Shady past: Reason for Concern

No one knew a lot about Percy, the gray haired, elderly man who always hung around the market place, although many suspected that he had a shady past. Personal self-disclosure was not his forte at the best of times. In fact, it seemed that he always had to move on immediately, any time people started getting too familiar with him. Thus, there were many questions raised in the town, but Percy always managed to avoid answering them.

Why was he there? No one knew where he came from, or what he did for a living. How he survived financially was speculation for the most part, as no one had ever seen him engaged in any kind of work.

When they did see Percy in the market place, he was always clean and well dressed, wearing a gray striped suit, with shiny black shoes and a derby, in stark contrast to the shoddy farmers in their coveralls and gum rubber boots.

Percy always played the role of a perfect gentleman when he was around the ladies, tipping his hat and greeting them appropriately. When with children, he seemed friendly and fun loving, although cautious about appearing to get too close to them, lest their parents became alarmed about his intentions.

Most men did not like him, as he was overly polite and dressed far too fancy for them, but he seemed to be able to make conversation on most topics, and obviously was a relatively learned man.

People started becoming increasingly concerned about Percy's past, when he befriended a beautiful, stately, young woman from the local theater. He seemed almost playful when she was close by, but in a gentle way and immediately took on the role of a stalwart, kindly, upstanding citizen if anyone else was close enough to listen in on conversations.

Percy invariably had a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a magical way of side stepping any inquiries about his intentions with her. He would raise one eyebrow and then another, if tensions between them ran high. At other times, he would stroke his long mustache, as if deep in thought. He frequently asked her questions, as if he was looking for someone or something.

"Who is he?" a young, blonde boy named Todd, asked his mother, pointing to his photograph on the back cover of the brand new, hard cover book that Percy had just given him.

"Oh, my God, it's him!"

“Percy told me to give this to you,” continued her young son. “He said that you would understand. Who is he, Mommy?”

As she looked up, she spotted Percy standing in front of a fruit stand, across the street at the marketplace. He was watching them closely and had seen her reaction to his photograph. She quickly grabbed her son’s hand and pulled him close to her.

“We have to go now,” she said quietly, not wanting to upset him.

“You should say thank you for the book.”

“Not now, son.”

“Why do we have to leave so soon, Mommy?” She knew he was far too young to understand the intricacies of divorce and child custody. “We just got here!”    

"I will explain when you are older, Todd, but sometimes there are people who we do not want to have in our lives.”

“Like Percy?” asked Todd, who was not about to stop asking questions. “I kind of like him, Mommy. Can I say goodbye to him?”

“No, we have to go right now.” 

She knew that now they had no choice but to move away. 

“How do I tell my son that his grandfather has found us again and that he had a shady past?” she wondered.