But even though we talked on the phone nearly every night, he had not told me this plan and thus I had not okayed this plan, so I was not at one with whatever plan he had.

Gramps said nothing for so long, I felt my skin get itchy.

Then he grunted, “Fine,” and walked away.

He didn’t wait for me to introduce him to Tommy or anything.

He just walked away.

I looked up at Preacher.

“It’s gonna go great, cher,” he promised me.

He was so wrong.

“Um, I told you—”

He bent to me and cupped my cheek.

“It’s gonna go great, baby.”

He then moved to the trunk and helped the chauffer and Tommy with their bags, and I knew Preacher was done talking about it.

I got my way a lot, but I was learning, when Preacher was done discussing something…

He was just done.

Gram sidled up to me and said, sotto voce, “You done good. There’s a mile of him, honey, and all of it is so pretty.”

Lyla:

I told Preacher the turtle story somewhere between Cleveland and Philly, and I didn’t know him well enough at the time to know that was something he’d get on a level that was something only men like Preacher, and my grandfather, understood.

[Off tape]

The turtle story?

[Nods]

We had a pond on our property.

One summer, I was in an innertube on that pond and I’d floated down to the end we never went down to. Lots of cattails down there, trees growing close to the edge, their branches in the water. We had a lot of turtles that lived there.

I got too close, a turtle didn’t want me that close, floated up and took a bite out of me on the skin between my pinkie toe and the next one.

Or maybe that turtle just thought I was food.

[Smiles]

It surprised me, mostly.

So, I freaked out, shouting and flailing, going in circles in that innertube.

[Laughs]

I must have looked like I’d lost my mind.

To my grandfather, I looked like I was being attacked.

He raced out of the house, down the yard, to the pond and almost jumped in wearing all his clothes before I got it together and rowed myself over to him.

He hauled me out, looked down at my toe, there was a little cut, some blood.

He cleaned me up and put some Neosporin on it.

You know that dad on My Big Fat Greek Wedding with his Windex?

That was Gramps with his Neosporin.

[Smiles]

Just a nick.

No big deal.

A few days later, I was doing something on our property, I don’t know what. I was always off doing something. Daydreamer.

Back beyond the barn, up by the trees close to the railroad tracks, I saw them all in a line.