Shattered Dreams by Brenda Kennedy Page B

around in a circle,
indicating where the train is.  
    “ Really?” I ask, following
James into his bedroom. I already know what train he is talking
about. I had no idea Danny and my dad had located the train or even
had time to put it up. I remember how long it took Max and Danny to
place it on the walls in James’ room in our duplex in Fort
Drum. Apparently, it took a lot less time
than before to set everything up since they already had the train
track shelving from our last house.  
    I stand at the doorway of James’ room. I am
in awe at the train that has been installed on the wall that goes
around the entire perimeter of his room. 
    “ See,
momma.” 
    I bend down so I can see James face to face.
“This is the train your daddy bought for you when you were a
baby.” 
    “ It is?” he
asks. 
    “ It is. Your daddy loved
trains and it took your daddy and both your grandpas many hours
putting it together and putting it on the walls for you. Daddy
loved trains so much that he wanted you to have the best train set
ever.” 
    “ Does it work?” James ask,
walking further into his otherwise empty
room.  
    “ James, do you see this
light switch?” my dad asks.  
    James nods. Dad turns the light switch on and
the train slowly begins to move. We all watch as the train travels
the perimeter of the room. I smile and my nose begins to tingle as
my eyes fill with tears.  
    “ Momma, it works and I have
the best train ever!” James says.  
    “ Yes, James, I do believe
you do.” I look up at dad and Danny. “Thank you,” I
mouth. 
    “ James, you turn it off with
this switch here,” Danny says. “Do you want to try
it?” 
    “ Yes, please.” James walks
over and turns the switch off, then on. His face lights up when the
train starts to move.  
    “ It’s very important to make
sure you turn it off,” my dad adds. 
    “ Ok, pap. I
will.” 
    James calls my dad pap and calls Max’s dad
granddad. Max called his grandfather granddad, so Danny wanted that
name to be carried on. I’m sure Max would have wanted that as well.
My dad joked and said he is far too young to be a grandpa so he had
James call him pap as soon as he could talk.  
    “ I need to get the U-Haul
returned before they charge us for another day,” my dad says,
walking out the door. Danny follows behind
him.  
    “ James, stay here with your
grandmas,” I say and then follow my dad and Danny down the hallway
through the maze of boxes to the front door. “When did you guys
have time to put the train up?” I ask, looking from my dad to
Danny. 
    “ Last night we came back
over and searched through the boxes until we found the one with the
train. I had the screws and screwdriver in my toolbox in the truck
and it didn’t take that long,” my dad says, not looking at me but
looking at Danny. 
    “ That didn’t take that long
to put up?” I ask, looking from Danny to my dad
again.  
    Danny laughs, “No, not really. I was afraid
it would take a couple of weeks, so ten hours wasn’t too
bad.” 
    “ Thank you, I know James
loves it. I didn’t expect to see the train up and running.” I hug
them, my nose tingles, and a tear slides down my
cheek.  
    “ Emma, you don’t need to
thank us. I did it for my own selfish reasons, I’m afraid,” Danny
admits. 
    I understand Danny’s reason
for putting up the train set in James’ bedroom so soon. I am
certain he did it for James and for Max. That is the first thing Max would have
done after moving here.  
    “ Well, whatever reasons you
had, you have made a little boy very happy.” 
    I know it’s still hard for us to talk about
Max. I have a huge hole in my heart that will never heal. I loved
him with my whole heart, and as hard as it is for me, I can’t even
begin to imagine Danny and Cheryl’s pain. Max was their only
child.  
    “ We better get going; we’ll
pick up some pizza for dinner while we’re out,” dad
says. 
    “ We’ll be right back,”