THE BREAKDOWN (The Face we never Forgot)

Springtime. The time where the sun shone, and the weather was warming up from the winter's chill. Where a surprise rainstorm would cause even the most outdoors of people to run and enjoy the sight from inside. The rain was pleasant and calming as it brought water to the buds and trees. But it also gave problems to those with a leaky roof.

Jason George Walton was one that enjoyed the rain. But he was also not a fan of leaky roofs. Having fixed several already. But as he walked towards the Baldwin house he walked not knowing of the events that would happen. He was a man of his word, as his Daddy John Walton taught him, and he wanted to make due to his promise to Miss Emily that he would fix the roof before the next surprise rain storm. So Jason had left home bright and early and arrived to the house and as Miss Mamie showed him what needed to be done, he climbed up and began to work on the roof. As he worked quietly on fixing the leaky roof and other minor fixes he was focused on doing the job right that he didn't notice the dark heavy rain clouds starting to build up and slowly spread over the sun.

He finished around noon and had climbed down that he noticed the slight chill in the air. Putting the ladder away quickly he walked inside for his pay. As Emily handed the young man the money that was promised, thunder shook the house causing their fancy china tea set rattle on the table.

"Oh dear!" Miss Emily exclaimed dropping Jason's money to the floor in shock.

"You're right Miss Emily." Jason said his voice friendly and pleasant. "Guess I'll have to walk in the rain."

"Oh nonsense, dear." Miss Emily said with a friendly smile and soft pat on his shoulder. "There be none of that foolishness. You'll stay and have tea with us until the rain stops."

"Oh, no thank you Ma'am." Jason said picking up his pay and slid it inside his pocket. "I wouldn't want to be a bother."

Miss Emily smiled sweetly at Jason as she had done back when he asked them to adopt him a little while back. "You're never a bother to be around, Jason." She said leading the young man to a chair. "Sister and I would appreciate your company. Also we don't want you to catch your death of cold walking in the rain like that."

ason stood taken aback from what the older woman had told him. He wanted to deny her once again but figured it wouldn't hurt to accept the invite, as he looked outside and saw the rain had worsened.

As they always were, Miss Emily and Miss Mamie were indeed very nice to the young man, as it was rare to have such fine company when the recipe was what they wanted most.

Jason smiled and listened intently as the two went on about their lives making him feel at peace.

"You remember, sister," Miss Emily said after recounting another one of their fine memories, "when Mama used to play in the puddle with us, and how Papa would get so angry at us for getting our dresses dirty?"

"But I recall Grandma would always tell him, that we should enjoy these mischievous times while we're still young." Miss Mamie said with a knowing nod. "Then, once we got done playing and changed, she would bake us some cookies?"

Miss Emily nodded as she smiled over at Jason. "Another secret recipe from our family." She said making Jason smile back.

"In fact we baked some yesterday. Jason, why don't you take some back home with you? I know they'll love them." Miss Mamie said with a look that seemed to light up the room.

Jason opened his mouth to give an answer but Miss Emily quickly butted in.

"That's a wonderful idea, sister." Miss Emily said smiling. "I believe cookies are the best form of medicine after everything your family has already gone through."

"Sister!" Miss Mamie shrieked clutching the pearls that hung around her neck. But she saw the words had already entered Jason's mind as his hand began to shake the tea cup in his hands causing the spoon to clatter against the porcelain saucer.

For a whole minute Jason didn't say a word. His body trembled with grief stricken thoughts. He knew that the two women would never cause harm to him or his family on purpose so didn't hold anything against them. It was after all an innocent comment. An innocent remark.

Memories that plagued his mind began to replay over in his thoughts. It just so happened that only a few weeks ago, he had to say goodbye to a sister who was far to young to be taken from this world. All those stored up emotions burned in his chest as he fought to control them like he did after the funeral. But the emotions were too strong and he broke down the room being filled with his loud sobbing as he quickly set the tea cup back on the table before he accidentally broke it.

"Oh, Jason..." Miss Emily said seeing the pain she had caused the young man. Her eyes lowered as she felt regret of ever opening her mouth.

"I...I'm so...s-sorry," Jason said trying to apologize for his behavior. His throat tightened and he couldn't continue. He tried to wipe away the tears that were falling down his cheeks but wasn't fast enough to dry them all.

"You don't need to apologize, Jason." Miss Mamie said gently grabbing the young man's hand and gave it a gently pat. "It is us that needs to apologize. We shouldn't have said anything since it hasn't been that long since the accident...Poor Mary Ellen..." she muttered but it caused Jason to cry harder.

It wasn't only for the fact his family had lost a family member but it was for the fact he couldn't do anything to help her when he heard about the accident.

"It's alright, dear boy..." Miss Emily said standing up and wrapped her arms around Jason and gently began to stroke his hair. "Cry as long as you need."

Jason nodded and continued to cry for another fifteen minutes until only the sound of birds chirping filled the room.

The rain had stopped while Jason had been crying, and Miss Mamie didn't want him to feel embarrassed that he had cried for so long. She gave a solemn smile and left for the kitchen only to return a few minutes later with a small basket of cookies as she had promised.

Jason thanked the Baldwin sisters for their hospitality and told them if they needed some more work done, to no hesitate and ask him. They nodded knowing they would call on him again since he was a fine hard worker and sent Jason on his way back to his home.

_/_

Jason had just reached the entrance of his house when Ben walked out and stopped on the porch.

"Where have you been?" he asked seeing Jason with a basket of cookies he knew wasn't in his hands earlier.

"I was at the Baldwins'," Jason answered dryly blinking his eyes as they started to sting. "They had asked me to fix their roof and a few other things before the storm hit. They kept me at their house while it rained."

"Oh...Well, Grandma asked me to search for you, as dinner is almost ready." Ben said seeing how slightly puffy his brother's eyes were.

"Alright thanks, Ben." Jason said handing his brother the basket. "How's Momma?" He asked.

Ben's face fell slightly but remained strong. "She hasn't left her room all day." He recalled. "Daddy has said to not upset her."

"I understand." Jason said taking a deep breath. "Come on let's get inside." Ben nodded and walked back inside while Jason quietly followed. Before he walked inside his family home he turned and looked out at the freshly wet ground. If only that spring rain could wash away all of the Walton's pain, as well as his breakdown at the Baldwins, like it had washed away any remnants of the cold of winter.

END