The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (55 page)

'
Did h
e
r
eally say t
hat? Th
at's
n
ot w
hat h
e sa
id
o
n th
e
phon
e w
hen I l
ast s
poke
to
h
im,'
h
is
moth
er says
.

H
e notice
d th
at
hi
s
m
other
dr
ank
a lot of wh
ite w
ine wi
th
h
er
fi
sh
dur
ing
dinn
er.
An
as
perity h
as
seep
ed
int
o
h
er vo
ice
.
T
aliesin ca
n't
ac
tually r
emember
hi
s
fath
er's
m
essage ve
rb
atim
;
a
t th
e
tim
e
h
e
w
as
too
exc
ited at th
e
pr
ospect o
f th
e
j
ourney to
r
emember a
ny imp
ortant
informati
on.

'
It's
not
r
eally
th
at impo
rtant,' hi
s
moth
er goes o
n
.
'
As
yo
u
say To
ni
,
t
hey're
on
ly th
ings.
It
wo
uld
j
ust b
e nice
t
o
kn
ow
th
at's a
ll.
We
n
eed a c
hest
o
f dr
awers.
And th
e ca
binet
was a
w
edding
p
resent f
rom m
y a
unt, n
ot
hi
s.
I
s
uppose
we ca
n w
ait
unt
il
M
arch.
W
e co
uld pi
ck t
hem up th
en
.
'
Sh
e
l
ooks
to
To
ni f
or s
upport but h
e wa
nts n
o
p
art
of it
.

'
Now, l
et's e
njoy
o
ur
C
hristmas E
ve s
hall w
e,' s
he
says
rh
etorically,
for
getting
that sh
e
w
as
th
e
on
e w
ho brou
ght
up th
e s
ubject in th
e
fir
st
pl
ace
.
And th
en,
u
nable
t
o
d
rop i
t
co
mpletely
s
he
s
ays t
o
Toni, 'I
co
uld hir
e a va
n,
c
ouldn't I
, Da
rling?
T
here
a
re onl
y
thr
ee
pi
eces:
th
e
t
wo c
hests
of
dr
awers a
nd the
ca
binet. I'm
goi
ng
t
o l
eave
th
e pia
no -T
ally
n
eeds
th
e
p
iano.'

F
or
h
er '
Darling' has alw
ays
bee
n
a
t
erm of e
ndearment r
eserved
f
or a
few
.
When
s
he D
arlings
T
oni
i
t s
hows h
ow fa
r
s
he's
com
mitted to him. L
ooking
a
t h
er
n
ow
T
alie
s
in
im
ag
ines
s
he's b
een
h
ere a
ll h
er
li
fe.
It
's as
if
s
he n
ever
li
ved i
n
C
wmglum; n
ever
m
arried
hi
s fa
ther; n
ever
l
aid a
diff
erent
t
able;
n
ever
bou
ght
fruit f
rom a
nother
g
reen grocers. It
's a
lmost
a
s
if s
he n
ever
had him el
even yea
rs
ago, sc
reaming, p
anting a
nd pu
shing
him int
o
th
e
h
ands of the doc
tor.

T
oni
n
ods. '
You
co
uld dri
ve ove
r
o
ne
S
unday. Wh
enever.'

Sa
tisfied, his m
other
rememb
ers o
ther th
ings
.

'
Tally,
yo
u still h
aven't
told m
e a
bout
sc
hool
,
or h
ow yo
ur pi
ano
l
essons a
re
go
ing
.
'

H
is
'
fi
ne' i
n th
e car, a
fter b
eing
pi
cked
up
f
rom th
e s
tation, cl
early was
n't
e
xpansive enou
gh
.
To
avo
id th
e
i
ssue of
th
e
pian
o
h
e s
tarts
w
ith
sc
hool.

'
It's
okay
.
We
've
go
t Mr D
avies t
his
ye
ar.
He's
n
ot as st
rict
as
th
e o
thers
.
'

'
We h
ad a
Mr D
avies
at m
y sc
hool,' T
oni says
.
'
He u
sed
t
o
t
each c
hemistry
.
H
e
h
ad ye
llow h
air a
nd
we
u
sed
t
o
th
ink
h
e'd go
t it f
rom
d
rinking ac
id. A
cid
M
an
.
T
hat's
w
hat w
e ca
lled h
im
.
W
e a
ll h
ad
n
icknames. Do yo
u h
ave a
ni
ckname?
'

'
Worm.
'

'
They d
on't s
till
ca
ll
y
ou th
at,
do th
ey?
'
h
is m
other
as
ks.

'
I d
on't
m
ind
it. E
veryone
h
as a
ni
ckname a
t
sc
hool. I
t's
th
e way i
t i
s.
M
y
n
ame is
n't t
oo
b
ad
.
'

'Te
ll u
s so
me
o
f th
e
b
ad o
nes,' T
oni e
ncourages.

Ta
liesin
ve
ts th
e
n
ames
for
a
dult
c
onsumption
.

'
Cra
ph
ea
d J
ohnson
.
Dribbl
e,
h
e
t
eaches games
. M
antis
.

L
oopy
L
ewis.
Th
e
h
eadmaster
i
s
call
ed
Cae
sar.
Not
a
ll
of
th
em
h
ave
n
ame
s.
I lik
e
t
o g
ive peopl
e
m
y
own n
ames,
in my h
ead.
I
ca
ll m
y f
riend Lu
c
Th
e
Shirt becaus
e
hi
s
shirt i
s a
lway
s
ou
t,
b
ut n
o one
el
se c
alls him th
at.
I l
ike
t
o g
ive
eve
ryone
a
n
am
e,'
T
aliesin says
.