to know each other, finally gettin’ along. Years passed and they actually became friends. Well, one day, the world was threatened. Our peace. An invader came to Earth. See, there was this evil alien that looked human, looked like the father and son, actually, but it wasn’t. Not like the movie, ‘Predator,’ or ‘Aliens,’ where the creature looks scary. Nah, this alien walked ’round in suits ’nd such. Mingled with folks. Blended in perfectly. Well because of this threat, that son and father duet were called back into service—this time, together.
“Father and son soldiers. Fightin’ on the frontline. Shoulder to shoulder. So the alien is takin’ out folks, right? It’s makin’ these pods, procreatin’ if you will, but for some reason, if the pods didn’t come out exactly like it wanted it to, it would eat it. Like, eat its young. It did this over and over again ’till it had the pods it wanted. The alien wanted to turn some people into these pod—like creatures, too, but it was selective about which ones it was gonna turn. Well, in one part of the movie, the father got injured and was stuck in an infirmary. It was all on the son’s shoulders to save the planet. The father, though, told him about this magic emblem to be found inside a wooden locket underground, one he could use to help stop the alien invasion.” He heard his father take a deep breath. That let him know that his daddy was following the story just fine. “So, the son took that emblem and studied it.
“It was one of the ugliest emblems he’d ever seen because it let him know just how evil this alien was, see? And, uh, well, he used it to help stop the alien from destroyin’ the planet.” Roman paused, tears welling in his eyes. Taking a sharp inhale, he carried on. “…At the end of the movie, the soldier went to visit his father in the infirmary. His father was healin’, gettin’ better.
“And after that, the two soldiers were no longer fighting a long alien invasion war. They were no longer at odds. They understood each other in ways that words couldn’t express. They had suffered at the hands of this same alien, but this taught them how important it is to listen, even when words can’t be expressed. To watch and pay attention, even when our eyes are closed. I liked the movie, Daddy. I think you’d like it, too.”
A few seconds passed, and he heard his father grunting, as if the man wanted to say something but couldn’t. However, this was enough to let Roman know that he heard him loud and clear, and he appreciated the message. Then, a song began to play… ‘Love Without End, Amen,’ by George Strait. Daddy was playing the song for him.
Roman sat on the edge of that bed, his head down, crying his eyes out. He then smiled through the tears. The release of a lifetime of anger, sadness, and depression.
“Thank you, Daddy. I love you, too…”
…Several months later
Grandpa laughed at Mr. Newman’s joke; a bit distracted by the vibration of his phone in his suit jacket pocket. He looked at the screen to see an email had come in. Old fears were aroused.
“Excuse me, gentlemen.” He stood from the table at the Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse. Jasper looked up and nodded as he sipped from a glass of water, his crutches lying against his chair. “I won’t be long.”
Grandpa moved around the various men at the table, making his way to the front of the restaurant, his phone in hand. It had been an interesting few months. Quiet. Now that quiet was broken like an eggshell, the runny yolk spilling forth. He stepped outside and cool air swept his face, making his long beard sway. Opening the encrypted email, he swallowed with difficulty, his sentiments catching in his throat. There were no words in the body of the email from Reeves that he’d sent from a new email address. Just pictures and videos.