Free The H-Bomb and the Jesus Rock by John Manderino

please.”
    “ Took something? Took what?”
    “It’s just a rock, an old rock that looks a little bit like Jesus. But you see, it belonged to my father. He died when I was just a little baby, Mrs. Cavaletto. I don’t even remember him. But he wanted me to have this rock so I’d always be thinking of Our Lord. So I was wondering, could I have it back please? It’s not worth anything to them, but to me it’s...well, it’s...”
    I was choking myself up.
    She called out over her shoulder, “Ralph.”
    He came walking right up, like he’d been spying the whole time. “Don’t listen to him, Mom.”
    I don’t know why but he was wearing a long red stocking cap.
    “It’s me and Lou’s,” he said. “We found it.”
    I gave a friendly chuckle. “They found it in my room, Mrs. Cavaletto. That’s where they ‘found’ it.”
    “Ma, he’s a liar, we never been in his room, we never been in his house . It was in the vacant lot. It was layin’ there. Ask Lou.”
    “It’s true ,” Lou yelled from somewhere.
    I said, “Mrs. Cavaletto, I don’t want to cause any trouble. I’m not going to press charges. I just want the rock back. It’s like my father used to tell me: ‘Toby?’ he’d say—”
    Ralph jumped on my mistake, pointing at me. “You said he died when you were a baby! See, Ma? He’s a liar, a big fat liar. Look at him, how fat.”
    She looked me over.
    “I can’t help being fat, Mrs. Cavaletto. It’s a condition. But that’s no reason to steal from me, is it?”
    “Ma, I swear...”
    “Or maybe it is a reason,” I said, and sighed. “I can’t run very fast, you see...”
    “Ma, don’t listen...”
    “Be that as it may,” I said, wiping my eye. “I can see I’m causing trouble. I’ll just go. They can keep it, I don’t care.” I looked at Ralph. “I hope it reminds you of Jesus and what He said about stealing. Goodbye, Mrs. Cavaletto. Enjoy the weather.”
    I turned around and started walking away real slow, real sad...

Lou
    She called him back.
    She felt sorry for him, for being so fat and sad. But he was just faking. Not faking being fat but being sad. He wasn’t sad. He was just trying to make her feel sorry for him so she’d give him the Jesus rock. And it worked. She told Ralph to go get it.
    I ran back fast and wrapped it in our blanket. I was going to sneak out the back door and hide it somewhere, I was trying to think where, then Ralph came in and told me no. He told me to go and give it to Fatso.
    I said, “Ra-alph!”
    “We’ll get it back,” he said. “Don’t worry. This is part of it.”
    “Part of what?”
    “The story we’re in, The Miracle of the Rock.”
    “Well...can’t we hide the rock? Can’t that be part of the story?”
    “No. We can’t be disobedient, Lou. We have to be perfect. Otherwise we won’t win.”
    “But it’s ours, Ralph! We found it!”
    “And we’ll get it back, I promise. So go ahead. Give it to him. Go on.”
    “Can’t we just—”
    “No, Lou.”
    “ Ra-alph .”
    “Quit whining. The little girl’s not a whiner.”
    “Yes she was, she was always whining.”
    “I don’t mean the movie. This isn’t a movie, Lou.”
    He meant the real Jacinta, in that picture in the booklet. He was right, she didn’t look like a whiner. She looked like a tough little shit. That’s what Daddy called me once, a tough little shit.
    I’m really not, though. Ask Ralph.

Toby
    We stood there waiting, me and Mrs. C.
    “Kids,” I said, and gave my head a shake.
    She didn’t say anything back. She just stood there staring over my head, looking tired, very tall and tired.
    I said, “When they want something, they just go ahead and take it. They don’t know any better. They’re like little animals, little...I don’t know, rats or something. Or mice. Mice are cuter. But let’s face it, they steal things, mice I mean—bits of cheese, crumbs and so on— you probably have mice, right? Place like this? Anyway, same as kids. But hey.