After dinner Will sang and played his acoustic guitar. My mom and stepdad seemed really impressed by his ability to figure out a song in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t always perfect, but he would usually get the melody pretty close. My mom requested “The Girl from North Country” by Bob Dylan. He knew the song but he needed a little help with the lyrics, which my mom new word for word. I was surprised since I had never known her to listen to Bob Dylan. I knew the lyrics as well; Pops had sung that song a thousand times and then I realized why my mom requested it; there was no question that Will had a spirit like my father’s. He sang the song passionately with his eyes closed. His soulful voice belted out the lines like they were his own. I’m wondering if she remembers me at all… many times I’ve often prayed. I looked up at my mom, who immediately looked away. I wondered if my father thought about her when he sang those lines.
I made an ill attempt at the harmonica solo, but it didn’t sound that great; Will chuckled at me and winked. He finished the song carrying the last line out, soft and slow; She once was a true love of mine. I looked at my mom again, this time she didn’t look away and she didn’t hide the tears streaming down her face. She was mourning my father, too, and Will being there was healing for us all. The old music wasn’t Will’s style but he didn’t care, he just wanted to play for the people he cared about. He never asked if we wanted to hear an original song even though I knew he had plenty of great ones, he just wanted to provide everyone with something that was personal. He played for hours; we laughed and cried and talked a little about Pops.
When it was time to go to bed, Will offered to sleep on the couch. “No way,” I said, “I want to cuddle.” He smiled and laughed.
Will looked at my mom, who shrugged and said, “She wants to cuddle.” I curled into Will under the covers of my childhood bed. I was asleep in minutes and I got the most restful sleep I’d had in months.
Opening my eyes, I realized I was using Will’s chest as a pillow. I peeked up and found him wide awake, staring at the ceiling. “You talkin’ to God?”
“Something like that,” he murmured.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I have a lot on my mind. We need to get home. I want to put another dead bolt on the door and make the sure the smoke detectors have batteries and the furnace is working before I leave. Plus, I need to get all my equipment together. I’m just stressed about the next couple of days.”
“Will Ryan, are you worried about me?”
“I’m always worried about you.”
“We’ll get it done. I’ll help, and don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine. Do you want to spend New Year’s Eve at the apartment? We can have Jenny and Tyler over to give you a proper sending off?”
“Okay… I’d love that,” he said with a conflicted look on his face. He smiled bleakly and then kissed the top of my head before rolling out of bed.
Track 15: Hallelujah
We flew home that day and got right to work on preparing for Will to leave. Over the next couple of days we were completely consumed with chores. Will did a whole crazy safety check on the apartment while I was at the Laundromat doing his laundry. I stole two Tshirts out of the pile; I figured I would need them to cuddle up with in the weeks to come.
On New Year’s Eve while Will was out with Frank, I made a cake and got ready for our little party. I told Jenny it was going to be a California theme, whatever that means. I cranked up the heater in the apartment and put on a sundress and flip-flops while the snow was falling heavily outside. I drew a palm tree and wrote “Surf’s Up, Wilbur” on the cake. Jenny and Tyler showed up before Will got back.
After they both stripped off three layers, Jenny revealed her Hawaiian-print dress and Tyler had a matching print shirt. “It was the closest thing we had,” she said, pointing to her dress and laughing. She pulled a joint out of her little purse. “Look what we brought. Let’s get stoned—it’s totally California.”
“Oh my god, Jenny, you guys kill me. Will could definitely use that, he’s been a loon the last couple of days. He really hates flying.”
“No… he’s worried about leaving you,” she said, smiling at me.
“Oh, well, it will be fun at any rate.”
Will came through the door looking beat. He patted Jackson on the head before looking up at us with a huge smile. “You guys look ridiculous—it’s twenty-four degrees outside.”
“We got pot,” Jenny said in a singsong voice as she waved the joint around.
Will wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. “Oh, sweet, sweet Jenny.”
Tyler came over and high-fived Will. “Congratulations, man! You better make us proud.”
“It’s not that big of a deal you guys, seriously. I haven’t’ signed a deal, I’m just doing three shows.”
“But it’s a start. Quit being so freakin’ humble, Will. You deserve to celebrate, you’ve worked hard for this,” I said as I reached up to give him a peck on the cheek. “Now go strip down, you must be boiling in that.”