Chapter 52 fifty two

It was one o'clock that morning when Chad's house phone rang, piercingly in the empty house, and woke Chad up.Chad had a dream while he was napping that he was 23 years old again, drinking whiskey with his mates and talking about some man talk, Norma was very lively, a mate Telling a story about a Jewish businessman... Just then, the phone rang, and Jud startled in his chair, his neck stiffened, and he winced in pain, and he felt a sour heaviness sink into him like a stone; The 60 years from the age of 23 to 83 were injected into my body in an instant.Then he thought: You're asleep, my boy.There's no way to go on this railroad...no way tonight.Jud stood up, stiffening from his neck to his back, and walked stiffly to the phone.It was Rachel, who asked, "Chad? Is Louis home?"

"Not yet," said Chad. "Where are you, Rachel? Sounds like you're pretty close." "I'm closer to home. I'm on Bidallfield Road on Maine Main Road." "Biddleford Road?" "Yes. I can't stay in Chicago. Whatever Ellie is anxious about, I can sense it, and you can sense it too. I can hear it in your voice. Is something wrong going to happen?" "Yes." Chad took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, watching his hands tremble as he lit the match.His hands had never shaken before, at least not before this nightmare.Jud listened to the night wind outside, howling as if it was about to knock down the house.

The magic is building up and I can feel it. Chad found it a little scary, thin and brittle like glass strands. "Chad, please tell me what happened!" Chad thought Rachel had a right to know, a need to know, and he thought he should tell her.He would tell her eventually, tell her the whole story, and he would show her the story piece by piece.First there's Norma's heart attack, then the death of Church the cat; Louis' question - has anyone ever buried someone there before - and then Gage's death... God only knows which one Louis is now forging ring.He'd tell her eventually, but not over the phone.

"Rachel, why did you drive back, didn't you come back by plane?" Rachel explained how she missed her plane in Boston. "I rented a car, but I don't think I'll be able to make it back in time. I got lost a bit on the main road from Longan, and I'm just on Maine road now. I think I might Didn't get there until early morning. But Chad... please, please tell me what happened. I'm freaking out, but I don't even know why." "Rachel, listen to me," Chad said, "you drive to Portland and stop, you hear me? Get a motel and get a rest..."

"Chad, I can't do that..." "Go to sleep. Rachel, don't worry. Something might happen here tonight, maybe it won't. If it happens like I think, then you shouldn't even try to come back here. I Think I can handle it. I better get it right because it was my fault that this could have happened. If nothing happens, then you come back this afternoon and it will be all right. I think Louis would be really happy to see you." "Chad, I can't sleep tonight." "No." Chad said.Thinking in his heart that he thought he would not be able to answer the questions, but he still fell asleep.Jesus, Peter probably thought the same thing the night Jesus was taken to prison, falling asleep on sentry duty.Chad continued, "No, you can fall asleep. Rachel, if you dozed off in that wrecked rented car, you'd probably go off the road and kill yourself. What would Louis do then?" What about Li?"

"Tell me," Rachel said. "No, ma'am. Not on the phone. I won't tell you on the phone, Rachel, I can't tell on the phone. You drive to Portland, then stop and rest." There was a long silence on the phone, as if Rachel was deliberating. "Okay," Rachel said finally, "maybe you're right, Chad, tell me something, tell me how bad it is." "I can handle this," said Chad calmly. "Things have gotten bad." Chad sees a car with its headlights on outside the window, slowly coming, Chad half-stands staring at the car, and as the car accelerates past Louis' house, Chad sits down again and the car is out of sight.

"Okay," Rachel said, "I think I'm going to be driving the rest of the way like a rock in my head." "Let that stone roll away, honey," said Chad. "Please take care of yourself. It'll be all right by tomorrow." "Will you promise to tell me the whole story?" "Yes, we will drink beer together, and I will explain the whole process to you in detail." "Okay then, bye," Rachel said. "Goodbye," said Chad. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rachel." Before Rachel could say anything else, Chad hung up the phone.

Chad remembered there were caffeine pills in the medicine cabinet, but couldn't find them.He put the rest of the beer back in the fridge, regretting it, but he had to pull himself together.So he decided to have a cup of coffee without milk.Chad went back to the window with his coffee, sat down, drank his coffee and looked out. Coffee and a conversation with Rachel kept Chad awake for 45 minutes, but then he started dozing off again.Can't sleep on alert, old man, you let that magic take hold, you messed with these things, now you have to give something to pay back, so can't sleep on alert.

Chad thought, lit another cigarette, took a deep breath, and coughed.He put the cigarette beside the ashtray and rubbed his eyes with both hands. A ten-wheel truck rumbled past on the road outside the window with dazzling lights, breaking the windy and restless night. Finding himself dozing off again, Jud woke up suddenly and slapped his face, forehead, and back of his hands so hard that his ears buzzed.Now his heart is full of fear, as if an uninvited guest has broken into the mysterious place in his heart.He thought: This magic is putting me to sleep... hypnotizing me... it doesn't want me to wake up, because Louis will be back soon.Yes, I can feel it.This magic tried to keep me from it.

"No," said Chad sharply, "no way. Did you hear me? I'm going to stop this, it's gone far enough." The wind was blowing under the eaves, and the trees across the road shook their leaves in a hypnotic way.Chad's thoughts went back to the night when he was 23 years old and drinking with his mates, and they talked all night.Several of the companions are dead now, and now he is the only one alive, old and stupid.This stupidity, sometimes masquerading as kindness, sometimes masquerading as pride, is really nothing more than a need to tell some old secret, to pass something on, like wine poured from an old cup into a new one... …

Chad's head was nodding, his chin resting slowly and gently on his chest. The ash on the ashtray is getting longer and longer, and finally the cigarette butt falls into the ashtray and burns out. The ashes of the smoke are like a mysterious character. Chad fell asleep. About 40 minutes later, the roar of the car and the flashing of the rear lights failed to wake Chad when Louis turned the corner toward his driveway.He didn't hear it, he didn't notice it, just like Peter didn't wake up when the Roman soldiers came to capture a bum called Jesus and put him in prison.