Chapter 14

Richie was right about the funeral. Dozens of Jon's old classmates have come to pay their last respects.

As they watched from the safety of the car, Jon was amazed at the sheer number of people that have gathered for this old curmudgeon. "She must have written a lot of letters," he mused, to no one in particular. And touched a lot of hearts.

Jon had asked Richie to go in and offer their condolences to the family, and Richie had agreed even though he felt uncomfortable about it. He didn't know them and was sure that some of Jon's classmates would recognize him. Deep down, he was also not ready to face another funeral so soon.

"You're the friend of that young man that came to see mother the other day, aren't you?" Janet greeted Richie and thanked him for coming.

"Yes, he had been called away on an urgent business," Richie said, ignoring the stares from some of the mourners. "He asked me to come in his stead."

"Mother was quite fond of him, you know. Could you please tell Mr. Bongiovi thank you for the beautiful flowers when you see him again?"

"I will," he lied. He knew he couldn't do that, of course, for Jon would ask him what he was doing there.

"You're Richie Sambora, right?" Richie turned to find a couple with a young boy in tow. "The name's Sandeman, my wife and I went to school with Jon. How's he doing?"

"Uh, he's fine..." Richie knew this couldn't be good. "Were you friends with Jon?"

"Naw, we hung out in different crowds. Besides, we hardly saw him in school. It's just that, well, there's no one in our class who doesn't know who he is now."

"Yeah, I guess." Richie breathed a sigh of relief.



They stood at the grave site long after the crowd had left, looking down upon the flowers and wreaths that covered it.

Jon crouched down, resting his arms on his knees, "I was just getting to know you, Mrs. Ferguson."
What is the key ingredient?

*****

"Jon, if Richie is coming back tomorrow, I'll ask Grace to get his room ready. Do you know what time he'll be arriving?"

"No, but he said that he's going to be staying in a hotel."

"Why? He always stays here or at Joan's."

"I don't know. He said there's some things he needed to do. I'll bet he's bringing whoever his latest fling is and doesn't want to hear any shit from us."

Dorothea chuckled and shook her head but Jon was troubled about Richie's secrecy. There was something going on and the meaning of it was always just beyond his grasp. It frustrated him to no end, this feeling of confusion and adding to it the knowledge that his best friend was keeping something from him. It also didn't help that his son was starting to behave more and more strangely.

"Uncle Mookie and daddy coming back!" Romeo was excited.

This statement had Jon concerned. He had never mentioned that to his son and wondered how he knew this. "He probably just overheard you on the phone," Dot had suggested.

They had made an appointment with Dr. Rothschild for the following morning. Jon will have to remember to tell her about this. He hoped that the doctor would have some answers for them because Romeo was taking this imaginary friend thing a bit too far for his liking.

Unable to let it wash, he picked up the phone and dialed.

"Rich? Did you tell Romeo that you were coming here tomorrow?"

"I told him that we'd...er, I'd come back but I didn't say when," he replied hoping that Jon didn't catch that slip of tongue.

Jon did, but decided to not mention it. For now.

"How did he know that you're coming back tomorrow, then?"

"I don't know, Jon. Lucky guess? He's your son, ask him."

Jon was disconcerted by this. Richie was right, of course, but it didn't make him feel any better when he realized that he really didn't know his son.

"Look Jon, I'll come over as soon as I'm settled into the hotel and we'll talk, okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

*****

Jon was packing for the trip back to Jersey when Richie came in.

"Hey, did Romeo call you, again?"

"No."

"Then how did he know we were going back tomorrow?"

Jon considered this for a moment. "He knows a lot of things, Rich. Probably more than you and me."

*****

"I really don't think you have anything to worry about, Mr. and Mrs. Bongiovi." Dr. Rothschild looked through her patient's file and motioned them to sit down.

"Children his age have vivid imaginations. How vivid depends on each child, of course. How are his eating and sleeping habits?"

Noting that everything else about him was fine, Dr. Rothschild addressed them, again. "If you are concerned, I can recommend a child psychologist, but I would wait and see if any other incidents arise."

"You see, Mr. and Mrs. Bongiovi, more than sixty percent of young children create imaginary friends. And unless this interferes with their daily activities, it should not be a reason for concern. Studies have shown that children do understand that their imaginary friends are not real."

But I bet they don't call their friend 'daddy' and phone them long distance.

Agreeing to monitor their son, they left for home, both not quite convinced but desperately wanting to believe the doctor.

*****

Upon returning home, Romeo had disappeared into his room and Dot into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

They had spent the afternoon treating Romeo to a small shopping spree after lunch and was ready for a quiet evening.

Jon flipped through the channels and finding nothing worth watching on a Friday evening, decided to go up and see if could spend some time with his son. He was starting to feel a bit guilty about spending so much time away from his family with all the projects he had going. Maybe that's why Romeo is creating an imaginary 'daddy'. Damn! I'm so fucking stupid. Why didn't I see this before?

He found him in his room, quietly concentrating on a piece of paper he was folding. When he saw his dad, he quickly hid the paper in his pants pocket.

"Hey, whachya doing, son?"

"Nothing."

"Folding paper, again? You must really like origami."

"Okay." If you say so.

*****