takes you on a rollercoaster journey through the lives of Toynbee (the son) and Son (the father). Through an intricate series of flashbacks you are woven into their lives. By the time Book 1 is over, you will know what they think, how they respond to various stimuli, and exactly who these unusual compadres are.
Book 2 spins you quickly into their daily dilemmas and makes you understand precisely why their union is so strong. But wait--is something wrong? Is Toynbee not as smart as he seems? Does Son know something that will change them forever?
Book 3 answers these questions and myriad others. Toynbee will take you on a quest that will make your heart ache and bring you back to discover that a father’s love for his son and a son’s love for his father are unconquerable.
Should I call? he wondered. Nah, I’ll just go up to the door.
Just then the garage door opened, and an older model Pontiac Bonneville backed out.
He was sure it was she. He decided to follow her. He killed the engine in his excitement to get going after her. Then it was difficult to start, but he managed.
She led him down several stops and turns to a strip mall where she went into a grocery store. He decided it would be best if he stayed in the car. He almost missed her coming out since she used a different door to exit. She had three full grocery sacks, which she placed in her trunk. Then they were off again. This time she almost lost him because she got on and off the freeway. She stopped at a beauty mart. She came out carrying what looked like a gallon of something. That also went into the trunk. The next excursion led to a nursery. She came back with nothing. One more sidetrack to a hardware store where she bought something small that stayed with her in the front.
Then she did lose him when she got back on and off the freeway so fast that he saw her car on the exit when he was just past it. "Damnit!" he shouted. Oh well, he thought, I know her address. I didn’t need to be doing all this detective crap anyway. All I found out is that she’s as normal as can be except for that gallon of beauty goop, whatever that is.
Toynbee was hungry. He decided on a quick gluckburger to be washed down with some carbonation. Then it was back to Stallworthy.
This time his stakeout proved fruitless. He watched for an hour but saw nothing.
Since the garage doors had small windows in them, he decided to go take a peek as to whether she was even home. Everything was so open, he hoped no neighbors were watching. He got out and walked purposely to the front door, pretended to ring the doorbell then went over to the garage and got on his tiptoes to see. Nothing in either side.
He was no sooner back in the car than one of the garage doors popped up. He looked over his shoulder to see the Bonneville rounding a corner. It slid neatly into the garage, and the door went back down.
Now is the time, Toynbee thought. No, let her put her stuff away. Let her get settled.
He waited and looked at his watch. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. That’s enough, he thought. He turned the handle on the door when he heard a garage door going up. He looked over. It was the Regal driving back into the picture.
Afternoon delight, he thought. Great! I’ll have to wait.
So he waited. Five, ten, fifteen, thirty minutes. An hour. Maybe he’s a banker or something and he’s done for the day, Toynbee thought.
Just when Toynbee was about to go to Plan B--a telephone call--the garage door popped open, and Mr. G. backed out and drove away.
Finally, Toynbee thought. I’ll give it a couple of minutes, and then I’ll be Officer of the State.
Toynbee was about to open the door and head across the street when he heard a distinct "click." He looked to his left, and he was staring in the barrel of a very big handgun.
"What the ---- do you think you’re doin’?" the man with the gun asked.
"Excuse me," Toynbee said. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.
"I said, ‘What the ---- do you think you’re doin’’?"
If it had been under any other circumstances, Toynbee would have said something smart-ass, and Toynbee could now think of a dozen smart-ass things to say. But this circumstance made Toynbee’s sphincters squeeze.
"I’m sitting here like a law-abiding citizen," Toynbee said.
"The ---- you say," the man said.
Toynbee was afraid to look at the man.
"What’s your name?"
Toynbee had to decide. "Charles Feldsen."
"Let’s see some I.D."
Now what do I do? Toynbee thought.
"I don’t have any," Toynbee said minimally.
"Speak up!" the man insisted.
"I don’t have any!" Toynbee managed more loudly.
"The ---- you say!" the man said. "Give me your wallet."
Toynbee was stuck. He reached in and handed him his wallet.
"Toynbee Toller. You’re a ------’ liar! And what the ---- kind of a name is Toynbee!"
"You’ll have to ask my father," Toynbee said.
It wasn’t nearly as smart-ass as he could have done, but it wasn’t the right answer. The man mashed Toynbee alongside his head, and Toynbee was out.
Toynbee had no idea how long it had been since he had been out. It could have been a minute, could have been a week. A cold compress of some sort was resting on his head. Oh yeah, pistol-whipped, Toynbee thought. He opened his eyes and squinted because of the pain.
When he could focus, he saw that a lady in her mid-forties was sitting across from him.
"Hey, I’m sorry," a man’s voice said.
Toynbee squinted again and could see a man sitting in a chair down from the woman. He didn’t feel like speaking yet.
"We’ve had a number of burglaries in our neighborhood in recent weeks. Your car looked very suspicious. You’ve got to believe me. You want to go to the hospital?"
Toynbee tried to sit up, but a nice little spinning started, and he immediately lay back down.
"Don’t try to get up," the lady said. She had a pleasant voice.
"Why didn’t you just come to the door?" the man said.
"That’s obvious," the lady said.
"Not to me," the man said.
"Jesus, Henry, I gave him away when he was born. I haven’t had anything to do with him since. Do you think he might have a difficult time trying to make an approach?"
"I see your point," Henry said.
"He probably had some subterfuge planned," she said.
Toynbee was impressed with "subterfuge."
"I did," he said. "I went to your mother and told her you and she were beneficiaries of some monies you inherited from your father."
