Joy and Sorrow Silence Chapter 13

In the year following Joel's demise,Celeste found herself worrying about Sebastian more than usual.After his father's Shiva proceedings came to a close,Sebastian became almost mute.Answering questions lobbed at him in monosyllabic responses.

Initially,Celeste thought Sebastian had prematurely reached that age when boys began dissociating themselves from their mothers.Then in February,she volunteered for the school's Valentine's Day party.Sebastian participated in the activities, but did not say much.

The boy also had nightmares,but would not say why.This terrified her.She took her son to a therapist,who after two sessions told her he could not draw water from a dry stone.The old man looked dispirited when he explained this to her.She read a few books he recommended about grief geared for children,which aided her mightily, but did nothing for her son.

After that, she tried art therapy.Sebastian loved sitting Indian style on the kitchen floor,ever present Walk - Man cranked to full blast, and the dogs at his sides like bookends.He drew a lot of pictures of the Animaniacs.Bonkers and Garfield.One of them shed light on what was tormenting him at night.It was a pictures of figures that resembled the two of them being sucked into a black hole with vampire teeth.

'' Methinks the lady doth fret too much,'' Her brother Tony said with a laugh.Sebastian has nothing to say is all.He still plays soccer and can't wait to attend summer camp again.Our parent's generation never hovered over us this much, and we turned out spectacular."

This was easy for to Tony to say: He was forever the bachelor and child free.Celeste and Tony had turned into healthy adults.She knew plenty of people in their demographic that were mortally wounded by hurts their parents were either completely ignorant of or saw as trivial.

The chief complaint was their parents didn't 'get ' them.Celeste did not want to sped her twilight years, cut off from Sebastian.

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Summer came again.For the fourth of July,Celeste and a bevy of friend and family met at Lake Ponchartain for a soiree.Thankfully the beach was only marginally busy,without the suffocating crush of warm bodies the sticky weather usually brought.

Doyle and Soledad were visiting from California.Soledad was floating into the lake,wearing Doyle's KISS t-shirt in lieu of the usual swimsuit.After a long day  of sailing and playing volleyball,the crew was vegging around and reminiscing about the days activities.

The men decided to break out the instruments and have a jam fest.One of Joel's Partner's from his old law firm played the drums,Celeste's brother,Tony played the saxophone.Everett played the harmonic and Doyle played the steel guitar.

'' We are kind of like the Traveling Wilbury's only sexier,'' Doyle quipped,spitting a wad of chew into a Solo cup.

Doyle spied Sebastian wandering around the picnic table area, head - banging to his Walk -Man. He felt bad for the kid.Doyle was orphaned at fifteen when a tanker truck broad sided his parent's car. Doyle was furious for a long stretch,getting kicked out of eleven foster homes  for punching holes in the wall.

When he came of age,he got a job at Hardee's and the assistant manager turned him onto music.Rock N' Roll was the religion  that saved him from a bad scene.

He motioned the kid over to play the cowbell,which sat abandoned on the ground.The kid got into the groove, and started to boogie a little.

''What are those,?'' , Sebastian asked, pointing to the cords on the guitar.

'' Cords,each one one contributes to rhythm of the song,'' Doyle said.

He positioned the boys fingers on them and the guitar made a twangy sound.A wide smile covered Sebastian's face like a watermelon slice.

Fall came in a blink of an eye.Soccer Season was in full swing and Celeste and Sebastian were assembling submarine sandwiches for a fundraiser the soccer league was putting on.

Celeste was the meats and provolone cheese lady.Sebastian was the tomato guy.Sebastian was careful as he placed the fragile slices of tomato next to the meats.

'' You are doing terrific,'' Celeste exclaimed,with too much glee.

She was dying for a conversation,even one about a fruit often mistook for a vegetable.

'' It is an important job," Sebastian said in a quavery voice.

'' I hate when the tomatoes are spaced unequally and you get a bite of sandwich without tomato.It is kind of depressing.''

Celeste had a sudden urge to clap or leap around the room: this was the most her son had said in over a year.She kept her composure,fearful of ruining her son's chatty mood.

'' Did you have a good summer? '' Celeste heard herself saying. Good God ,that was lame,'' Celeste scold herself mentally.

He didn't say anything for a long while.Out of the blue, on the way home he became talking again.

I liked when we went went to the Lake  and played music for The Fourth of July.It was awesome when the guys let me ring their cowbell and fiddle with the guitar.I felt like a rock star,'' Sebastian said, blowing into  a plastic glove.

Sebastian was always staring at the street musicians,in town, playing Jazz and Rock n' Roll, Like they were gods.Maybe it would do him good to learn how to play a musical instrument.She signed Sebastian up for guitar lessons,after soccer ended for the season.