Story: A relative visiting

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When Soul made one of his rare visits the family gathered to welcome him but with a certain reserve, based on their earlier dealings with him. The visits always followed the same pattern. He would have brought a suitcase of presents for the kids but it was always lost at the station. So much for that. He would effusively embrace the teenagers but couldn't remember their names, not even the first letter of their names. The smaller kids would barely remember him because the visits were so rare. They looked at their parents, thinking: Do I know this person? How am I supposed to react?

There would then be a meal with lots of varied food but it would turn out that Soul was on an ultra low-carb diet that was almost a fast. He touched his plate, that was all.

People started a conversation on politics then quickly stopped it. America didn't think alike anymore. It wasn't safe to talk freely.

After dinner the children quickly got into that hectic flush of activity that meant either there'd be tears soon or a sudden collapse into exhaustion. The odd thing was that Soul had the same hectic look all the time. Now he began to describe his latest string of investments and the elders turned silently to look at each other. They knew a plea for funds would soon be coming.

It was said that Grandmom had squandered the funds for her grandkids' college, diverting them onto this ne'er-do-well with the killer smile.

But even she got a bit tense when she saw him cozy up to Janelle. For the rest of that evening one of the adults would always stay in the room. They were careful that way, at least when they could be.

Soul was artistic, it was one of the attractive things about him. He borrowed Junior's new guitar, sat by the bookshelf and started in. Uncle said it was a worship song that didn't mention God. The adults stirred in their seats. Janelle sat next to the visitor, not quite touching. The look in her face was "Soulful". The song seemed to be 2 chords back and forth, on and on, very haunting but it didn't ever want to finish. Its effect was like a trance that you went into but had trouble coming out of. Since the adults all had to work the next morning they were having trouble staying awake. Soul always pushed his visits to the breaking point. They were always like a test.

Finally Janelle's mom leaned over to whisper to Body: I can't even keep my eyes open but look, I'm a bit worried about Janelle. She's still too young to see the big picture, you know.

Body didn't skip a beat. Don't worry, honey, she said. I know this guy. We're kind of bound together in a way. He's not going to do anything except probably crash on the sofa in a minute or 2. I promise I'll get him settled somehow.

In the morning he'll wake up and say: What am I doing here? Then he'll be off maybe even before breakfast. And you all will be so glad he's gone but at the same time you'll feel that something's missing from your life. Someting vital, some wonderful strange and pointless thing. It may not be a good thing in itself but it's really good the way it stirs you up. That's when you'll really have to watch Janelle. Because I promise you: she'll get depressed.

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