Background
Miranda Jessup Buckley is back to find out what happened to Dougie Wilcox.
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So far, Miranda Jessup Buckley is back to find out what happened to Dougie. Someone called to tell her to stop looking for him and she just found out an old man had been swindled out of money by Dougie.
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Aaron is sitting on the porch with Waylon when I get home. He looks up and smiles when I finally get out of the car.
"Hey, Miranda. How was work tonight?" Aaron asks. "I know you just got home and all, but I'd really like to run something by you."
"Can I go inside for a minute?" I ask, shaking my car keys and my dirty work vest. "Give me five minutes."
He nods and immediately Waylon starts showing him something on his phone.
The trailer is messy. Waylon is forgetting to straighten the covers on his futon more often than not. There are dishes in the sink. Not just a couple of cups and a spoon, no, we are talking full dinner party sinkfuls. Seven course meals being served while I'm at The Little Eagle, apparently.
I mean, I get it. Why walk across the room for the glass you were just using when you want something else to drink. What is it, the depression?
I look around. The couch looks like it was used by four or five chimpanzees who suffer from ADHD.
"Waylon," I yell. "Please come inside ... now."
He saunters, no lie, he saunters in like he's just been crowned prom king. "Yeah?"
"When you look around this fine establishment, what do you see?"
"A couch, a T. V., refrigerator," he says.
I nod, making sure to look at each item as he lists it. "What else?"
He shrugs, but instead of that sauntering lad who came through the door a minute ago, he is now unsure. He has become a young man who is standing in the middle of a mine field. "I didn't make my bed?"
I frown. "I'm sorry, are you asking me? Was that a question?"
He sighs. He has just realized the danger he is in. He took one wrong step. Boom.
"The bed, the couch, the sink, and I haven't even gone into the bathroom yet. What do you think I'll find in the bathroom, Waylon?"
"A toilet, sink and shower," he says, a playful smirk on his sweet little face. He's young, he hasn't learned to read the room yet.
"Clean this place up. Got it? I'm going outside to talk to Aaron. While I'm doing that, you will look at every surface in this trailer and straighten it. Kitchen counters and all bathroom surfaces included."
His smirk deflates as fast as someone popping a party balloon with a fork.
"Thank you," I say as I cross to the door.
Aaron looks up as I walk out. I can tell by his eyes, he heard our little exchange.
"Am I wrong to make him clean up after himself?"
He shrugs. "It'll teach him how to take care of himself. You're good at this mom stuff."
I sit beside him, feeling much better now. "What did you want to run by me?"
He turns on his phone and taps an app. "This guy has a YouTube channel and it's called Parking Lot Advice. It's really cool. People send him questions and he tells them what to do. It's interesting because, well, sometimes he's in the parking lot of Starbucks or Target."
I shake my head. "Why is that interesting?"
"Because it's different. It makes him seem more real, you know, like he's more approachable."
He taps the screen and a handsome young guy starts talking. He's wearing a nice shirt, holding a Starbucks coffee cup, standing in a parking lot of a mall. "Hey guys, it's me, Adam, hanging out at the Twin Rivers Mall. Man, what a beautiful fall day it is ...," he says, all the while smiling a million dollar smile.
I put my hand on Aaron's arm. "He's very charming, Aaron, but what does this have to do with you?"
"This is what I want to do, Miranda. I want to be the guy who tells people it's okay to love God. It's okay if you don't want to go to church. You can still worship him."
"I think most people know that."
Aaron shakes his head. "But, they don't. If religion has done one thing, it's made us think that people who go to church are Christians, and the ones who don't are sinners."
I look over at him. The passion for this burns in his eyes. "I want to find places, around Patterson, that show the beauty of God's world. Then I want to teach people about Him."
I wonder how I got so lucky to have him as my neighbor and friend. He's open and honest. Doesn't care if people laugh at him. And they do. I mean, I've laughed at him. I've doubted him. He's proved me right and he's proved me wrong in those doubts.
"When do you want to start?"
He grins. "This weekend. I'd like you to help me film it, but, if you can't, maybe Waylon can."
I nod. Aaron will either turn an entire generation on to God, or he'll fail miserably. But, I'm gonna be right there with him. "Okay, I'm in."
He let's go a deep breath then a hoot. "I knew I could count on you."
He goes home, eager to script out his first message to the faceless audience of the world wide web. I stand and go inside.
I look around. The couch no longer looks like it belongs in a zoo, Waylon is finishing up the dishes. "The bathroom is clean. But, I couldn't find the white powder stuff for the toilet, so, I just used the brush in the water. But, it looks clean to me."
"Thank you, and I'm sure you did a great job."
"Is Aaron gone?"
"Yep. But, don't worry, cause we're gonna spend part of Saturday with him."
Waylon turns around, hands dripping soapy water, and a huge smile on his face. "Just like old times," he says.
I nod, but, part of me wonders how it can be like old times when we have all changed so very much.
