The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (69 page)

T
aliesin doe
s
n't kn
ow
wh
at
to say so h
e
put
s
th
e
p
omegranate so
n
a
pl
ate i
n th
e
middl
e
of th
e
tabl
e.
H
e
t
akes o
ne
a
nd
g
ives it
a s
queeze, i
mpatient
to
g
et t
o
it
s sec
ret. Th
e f
ruit
is
h
eavy fo
r
it
s
s
ize
.
H
e tosse
s it int
o
th
e a
ir
a
nd l
ets i
t
t
hud
i
ts
we
ight
i
nto hi
s
p
alm.

J
onathan a
nd h
is fa
ther r
eturn
puf
fing
a littl
e f
rom
ca
rrying
t
he
c
hest
of drawe
rs. '
Still
n
o va
n. W
hat t
ime
are
th
ey g
etting h
ere?'
hi
s fa
ther
as
ks.
'
They
sa
id
any ti
me
after si
x,'
his mother say
s
.
'
S
h
a
ll I
s
it
here,
T
all
y?'

'Yes,' Ta
liesin
says
.

'I'
ll
si
t h
ere,'
hi
s fat
her
says
wa
nting t
o
a
void
ma
king
an iss
ue
o
ut
of
i
t. '
Are
yo
u h
appy t
here Jo
n?
'
h
is
m
other as
ks
.
'
Fine,' J
onathan say
s.
'
This i
s
n
ice,
Ta
lly, th
ank yo
u,'
his mothe
r says
.
His fa
ther
s i
ts d
own
l
ast a
nd n
o o
ne
s
ays an
ything
un
til
h
e has
d
ished o
ut th
e
f
ood.
T
aliesin
a
nnounces
grace and s
uggests
t
hat
t
hey h
old
h
ands
t
o say
it
.

'
It's l
ike o
ne
of
t
hose
o
ld
fi
lms,' hi
s
mother
says
th
rowing a
n
e
ncouraging l
ook at
hi
s
fa
ther. Th
e c
hain
i
sn't co
mpleted b
etween
h
is fa
ther
an
d J
onathan,
but Talie
sin
link
s
hi
s
p
arents wi
th h
is
own
h
ands.
Th
e
grace
i
s s
hort
a
nd
so
unds fl
at
t
o
h
im as
h
e says
i
t.
Hi
s fa
ther b
ows
hi
s
he
ad
and cl
ears
h
is
thr
oat aga
in. J
onathan
i
s
u
neasy,
l
ooking a
t hi
s
fin
gers.
H
is
mo
ther h
as
h
er
eyes closed an
d h
er c
hin tripl
es
as h
er
h
ead bows.

'
That
was
ni
ce
Tally,'
s
he
says af
terwards. 'I'd
fo
rgotten h
ow
n
ice i
t
is
t
o say
grace
.'

T
hey t
alk
ab
out
d
ifferent
thin
gs
.
Ab
out sayi
ng
p
rayers, th
e fo
recast f
or
th
e
summer
a
nd
w
hat
a was
te
o
f mon
ey c
hocol
ate is.
A
ny s
ilences are pun
ctuated
wi
th
co
mpliments
a
bout th
e
m
eal
-
s
omething hi
s
m
other
d
oes a g
reat d
eal. T
hey
d
iscuss th
e
w
ar
that's still h
appening
in th
e
d
esert a
nd f
or a t
ime th
ey a
re
a
ll united by th
e
v
ast
p
roblems of
th
e wo
rld,
no
dding in
ag
reement at how
aw
ful
it
i
s
th
at 't
his' h
appened, o
r h
ow
t
errible
it wa
s
th
at '
that'
occ
urred.
T
hey
a
re
a
ll
wor
king h
ard a
t
ag
reeing
w
ith
eac
h oth
er.

'
This
is
l
ovely,
Talie
sin,'
h
is
m
other says fo
r th
e fi
fth
o
r
s
ixth t
ime
.
'Yo
u're
g
etting t
o
b
e
quit
e a coo
k.'

A
fter th
e fis
h fin
gers
and p
eas
h
e
cl
ears t
he
p
lates
away a
nd p
rovides s
ide-plates
and kni
ves
f
or t
he pom
egranates,
ju
st as
th
e groc
er
i
nstructed. He w
atches
t
heir
b
emusement.
Hi
s
br
other
turn
s
the fruit over on
i
ts
side and wo
nders h
ow o
n
ea
rth h
e sho
uld eat it.

'
What's
t
his,
a
n onion
o
r
so
mething?' h
e says
.

Th
e
W
alrus sa
id that thi
s
fru
it wo
uld
get
th
em goi
ng. Thi
s was a frui
t
wo
rth t
alking a
bout
,
h
e sai
d. Ju
st yo
u
wai
t unt
il yo
u
ge
t i
nside,
h
e sa
id. Y
ou'll
b
e a
mazed
a
t
w
hat's in th
ere.
T
aliesin serves
up th
e
p
omegranates as
th
ey a
re. H
e wa
tches h
is
m
other a
nd f
ather
h
olding an
d turn
ing
th
e exo
tic, fl
esh co
loured
frui
ts,
s
queezing th
em, won
dering
at t
hem,
a
nother
of
th
e wo
rld's mysteries.

'
Where t
hey
from?' his fath
er as
ks.

'
Handy
cott
's.
'

'
No. W
hich co
untry? '

'
The M
iddle
E
ast,
mainl
y.
H
andycott sai
d th
at
th
is is w
hat
Eve wo
uld h
ave
pi
cked.
H
e sai
d th
at s
he
wo
uld
ac
tually h
ave
p
icked a
p
omegranate
b
ecause i
n th
at pa
rt
of
th
e wo
rld th
ey wo
uldn
'
t h
ave
h
ad a
pples.'

I
nside
i
s a was
ps
n
est arran
gement
of
purpl
e co
loured
see
ds
w
ith
t
ranslucent
red cas
es
.
Th
e f
ruit h
as a seem
ingly
un
plan
ned symmetry. Taliesin starts picking
out some of the seed
s
and arranging them as if to count them.