Theo of Golden: A Novel by Allen Levi - 61

The assailants were never identified or prosecuted.

Pearce Glissen is still a very important man. He is also incredulous and irritated that his older brother, who “could be a legitimate businessman now that he has inherited an art empire,” still prefers to spend his days drawing pictures of people’s faces.

It is feared that, any day now, a cell phone will graft itself into Pearce’s hand and become a permanent attachment to his body.

Shep and Addie have a seasoned team of baristas who carry out most of the day-to-day operations at the Chalice. The couple still shows up most days to check on the shop and visit with friends. Business has never been better, and there is talk of a second location, complete with a portrait gallery, in another nearby college town.

Theo’s portrait was hung at the Chalice shortly after his death, Tony’s portrait on one side and Ellen’s on the other.

Lamisha has outgrown but still owns the pair of shoes blue as morpho. She walks with a limp but does not require crutches any longer. When she graduates from high school, she wants to be a physical therapist or an artist. Either way, her education is paid for as long as she maintains a B average or better.

She and Maria Mendez, the daughter of the little man from Guatemala, text each other and talk on the phone frequently.

Basil occasionally plays music on the sidewalk but spends most of his time working on a doctorate in American Literature. He hopes to teach at Golden University and presently serves there as an adjunct professor while he pursues his studies.

He and Trina married. They moved into a small house in the Boughery, near the Glissens.

Simone’s hand — some say it was a miracle — healed quickly and completely. As soon as he was able to do so, he resumed his rigorous practice schedule, using a borrowed cello. In time he was hired by a reputable symphony in Massachusetts and moved north. As a going-away gift, friends along the Promenade collected contributions — “Simone’s Cello Fund” — and, with Professor Gobelli’s assistance, bought him a vintage instrument of his own. He cried at the bestowal.

Kendrick still works in the university’s custodial department. He has been promoted to a supervisory position with a good salary and full benefits and works the day shift. His portrait hangs on the wall beside Lamisha’s bed. Grandmother Whitaker is alive but frail. She still cooks and keeps house for Kendrick and Lamisha. He regularly drives her to church on Sunday.

For more than three years, Minnette has been on indefinite leave from her job with the accounting firm. She works for them from home as an independent contractor, setting her own hours.

She and Derrick have a son named Theo.

He is an exquisitely handsome little boy.

Katherine Lesker continues to write for the local newspaper but has also found time to collect stories from people who met Theo and received their portraits at the Fedder. She published those accounts, with a collection of essays, in a book called Little, Nameless, Unremembered. It was subtitled The Bestowals of Theo . It opened with Katherine’s statement, “His decision to live small made him larger than life.”

Mr. Ponder and Mrs. Gidley still report to Ponder House each day. Their business hours are irregular, and half days are common. They have taken only one new client since Theo’s death: Ellen.

Ellen still rides the Noble Invention. For months following the attack, she avoided the Fedder, day and night. According to others who lived under the bridge and saw her there regularly, she suffered nightmares and hallucinations that made them fear for her safety. Mrs. Ocie Van Blarcum convinced Ellen: 1) to see a doctor (the consultation took place in the full light of day at the Riverwalk near the kingfisher’s nest), 2) to become a resident at the Mission (in a private room), and 3) to pursue her featherwood venture.

Within a year she was a regular presence on the Promenade again. Her business is thriving. She works in a space at the rear of Jason’s bike shop. A piece of featherwood is proudly displayed on Mr. Ponder’s immaculate desk.

In the early days of her enterprise, she amassed a savings of $1,600. Despite Mr. Ponder’s advice that she retain some of the money to pay future expenses of her business, she insisted on contributing all of it to Simone’s Cello Fund.

Willa is thirty-five this year.

Samantha, daughter of Asher and Brooke, who did indeed end up getting engaged on that Thanksgiving night, had a beautiful wedding in the backyard of Glissen House. Cousin Minnette was her maid of honor.

Sam wore a simple linen dress and no shoes. When she exchanged vows with Cody, the autumn sun glimmered with Mediterranean splendor on her necklace, a heart-shaped opal on a gold chain.

After the ceremony she insisted that her father keep the Evening of Biscopo.

Asher still paints in the big house, in the serene light of Golden. His responsibilities as heir and beneficiary of Theo’s estate have occupied much of his time and many of his thoughts since Theo’s death. But he is grateful, and most of his working hours continue to be spent in the blesséd company of faces, in the noble pursuit of beauty, and in the humble service of art lovingly done.

At the conclusion of each day when he leaves the studio, he walks past two paintings and lightly touches a shadow box that hangs between them, a heart-shaped reminder of the undead, of the undying, and of an end with a future.

On occasional Sundays, Tony sits in the back row of St. James beside Ellen and the Noble Invention. He is slightly quieter now than he was when Theo was alive, and his edges are a bit softer.

He drinks one small glass of port, only one, at the end of each day.

A toast.

And for the fifteenth year in a row, the Verbivore is a week away from closing its doors.

On the first anniversary of Theo’s death, Tony had a plaque embedded in Theo’s bench at the Fedder. All who read it are told that this was a place where heaven and earth met in the form of an old Portuguese man. They are told that all, who choose to be, are capable of saintliness. They are also told that faith, hope, and love endure, but the greatest of these is love .