| General Fiction posted December 8, 2024 | Chapters: |
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An unexpected and unusual reconciliation
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 12
by Jim Wile
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 11: Julia and Marie have their long-awaited confrontation with hopes on both sides that they can reconcile their differences after 13 years of estrangement. Together they review the events of the fateful night when the rift began. Each one gives her own interpretation of events, and both refuse to apologize for anything to each other. They are at an impasse.
Chapter 12
Marie
The next morning, Julia and I sat silently at the kitchen table, having breakfast while the baby was in his highchair next to Brian, who was putting bits of scrambled eggs and slices of banana on his tray. Johnny gobbled these up as soon as they were put in front of him.
Julia and I avoided looking at each other. The silence became deafening until Brian eventually broke it.
“Alright, you two. It’s become painfully obvious how pigheaded you both are, and neither one of you is going to apologize to the other, so I’m going to do it for you. This has gone on far too long for no good reason except pride. So, lose the pride for a while and just listen.”
Mimicking me in a caricatured way, he looked at Julia first. “Julia, this is difficult for me to admit,” he began in a somewhat harsh tone, “but I suppose it’s possible I’ve been wrong about a few things, especially your darling husband here, who you clearly love because he is so good to you and who obviously loves you very much. I know I was overbearing at times and should never have threatened you the way I did that night in your apartment and tried to break you and this lovely boy up.”
He was really hamming it up, and it was all I could do to keep from smiling at this exaggerated, obsequious apology.
“For that, I most humbly apologize and beg your forgiveness so that we can move forward from now on.”
Then he gazed at me and began in a softer, more contrite tone, mimicking Julia. “Mother, I know you had some doubts about my relationship with Brian and just couldn’t see what a wonderful person he was—pretty hot, too, I might add—and that he was so good for me.”
I glanced at Julia, who was rolling her eyes.
“I know you were just looking out for what you thought was in my best interest because you had a strong desire to see me succeed in my studies. So, after careful consideration, I too most humbly apologize for the way I spoke to you that night and would love to put that behind us and move forward from here in hopes that you’ll come to love not only Johnny but my wonderful, handsome husband here, who cares so very much about us.”
I cracked up, picked up a piece of toast, and threw it at him like a frisbee. He saw it coming and ducked. Julia, likewise, picked up an uneaten toaster waffle full of syrup and butter and threw it at him, scoring a direct hit on his face. The two of us then picked up every bit of food in sight and pelted him with it as he raised his arms in front of him to fend it off. We all began laughing. Even Johnny joined in the hilarity and began pounding on his tray with his fists and laughing his little head off.
Brian had done it. The tension was broken, the apologies were out of the way, even if it took him to perform them, and I think we all felt we could begin to move forward now and put that horrible episode 13 years ago behind us. I looked at him and winked, and he winked back at me.
I helped Julia clear the table and clean the food from the floor where most of it ended up while Brian cleaned himself up as well as Johnny’s sticky fingers and face—it’s amazing what sloppy eaters babies are—and got him down from his high chair. He toddled over and found a piece of soggy waffle I had missed. He put it in his mouth and began gumming it. When he’d swallowed it, I smiled at him and tickled his neck, and he squealed with laughter. Julia cleaned the bit of syrup off his face and hands with a washcloth while he struggled to escape.
“He is adorable, Julia.”
“Isn’t he? He just keeps us endlessly amused. He’s a good little baby. Hardly ever cries anymore. He loves music too, as you saw yesterday. Seems to prefer the banjo over the violin, though.”
“How did you ever start playing the banjo of all things?”
“Well, you heard Willy tell the story of how I joined the band. What he didn’t tell you was that it was Brian who urged me to go up there and play with the band in the first place. I don’t think I ever would have gone up there on my own if Brian hadn’t suggested it. I didn’t really know any of the songs, but I was able to pick them up after a few bars and just joined in as best I could. It was fun.
“I hadn’t been a bluegrass music fan before that, but there was a certain charm to it, and it was very satisfying to the soul. I especially loved the rowdier songs and the twanging, fingerpicking banjo parts. One day, after I’d joined the band as its fiddler, I asked the regular banjo player if she’d show me a few things. She let me try it, and I really liked it. She then gave me a few lessons, and I learned how to play. I practiced a lot here at home, and Johnny, especially, liked to hear me play it. The violin he could take or leave, but he always loved the banjo playing and started saying, ‘ba-ba, ba-ba’ several times a day. So, now I play both instruments in the band.”
“And Brian told me you’ve stopped touring? You’d rather play hillbilly music now than the classical music you were brought up with?”
“I wouldn’t put it quite like that, Mother. I haven’t necessarily given up touring for life. It just doesn’t fit into my life right now. We wanted to start a family, and constant travels all over the world just wasn’t a part of that picture. Besides, I was getting very fatigued with all that travel and time away from home. During the Covid years, I stayed home helping Brian work on his new drug, and I really enjoyed it. I got to understand what drug development was all about and how extremely brilliant you must be to do what he does.”
“Do you ever practice the violin anymore, or have you given it up for the banjo?”
“Of course I do. I still love the violin and classical music. People have thought it strange that I could love both, but it’s not strange at all. I love them, each in their own way. I will play professionally again someday, but after my kids are grown. I won’t let my skills atrophy. You really did instill a love for the violin in me, you know.”
“Well, it appears I did something right, I guess. I meant what I said about your talent, Julia. You really were quite special. I’d just hate to see you throw all that talent away.”
“I won’t, Mother. I promise you that. The violin is in my soul now. I could never abandon it. Would you like to play some duets with me like we used to?”
“I didn’t bring my violin.”
“That’s okay; I have several. You can play my Joseph White, and I’ll play one of the others. Wanna play now?”
“Sure.”
We headed into the family room where her instruments were stored in a cupboard, and she got two of them out, handing me the case containing her Joseph White. It was a very handsome instrument with a warm, soulful sound to it. It was a high-end instrument that probably cost her upwards of a hundred grand, but I would expect nothing less from a player like Julia.
She still had the violin she played in high school and college, and that’s what she would be playing. As we tuned together and rosined our bows, she said, “How about we start with the Bach Duo?”
“That’s fine.”
Brian and Johnny wandered in right about then, and we began playing. Neither of us needed the music to play. It was like the best of our old times together. With its intricate counterpoint and strong sense of rhythm, this was a challenging piece to keep together on, but we managed it quite well. When it was over, Brian grabbed Johnny’s two hands and helped him clap while he shouted, “Bravo, Bravissimo!”
We played a couple of others together, but then Johnny started saying, “Ba-ba, ba-ba.”
Brian said, “I think he wants to hear the banjo now, Jules.”
Julia looked at me, and I said, “Alright, if you must,” as I rolled my eyes. She laughed and got her banjo out of the cupboard and began playing something called “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” a banjo classic made famous, she said, by someone with the awful-sounding name of Earl Scruggs.
I had to admit that even I began tapping my foot to this rapid fingerpicked banjo piece. Brian helped Johnny clap along to the rhythm. The speed with which Julia played it showed that she had become quite proficient in the banjo in a very short time, which really didn’t surprise me. I guess I could see how it had found its way into her soul, right along with the violin.
What other revelations would I experience in this unexpected trip to Hicksville?
 Recognized |
Fran Pekarsky: One of three narrators of the story. She is an FBI agent from the North Carolina field office in Charlotte.
Dana Padgett: One of three narrators of the story. She is the assistant marketing director for a Big Pharma company.
Brian Kendrick: Fran's younger brother. He is the inventor of Dipraxa and Glyptophan.
Julia Kendrick: Brian's wife.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother. She is the third narrator of the story.
Cedric (aka Cecil): The doorman at the apartment house where Marie lives.
Lou D'Onofrio: Fran's boss at the FBI.
Patty Mattson: A hacker friend of Fran's.
Abby Payne (nee St. Claire): A girl from Dana's past, who she used to bully but has befriended during their adulthood.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's husband. He is a DHS agent.
Paul Rieke: Brian's former college professor and geneticist, who helped steer him into neuroscience. He has become a good friend.
Willy Stubblefield: The leader of Julia's bluegrass band.
Shannon Stubblefield: Willy's wife and the drummer in the bluegrass band.
Picture courtesy of Playground-v3.
Yes, that's Steve Martin playing at the 1:15 mark.
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