Jesse James and the Dragon's Egg

Reprecussion

"Jesse Andrew James! Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

Sarah Elizabeth James, Jesse's mother, was a fearsome sight, one the boys had a deep and abiding respect for. Seeing her stand at Jesse's front door, hands on hips and that look on her face, it was enough to make cowards of them all. To make matters worse, Jesse's little brother, Jake, stood at her side, face streaked with tears.

The four boys and the dog had blazed a hot trail back home. They had biked at top speed. Bear right behind them, they tore through yards, sped through intersections and took corners like they were on rails.

Too late, though. The damage was already done. As they walk their bikes up to the house, Jesse felt his friends behind him balk at the sound of his mother's voice. If there is any chance to run, they'd take it. To be honest, he hoped they would.

"Well? Why didn't you answer?"

Jesse fumbled for a moment, searching for words, excuses, escape. "It didn't ring."

"Jesse," the woman paused for dramatic effect. She allowed the tension to build and the weight of it threatened to crush the boy. "Do not you lie to me."

"I'm not lying." Jesse's voice grew higher as he defended himself from his mother. The embarrassed presence of his friends behind him threatened to overwhelm him. "We were way out. I guess there was no signal."

"Jesse, you know that if you were so far out that you could not get signal, you were out too far." She spoke slowly, over-pronouncing each word. "You know that."

Her eyes drifted to the panting dog. Bear was lying comically flat at her son's feet. "And I see you took Bear, even after I specifically told you not to. Jesse, how many times do I have to tell you that dog is too old to be running around in this heat?"

Jesse opened his mouth to defend himself, but one raised hand from his mother stopped him. "I'm not done talking, young man." Her tone was so icy that Brad would later joke that he thought popsicles were going to come floating out of her mouth. John would promptly slap him in the back of the head for it. "Jesse, your little brother has been here crying his eyes out because you promised him he could go with you. What would possess you to tell him that?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Jesse was drowning in his own guilt, choking on his embarrassment. "We were just so far out that I thought..."

"No, you didn't! That's your problem, young man. You dont think. You just went and never once considered the consequences. For anybody." She glanced down at the dog.

"And you made him a promise, Jesse." She placed her hand on Jake's little shoulder. "He's your little brother. You are supposed to look out for him." She paused again. "He believed in you, Jesse."

Sarah James stepped off the porch, making a point to stand between Jesse and his friends. Her presence there was so overwhelming that as she locked eyes with her son, she drowned out the rest of the universe. "Jesse. You are old enough to understand that a promise means something. You do understand that, don't you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She sighed. "Well, you're certainly not acting like it. You have got to start being more responsible, young man." She studied him for a moment. "Jesse," she took a deep breath, "I could not be more disappointed in you right now."

Jesse couldn't bear the weight of his own guilt anymore. His eyes retreated from his mother's, going to ground where they locked and stayed. A moment or an eternity of unbearable silence passed. Then maybe two more. Then she spoke.

"I think you boys can go home now." Her back was still to John, Lamar, and Brad. She never turned, never looked at them, and they quietly left.