Provider's Son by Lee Stringer Page B

fine sawdust had settled over the chair like a veil, giving the illusion that it had been sitting untouched for years. After a moment he reached out with one finger and rubbed along the length of the arm.
    Levi grabbed a cloth and began rubbing the sawdust off the chair, until five minutes later it was completely uncovered. A rough section of the back of the arm caught his attention, and unconsciously he picked up a piece of sandpaper and began sanding it. Lightly at first, but gradually gaining speed and momentum.
    It was a half hour before he truly realized what he was doing, that he was on his knees, sanding his rocking chair after traveling for nearly fifteen hours. He shook his head at himself, stood up, and went into his house.
    He left the luggage in the porch, flopped down on his couch, and was asleep in minutes.
    Levi is climbing a scaffold, and he is afraid. What’s worse is that no matter how much he climbs he doesn’t get any closer to the top, as if it extends to eternity. And when he tries to look up, to see how close he is, he is blinded by the morning sunlight. So he levels his head and keeps climbing...climbing...
    Eventually he gives up, and stares across at the boy working without his harness, his arms and face covered in dark bruises.
    â€œYou still climbing?” the boy says.
    â€œHow far up does it go?”
    â€œHow do I know?”
    â€œYou should wear your harness.”
    â€œWer not all pussies like you, buddy.”
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Levi says.
    â€œWorking, greenhorn.”
    â€œNo, I mean…” but Levi is afraid to tell the boy what happened.
    â€œWhat are you staring at greenhorn?”
    â€œDont talk to me like that. Im old enough to be your father.”
    â€œYou are my father.”
    Now the boy is Jon.
    â€œIm not your father.”
    â€œSure you are.”
    â€œI might be your father-in-law some day. But Im not your father.”
    â€œHonour Thy Father,” Jon says, laughing. He holds a big family Bible in his hand and throws it at Levi. It hits him in the chest and knocks him slightly off balance. This terrifies him because he knows he is up high. Higher than he has ever been.
    â€œJon!”
    Jon throws another Bible at him, laughing. “Come on, pussy. Its just the Good Book. It cant hurt you.”
    He throws another Bible and it hits Levi’s hand and knocks it off the rung. He falls but catches himself.
    He is no longer on the scaffold and walks towards Jon who is preparing to throw another Bible at him. Jon leans back in an exaggerated baseball pitch, but before he can let the Bible fly Levi pushes him, and watches Jon fall silently with a man screaming somewhere on another scaffold. Then he realizes that man screaming is him.
    Levi stared at the white ceiling of his kitchen after just catching the tail end of the echo of his own voice. He had been yelling. He wasn’t used to nightmares. He only could remember a few in his life, and already the memory of this one was fading. He got up and rubbed his eyes. It was suppertime.
    The phone rang and he picked it up to hear his mother’s voice. “Youre home is you?”
    â€œIm home.”
    â€œHow long?”
    â€œSince this morning.”
    â€œYou should have called me.”
    â€œI was asleep, Mom.”
    â€œWhat did you have for supper?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œWhat! Come over. I got a roast on.”
    â€œNo. The only way youll see me from now on is when you comes here.”
    â€œWhat for?”
    â€œYou think I wants to be around Frank and Barnaby?”
    There was a pause on the phone, and Levi wondered with annoyance if she was crying already.
    â€œLevi my son, I knows brothers that stopped talking to each other, and they always wished they worked it out when one died.”
    â€œIm finished with the two of them, Mom. Theyre off me books for good. I wouldnt even go to Franks funeral.”
    â€œMy Jesus, dont be