Signature Song

Grandfather Maximilian was the son of Spanish wine maker and Moroccan Berber who harvested saffron in the High Atlas Mountains. He used to say when his parents met and fell in love, it created rifts within the two respective families that took years to heal. New rifts would appear years later when Grandfather Maximilian would meet and fall in love with a young English woman studying art in Paris and taking a holiday in Madrid. The cycle would then repeat itself again years later when their daughter would meet and fall in love with a flame-hair Scottish/Irish-American bluesman.

Like the rifts of previous generations, this one healed. Grandfather Maximilian and Grand'mama came accept their free-spirited son-in-law. A couple of years later, Elijah was born. Grand'mama always said he looked just like his grandfather, mostly because of his dark wavy hair and deep-set dark eyes, but also because he would sometimes have an impish half smirk, like he knew a secret. Of all the grandchildren in the family, it seemed like Elijah was doted on, even if Dad told him his grandparents hated them all equally.

Elijah most often thought about the rifts that had run through his family, and how they had healed, when he and Alabaster went to visit his parents. He always felt the story could be summed up in a song Dad wrote for Grandfather Maximilian when Elijah was five; We All Go Our Own Way. The tune became one of Dad's signature songs.

After dinner and dessert and the cleaning of the dishes, Dad would pour tumblers of whiskey. The same whiskey Elijah and Jessup stole a bottle of when they were fourteen and drank themselves sick on. Dad was not forgiving of their hangovers and had never let either of them live it down. After that, when Dad decided Elijah was old enough, he was given his first tumbler and learned the virtue of sipping whiskey.

Dad would pass the tumblers around to everyone who stayed after dinner and dessert and the cleaning of the dishes. Then, he would sit down at his old rocking chair, and start playing his slide guitar. Mom would sit on the floor by him, often with her eyes closes and a wistful smile on her face. She would sometimes tell Dad how his songs would play in her dreams. Elijah, with tumbler in hand and Alabaster leaning against him, would sit close by. Eventually, Dad would play his signature song.

We look at things so different
but who's to say?
Because in the end
we all go our own way...

Since Grand'mama's death and the money he had inherited from her, Elijah had gone to school and traveled all over the world. He had been to cathedrals, temples, and mosques. Witnessed Voodoo rituals, sabbats, and pow-wows. He had spoken with gurus and monks. Still, it was Dad's song, which was his mantra.

Shortly after getting his inheritance, Elijah was back from school, visiting his parents, Jessup, and the first girlfriend he had felt somewhat serious about. He was going to be going to Peru on an archaeological internship. It was then his girlfriend told him she had slept with Jessup whilst he had been away at school.

Elijah knew, logically, he should have been quite upset. His girlfriend had slept with his friend since childhood. He'd been betrayed by two people he cared deeply about. Yet the anger never came. He just sat and listen to his girlfriend's confession and apology, and reasons that could no longer date.

"You're going places, Eli," she said to him. "Anyone can see that. And those places are not anywhere I can go with you."

Elijah stood up to leave with something of a chuckle. His now x-girlfriend grabbed at his arm, as if to keep him with her just a little longer. There was a frantic look in her eyes. Almost like a cornered animal.

"You're going to forgive me, right?" She asked him desperately. He chuckled again, giving an impish half smirk, like he knew a secret.

"No," he said quite frankly. "But don't worry about it. We all go our own way."

Sometimes, Elijah would remember things like that when he listened to Dad play. Those times when the signature song, and its wisdom, played along three cords on a slide guitar, held all the answers to all the mysteries in all of creation. There were other times he would just lose himself in the moment. The sound of the slide guitar and the slow lingering sweet burn of sipped whiskey. The wistful smile on Mom's face as the mournful notes wafted through the air and feeling Alabaster leaning up against him. At times like that, he felt like he was feeling the touch of divinity.

Later in the evening, after everyone had gone home or to bed, Dad would go out on the porch and smoke a cigar, often humming an old Son House or Robert Johnson song softly to himself. It was then Elijah would appear with two more tumblers of whiskey. Not letting the incident when he was fourteen with the stolen bottle go unforgotten, Dad would slyly remark how proud he was that Elijah had since learned to pace himself, and then offer his son a cigar.

The smoke was always sweet, but also harsh and acrid. It was one of the few times Elijah would engage in such a thing. There, in the dark, under the moon and stars, with tumblers of whiskey and cigars, he would talk to Dad. Sometimes, it seemed quite profound, whilst other times, it really didn't seem more than trivial. At some point, Elijah would remark how he and Alabaster would try to come out to visit more. That's when Dad would chuckle and give his own secret-knowing smirk.

"Don't worry about it, Son," Dad would say. "We all go our own way."