Jimmy's Riddle (2)

Jimmy drained his third pint glass in as many minutes and I got that familiar feeling of dread again, a feeling absent for nearly a decade.
He smacked his lips and burped a long resonant note that lifted towards the end.
He grinned like a child... proud of his effort.
Then ordered another round and nodded in my direction when Geoff (the landlord) held his hand out for for the money.

I delved into my jeans and pulled out a mess of notes, from which I extricated a twenty and handed it over, whilst also trying to flatten it out a bit.

Geoff took the crumpled note and as our eyes met he gave me an almost imperceptable eyebrow raise and for a split second his eyes flicked across to Jimmy and I countered with a slight nod and a similar but somehow apologising (or so I thought) eyebrow raise.

This silent conversation over, my mind then settled back on it's most pressing problem.... How can I make my excuses and exit this potentially nightmarish evening without angering poor old Jimmy.

Over the next hour I wrestled with this in vain, half wishing I wasn't thinking of being such a shit to one of my oldest friends.

Then suddenly the problem took care of itself when he announced:
"Right can't stand here jawing with you... things to see and people to do!"

And with that he was gone... leaving the dregs of his beer as the only clue he had ever been there.

I exhaled a long and long held breath and my shoulders relaxed for the first time since I heard that car backfire.

Sitting there looking at my half full pint I weighed up the events of the day.
A long lost relative and close friend turns up un-announced, having spoken not a word to each other for years and he had seemed exactly as he had been all those years ago.
And most disturbingly to me was the fact that he had not complained nor even mentioned the fact that I had never visited or even written to him.
I had felt bad every time anyone had mentioned his name, felt guilt that I had not written, felt that it was for the best.

In my defence Jimmy had never written to me either, it had seemed like we all (including Jimmy) accepted that he was gone until further notice. It must also be said that Jimmy was not the most literate person in the world, and any effort I put into writing to him would have probably been wasted.

After most of a day to get used to it I was still trying to re-file this new snippet of information in my mind and get a clue as to how I should feel and what I should say.
An overly joyous welcome back may have sounded hollow to him, while silence about his absence would have the same effect.

I resolved to talk about it whenever Jimmy brought it up and not until.

2bctd