Anathema

Little Joe was elated to have another night at his grandparents. Apparently something sad had happened to his father's cousin, and he and Mom needed to help out. Plus, his brother would be coming over too. He had missed Jack during the past week.

For the moment, however, Little Joe was left to entertain himself in Grandma's livingroom. (All rooms upstairs and on the main floor were Grandma's, and the entire basement was Grandpa's.) He noticed a cabinet he hadn't explored and opened it. There he found several photo albums. He paged through, searching the yellowed poloroids for familiar faces. Nothing.

"Watcha got there?" thundered Grandpa Joe's voice.

Thinking he might be in trouble, Little Joe shrank against the sofa and looked up tentatively.

"Oh, pictures I see. Recognoze anyone?"

"No," Little Joe answered, relieved.

"Here, this is the one you should look at." Grandpa Joe selected a dingy red cloth-covered book from the shelf, plopped down next to Little Joe, and opened it. Pointing to a large wedding photo, he asked, "Do you know these people?"

Little Joe hesitated. "No," he replied.

"Look carefully," Big Joe advised as he raised the book so his face was next to the picture.

The facial features clicked in Little Joe's mind. "Is that you?"

"Yep. So who's this?" pointing to the bride.

"Grandma Jean."

"And," Grandpa Joe paged further into the album, "Who's this?"

"Dad!" Little Joe recognized the person in this picture much more easily. His father looked about ten years old. He was wearing a red and white baseball uniform and hugging a large St. Bernard. Little Joe continued examining the pictures as Grandpa clicked on the television.

Little Joe saw several more pictures of his father along with uncle Tom. He knew his uncle to be fun and entertaining, and the pictures of his youth proved he had always been that way. In a Halloween photo, his father was dressed like a hobo while Uncle Tom was decked out as Gene Simons, make-up and all. Little Joe also came upon a few pictures with his father, Uncle Tom, and some girl. "Who's this?" Little Joe inquired.

"Huh? What?" Big Joe was more interested in the baseball game on tv.

"This one, Grandpa. Who's this?" Little Joe persited, pointing his finger at the young girl.

Big Joe broke from the game and looked at the picture. He paused and looked a bit irritated. "No one important...just some girl...I don't know." Big Joe tried to dismiss Little Joe and directed his eyes back to the tube.

Little Joe looked for other pictures of this unimportant girl. She was easy to spot with her distictive green eyes. There were several more picture of her throughout the years.

"Grandpa, who is this?" Little Joe asked, poiting to a different picture, the girl a few years older.

Big Joe barely glanced at it. "I already tell ya, she ain't important. Why dontcha put that thing away and go bug your grandmother."

"But Grandpa, there are lots of pictures of her."

"Jean!" Big Joe hollared. Jean! Get in her please."

Grandma Jean appeared in the doorway, dishrag in hand. "What you shoutin' at me for, old man?"

"Get that damn photo book away from him. He's gonna wreck it."

Irritated at Big Joe's orders, Jean stomped over and looked over Little Joe's shoulder. She saw Little Joe's finger tapping a picture of a girl and immediately understood why Big Joe was so flustered.

"This is not for you," Grandma admonished Little Joe. "Come help me in the kitchen." Jean casually took the photo album, put it back into the cabinet, and returned to the kitchen.

Little Joe was frustrated about the picture, but knew he had done something wrong and didn't want his grandparents to be angry with him. He followed Grandma Jean into the kitchen, and she gave him the job of drying and putting away the silerware. He wanted to ask her about the picture but would settle for asking Jack later that night.