Page 75 of Theo of Golden

The gentle beauty and surprising strength of its flow.

Its surrender to forces about and around it: gravity, temperature, ingratitude.

The deathlessness of it.

At some point, Theo’s mind rested, and he gave way, like a floating leaf, to the peacefulness of the current.

He turned to walk again, southward, looking down, deep in thought. The silence and sense of aloneness were total, which caused Theo nearly to stumble and fall when a figure approached him from the shadows.

The man was by himself, dressed darkly, hands hidden in the pockets of a jacket.

Theo froze. He had been warned about walking the streets alone late at night. The man was obviously coming straight at him. Theo’s heart pounded in his chest and he felt himself stagger. He avoided eye contact with the approaching figure.

When the two were only four steps apart, the stranger spoke. There was an eerie distance to the voice, as if it was being piped in through a tunnel.

“Mr. Theo, is that you?”

It was Kendrick.

Theo looked up but had no breath for a reply.

“Mr. Theo, what in the world you doin’ down here this time of night?” The tone was that of a parent scolding a child.

Still no reply. Then, in broken phrases, and with a feeble laugh, Theo finally spoke. “I’m sorry, Kendrick. I’m afraid you startled me. My, my.” He took a breath. “Please just let me catch… I was startled.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you, Mr. Theo, but what are you doin’ here? This’s mighty late for you to be walkin’ ‘round alone.”

They took a few steps to the nearby bench where Kendrick had been sitting moments before, mulling over the events of his long day.

“I walk here sometimes when I can’t sleep,” Theo said, still shaken. “There’s never been anyone here before.”

“Well, sometimes there are people down here, and they not always the best people to run into by yourself. Some of the people who live under the bridge can be crazy in the dark.”

Theo’s breath was slow and labored as he regained his composure. “I suppose so.” He exhaled audibly. “But Kendrick, what are you doing here?”

“I’m on my break. I been cleaning that building over there,” he nodded toward the university offices, “and I came down here to think. I don’t come down here much, but I felt like being alone tonight.”

Theo sensed a heaviness in Kendrick’s voice. “And how is Lamisha today?”

“She’s awright. But we had a hard day today. That’s what I came down here to think about.”

Theo looked his way, as if to say, “Tell me more,” which Kendrick seemed eager to do.

“We had to go to court today, about the accident, the one where Lamisha got hurt. The State has charges on the little man who caused it, and the lawyers wanted us there since she was the victim. They want to lock him up. Lamisha was so scared to go to the courtroom — I was too. She thought that man was gonna be like a monster or something. Me too. We never seen him before. The DA — his name is Mr. Derrick Prince or something like that — he wanted us to be there to tell the judge how we feel about it and how it messed up our lives. Lamisha’s too little to say anything, but the lawyer wanted the judge to see how she walks now.

Theo nodded. “That dear child.”

“So, Mr. Theo, when they brought that little man into the courtroom, he wasn’t hardly a big as a kid. He’s a man, older than me, but still just real small. He’s been in jail all this time, and I could tell he was scared to death. Had him in handcuffs, and he can’t talk in English ‘cause he’s from Guatemala, so they had to have a woman there who could speak for him and tell him everything we were saying. You could tell he was terrified.”

Kendrick shook his head and looked at the pavement.

“And when the woman pointed to Lamisha and told him that that was the little girl he hurt, you know what he did? He started crying, I mean crying hard, and he put his hands together and held them up like he was saying a prayer to us, and he started trying to say something to me and Lamisha, real soft, but I don’t know what he was saying ‘cause the lawyer was talking to the judge, but I think he was telling me he was sorry. He didn’t look like no monster, Mr. Theo. He was just a sad, little man and scared to death.”

Theo shook his head. “That dear child.”

“And then the judge and the lawyer did some legal talk and told the little man some things. I didn’t understand it, and he didn’t have no lawyer, so I don’t think he understood it even though the lady tried to tell him. But then they asked him what happened, and he told ‘em.

“He said he been living up in Fincher County for fourteen years. He’s a bricklayer. He’s an illegal, but he been working here all that time and never been in no trouble. Somehow he got caught for something, and they sent him back to Guatemala. But he didn’t stay there. He came all the way back.