Drew gave him a wry glance and Gabe felt a little sheepish.
“I know, but I’m just telling you how I felt. I looked inside the spiral and found the scroll.”
“Okay. I wish your neck would tingle again and let you know what it says. What good is it if you can’t read it?” He threw the scroll on the desk in frustration.
“Let’s take it to the library in Swinton. Maybe we’ll find some answers there,” Gabe suggested.
When he got into the Lexus, Gabe checked the odometer. He wanted to see what the mileage into Swinton was. On the way he told Drew about the accident that had killed Makima Gray’s youngest sister and how the freight train had delayed them from getting to the hospital in time to save her life. That was why they were trying to build a clinic in Grayson. It was seven miles to the railroad tracks, and another three put them in downtown Swinton. The library, according to the phone book, was on Liberty Street.
“Why don’t we ask where Liberty Street is?” Drew said.
“It’s more fun to drive up and down the streets until we find it. That’s the way you learn a town and this one isn’t very large. Isn’t that where you went to the show?” He pointed to a building with a marquee advertising a movie.
“Yeah. I wonder if there’s another one here.”
“I doubt it. There’re probably two or three different banks, but the population may not be large enough to support two movie houses. Down that street is the hospital. Let’s swing by there.”
The hospital consisted of two large buildings set in well-kept grounds, and three blocks down from it was the library.
The brick building was shaded by trees and had a large parking lot. The inside showed signs of recent renovations and Gabe felt hopeful that the staff here would be able to help him.
At the reference desk two people were taking care of the clients. When it was Gabe’s turn, the lady with a little gray in her hair looked up. “May I help you?”
“I hope so.” He handed her the scroll. “I have no idea what language this is and wondered if you could tell me.”
“Well, now, this is certainly interesting,” she said after giving it a thorough look. “I haven’t seen anything like it. Helen, take a look at this.”
After the two women conferred, the first one said, “Why don’t you have a seat or look around while I work on this.”
She disappeared into the reference stacks. Drew wandered away while Gabe sat on the bench and glanced around. There were work cubicles at the end of the room, most of which were occupied. He read a sign announcing The South Carolina Collection, for reference only. Young students were at the four computer stations, book bags on the floor beside them.
The librarian reappeared and he went back to the counter.
“I’m sorry to say that I could find nothing in our resources that would identify this language.” She glanced again at the scroll. “Are you certain it is a genuine language, not one made up for a game?”
“It is a language,” Gabe said and hoped he was right. He felt he was right.
“Then I would hazard a guess that it is in some African language,” she said. “I wish I could be of more service to you. If you do identify it, I’d be pleased if you’d let me know.”
He assured her he would and, finding Drew, went out to the car.
“What’d she say?” Drew asked.
“We’re one step ahead,” Gabe said, and on the way home related the entire conversation.
“As much as Great-Grandfather read about Africa, it makes sense, I guess. What’s next?”
“Since she thought it was some African language, I’m going back over Great-Grandfather’s collection and see if it tells me anything at all.”
“What can I do?”
“All this brainpower I’m using keeps me in need of a nutritious meal,” Gabe said with a sideways glance. “That give you an idea?”
“Yeah, gives me an idea of all the sneaky ways you try to get me to cook.”
“You ever watch those guys on television that cook? Some of them even got me interested. Also there’re some cookbooks in the kitchen but I guess you’ve seen them. If you need anything from the store just let me know.”
The meal Drew called Gabe to several hours later was a surprise. Gabe had thought they’d have steak and potatoes, but instead Drew had put together a meat loaf. The mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic were different from the usual baked ones. There was even a mixed green salad. Drew shrugged off Gabe’s compliments but said the next time they went to the store to get some stew meat and fish.
Gabe spent hours trying to find a clue to the scroll but nothing came to light. When he gave up the search at eleven and turned out the office lamp, he was too wired up to sleep.
He went out to the bench in the field. He felt comfortable in his heavy sweater as he listened to the small night sounds around him. He felt he was doing the same thing Great-Grandfather had done. Here he could feel close to this man who had gone to some extent to devise clues for Gabe.
I guess I have to prove my worth to be the recipient of this treasured destiny, whatever it is. Right, Great-Grandfather? I have to try to follow your subtle mind, be patient, and figure out the meaning of the clues as I find them.
I’m willing to try my best. I just hope I won’t let you down.
His thoughts stopped whirring around. Calmness and contentment filled him and he left the field and went up to a night of dreamless sleep.
The next few days went by with Gabe going through other rooms and finding nothing of consequence. Occasionally he and Drew would go for a ride around Grayson.
In the back of his mind he noted some empty lots where Makima could put the clinic. The Grayson community was larger than he’d supposed. There was the central portion where the businesses were and the majority of the residences, but all around the outskirts he saw small farms and isolated houses.
He made it his business to be downtown in Grayson on Saturday to see if there would be a noticeable increase from the outlying people coming in to shop. There were, on the streets he saw, expanded numbers of people visiting and shopping. It gave the community a festive air.
The other characteristic he noticed in his wanderings was the number of churches everywhere, even on the country roads. They weren’t large but there was a diversity, enough to suit every taste.
To give Makima credit, there didn’t seem to be many available spaces of the size a clinic would require and they weren’t in the central area of Grayson.
He didn’t know what she and her group would do about it but he wished them well.
Sunday he decided to go to church and this time listen to the sermon. Drew saw Jeff and went to sit with him. Gabe sat at the end of the pew on the right side instead of in the central section.
Makima hadn’t been one of the greeters this morning and he wondered if she was coming.
Maybe she was already here. He searched each row, and down in the front on his side he saw her in the third row.
Today she was wearing the turquoise jacket and earrings. She was talking to the woman beside her, who spoke with the man next to her. He bent forward to say something to Makima. He imagined they were her parents.
The choir marched in and the service began. There had been a disastrous fire in a nearby county during the week and the minister based his sermon on the need for compassion and an outpouring of help and service when such events happened. He noted what the media had reported of such giving and praised it.
“But that’s not enough,” he said. “It is in our daily lives that God commands us to be caring and sensitive to the needs of others. Sometimes the need isn’t as obvious as hunger or pain, yet it’s there. It may be that the person needs a good listener, a word of sincere encouragement, a prayer, someone to hold their hand.”
That made sense to Gabe except for the prayer. He didn’t know much about prayer personally.
He noticed that Makima and her parents seemed involved in the sermon. He glanced
around to see how many other men were in the congregation. At least one-third, maybe more.
Not for the first time, he wondered why Pop had been so hostile to ministers. He’d always spoken of them with scorn and never stepped inside a church. According to his comments, they were all rogues and rascals. Ma disagreed with him, which had led to loud arguments once in a while.
“Go on to church if you want to. Just don’t expect me to go,” he’d explode.
“I’ll go and pray for your soul,” Ma would say, shaking her head sadly.
Gabe and Drew never went to Sunday school on a regular basis. Ma took them on Easter and Christmas. When Gabe got older he went with her on Mother’s Day out of love and because it meant so much to her. She’d lived in Manhattan all of her married life. But she hadn’t wanted to be buried there.
“Take me home to Virginia,” she’d whispered to Gabe the day before she passed away. That was what her large family wanted, too, so the hearse took the body to a small town outside of Richmond.
The church hadn’t even been as big as this one and there’d been standing room only on that sad day. Gabe’s greatest concern had been for Drew and it had helped to have all his cousins around him.
Coming back to the quiet apartment had been heartrending but people from the church Ma had attended did just what the minister preached about. They called on the phone, came to visit, invited them over and brought so much food Gabe hadn’t had to cook for weeks.
Pop hadn’t wanted to be buried at all. “Put me in the furnace and throw the ashes away,” he’d said. But Ma refused to do anything that heathen, she’d said. She’d arranged a funeral at her church and was pleased at the number of his friends who attended.
Maybe on the trip back to New York when the three months were up, he and Drew would stop in Virginia and see all of Ma’s folks. It was important for Drew to keep in touch with family.
An organ chord brought him out of his reverie and in another ten minutes the service was over. He walked outside and spoke with several people while he waited for Drew.
“Gabe, how are you this morning?” Makima appeared beside him. “I’d like you to meet my mother and father.”
As they exchanged greetings, Gabe could see reflections of each in Makima.
It was from her mother that she got that dignity and pride that came to the surface at times and made her act snobbish. She hadn’t yet acquired the life experience of cultivating the unaffected delight her mother displayed when she met someone she liked.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Mr. Bell,” she said as she shook his hand. “My friend Selina has been telling me about you. Are you finding your way around all right?”
“I’m happy to meet you, too, Mrs. Gray, and please call me Gabe. Drew and I are beginning to feel very comfortable here.”
“We’re all going to have a bite to eat as we usually do after church, and you and your brother must come with us. Please say you will. It’ll give us a chance to get acquainted. You didn’t drive to church, did you?”
“No, we walked.”
“That’s good because you and your brother can ride with us and we’ll meet the others at the restaurant. Isn’t that a good idea, Arthur?” She beamed at her husband, who nodded.
Gabe saw Makima’s glance just sliding away from him. If he consented, would she excuse herself?
“Hope you can come, Gabe, I’d like a chance to talk with you,” Mr. Gray said.
“It sounds very nice and thanks.” Gabe beckoned Drew over and introduced him.
“I’ll round up the others and we’ll see you at Rockwell’s,” Makima said.
Mr. Gray was tall and almost portly. He had a genial manner, direct gaze, firm mouth, and what he’d passed on to Makima was determination. He’d been a principal, according to Makima. Not surprising then to see the authority he still carried with him.
As he followed the Grays to their car, Gabe wondered if the insight into Makima’s background that he got from meeting her parents would turn out to be good or bad.
Chapter 10
Rockwell’s was on the corner of Wisteria and Sixth Streets in Grayson. It was decorated in tones of peach and yellow that shouldn’t have worked yet it did. Pastoral prints were on the walls and the table linen carried out the soft color scheme. A slender vase with a yellow flower graced each table.
“This place just opened last year,” Mrs. Gray confided. “The Rockwells had a restaurant in Maine but they got tired of the cold weather. They used to visit down here and decided to make the break for the sun. We’re so thankful they did.”
Alana breezed in, followed by Makima and Jeff. She wore a tailored black suit with a short skirt and a pink-and-white oxford shirt fastened at the neck with a pink bow tie. Dangling pink earrings and black heels with straps made her look anything but masculine.
“Gabe, hi. I missed you at church.” She touched his arm and a waft of her perfume drifted by as she spoke to Drew.
“Bobby and Valerie couldn’t make it but I brought Jeff,” she announced.
The hostess came to seat them, and as Gabe followed the group, he saw that Makima was wearing black pumps that had a decorative strip of turquoise leather around it.
His mother had worked in the shoe department at Macy’s for years and had said how you could tell a lot about women by the shoes they bought. At the dinner table she’d tell stories about the customers using the shoe ads in the paper to illustrate her point. She caught Gabe’s imagination with her stories, and when he began going out with girls, he found himself noticing their footware.
How had Makima found such shoes that exactly matched her outfit? He couldn’t imagine the hours of shopping it must have taken, but he certainly enjoyed the outcome.
At the round table there was a slight jockeying for position. He was amused to find that he was seated next to Makima and across from Alana. “You can’t go wrong with anything on this menu, Gabe and Drew,” Mr. Gray promised. “These people are good cooks.”
“What are you having?” Gabe asked Makima.
She studied the menu a moment. “I promise not to have potato salad,” she said quietly with a deadpan expression.
Gabe was taken by surprise. When he saw the smile in her eyes, he broke out laughing and she joined him.
“What’s funny?” Alana asked.
Gabe left that to Makima, who merely said, “Nothing.” She then asked her mother about the corn soufflé.
After much chatter around the table, people gave their orders and the waitress brought out hot bread with tiny jars of apple butter.
“This tastes like the apple butter we used to get in Virginia,” Drew said.
“Virginia has some good apples. Is that where you lived?” Mrs. Gray asked.
“Ma’s family lived there,” Drew said.
“We were born and raised in Manhattan and always lived there except to visit Ma’s family,” Gabe explained.
He expected to have to answer many questions but he liked these people. He was relaxed and about to have a good meal. He’d already had a great moment with Makima. It was wonderful that she’d come to the point where she could laugh about the salad incident.
He had the wicked thought that maybe he would let her clean the jacket after all. It was still hanging in the closet. He didn’t dare look at her because the laughter inside would burst out and then Alana would have a field day trying to make them tell her the joke.
“Manhattan. I love some parts of that city,” Mrs. Gray said nostalgically. “We used to get up there now and then, didn’t we, Arthur?”
“Anytime there was a conference nearby it gave us the excuse to go. Now that I’m retired—”
Alana interrupted her dad. “You don’t need an excuse. What else is retirement for? Just pick up and go. See a Broadway musical. Go to the museums. That’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes and didn’t have to go to work every day.”
“Using what for money?” her father asked.
“Your pensio
n. That’s what it’s for.”
Gabe could tell this was an ongoing conversation. Alana lived for the present moment and wanted her parents to do the same before it was too late.
The waitress and a helper came with the food, asked if there was anything else she could do, said, “Enjoy your lunch,” and left.
Alana wasn’t letting go of her point. “What about your parents, Gabe?”
“I tend to agree that you shouldn’t wait and put that kind of thing off. Our mother always wanted to go on a cruise. So many of her friends went and would come back and tell her how great it was. Pop wouldn’t go but he told her to go. Next time, she’d say. Then two years ago Pop caught the flu, which turned into pneumonia, and he died. Before the winter was out she got caught in the freezing rain and the same thing happened to her.”
The Grays had all stopped eating. Alana looked stricken at her careless question. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“It’s all right,” Gabe said. “They married early and had a long life together. Drew and I are family to each other.” He hurried on. “But we’d never been to South Carolina before, so this is an interesting trip for us.”
“You didn’t know Mr. Zeke?” Mr. Gray asked.
“We knew nothing about Pop’s side of the family except for his brother, Uncle Jake, who visited once in a while.”
“Maybe he didn’t like to talk about his family. I know several people like that,” Mrs. Gray said. “How long have we known Mr. Willis, Arthur? We have no idea where he came from or about his family. He just showed up here one day, got a job, and has been here about twenty years or more.”
“I think something happened in Pop’s life when he was little and he decided to cut himself off from family. We didn’t even know he had a connection with South Carolina.”
“I hope you don’t mind my asking, Gabe, but how did you and Drew find out about Mr. Zeke?” Mr. Gray asked.
Gabe told him about Jasper Moultrie, adding little details about the visit. Drawing it out so he wouldn’t have to go into specifics about the will.
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