The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (40 page)

'H
ow
much lon
ger
are you
goi
ng
to wea
r th
ose g
loves?' h
e as
ks, b
eating
the eggs with on
e
h
and a
nd
sw
iggin
g
o
range
j
u
i
ce
with th
e o
ther.

'
Until m
y
w
arts
ha
ve
gon
e.'

'Th
ey
w
on't
h
elp,'
he
says
.

'
I d
on't wa
nt th
em
t
o s
pread, d
o
I
,' Ta
liesin
says
.

'I
d
on't
kn
ow
h
ow yo
u
ca
n
ea
t
wi
th
t
hem
o
n. Wh
y
d
on't
yo
u
go a
nd
see a
doctor,
ge
t
so
me pill
s o
r
so
mething.
'

Th
ere are
time
s
when T
aliesin won
ders
i
f
J
onathan rea
lly
ca
n b
e
hi
s
b
rother.
He never r
eads,
h
e's
s
ix f
eet ta
ll,
goo
d
a
t
s
port,
a
help t
o
hi
s
f
ather
around the farm,
v
aguely
h
and, so
me, h
e ge
lls hi
s
h
air, s
haves, he
's
ki
ssed a g
irl,
a
nd d
oesn't
b
elieve
in
G
od
a
ny more
.
It i
s
lik
e s
haring a h
ouse w
ith his
o
pposite;
someone w
hose
c
haracteristics
c
ompletely
s
ubtend hi
s ow
n.
T
heir
co
nversations
a
re
a
lways
a co
ntrary,
vice ve
rsa
o
f
w
ills
a
nd
o
utlooks: Jon
athan
d
etermined
t
o gai
n th
e
upp
er
h
and a
nd
a
bash h
is yo
unger brother, T
aliesin
r
efusing to
b
e
put
dow
n. It i
s ge
tting harder to
find
c
ommon
g
round. A
s
th
ey ge
t
o
lder
t
here
a
re f
ewer
thin
gs
to t
alk
about
,
th
e ga
p
is wide
ning, th
e ga
mes
a
re
c
hanging, th
e
field
of
mutu
al
in
tere
st
n
arrowing.
Th
ese
l
ast two y
ears Tal
iesin
h
as
und
ers
tood
t
his
a
nd
st
rived t
o overco
me it. H
e
do
esn't wa
nt to
give
u
p o
n h
is
b
rother.

A
s
h
e spoo
ns hi
s ce
real h
e re
members th
e
ph
otograph
of th
e
W
elsh
ru
gby
pl
ayer o
n
Bi
lly E
vans's
pian
o. '
Mr
Ev
a
ns h
as go
t
a
ph
oto o
f Spud Willi
amson o
n hi
s
p
iano
.
It
's sig
ned
.
' J
onathan t
ri
es
n
ot
t
o s
top d
oing
what he
's
doin
g
but thi
s
i
s i
nterestin
g.

'
You
ca
n
b
u
y
a
utographed p
ictures
of pla
yers
i
n
th
e s
ports
s
hop th
e
s
e
d
ays,
th
ey're
n
ot
th
e
r
eal s
ignatures
,'
h
e says, giving
n
o groun
d.

'
Spud's v
isited Mr
Evans a
f
ew
t
imes
to
ge
t h
is s
houlder fi
xed
.
'

J
onathan p
ut
s
th
e eg
g
o
n
so
me bread
a
nd h
alf
turn
s a
nd li
stens as
T
aliesin co
ntinues t
o
d
escribe
the phot
ograph
.
'
He's
wea
ring hi
s
W
ales s
hirt
a
nd
a
funn
y
hat with t
assels.'

'
You m
ean a ca
p
.
It
'
s w
hat
yo
u
ge
t f
or
pl
aying
f
or yo
ur
co
untry.' J
onathan ca
n't
q
uite brin
g
him
self
t
o as
k
w
hy Mr E
vans
h
as a sig
ned ph
otograph of
th
e
pl
ayer. '
I th
ought
h
e ta
ught
pia
no.'

'
He'
s
a
h
ealer
m
ainly
.
H
e s
pends
m
ost
of
hi
s
tim
e
d
oing
th
at
.'
J
onathan
can'
t
gras
p
t
his,
a
nd
if
he doe
s,
h
e
d
oesn't wa
nt to
s
how it. H
e s
hakes h
is
h
ead a
nd forks
i
n hi
s egg
.
T
aliesin
 
makes
some te
a
and pours his brother a mug even
stirrin
g
in
th
e
s
ugar
for
h
im.

'
Thanks
.
'
To ge
t
a
th
ank yo
u
o
ut
of Jo
nathan i
s a swe
e
t th
ing a
nd
a s
ign o
f g
ive. A
fter a
m
inute
'
s s
ilence h
e
l
ooks a
t hi
s yo
ung
e
r
b
rother.
'So
d
oes
h
e
kno
w
Spud
,
th
en?'

'Y
eah
.
'

J
onathan
i
s
impr
essed. 'S
pud W
illiams
h
a
s
got fo
rty-two
ca
ps
,'
h
e says
.
T
here i
s a s
hort
s
ilence, th
en
h
e s
peak
s
agai
n. '
Do yo
u w
ant to
k
ick a
b
all a
round? W
e
h
aven't
h
ad a game
f
or ages
.
Y
ou ca
n be W
ales
.'
J
onathan
b
ecome
s
m
ore a
nim
ated
n
ow
th
at s
port is
o
n
t
he
agenda
.
Th
is offer is
h
is way of co
ntinuing
th
e co
nversation
in
a
l
anguage
h
e ca
n u
se
.
H
e ca
n
s
ubmerge h
is
d
ialogue
i
n a ga
me.

T
he
ga
rden
is
an
o
blong
pa
tch f
enced in by
a
hed
ge.
T
his
is
wh
ere s
mall f
amily
dram
as
h
ave
b
een
pl
ayed
o
ut. I
t
h
as
b
een a
b
attlefield,
a
t
ennis co
urt,
a
te
mporary h
ome fo
r
m
olly
l
ambs, a s
pace f
or
drinkin
g
t
ea, s
unbathing,
h
an
g
ing wa
sh
in
g, a s
pace
w
here his m
other
o
nce
thr
ew a f
ull
c
up
of coffee a
t hi
s
fa
ther
(
he
neve
r f
ound out w
hy),
a
space w
h
e
re J
onathan sq
uashed
a
nts, de
stro
y
ing
h
undreds
with
hi
s
finger, a
nd
a s
pace
wh
ere
T
aliesin
l
ay
d
own a
nd r
ead a
b
ook
i
n
o
ne
go.
T
he
s
pace h
as
a
lso
s
taged
a
num
ber of one
-
a-si
de
r
ugby int
ernationals (a
lways
W
ales
ve
rsus
En
gland)
.
T
he
h
edge
m
akes a
n
eve
n t
ouchline a
nd th
e
l
eaves
p
rovide a de
nsely p
acked
c
rowd
that roar
s
w
hen th
e wi
nd
is
u
p.
N
ot
th
at
th
ey
n
eed
th
e
w
ind.
Wh
en
it co
mes
t
o spo
rt,
rea
l
o
r
sim
ulacrum, J
onathan's
im
agination
bl
ossoms
.
H
e
n
ot o
nly pl
ays,
h
e pro
vi
d
es ca
pacity-crowd
so
und
ef
fects
,
com
mentary
and
s
low m
otion
r
eplays
f
rom th
ree
dif
ferent
a
ngles
.
On th
e field o
f pl
ay
h
is
b
rother
i
s
quit
e
a
p
oet
,
pur
ple i
n
his
commen
tary,
p
re
pared t
o
im
agine,
h
appy
t
o
s
uspend d
isbelief,
pr
epared
to
u
se
~
fl
ashy s
imile
a
nd bi
g
m
etaphor,
us
ing wo
rds h
e'd
n
ever
u
se in
eve
ryday
co
nversation.