Read Online Underbelly by G. Johanson - Free Book Online Page B

again?”
    “ I haven’t the strength to start again,” he said wearily.
    “ This is your mother speaking now, I’m just the vessel. You made it through the depression, Ollie, you’re stronger than any other man, your father included. We’ve weathered hard times together and you can get through hard days on your own grit. They’ll take you on at the mill and you can save up and in less than two years you’ll be able to get the money for the post office – maybe a year, you’ve no vices. You can turn this around.”
    “ No, I can’t. Not without you. Can she hear me?” he said, feeling ridiculous as he talked to this man as though he were his mother.
    “ Through me, yeah. Her words again. You’re only 41. I don’t want to see you yet. You were my life; I should not be yours. We’ll be together, just not yet. Promise me or I won’t find peace knowing that my dear son died in such a manner.”
    “ I’ve already shamed her too much by doing this.”
    “ No, she’s proud of you, not ashamed. I wish my mother was as proud of me as Doreen is of you. Loss is always difficult, Ollie, but it doesn’t have to be the end of us. Why not consider her advice? Perhaps you could name a new store as a tribute to her?”
    Ollie considered Grey’s words and while he remained standing on the edge, Grey felt that his mother’s words were getting through to him. It took another twenty minutes before he was able to consider it, asking Grey what they’d do to him. Grey promised him that it wouldn’t be too bad and that they’d let him go back home after a day or two, providing he didn’t mention about him being a medium else they might keep them both locked up indefinitely. When he did finally climb back over the barrier the police grabbed him quickly, escorting him away as he profusely apologised. Grey talked to the police quickly, promising them that Ollie wouldn’t try and take his own life again and he gave them a contact address if they wanted to talk to him further.
    Germaine had been waiting patiently with the police and Grey tried to sprint back across to her and discovered that running was a mistake on his third step as he felt discomfort in his lower back. A full recovery was still a few months away, though he was pleased that he had recovered enough for a normal life, his time in the wheelchair unbelievably frustrating. He masked the pain from his wife and embraced her and kissed her wet hair. Grey spotted their suitcase by her feet and realised that their coach had not waited for them. The driver had been reluctant to leave them behind but he had a schedule to keep and after waiting for 15 minutes he had unloaded their case and given Germaine the choice of whether she wanted to stay or go. She had left her homeland for her husband (hardly a wrench) and she dismissed the question as ridiculous. Grey was aggrieved that Germaine had been left outside in the rain and grumbled about this even when he discovered that the police had offered to take them home.
    “ So what made you think you could talk him out of it?” the officer asked him as he drove the short distance to Keokuk.
    “ I’m good at getting into people’s heads,” he said. The truth, that the open door policy in his own head was useful for many things, was going to come out, but that didn’t mean he had to admit what he was in every conversation. Germaine whispered in his ear for the rest of the ride home, praising him for his heroics, while asking him to be more careful in future. She was pleased that her husband was the kind of man who tried to prevent suicides although she wished he had done so from a distance instead of putting her through the wringer as she imagined the man jumping and dragging James with him, or James making a grab for him and plummeting with him. She’d already experienced enough loss without losing her husband too, their marriage providing the foundation of her new life.
    The end of the line. As soon as the road became