“I don’t know, but time is the one thing I do have. From what I can tell, there’s not one unfinished project to complete or broken appliance to fix or even flower bed to weed around here. You’re gone all day. I might as well put those hours to use somehow.”
“Uh-huh. Like with photography?” My brother over-enunciated the last word just in case I hadn’t recognized the sarcasm.
I ignored it. “That’s right. You know of a place where I could take a few classes while I’m here?”
Brady still seemed to be waiting for the punch line. An Amish man learning to use a camera? I supposed that made me the punch line.
“Well, my mom took a community ed class on tai chi last year in Irvine. It only lasted six weeks. You could maybe look into something like that if you’re serious. But I don’t think you’re going to find a class that only lasts a month and that starts, like, this week. Maybe you could hire a professional to tutor you.”
“Great idea.”
“Though that could get pretty expensive.”
I thought for a moment. “What about, instead of a professional, a gifted amateur? Aren’t there people like that who will just teach me one-on-one for a few lessons?”
“Well, you could look on Craigslist or the classifieds, but…” He made a face.
“But what?”
“You just need to be careful, Tyler. You’re not in Amishland here. Not everybody who says they have something to offer can be trusted. Know what I mean?”
I did. His concern for me trumped his Amishland comment. He may have been mad for some reason, but he still cared about my welfare.
“Here’s a thought,” he continued. “My friend Aaron has a sister who goes to Orange Coast College. I think she’s majoring in photography. Maybe she can recommend someone. I’ll ask him at school today.”
“Orange Coast College? Is that local?”
“Yeah. She lives at home and commutes to school.”
“Okay. Thanks. That would be great.”
“So, you won’t go contacting people you don’t know, right?”
I laughed. “I promise I won’t contact people I don’t know.”
“Good. And if you need something to do while I’m gone, here’s a suggestion. Find out everything you can about the Vikings. And I don’t mean the football team. I have a paper about them due on Friday, and I haven’t even begun thinking about it.”
Brady rose from the couch and headed toward the kitchen, so I clicked off the TV and followed him there, telling him I’d be happy to round up some resource materials if he thought that would help get him started.
“Where’s the public library?”
Brady set his plate in the sink. “I don’t know. Except for in school, I haven’t been to a library since I was a kid. Why?”
“To help with your research?”
“Dude, just use the computer in Dad’s office.”
I felt my face grow warm. Since when had my little brother become so mean spirited? “I know that,” I said, trying to recover from my embarrassment. “I just thought it would be good to get out of the house at some point today.”
Brady rinsed out his coffee cup and set it next to the plate. “So get out of the house. Walk the dog. Go to Starbucks. Relax a little. Life isn’t just making buggies, you know.”
On that note he left the kitchen to finish getting ready for school. Good grief. This kid was too much. Dad had been right about one thing. Brady had definitely changed.
Putting him out of my mind for now, I made a plan for my day as I rinsed my own plate.
I would walk the dog.
Then I would call the buggy shop to let Daadi know I had arrived safely.
Then I would write a letter to Rachel.
Then I would head to the nearest library.
Then I just might stop in at a barbershop. It was time to make my temporary transformation complete.
THIRTEEN
By twenty after seven, Brady was gone and the house again became very quiet. I washed our breakfast dishes, fed Frisco, and checked the fridge and pantry for what I would need for our hamburger dinner. After making my bed and resisting the urge to make Brady’s as well, I programmed the number for the buggy shop into my cell phone and then called.
Thom answered.
When I said hello, my uncle began speaking to me in Pennsylvania Dutch, and I realized I hadn’t heard one word of my everyday language in more than twenty-four hours. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.
“Daed is out making a delivery,” Thom said. “But Mamm is here. Hold on.”
A second later I heard my grandmother’s gentle voice. “Tyler. Wie bischt?”
“I’m fine. My dad left for the Middle East this morning. It’s just me and Brady at the house now.”
“Your little brother must be very happy you are there.”
I laughed uneasily. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell. He’s changed a lot since the last time I saw him.”
“It has been a while. At that age, change comes more quickly.”
“That’s true, I suppose.”
“So are you glad you decided to go?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I had barely even begun the quest that had brought me here. It wasn’t a matter of being glad, but of listening to God. “I think I’m supposed to be here right now, Mammi,” I finally said.