Good Josh Hunting By Danilise (danilise@hotmail.com)
Good Josh Hunting Disclaimer: Roswell, its characters and situations, are owned by the WB. No infringement intended.
Author's Note: This story is the part of an evolving future storyline. All the stories currently in this storyline are included in order on the Future Arc page.
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INT. EVANS RESIDENCE - NIGHT
JOSH EVANS, sixteen, dark-haired and soft-spoken, good-looking in an understated way, sits slumped on his parents' living room sofa, with his arms crossed behind his head and his legs stretched out in front of him. There are dark circles under his eyes, which are tightly closed. He is exhausted.
DR. MAX EVANS, Josh's father, walks into the living room and sits down beside Josh. There is a strong family resemblance between father and son; they both have the same dark hair (although Max's is flecked with grey), the same changeable gold-brown eyes, the same air of quiet leadership.
For a couple of minutes, Max doesn't say anything, just sits quietly, respecting Josh's obvious exhaustion. This kind of consideration is typical of him. There are people who carry decency and optimism around with them, who seem to cleanse every atmosphere they settle in, and Max Evans is one of them. Josh is too.
Max chooses his words carefully before speaking.
MAX So the test today -- how did it go?
JOSH (without opening his eyes) I don't know.
MAX It should've gone well. You studied for weeks.
JOSH I guess.
Frowning slightly, Max studies Josh. Although he senses his father's interest, Josh keeps his eyes tightly closed. After a minute, Max shakes his head slightly, gets up from the sofa, and goes to the bookshelf where he picks out a book.
MAX (striving for nonchalance) Well, if you want to talk about it....
Still standing, Max opens the book and begins to read. He is able to read through a couple of pages before Josh opens his eyes to look at him.
JOSH You've read that one before, you know.
MAX (flips the book closed to glance at its title) Have I?
JOSH Of course you have. You've read all of them before. Mom has too. Why do you keep reading them over and over again?
MAX You can miss things the first time around, or misinterpret them. The second time, you can take time over the little details. The truth is always in the details.
JOSH Define that.
MAX Define what?
(wryly) Truth?
JOSH (shakes his head; straight-faced) No. That would take too long. Define what you mean by "the truth is in the details."
Max sits down in the armchair across from Josh. The book he chose from the bookshelf dangles from his hand forgotten. He gives Josh a thoughtful, assessing look then takes a deep breath.
MAX This is a tale of two tests--
JOSH You're not connecting the dots, Dad. What do tests have to do with truth?
(realizing) No, wait. Don't answer that. You're not gonna tell me a story, are you? 'Cause if you are, I have to tell you that I'm dead tired. I'm totally fried.
MAX (mildly) You asked the question. If you want to hear the answer, you may want to hear the story.
Capitulating to the inevitable, Josh grins. He really doesn't mind Max's stories; it's just that as the almost-youngest member of a large extended family, he hears a lot of stories, and it can become tedious after a while. But Josh is truly his father's son and is therefore used to calling on his inherited reserve of patience and calm, especially when his family turns to story-telling. He sighs, then--
JOSH Okay. Let's hear it.
MAX I told you it was a tale of two tests. The first one took place during my first year of medical school. All the upperclassmen told us that the first anatomy exam was a killer. I studied day and night for weeks; everyone in my class did. But when I finally wrote the test, I discovered it was easy. In fact, it was the easiest test I had ever taken in my whole life ... until I got to the last question.
Max pauses for effect; Josh taps his foot impatiently against the hardwood floor.
JOSH Well? What was the last question?
MAX The last question was: "What is the name of the lady who cleans the teaching wing of the hospital?"
JOSH What a stupid question. It doesn't have anything to do with anatomy.
MAX True. But it has a lot to do with being a doctor.
(his mouth quirks to the side as he remembers) Her name was Clara. And she was a very nice lady. She was very good at her job. The teaching wing was always spotless.
JOSH (trying to be patient) Okay, that's one. You said there were two.
MAX When your Aunt Isabel was in law school, she had a similar experience. It was another supposedly killer test to weed out first-years. The test was organized in three sections, with each section made up of three categories of questions -- hard questions, medium-hard questions, and easy questions. The students were instructed to answer one category of questions from each section.
JOSH (commenting) Evil test.
MAX It was. It turned out that the students' tests weren't even read by the professor. He assigned grades according to which questions the students answered, not what they answered. The students who chose the hardest questions in all the sections got A's. The students who chose the medium-hard questions got B's. And the students who chose the easiest questions got C's.
JOSH Why would he do that?
MAX Iz said that he told the class that he wasn't interested in testing their knowledge; he wanted to test their aim.
JOSH That's definitely evil.
MAX (nods) Maybe. Although in my experience, "evil" looked a little different.
Realizing what Max is referring to, Josh sobers momentarily. Then he shakes it off with a quick grin at Max, which Max returns. The past is in the past, and they both know it.
JOSH Okay. Two tests. So ... help me out here, Dad. Why did you tell me this "tale of two tests"?
MAX (piously) Because it's my job to pass on wisdom.
JOSH Ye-ah. And?
MAX And because you need to know what we learned the hard way, Josh. Because you have a destiny.
(a beat) Did I ever tell you about Moses and Joshua?
JOSH Uh no. What is this, cozy-cozy time or something? What's with all the stories, Dad?
MAX (shrugs) I don't know. I guess I miss cozy-cozy time. How about a funny story then? C'mon. You know you want to hear a funny story.
JOSH (with a teasing glint in his eye) Uh, I'm not so sure. What you think is funny and what the rest of the world thinks is funny doesn't always match up, Dad.
MAX This is a funny story. Trust me. It's a story about your Uncle Michael and your Aunt Maria. They went to Europe for their second honeymoon -- I don't know if you remember? They traveled all over and somehow ended up in the south of France, in Camargue&emdash;
JOSH Where the wild horses are.
MAX Yes, exactly. How did you know that?
JOSH (pretending to be insulted) You're not the only one who reads around here, Dad.
MAX Behave, or I'll give you away to the gypsies.
JOSH (rolling his eyes at the old joke) Ha ha, Dad. See what I mean about your sense of humor?
MAX (pretending to reflect) You may have a point.
(a beat) So where was I? I was telling you about Michael and Maria's second honeymoon. They went all over Europe. Maria kept sending us postcards explaining why they were suddenly in Luxembourg when the itinerary they left with us said they would be in Germany. She would say: "It was there, and we weren't, so we went." And she would tell us the same thing on the phone whenever they called to check on your cousins, who stayed with us one week and with your Uncle Alex and Aunt Izzy another week--
JOSH Wait a minute. I do remember this now. When they stayed with us, Stephen and Leo kept making me do stuff for them. They told me I was their personal slave.
Max stares at Josh. It is clear that he is completely astonished. Josh just shrugs.
JOSH (cont'd) You shouldn't be surprised. You know them. They're Stephen and Leo Guerin, twin terrors of Roswell, progeny of Michael Guerin and Maria DeLuca Guerin. No further explanation needed.
(a beat) Anyway. So what about Camargue? It was there and Uncle Michael and Aunt Maria weren't, I guess.
MAX (regaining his composure) Right. That's why they ended up there. That was where they ran into the gypsies--
JOSH (doing an almost cartoonish double-take) Huh? What gypsies? I thought Uncle Michael and Aunt Maria were in France.
MAX They were. Apparently the gypsies gather in Camargue in the south of France every year to worship their goddess, Sara the Egyptian--
JOSH Okay, Dad. Now I'm completely confused. You've completely lost me on this one. Wild horses, France, gypsies, Sara the Egyptian.... I don't get it. What's your point?
MAX (giving Josh a wait-and-see smile) Michael told us that the people in Camargue have an interesting saying about the gypsies. They say that the gypsies only steal as much as they need, which is more than they can say for their government.
JOSH (laughs) No wonder Uncle Michael liked the gypsies.
MAX Maria said that Michael and the gypsies were kindred spirits from the beginning. Something about complementary auras or smells or something.
Josh and Max share a bemused look and settle into a companionable silence. Then--
JOSH So threatening to give me away to the gypsies was a weird kind of foreshadowing for this story.
(Max nods; Josh just shakes his head) So what was the point again?
MAX There was no point to that one. I just thought it was a funny story. But the Moses-Joshua story ... now that one had a point.
JOSH (heaving a sigh of long suffering) Fine. One more story, and that's it.
MAX It has to do with being a first-born son and leading a chosen people into a Promised Land and why we called you Joshua in the first place--
(Max checks his watch and gets up from his armchair) --but you're going to have to read about it on your own, kiddo, 'cause I need to pick up your mom at the Crashdown. You know your Grandma Nancy drives her crazy if she spends too much time with her.
Josh nods, his eyes thoughtful. It isn't until Max is almost out the front door that Josh speaks up, stopping him.
JOSH There was a point to the gypsy story, wasn't there?
Smiling, Max comes back into the living room and reaches down over the back of the sofa to ruffle Josh's hair.
MAX What do you think?
A wrinkle appears between Josh's brows as he ponders.
JOSH That I should think about it some more?
MAX (ruffling Josh's hair again) Smart boy.
JOSH (trying to squirm out of reach) Stop that. I'm too old for that.
Max just grins and heads out the front door again, his strides noticeably longer and eager because, after all, he is going to see Liz soon.
After Max leaves, Josh leans back against the back of the sofa, stretching out his legs and crossing his arms behind his head once more. He stares thoughtfully at the bookshelves in front of him.
After a couple of minutes, he smiles and shakes his head.
He no longer seems exhausted.
Additional Author's Note:
Obviously this story is a tribute to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Oscar-winning screenplay for "Good Will Hunting."
This is another "stupid writing experiment," but I still need to make some acknowledgements. The first test Max describes is based on an email someone sent me once, one of those "smile a day" email chain letters. The second test Max describes is based on a true story I read in "Bits and Pieces," a monthly newsletter of inspirational anecdotes. The gypsy story really happened. *g*
And if you want to know the full scoop on why Max and Liz named Josh Josh, you (like Josh *g*) can look up the Moses-Joshua story in the bible.
Or you can send me email about it. *g*