Read Online Time Flying by Dan Garmen - Free Book Online Page A

“You better come up with a good reason why you left school today. You were supposed to talk to your coach, but you weren't around when he went looking for you. He called for your Mom.” A small smile had slipped onto her face.
    “Yea, right,” I answered. “Thanks.”
    Thelma shrugged. “I’m guessing your ass is grass, boy. Let me ask you something. Is Amanda the mama of your baby girl in the future?”
    “No, she's not.”
    'MMMM HMMM,' Thelma half-said-half-sang. “Well, then, maybe THAT’S why you're back here, Richie.”
    I didn't answer.
    “She called, too,” Thelma continued, with a little laugh. My stomach again sank as I realized I didn't leave school today to get away and think, I left so I wouldn't run into Amanda. Shit.
    “Well, future-man, I gotta go catch my bus. They got them flying cars 30 years from now?” Thelma asked.
    “No, not yet.”
    “Too bad,” Thelma answered, shaking her head, “What about the stock market? Got any tips to make me rich…Rich?” She asked with a bigger smile.
    I thought for a minute. “Yea, a new company starting up in a couple years called Apple . Go buy real estate in Las Vegas and Phoenix. You'll do fine,” I replied.
    “Okay, then, see you later.” Thelma called, as she left, leaving my bedroom door open.
    What the hell? Thelma sure seemed to know something about this, but she always loved to yank my chain, which pissed me off at the time. It wasn’t until years later that I realized how important she had been in my life, how she had helped keep my ego in check at a time when it could have gotten me into a lot of trouble. Thelma believing  when I said I had traveled 30 years back in time would be completely bizarre, but then, I reasoned, would it be any more strange than if I had?
    My leg had stopped hurting, and as the sounds of my mother making dinner reached my bedroom, my 17 year old body again made itself known. I was hungry, so I got up from the bed and went to help. Thelma would have loved THAT.
    Thelma had been telling me the truth when she said Coach MacLaren called to tell my Mother I had skipped coming by his office, and both my Mom and Dad let me know how mad they were about it. You have to understand in Indiana in the 70s, and I supposed to this day, basketball is all-important. Like high school football in Texas, during the season, basketball dominated life for those involved. Coach MacLaren was respected like no other coach or teacher at Ben Davis, by teachers, administrators, students and parents. When it came to his players, he carried authority most parents held above their own. Not being as anchored here as the last time I worked my way through April of 1976, the whole thing didn't bother me much. I took the chewing out, appearing appropriately chagrined, and promised them I'd go talk to Coach first thing in the morning. I also got quizzed by my mother about doing my physical therapy, after Dad found a reason to excuse himself from the discussion. The physical therapy always seemed too uncomfortable for him to talk about, since he felt responsible for the accident. I didn't understand the first time through this time in my life, but I get it now. I watched him leave the kitchen when my Mom switched to the topic, and I felt sorry for him. The accident hadn’t been his fault.
    More than anything though, through the day and into that first night, I experienced a constant running current of amazement. Everything was familiar, yet not as I remembered. Not much of what happened the first day back occurred the first time I lived this day. Passing out in the hallway, “Opting-out” of my afternoon classes, and the conversation with Thelma all were new. They'd never happened before. So, if this was real, I thought as I sat at my desk in my bedroom, things would continue to branch off and my life would get stranger and stranger to me. Familiar in setting, but new in what I did and how the world reacted to me. How soon before things spiraled