Page 69 of Intangible
“Can I get you something to drink?” Memphis and Thayer declined, settling onto the couch across from the chair she sat down in. She stared at Memphis for a minute before shaking her head. “I can’t get over how much you resemble Knox. He showed me a picture of you, but I didn’t really see it until now.”
“Ms. Monroe, thank you for letting us drop in like this. I’m not sure what I hope to learn about my father, but Knox said you might be able to tell me a little about him. My mom would never talk about him.”
Memphis looked at the woman studying him. It was a mystery how anyone this apparently free-spirited and friendly ever produced someone as grouchy as Knox. Though Knox had tried to warn him that his mother was a bit different than most, he hadn’t been as prepared as he thought.
“Please call me Sunny. Have you eaten or can I get you something to eat? I can’t tell you how good it is to see you again, Thayer. Even after everything that’s happened, you still have the most beautiful aura around you. It’s simply glowing. Love looks very good on you, my lovely.”
Memphis couldn’t hide his grin. Thayer had read him the riot act, when he was finally coherent enough to understand what she was saying, for waiting until they were about to die to say he loved her. He had explained that there was never a bad time to tell her he loved her, imminent death or no.
“Thank you, Sunny. I’ve missed hearing about your adventures. I think you’ve given Knox more than one heart attack since we’ve talked last,” Thayer said. She had regaled Memphis with stories about the infamous adventures of Sunny Monroe on their way to Kentucky. He had been skeptical of some of the more outrageous ones until now.
“Well, I’m sure you didn’t drive all this way just to listen to an old woman ramble.” Memphis snorted a laugh. She couldn’t be a day over sixty and looked even younger. He was almost positive she would never know, even one day, of being an old woman. She had too young a spirit for that.
“I didn’t know your father for very long, just a weekend, really. What a weekend that was,” she said with a reminiscent smile. “That was back in my wilder days. I can tell you he was tall and so good-looking.” With a wink at Thayer, she added, “Must be where you boys got your good looks.”
“Did you ever see him exhibit any special gifts like throwing fire or phasing to another place?” Memphis asked.
“No, he just seemed like your typical charmer. He was only around for a little while, though, so I knew little more than a name. I was working at the PX on base when he got in my line to check out. He flirted, I flirted, and before I knew it, I had agreed to meet him that night at a concert in Louisville,” she said. “We spent the whole weekend holed up in a hotel and nine months later I had Knox.”
Memphis sat for a few minutes in silence, feeling that the more he learned, the more mysterious his father became.
“There was one weird thing. I got a postcard that asked me to name the baby Knox. There was no return address, just his name. I didn’t have any other names picked out, so I thought, what the hell.”
“What was the postcard of?” Memphis asked.
“Somewhere up north. I don’t remember, it was a long time ago.” He was starting to understand Knox’s frustration trying to follow a trail with little more than a vague description to work with.
“How did you find out about me?” he finally asked.
“A letter showed up out of the blue one day from your mother. He must have told her about Knox. It asked if I knew where his dad was, that it was important she find him. It just had her first name with a phone number. I called her, but I didn’t have any idea where he was. I was sorry to hear she had passed.”
She reached out, squeezing his knee. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to insist we meet. She sounded like a lovely person.”
“She was, thank you,” he said quietly. Thayer took his hand, holding it tightly.
“We never exchanged more than first names and she never told me that she was dying of cancer. I told Knox that night about what had happened. He wanted to leave immediately to go find y’all, but I had nothing more to go on. He began hunting for you that night. He must have been around thirteen then.”
She paused, staring off, lost in the memory. “He was so excited to learn he had a brother. He called that phone number every night for a week before it was disconnected.”
“It must have been about the time she was hospitalized. She passed away about a week later.”
They all sat in silence, thinking about what could have been if his mother had just shared their last name. He could have simply passed from one loving parent to another without the pain between.
It didn’t matter now. He had survived and come out the other side stronger than before. In the end, he still had time to build a strong relationship with Knox, and that’s all that counted.
“How about I make us some coffee?” Thayer asked, standing up.
“Oh sweetie, all I have is herbal tea. I’ll come help you. I also have some whiskey to make the tea go down easier,” she whispered loudly to Memphis. He couldn’t help laughing at the wink of conspiracy she added on the way past.
When the tea was served, they turned to lighter conversation, laughing over stories of Sunny’s latest exploits. She shared several stories about Knox growing up, including his inability to get a homecoming date since he stood a solid foot taller than all of the girls by sophomore year of high school.
“So, could Knox always create fire with his hands?” Thayer asked, sipping the last of her tea.
“No, he must have been around twelve when we discovered it quite by accident. He had been reading about Merlin at school and decided to try his hand at casting spells.
“I guess he was rubbing his hands together when a fireball appeared, he panicked, throwing it at the back shed. Burned the thing to the ground before the fire department showed up to put it out.
“I had to make up some elaborate story about how it caught on fire. They didn’t buy it, but they couldn’t prove any different either.” She shrugged with a laugh.
