Charles and Richard Chapter 15

Thanks to the construction that had gone on all through the previous spring, Charles had beautifully remodeled the attic under the roof. The roof itself, originally built with baked bricks and topped with dark brown European clay tiles, was already lovely in its own right. The reason Charles had wanted to remodel it was that, last winter, they had finally paid off the mortgage on the house. Of course, for twelve years, that house had already been the sweet home of Charles’s family, but now it was legally and completely theirs.

The idea to change the attic came from his mother. The old attic had been a place crammed with all sorts of belongings of the four siblings. As time passed, Christine, Emma, and Emily moved out one by one, and the clutter in the attic gradually diminished until it became an empty, unused space. The idea of remodeling the unused attic into something nice appealed to both Charles and his father. They discussed it, sought opinions from the three sisters who had moved to other cities, and spent the winter making plans.

Ultimately, it was Charles’s idea that won out. They would tear out a portion of the roof above the attic and install thick glass windows that could be opened and closed, instead of the clay tiles. It would be a bit hot in summer and a bit cold in winter, but at least in spring and autumn, it would make an incredible terrace.

The construction was left entirely to Charles. Charles consulted with a construction company, got advice from an interior design firm, and drew up blueprints. When the weather warmed up, the boy began the work with a few laborers from the construction company. As the chilly spring sunlight grew warmer, the pace of work quickened as well. They were able to complete the terrace before spring ended.

It was an attic you had to duck your head and shoulders to enter, but with the windows wide open, you could stand up straight. They placed a sofa and a table beneath the windows, and each family member brought things they wanted to decorate with (his father put up family photos and pictures of the three sisters; his mother lined the corners of the room with various scented candles; Charles tossed in a few magazines and odds and ends), and the terrace soon became cozy. It was the tail end of spring in twelfth grade. The summer of eighteen was beginning.

Charles gave up on going to university. He decided to take over his father’s grocery store. The grocery store had expanded a little over the past few years and now carried daily necessities and produce as well, employing three or four staff members. His parents, as well as Emma and Emily, raised no particular objections to Charles’s plan. Only Christine, among the family, opposed it—because she believed he absolutely had to at least finish university education. (Charles, whenever Christine called, would pretend not to be home or that he’d missed the call.)

Without the worry of college entrance exams, Charles spent his time leisurely. After school, he would take the bus to a lake on the outskirts of town to go fishing. When there were people swimming in the lake, he’d cast his rod and join them for a swim. On the way back around evening, he would deliberately get off a few stops early and walk. He’d sling his fishing rod over his shoulder and watch people at open-air bars playing music, dancing, and throwing parties. Sometimes he’d slip in and buy a bottle of beer. He’d walk home slowly, and when he reached the grocery store, he’d close up shop with his father and head home.

On Fridays, he always stopped by his mother’s auto repair shop. He’d wait until his mother finished work, watching the mechanics do their jobs. Charles would lick his ice cream and hope his gaze wasn’t too obvious. When work was done, he’d walk his mother home and then go hang out with his friends. Sometimes he’d go to a club, but usually it was just drinking a few bottles of beer in the park and skateboarding. Charles would skateboard home, one foot pushing along the residential streets in the deepening night, and look up at the stars. He suddenly thought that if this was all life had to offer, living was terribly boring.

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Actually, Charles didn’t even know how to fish. He just thought the act of baiting a hook, casting a line into the river, and waiting endlessly for a bite was cool. And he liked the jeans and boots he wore when he went fishing. He’d go out to fish, listen to his iPod, lie down in the shade of a tree and sleep, hang out with strangers and swim in the lake, and sometimes he’d end up petting with one of them.

Hidden among the reeds by the dimming lake, Charles pressed his body close to a boy whose name he’d learned today, and they fondled each other’s genitals. They stood chest-deep in the water, legs intertwined. They grinned playfully at the sight of their semen dispersing softly beneath the surface, but the two boys never met or hung out outside the lake. It was just one of those things that happened sometimes while fishing.

1. Monday Evening

That day was a late-spring Monday evening, and Charles was on his way home, having, as usual, caught no fish. He got off near the park where the open-air bars were clustered, bought a strawberry margarita, and was strolling along leisurely. Charles, who had been watching the partygoers, suddenly caught sight of one person. A honey-colored head of hair poked out conspicuously among the crowd. It was a man with broad, sturdy shoulders. Charles thought the man looked somehow familiar, but he didn’t know anyone that tall. The man soon disappeared into the crowd. Charles went home.

1. Wednesday Afternoon

Charles came home early from school and cleaned the terrace. He’d fallen asleep with the windows open the night before, and dust had piled up on the floorboards. Having started mopping, he ended up wiping the windows clean too, and was lying down on the roof when someone sped past the front of the house on a bicycle. Charles, who had glimpsed them out of the corner of his eye, sat up straight, feeling a sense of familiarity. A man wearing a snapback backward was riding a bicycle, and had already reached the house at the end of the block. The man stopped his bike far away and suddenly looked back. Charles thought he’d made eye contact with him, but it was too far away to be sure.

1. Thursday Night

Charles, who had taken Cherry for a walk in the park with their neighbor Mr. Smith, came home to find his parents dozing side by side on the sofa. He woke them up and nudged his father toward the upstairs bathroom and his mother toward the en-suite bathroom in the bedroom. His mother, blinking sleepily as she brushed her teeth, suddenly spoke.

Mother: I heard a new mechanic is starting tomorrow.

C: Tomorrow? Who is it?

Mother: I don’t know. I heard they had the interview last week, on the day I was out sick.

C: Is it because Jerry quit?

Mother: I’m not sure. Jerry’s still got a month or two before he leaves. When you come pick me up tomorrow, say hello to him.

1. Friday Midnight

Charles had completely forgotten his promise to his mother. That day, one of his friends had come up with the idea of attaching rocket-style fireworks to the backs of their skateboards, and he’d forgotten all about everything else. While his friends roamed around town, emptying their pockets to buy every firework they could find, Charles pretended not to care, hands in his back pockets, trailing a few steps behind—but he was just as excited as they were. The boys waited impatiently for darkness to fall. Charles remembered his promise to his mother only when they were being chased by a police car (one of the residents had reported them to the police for the noise of the fireworks). By the time Charles got home, it was around three in the morning.

It was Saturday afternoon. Charles woke up late and went downstairs to find only Cherry at home. Charles hugged Cherry, sat on the floor, and worked on a jigsaw puzzle. There were already so many puzzles Charles had completed that they lined the staircase, framed and hung on the wall. Charles loved doing puzzles. When he got bored, he had some cereal, and took Cherry for a walk. Cherry was getting old and wasn’t as energetic as before, but they still had a great time together. When Charles returned with Cherry, his parents were home too.