At 85 years of age, Doris wasn’t supposed to have favorite grandchildren, but Kyle was hers. She really couldn’t pinpoint why but when Kyle graduated high school a year ago, she wanted to go to everything he was involved in. Sports, music, arts, scholastics, you name it and she was there cheering him on the best she could. It didn’t hurt that there were no other grandchildren within 200 miles of where she lived.
Kyle and his parents definitely took notice of her involvement and encouraged him to invite his grandmother out for lunch on a Saturday afternoon when he was home from college. Without any argument from her, Kyle and Doris took in some country air before heading to a restaurant.
“Ah, Grandma, looks like I’m a little low on gas. I’ll just drop right in here and get some. Won’t be a few minutes. I’m going inside. Want any snacks or anything?”
“No, I’m fine, Kyle. Do what you need.”
Kyle pumped the gas and went inside. He was only gone for four minutes.
“You didn’t cause any trouble out here while I was gone, did you, Grandma?” Kyle asked as he got in the car and jammed the keys into the ignition.
Grandma Doris was silent and stared straight ahead.
“Everything okay, Grandma?”
“Kyle, you probably know you’re my favorite.”
“More or less, yes. Why?”
“Well, Kyle, while you were inside, I did some, well, snooping around your car…and,” Doris paused and patted her forehead with the back of her hand.
“And what, Grandma?”
“I’ll just come right out with it, Kyle. Have you been doing drugs? I found what we, er, they used to call a bong, a pipe in your drawer here.” She reached over to a small drawer under the radio and pulled out a handful of objects such as pens, pencils, and opened her hand.
Kyle looked at all the objects and then saw it.
“I see what you’re saying, Grandma. That’s my friend, Jamie’s. I don’t think he’s ever used it yet.”
She placed everything back into the drawer and the rest of the morning was pleasant, and the lunch was perfect.
He wasn’t sure who he’d tell this story to if anybody, but Kyle didn’t have the heart to tell his sweet grandmother that it’d be difficult to smoke anything inside a cheap manual tire gauge, try as he might.
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