August 4, 1978
Sometimes Elwood hummed. Sometimes he whistled. As he casually slipped the letters into the mail slot, he slowly whistled a few bars of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."
"God dammit," he thought. "Now that's gonna be on my mind all fucking day."
He tried to shake it out of his mind as he turned around to leave the Post Office. As he rotated on his heels, he looked up and noticed the old painting.
The depression era mural, in faded colors, wrapped itself around the wall. He stood up straight, looking seriously, and tilted his head as if to study the old images in fresco as they unravelled across the wall. The first scene was the tale of the founding fathers of Springfield, Illinois, its foundation as state capital. Then he saw the pictures of its most famous citizen, Abraham Lincoln. Another man in a black hat. Elwood smirked at the thought and the outrageous comparison.
"Four score and seven years ago," Elwood mouthed the words as he read them off of the mural.
He didn't really spend lots of time studying history when he was in school, but he did remember the stories of Lincoln. He freed black slaves. And he wrote that speech of his on the back of an envelope, if he remembered correctly. He looked back at the mail slot and thought of the letters he wrote, and how nothing much would ever come of what he scribbled on the outside - or even the inside - of those envelopes.
He also remembered Curtis was fond of Lincoln, too. Looking up at the images of the dead president he remembered that. He also remembered something that happened years ago. And the thought made his stomach turn.
Right now, he'd rather be whistling that damned Stevie Wonder hit.
Curtis' wall was a gallery of men and women involved with the civil rights movement in the United States. Martin Luther King. Malcolm. John F. Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy. Rosa Parks. Yet Abraham Lincoln, whose words on that envelope started it all a hundred years earlier, was conspicuously absent from that gallery.
Absent, at least ever since that day back in 1962.
"Elwood?" Curtis said, as he looked down at the young boy. "Do you know what happened to it?" Curtis then pointed up to the pictures, and tapped on the wall right above the photo of President Kennedy.
Elwood's lips were slightly pouty, as he shrugged. Curtis gave him another suspicious look, then turned to Elwood's older brother.
"Jake?" Curtis continued on with his futile interrogation. Jake refused to meet Curtis' eyes with his own. Instead, he squirmed in place, shaking his head. Elwood closed his eyes and slightly shook his head, annoyed by his brother's inability to keep cool. It seemed that Jake was able to bullshit anyone, except for Curtis. Maybe it was some sort of bond that Jake had with the man, but he never was good at hiding things from him. Maybe that was why Curtis was the closest thing to family that they ever had. Like family, he could read through you like an x-ray machine.
"So, neither of you two boys knows what happened to my Lincoln, there?" Both responded with shaking heads.
"You two boys know that stealing is a sin, don't you?"
"Well, so is bearing false witness," Jake snapped back at Curtis.
That was the first and only time that Elwood ever heard Jake show disrespect to the man. Elwood's eyes were wide open behind his dark glasses, and they darted from side to side out of pure fear. Unsure what else to do and terrified, Elwood dropped his head in shame. But mostly in fear.
If he had been a year or two younger, he may not be able to control his bodily functions.
"Ok, then, boys," Curtis said, slowly and sternly, holding back his anger, his tongue, and quite possibly the back of his hand. "You just spread this word around to all your little friends. Whoever took my Lincoln can return it, and I won't go to Mother Mary. No questions asked. You understand?"
Jake nodded and rolled his eyes. Elwood nodded enthusiastically, like the terrified child he was. Curtis sent them out of his room. It was the first and only time that Curtis would toss the boys out in anger. But the fact that he never really punished them, and never mentioned the Lincoln again was one of the reasons Elwood loved Curtis.
He was the only person, aside from Jake, who showed him unconditional love.
.
The memory of that morning made Elwood's stomach turn. Stealing was one thing. But stealing from Curtis? He thought of Jake and his attitude, and he was sick. He thought of his own inability to speak up, and he grew even sicker.
Elwood once again turned on his heels, and went back to the counter. He pulled out another sheet of paper, an envelope, and a stamp. He wrote a little note, while trying to hold back the emotion.
Dear Curtis,
I can't remember if it was me or Jake, but I thought it was time for one of us to make things right.
Elwood
Elwood pulled out his wallet, and pulled out the last few bills. He counted two ones, and a crumbled up five. He pulled out the five, straightened it between his fingers, and looked at the image of Abraham Lincoln on the bill. He neatly folded it into the letter in the envelope, sealed it, and licked a stamp for its corner. Finally, he scribbled a few words on the back of the envelope.
In God We Trust.
He slipped the envelope down the mail slot, then quickly walked out of the Post Office. As he pushed through the doors, he took one last look at the mural, and a fading painting of the American Flag.
"And God Bless the United States of America." he whispered as he walked out into the hot August day.