RECLAIM MY HEART(18)

He shook his head. “Look, it’s nothing, okay? My job comes with a great deal of responsibility. It’s hard for me to leave Philadelphia. As soon as Uncle Jasper and I spend a little time together our relationship will smooth out.”
Tyne stood there frowning at him. He’d missed holidays with his uncle. Lots of them. Years’ worth of them from the sound of it. He hadn’t been to pow-wow. Those gatherings were sacred to the Lenape of Wikweko.
As a teen, she’d been fascinated by the rituals, the legends passed on to the younger generations, the large, smoky bonfire, the delicious food, the games of skill, the camaraderie. Lucas had taken her to several of the celebrations while they were dating, and people had come from all over the country, some of them traveling thousands of miles, to attend. Tyne couldn’t fathom Lucas missing even one of these very special events. Especially when he lived less than two hours away.
“Lucas—”
“Give it a rest, Tyne. Everything will be fine between me and my uncle. You’ll see.” He stalked away from her, crossed the small gallery, and with his back to her, stood gazing at the magnificent eagle.
?     ?     ?

“Does Uncle Jasper know why we’re here?” Zach looked over at Lucas from the front passenger seat of the car, then he darted a quick glance at Tyne in the back seat.
“I haven’t said anything to anyone,” Lucas said. “So I don’t know how he could. Why do you ask?”
Zach shrugged. “I dunno. He made me feel a little—” again he shrugged “—self-conscious, I guess. When he was showing me his studio, which is pretty amazing, by the way, he said he spends the whole winter carving and then spends the summer selling his stuff.” Zach shoved his hair back off his forehead. “Anyway, he told me that my grandfather would have been proud of me. He mentioned that my grandfather was an honorable man. He used that word twice. Honorable.” He glanced out the window and his voice went soft as he added, “Made me feel…?I don’t know, kinda weird. Like maybe heingike may was pointing out that he thinks that I’m not…?or something.” He looked over at Lucas. “Without actually sayin’ it, I mean.”
Tyne curled her fingers around the strap of the seatbelt to keep from reaching out to her son.
“If there’s one thing about my uncle I do know,” Lucas told him, “it’s that he says what he means and means what he says.”
They had spent another forty minutes at the shop before customers came in and began wanting Jasper’s attention so they felt they should leave.
“I don’t believe Jasper knows anything about the trouble you’re in.” Tyne leaned forward. “How could he? We’re the only ones here who know about it and we haven’t said a word to anyone.” When Zach didn’t pay her any heed she reclined against the seat again to watch the passing scenery.
“Honorable is a word Uncle Jasper always uses whenever he talks about my father.” Lucas shifted his hands on the steering wheel. “I think he wants my dad to be remembered with respect and admiration.” He glanced over at Zach and then back at the road. “I can remember many, many—” he repeated the word with a chuckle “—times when my uncle explained the importance of honor to me. He felt that a man could have many things—wealth, prominence in the community, intelligence, what have you—but if he had no integrity, he had nothing worth having.”
“Is that a Lenape thing? A culture thing?” Zach asked. “To lecture on honor?”
“Well, I guess you could say that, but…” Lucas shook his head. “There’s not a single race of people I know of that would want their sons and daughters to grow up to become liars and thieves.”
The comment made Tyne smile. “That’s true enough.”
“Speaking of culture,” Zach said to Lucas, “Uncle Jasper invited me to the Community Center tomorrow night. He said the kids go to meetings every week and learn about the past. Uncle Jasper goes. And other members of the Council of Elders. He said they tell stories, true stories from history, and some folklore too. They teach the kids about the old ways, he said. How to make a rabbit trap, or how to churn butter, or grind corn, that kind of thing. He said this week they’ll have a bonfire. That they’ll teach the kids a special tribal dance.” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. “I told him I don’t have the moves and ended up having to explain what that meant. That I dance like I have two huge left feet. He said I could learn to drum some of the rhythms. You think I could go?”
Lucas looked at Tyne in the rearview mirror. She nodded.
“Of course,” Lucas said. “I think that’s a good idea. You’ll have fun and meet some other kids from the community.” He grinned. “And you might learn something too.”
Zach dipped his chin and shook his head. “I’m not dancing, that’s for sure.”
When he looked at Lucas again, his expression was serious. “Could we not tell him?” he asked. “You know, about why we’re here?”
Tyne didn’t wait for Lucas to answer. “It wouldn’t be right to tell any blatant lies, son.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Zach’s tone sounded defeated. Then he swallowed and squared his shoulders. “But if nobody asks, we don’t have to offer, right?”
For the beat of several seconds all that could be heard was the whirr of the air conditioner.
Softly, Lucas said, “We don’t have to offer. But unfortunately they aren’t called skeletons in a closet for nothing. Secrets have a way of showing their bones.”