“Look, I don't really like all this reading, but, I want you to know that I'm with you.”
Five-year-old Lil' Robert Ludlow had joined six-year-old Grayson Ludlow, sitting between one of their great-grandfather's guides to architecture and a dictionary for the words they didn't understand, and the Lego pile where they would build the stuff they saw as best they could.
“Promise me this,” eleven-year-old Eleanor Ludlow said to eleven-year-old friend Velma Trent as Grayson hugged his cousin-adopted-brother for joy. “Promise me that we will never forget that love looks just like that.”
“We definitely need to remember,” Velma said, “because when you think about it, God did that when He became a human like us … but I don't know if it looks just like that, Eleanor, because we are eleven and know what we are doing. Grayson and Rob can't read that stuff and understand it.”
“OK, well, dumb love is still love though, and they can work on getting smart as they go,” Eleanor said. “So can we – I mean, we don't know everything. Only God does, so, compared to Him, we are all dumb love.”
“This is true,” Velma said, and shook her head. “Charles didn't make it through the programs Dad and Pop-Pop were trying to put him through – just can't focus enough, and thought my big sister Vanna was going to beg Dad and Pop-Pop to give him another chance. Nope.”
“But that's just dumb – I don't even live with Vanna and I already know that's a nope,” Eleanor said. “Vanna is not the one for doing for males what they need to do for themselves – she doesn't even cut your brother Milton a break, and Milton is just nine.”
“And tells him straight up,” Velma said. “that 'You're not going to be a weak man because of me – you gotta figure out your nine-year-old responsibilities and get them done, Milton, but when I see you getting your life together I'll help you. Fill in Charles and 18 years old, and it was the same conversation. He messed up and said, 'But I thought you loved me!'”
“Oh no,” Eleanor said.
“Yeah, it didn't go well from there for him,” Velma said. “She was all, 'That's not the issue. The issue is you don't love yourself enough to figure out how to focus on a billion dollars worth of opportunity, so I already know you don't have enough love for priceless me to handle business. Love you all day long, Charles, but facts are facts.' ”
“Ouch,” Eleanor said.
“Yeah, he didn't enjoy it,” Velma said. “He said a few things he probably shouldn't have after that, so she just handed Dad the phone and went on about her day.”
“Ouch again,” Eleanor said.
“And then Grandma Jubilee called Charles,” Velma said.
“OK, we've just gone from ouch to yikes,” Eleanor said.
“Yeah, Charles can't come around Vanna for about 5-10 years at this point,” Velma said. “Our Jubilee relatives will tell you what is going down, and then they'll show you, so if you need to be shown Heaven or Hell any time soon, try them. My Aunt Victoria had this guy who thought he was going to be a stalker after she broke up with him. She warned him that he needed to let it go for his own protection, but, no.”
“Did they get him?” Eleanor said.
“Of course – ran him out of the state,” Velma said, “and Grandma Jubilee supposedly was out there on a bull horn talking about, 'When you stop running, get down on your knees and thank God we didn't feel like killing you today!' ”
“Yikes,” Eleanor said. “That's some Papa-level stuff!”
“I feel like your grandfather and my Jubilee grandmother are kinda on the same wavelength, which is why the Lord made sure they were married to super mellow people,” Velma said. “But you know your Lee great-grandmother and my Jubilee great-grand-aunt used to put together hunting parties in pairs.”
“Yeah, and those had to be some bad times when the love was gone but the dumb remained in Lofton County,” Eleanor said.
“Oh yeah,” Velma said. “Charles doesn't even know how good he has it. Things were wild back in the 1900s!”
“Let's just remember none of this drama is necessary so my Papa and your Grandma Jubilee don't have to stop being modern,” Eleanor said. “Real love doesn't act a fool when it can't have its way – we gotta watch for that, because we do not need to be involved with people who are going to get dragged clear into the wild 1900s if not straight to Heaven or Hell for the foolishness they think they can do with us!”
“That's kinda actually the same thing,” Velma said, “because you know if you go to Heaven or Hell, you are as much a part of the past as the 1900s are.”
“Yeah, I know, but, maybe you can survive back in the 1900s – I mean, a lot of people we know were alive then, so maybe there's a chance.”
“Grayson doesn't have the time machine built yet, though,” Velma said. “What I mean is, you're dead to this earth in either of those three ways.”
“Oh,” Eleanor said. “It all makes sense now, but, again, yikes!”
“Real love will keep you alive, but, taking chances on this other stuff is not it,” Velma said.