The Arcade

The evening was a happy one, with all of the friends joking and cutting up together. Joe and Rosemary were the perfect hosts; Joe moving around the living room and chatting up his friends from work, then sitting with the Castelhanos and talking to them about Theo’s physical therapy, moving from there to Bobby’s parents and talking to them about the motorcycle shop.

Rosemary, for her part, seemed a Christmas fairy of cheer and warmth; chatting, laughing, offering coffee and cider, all while providing a seeming never-ending supply of ornaments and garland for the tree – and the occasional suggestion.

At one point, after a very brief conversation with Bob Miller about wood lathes, Joe discreetly signaled Cosmo to meet him in the kitchen.

“So – when do you want to do this?” Joe asked in a low tone of voice.

Cosmo shook his head and replied, “I dunno, dad. To be honest, I’m scared to death! Look at them out there.” Cosmo and his father peeked through the door into the living room. Everyone was laughing, smiling…and happy. Looking back at Joe, Cosmo said, “How can I just ruin all that – tonight of all nights? This is horrible! What was Sal – what were YOU thinking?! I can’t do it, dad. I can’t!”

Putting his arms around his son, Joe hugged Cosmo tightly and replied, “Son, you can do this. It is probably going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. I won’t lie to you and tell you that everything will work out all right, because I just don’t know. I don’t know how it will work out.”

Looking into his son’s eyes, Joe said, “But I do know this – I will be right next to you; I will have your back, and so will God. No matter what happens out there tonight, you can count on that.”

Looking down at the floor, then at his dad, Cosmo asked, “How will I know exactly what to say? I mean – I have the vocabulary of a forty-three-year-old man, but I’ve never felt more like a kid than right now.”

Joe chuckled. “Now you know how I feel around your mother sometimes.”

Cosmo smiled and let out a brief laugh. “You’ll be right next to me?”

“Not ten inches away.”

“I guess that’s okay, then.”

“Tell ya what – let’s pray a quick prayer for guidance, okay?” Joe said.

Cosmo replied, “Yeah, that’d be good.”

Sitting down at the breakfast nook, they bowed their heads and prayed. Joe led the prayer, and asked God to give Cosmo the strength to speak, and the right words to say.

Just as they had finished praying, Rosemary’s head appeared through the doorway to the kitchen.

“Is everything alright in here? Everyone’s been wondering what happened to you two.” She said.

Joe looked at her and, with a tired smile, said “We’re fine, honey. Cosmo and I were just having a father/son sort of talk. We’ll be right in.”

Rosemary looked from Joe to Cosmo, and replied “Oh. All right then. I’ll just put some more coffee on.”

Joe held up a hand. “I think you might want to wait on the coffee just a moment.”

He and Cosmo stood and, with his rather puzzled-looking wife in tow, headed out the door and into the living room.

Everyone turned toward Cosmo as he and his parents entered the living room together. Everyone was smiling, especially Holly. When she smiled, it was all braces, and her nose wrinkled in a way that Cosmo thought made her look thoroughly bratty, yet undeniably cute. He wondered if, after his confession tonight, she would ever smile at him again.

“Go ahead, son. I’m right here.” Joe said.

Rosemary, still wearing her puzzled expression, said, “I don’t understand what’s go-”

“Shh. You’ll see.” Joe gently replied, cutting her off.

Cosmo, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, looked up. He looked into each of the faces that were gazing back expectantly at him. Slowly, he began: “It’s great having you all here. It really is. I can’t imagine having a better bunch of friends, especially at this time of the year.”

“You’re not – like – gonna go all sappy on us, are you?” Bobby interrupted, smiling. Holly, who was sitting next to him, smacked the back of his head. Before he could say another word, she held up her clenched fist in front of his nose.

Cosmo continued. “What I need to tell you all isn’t easy for me to do, and there’s a pretty good chance you’re either gonna hate me, not believe me at all, or both – but it’s the absolute truth.”

At that moment, Cosmo felt his father’s reassuring hand on his shoulder. He took a deep, calming breath and looking directly at Theo, said, “I caused your motorcycle wreck.”

In the silence, the only word spoken was a whispered “What?”

It came from Theo’s mother.

Before any more could be said, Cosmo’s story spilled from his lips as quickly as water from a ruptured dam. He spoke of the morning he woke up and wished for a do-over; of driving to work only to lose his job as a personnel manager, then driving to the mall where he and his friends had spent so much time. He then recounted his meeting with Sal, and all that Sal had told him about his future, his asking Holly out, and especially the part of Theo being killed in an accident. He then told them the part of Sal being an angel. Cosmo spared no details.

When he was finished, he simply stood where he was. Joe was still standing behind him, hands on Cosmo’s shoulders. Holly was the first to react. She stood and walked to where Cosmo stood.

“Is it really true?” She began. “I mean the part about you messing around with Theo’s dirt bike?”

Cosmo nodded. “Every part of it is true, Holly. About Sal, about the future, everythi-”

“NO!” She interrupted. “This is not one of your D&D games, Cosmo - this is real life! Theo was almost killed, and you’re telling me – you’re telling us – that some angel ‘told’ you to do it?” Her voice rose with each sentence. “Do you really expect anyone to believe that?”

“Well, I…” Cosmo began.

“Forget it. I’ve heard enough.” Turning to her parents, she said, “I’ll be in the car.” Grabbing her coat, she stopped in front of Theo and his parents. “I don’t even know what to say, I…”

It was now Cosmo’s turn to interrupt. “Look, I know it’s hard for anyone to believe. Trust me when I tell you that I was pretty skeptical myself. But it’s all true!”

This time Theo’s father Gus spoke up. Rising from his chair, his Greek accent thick with disbelief tinged with anger, he said, “Cosmo, stop. Just stop for a moment and listen to what you’re saying. You are asking us all to believe that you are from the future, that you have been having conversations with an angel, who – let us not forget – told you to sabotage my son’s motorcycle. How is any of that reasonable?”

Before Cosmo could say another word in his defense, Joe very calmly replied, “Because I’ve seen Sal, too. In fact, I met him years ago just before Cosmo was born.”

Rosemary and everyone else in the room shifted their gaze in unison from Cosmo to Joe.

“You what?” Rosemary whispered.

“Yup.” Joe said. “I first met him when you and I were at the County Fair. Do you remember that day? You couldn’t understand why I left you at the target-shooting booth with a handful of dollar bills, and disappeared for so long.”

“Yes, but you…” Rosemary began.

“I had gone to talk to Sal.” Joe finished. “He told me that we were going to have a child, and that it was going to be a son.”

“H-how could he…?” Rosemary stammered.

“And that if I went ahead with my plan to join the Air Force, things would turn out badly for many people,” Looking at Theo he said, “especially you.”

Bob Miller had been standing by the fireplace listening to all that was being said, and up until that moment had remained silent. It was then that he stepped forward and cleared his throat.

“Joe, we’ve known each other a long time, and I’ve never known you to act strangely or say crazy things. But I gotta tell ya – when you go off the deep end, you don’t fool around.”

Joe shook his head. “Bob, listen…”

Bob held his hand up. “No, you listen. I don’t understand half of what I’ve just heard, and I’m not sure I want to. What I do understand is that your son intentionally caused serious injuries to someone who considered him a friend – and in my book, your friends aren’t supposed to try to kill you.”

Before Joe or Cosmo could say anything else, Bob said, “Come on Holly. We’re leaving.”

Looking at Rosemary, Ann quietly said, “I’m so sorry, Rosie. I’ll call you, huh?”

Holly stopped at the door and looked back at Cosmo. He felt the weight of the love, anger, sorrow, and betrayal in her gaze. Slowly shaking her head, she turned her back and – without another word – walked out the door with her parents.

Cosmo felt crimson heat rising in his face, and the sting of tears in his eyes. He also felt his father’s hands still resting firmly and reassuringly on his shoulders.

After the few moments of uncomfortable silence following the sound of the front door closing, it was Gus who spoke next. “I don’t know what to say or what to do.” His Greek accent enunciated every word. “I do know that this is the season of Christ’s birth. It is in this time we are reminded of the purpose of His coming, which is forgiveness.”

Taking a deep breath, he continued, “So on behalf of my wife and my son, I forgive you for what you have done, Cosmo. I am filled with sorrow that you did this terrible thing, and I don’t understand – nor do I believe – the explanations you give. Still, when I leave, I leave in peace and with forgiveness in my heart.”

Gathering up his wife into his arms, and gazing briefly at Theo, he looked into Cosmo’s eyes and said, “I will not speak to the police of this matter. I will file no complaint. I ask only that neither you,” then looking at Joe said, “nor your family have any further contact with me and my family.”

At this, Gus moved to push Theo’s wheelchair toward the door, when Theo’s hand suddenly gripped the wheelchair’s handbrake, abruptly stopping. He looked at Cosmo for a long moment – struggling to find the words to express the pain and anguish at what seemed the betrayal of friendship – before simply saying, “You owe me a dirt bike.” Then, without another word, he and his parents left.

A few more moments of silence followed. Cosmo, his eyes downcast, stood quietly. He could feel nothing except his father’s hand’s on his shoulders and his own heart thudding in his chest. He could hear nothing over the roaring in his ears. It all became too much for him to bear. He shook off Joe’s hands and ran upstairs, ignoring the voices calling after him. He reached his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Sitting on his bed, the roaring in his ears gradually began to subside; he could just barely make out the muffled voices coming from downstairs. He put his head in his hands and whispered, “God, what have I done?”