Luther Ch. 01: Spell of the Big One

[This series has five chapters and will post by the middle of March 2016]

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"Hi ya," Mr. Leighton.

Rob Leighton looked up from helping his daughter, Muriel, climb up onto the dock from his fishing boat and waved at the tall, lumbering young man walking south on Lafayette Street back toward Cape May proper.

"Hi to you, too, big guy," Rob called back. "Hot day. You have to walk all the way back to the antique shop? If so, maybe we can give you a lift." He looked around with a questioning look at his wife, Madge, who was about to hand the younger daughter, Maia, up to her husband on the dock. She was frowning slightly, but she nodded her head imperceptibly.

"Naw, thanks, Mr. Leighton. Only going as far as the house. The bosses didn't want me at the shop today. They were getting some china in and said I was needed to do something at the house."

Rob could almost hear Madge let out a breath of relief.

"Well, you be careful now," Rob called back. "If that's where Tim and Alfred want you to be, guess you should be there."

"It's OK. They said I could come and see the whale-watching boat come in. I like that boat. I like your boat too. It's?"

"That's good to hear, Luther. The Spirit of Cape May is a nice boat. We've got to get the girls back to the house now. It's been nice talking to you."

Luther stood there, big feet on strong legs planted firmly on the Lafayette sidewalk separated from the Cape May Harbor wharf by a parking lot where Rob and Madge were now bundling their daughters and Rob's fishing gear into an old station wagon. The young man's jaw was working like he wanted to say something else but couldn't think what it was?and thought that maybe it was something he shouldn't say. He swayed a bit back and forth, at least in front of Rob's wife and his daughters. He didn't want Mr. Leighton to be mad at him.

As the station wagon drove away, Madge looked at Rob, started to say something, seemed to think better of it, but then did speak. "I'm sorry to say I'm glad he didn't take the ride, Rob. He frightens me."

"He's harmless, Madge. And he's a good kid; he means well."

"He isn't a kid anymore, Rob. Something needs to be done about him. He's a young man now, and he's nearly on his own. What's going to happen when he gets older? He can't cope. And there's been talk. I don't want the girls?"

"The talk is just because he's always been slow, Madge. And he's so big. Tim and Alfred have taken him on at the antique shop and have let him live in those rooms behind the workshop behind their house. He's being taken care of. I think he's coping just fine."

"Tim and Alfred are hardly the influence anyone would want for that young man. If his mother were still alive?"

"She's not alive, though, is she? And she probably was too protective of him. Someone should have been working with him from the time he was young. But she wouldn't let anyone near him. I don't think he's even that retarded. Just slow. He'll be OK."

"Well, all the same, I'm just as glad we didn't have him in the car with the girls," Madge said. She crossed her arms tightly on her chest. "And mark my words, something's going to come to a head with that young man. I don't like some of the rumors I've heard. Not at all."

As the station wagon drove past him, Luther turned his head south and started the trudge to Tim and Alfred's house on Washington Street. When he passed the H