This is a story - a romance of sorts - that involves a grandfather and and his grandson. Readers should take not of that and the category it is under.
***********
The bed I'm resting on is every bit as lumpy as I remembered it from back in late Spring, but that's okay by me because I wasn't interested in sleeping anyway. Besides it's muggy despite the window being open, and my grandparents house doesn't have air conditioning.
Chances are even if the old farmhouse had AC, my grandmother probably wouldn't turn it on. I could just imagine her ranting and raving to my grandfather about the cost of electricity to use something like an air conditioner, since she throws a bit if he has the nerve to turn on a fan to cool the place.
It's not like they're hurting for money, because they seem to be doing fine, and I remember one time seeing a financial statement from my Grandpa's retirement fund which suggested that were doing a whole lot more than okay.
"It's just her way," I remember Grandpa telling me once, during one of our late night chats. "She wasn't always like this, Marc. It's just that sometimes when you get old..."
I didn't argue with Grandpa, but frankly I didn't remember her ever being much different, and I spent a lot of time around their house over my 19 years. I do know it's gotten worse in recent times, and I suspect she might be starting to lose it a bit, even though she's only 67.
"That's what I get for marrying an older woman," Grandpa said once, although she's only 4 months older than him.
The thing is that he doesn't act it. He's retired, but he's still an active guy who I have to struggle to keep up with whenever we do things like taking hikes. Grandma, on the other hand, spends her days sitting around and complaining about aches and pains that may or may not exist.
I know it sounds like I don't love my Grandma, and that may be partly true at times, but only because I hate the way that she treats him, belittling him and nagging at him every chance she gets. More than once I've asked him why he stays around and takes it, because I know that the affection part of their marriage ended years ago.
"When I said till death do we part, I meant it," Grandpa once told me, and while I know there's no way I could endure what he does, I admire the fact that he's a man of his word.
Obviously, I look up to my grandfather, because since my Dad passed away years ago, he's been like a father figure to me. He's taught me more than I ever learned at school, and even now heading into my sophomore year of college, if I need to know something, I go to Grandpa before Wikipedia.
I not only respect and admire my grandfather, I love him too. I love him in ways that you aren't really supposed to love your grandfather, and I think he feels the same way toward me. I know he feels shame and guilt about that, but I don't. Maybe it's a generational thing. I'm not sure.
It's fair to say that we have an unusual relationship. Incestuous would be an accurate term, although to me that sounds dirty and what we do isn't that. It's a sharing of love and affection, and for those expecting something way out there, our story isn't that. Not at all.
This is the second and last night of my visit, since I have to continue driving west tomorrow out to college. I'll return here again around the holidays, and then once more after school ends come next Spring. I might sneak out for a weekend in between, if things work out. If I could, I would be here all the time.
Last night - last night was like many nights have been around here of late, and I'm hoping that tonight brings more of the same. I guess I'm always afraid that maybe Grandpa's guilt might set in big time, but it hasn't, and it didn't last night.
I was in bed last night just like tonight, waiting. It's like waiting for Santa Claus back in the day, only Grandpa is real, and he never disappoints. The anticipation is so intense it's sometimes almost suffocating, but then I hear the light creaking of my bedroom door.
I was sleeping on my side, facing away from the door so I could savor the sight of the shadow on the wall. Grandpa's only about 5'10" and slender as a rail, but the shadow makes him look larger. Grandpa then moved into the room and closed the door behind him, with the turning of the bolt following.
The cat-like footsteps follow, and then Grandpa steps over to the side of the bed I'm facing. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness somewhat, but Grandpa's haven't, and it takes him a second to realize that the sheet is pulled down already. After he figures that out, he gently climbs into bed facing me and eases closer.
"You awake, Marc?" Grandpa says, the minty toothpaste aroma arriving just after his words.
"Is the bear Catholic?" I reply, one of our frequent barbs, and we both giggle like school children being naughty.
We talked for a while, about generic stuff we had touched on earlier in the day when all four of us were together, and then we started talking about other things. Things I would never talk about with anybody other than Grandpa.