by Sharon Sala
“You’re welcome,” Alice said. “We have some kind ladies to thank for this food, don’t we?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said.
Pitty-Pat giggled. “I’m thankful for food and for Baby Sue.”
They smiled, and there were a few moments of silence, and then Pitty-Pat spoke up again. “Mama, I want to wear those new jeans and my new blue sweater tomorrow.”
Alice grinned.
“And so it begins. The bane of all women every day of their lives… What am I going to wear?”
* * *
Jarrod was still in jail in Atlanta, awaiting transport to a federal prison. A preacher had showed up early this morning and preached a little sermon in the walkway between the cells, then asked if any of them wanted to confess their sins and get right with God.
Jarrod thought about it, but the truth was, if he confessed all of his sins, he might wind up with more charges added to his case, so he sat on the side of his cot staring down at the floor instead.
The morning passed slowly. With absolutely nothing to do, he stretched out on his cot and fell asleep. He woke up a while later with his belly growling and was wondering what passed for Sunday dinner here, when he heard the footsteps of several people. Curious, he sat up, then was surprised when they stopped in front of his cell.
He saw the jailer and a man in a suit who looked suspiciously like a fed.
“Jarrod Dye?” the stranger asked.
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said.
“Step forward,” the jailer ordered.
Jarrod got up and walked all the way to the bars. The man in the suit was staring at him.
“What’s going on?” Jarrod asked.
“Did you send a message by your lawyer to call your brother?”
Jarrod’s belly roiled. All of a sudden he wasn’t hungry anymore.
“I asked him to notify my brother of my situation, that’s all. We’re close, and I didn’t want him thinking I’d gone missing or something,” he said.
“What else did you tell him?”
Jarrod shrugged. “I don’t think I said anything else. What are you getting at?”
“Your lawyer is in trouble for carrying a message from an inmate to the outside. Partly because it’s not allowed, and partly because somehow after that phone call, your brother wound up right back in the town where you kidnapped your ex-wife and tried to kill her. It leads us to assume you asked him to finish her off, because he tried and it got him killed.”
Jarrod moaned. Ruby was still alive and Gary was dead? That wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Gary’s dead?”
“Yes, and you have not been truthful with us, have you?”
Jarrod was crying now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then let me refresh your memory. Of course the police were bothered by the fact that a kidnapper’s brother showed up in the same town and tried to finish off the ex-wife who got away. So they began going through Gary’s phone for clues. Imagine their surprise when they found a call from your lawyer on his phone. So one thing led to another, and they had a little talk with your lawyer, Mr. Alan Young. Now, imagine his dismay in learning what had happened. To his credit, he was very up-front and helpful. He said he passed on the message you asked him to deliver…about telling your brother where you were and why, and then to tell him Ruby was all right.”
Jarrod groaned.
“We thought it a bit strange that you would want to reassure your brother that the ex-wife you kidnapped with malicious intent was okay. Do you have anything to say about that?”
“Uh…well, uh…when we were still married, Gary always thought a lot of Ruby. I just wanted him to know.”
“You are asking me to believe that he thought so much of her that he took a gun and drove from Nashville, Tennessee, all the way to Blessings, Georgia, and tried to kill her? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Jarrod swiped the tears off his face and glared. “I’m not telling you anything. I want my lawyer.”
“Well, you don’t get the one you had. He’s in trouble with the Bar Association right now. Another court appointee will be assigned to you, and this information will be added to your file for the judge to review.”
“Well, hell’s fire!” Jarrod said.
“Very sorry for your loss,” the man said, and then nodded to the jailer. “I’m done here.”
Jarrod threw himself onto the cot, so mad that he didn’t have enough left to grieve. It was all Gary’s fault for screwing up.
* * *
While some lives were in a mess, and others were smoothing out, little Gertie Lafferty’s life was winding down. The doctors had done everything they knew how to bring Gertie back to consciousness, but it never happened.
They didn’t know that her sweet Bennie had come for her right after she’d fallen against the tree and taken Gertie home. She was already where she had longed to be—with Bennie—and she didn’t want to come back. It’s just that Gertie’s little heart was far stronger than her will to quit, and it was taking it a while to wind down.
The workers from the nursing home were all the friends she had left, and one by one, they were taking turns coming to sit with her. No one could bear the thought of Gertie passing alone.
It was just after three p.m. when the monitor hooked up to her heart began to register an erratic beat. It went from skipping a beat now and then to a flat line.
Nathan Rose, the administrator of the nursing home, two of Gertie’s nurses, and the attending doctor were at her bedside when it finally happened. The doctor checked for a pulse, then looked up at the clock and called it.
“Time of death, 3:16 p.m.”
“Go with God, Miss Gertie,” Nathan said, and then stepped out of the room.
He had the responsibility of calling the funeral home to follow through with Gertie Lafferty’s last wishes. They didn’t amount to much.
No funeral.
No viewing.
“Put me in my blue church dress and lay me beside my Bennie,” she always said, and that’s what he intended to make happen.
* * *
After Alice Conroy put the kids to bed, she spent the evening washing her hair and picking out nice clothes to wear to enroll her kids in school. It wouldn’t take long for people to figure out they were hard up, but she didn’t want to leave a bad impression that would fall back on her children’s shoulders. People were often unkind, and children were no different. It took life experience to learn true empathy.
After she’d done all she could in preparation, Alice went to bed with both anticipation and anxiety, scooting her daughter from the middle to her own side of the bed so she had room to lie down, then covered them both and cuddled Pitty-Pat close as exhaustion finally claimed her.
Chapter 18
Ruby woke up Monday morning to the news of Gertie Lafferty’s passing, and shed a few tears in memory of the little woman who had once frequented the Curl Up and Dye. She started to go to the phone to call Peanut, then the ache rolled through her as she remembered. She lowered her head and took a deep breath, trying to move back into her safe place, knowing the ache in her heart would never leave if Peanut didn’t recover.
“I hate you, Gary Dye, and God forgive me, but I am not sorry you are dead.”
Ruby shoved her fingers through her hair in frustration, then got dressed and started her day.
Since she intended to go back to the salon tomorrow, she fell back into her normal Monday morning routine by cooking for the coming week so that when she got home every evening, she didn’t have to cook something to eat.
She started a pot roast in her slow cooker and then stirred up the brownie mix and put it in to bake. All the while she was working, she was thinking of Peanut. She was going to see him today. Would there be another sign his memory was retu
rning? She could only hope.
* * *
The alarm went off before daylight.
Alice threw back the covers, slipped on house shoes, and went to turn up the heat before heading to the kitchen.
She’d already made the kids’ lunches the night before and put them in the refrigerator. They didn’t have lunch boxes, but they did each have a new backpack, so she’d have to put their lunches in those. Someone had been thoughtful enough to put notebooks, pens, and pencils in each backpack, and for that she was truly grateful. The minutiae of details it took to live life were vast when a person was without the means to supply them.
As soon as she had the coffee started, she went to wake up her babies. Even if one of them was already taller than her, he would forever be her baby.
She pushed his door inward and then smiled when she saw his feet sticking out from under the covers and Booger asleep at the foot of his bed. She leaned down and gave the old dog a head rub, then laid a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.
“Charlie, wake up, Son. We’re going to school today, remember?”
Charlie rolled over, blinking sleepily, then frowned. “What did you say, Mama?”
“We’re going to school today. You need to get up.”
His eyes widened as a smile spread across his face.
“Oh yeah! I’m up,” he said, and threw back the covers as Alice left to go wake up her little girl. Pitty-Pat had slept through the alarm, and Alice suspected getting her daughter up would be more of a challenge than with Charlie.
Alice sat down on the side of the bed and then gave her daughter’s leg a gentle pat. “Hey, little girl, it’s time to wake up. Today is the day we go to school, remember?”
Pitty-Pat scooted deeper into the covers.
Alice grinned. “You get to wear new clothes to school, remember?”
Alice had said the magic words. New clothes.
All of a sudden, Pitty-Pat was crawling out from under the covers and into her mother’s lap. Alice hugged her close, marveling at the warmth and energy of such a tiny body.
“Come eat some cereal, and then we’ll get ready.”
“Carry me,” Pitty-Pat said, and Alice picked her up, because she remembered all too well how fast Charlie had grown out of this stage.
Alice gave them their cereal, fed Booger, and then sat down with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal too. The kids talked as they ate, excited, but at the same time a little anxious. It was never easy being the new kids at school. When they finished, Alice sent them to get dressed.
Charlie took Booger out in the fenced-in backyard before they left, then brought him back in and settled him on an old rug.
“Gotta go to school now, Booger. We’ll be back this afternoon, okay?”
Booger let out a little grumble as Charlie scratched behind his ear.
Charlie laughed. “You cranky old man… You know you like that spot to be scratched. Be good for Mama.”
“Come on, Charlie. We need to go,” Alice said.
He grabbed his coat and backpack and gave the house a last look before going out the door.
The morning air was chilled but they all had warm coats, and both Charlie and Pitty-Pat had the backpacks for a little added warmth.
Alice felt more like herself than she had in over two years and thought how sad it was that Marty’s death three months ago was what had triggered the change—that and the good people of Blessings.
They walked past the Quick Stop and were headed down Main Street when a police cruiser passed them going the other way.
Charlie saw Chief Pittman behind the wheel and waved.
Lon waved back and then made a U-turn two blocks up and drove back to catch up. He stopped a few yards ahead of them, then rolled down the window and waited for them to catch up.
“Hey, Charlie!” he yelled.
Charlie stopped. “Hello, Chief.”
“Where are you guys going?” Lon asked.
“Mama is enrolling us in school this morning,” Charlie said.
“Hop in. I’ll take you.”
“Thank you!” Charlie said, and got in the back seat with his little sister, while Alice got into the passenger seat beside the chief.
“I sure appreciate this,” Alice said.
“No problem,” Lon said. “Everybody buckled up?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Charlie said.
Lon took off up the street, turned off Main a few blocks down, and then made another turn past the Baptist church and straight to the school. He pulled up in the front behind a bus that was unloading.
“Thank you for the ride,” Alice said.
“You’re welcome, and have a great day, kids.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said.
The fact that the chief of police had given new kids a ride to school was something to talk about.
Charlie felt the other children’s eyes on him as he walked, but he kept looking forward, then ran ahead to open the door for his mama and sister.
Arlene Winston, the principal, was standing just inside the front door talking to Coach Sharp and welcoming the students as they walked in. When she saw the strangers, she immediately spoke up.
“Good morning,” she said. “Welcome to Blessings Elementary. I’m Mrs. Winston, the principal.”
“I’m Alice Conroy. These are my children, Charlie and Patricia. I came to get them enrolled.”
Mrs. Winston smiled. “Of course. We can get Patricia enrolled here, and then you’ll have to go two blocks over for the high school.”
“Oh no, ma’am. Charlie’s twelve and in the sixth grade.”
Coach Sharp grinned as he saw visions of a possible athlete Charlie’s size on the sixth-grade teams.
“Charlie, I’m Coach Sharp. Do you play any sports?”
“I played basketball and baseball at my old school.”
“Then I’ll see you in PE.”
Charlie grinned. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ll see you in class,” Coach said, and headed down the hall to his first class.
Arlene gave Charlie a second look. “My goodness, he’s sure a tall one for twelve.” Then her eyes narrowed as she kept staring at Charlie.
“You look familiar. Have you been in school here before?”
“No, ma’am,” Charlie said. “Maybe you saw one of my flyers. I put them in a lot of mailboxes a few days ago.”
Arlene gasped. “Yes! You’re the boy with the dog that found Gertie Lafferty.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said.
“It’s a shame she didn’t recover, but with her age and everything, I guess it was a blessing.”
Charlie was shocked. “She died?”
“This morning, actually,” Arlene said. “Follow me. I’ll take you to the office. My secretary, Mavis West, will get you both enrolled.”
Alice took her daughter’s hand and gave her a quick smile, but she was a little irked with the principal for blurting out the news like that to Charlie. It wasn’t as if they knew her, but he and Booger had found the elderly woman, and Alice knew this would hurt him.
Alice kept glancing up at Charlie, worried this news would ruin his first day, as they followed the principal. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
He nodded. “I’m okay, Mama. It was just a bit of a shock, but I guess it was her time.”
Charlie was super conscious of the curious stares of the kids they were passing, but so far nothing felt challenging. Then they reached the office, and Charlie’s greatest wish to get back in school was coming true.
Arlene Winston entered the office talking. “Mavis, this is Alice Conroy. We need to get her children enrolled this morning. They are Charlie and Patricia. Sixth grade and first grade.”
“Sixth grade?” Mavis said, as the principal went back out into the hall.
>
Alice frowned. She could see that look on the secretary’s face, thinking about how many grades he’d failed.
“He’s twelve,” Alice said.
Mavis blinked, then smiled a little sheepishly. “My goodness. Well, then. Do you have birth certificates and immunizations records with you?”
“No, ma’am. Our house burned three months ago. It’s why we moved to Blessings. But their old school has all of that. Can you request the records?”
“Yes, we can. I’m sorry about your home. Write down the name and address of the school for me while I get a couple of enrollment forms.”
Alice did as she was asked, and then sat down at a table and filled out the enrollment forms.
“I need to ask about free lunches and getting them on a bus route,” she said as she gave the secretary the forms. “We live at the far north end of town.”
Mavis checked the bus schedule, then added that info to their enrollment forms so she could enter it all into the computer database.
“They’ll be riding Bus Two. The driver is Millard Coffee. Just let him know where to stop when you first get on this afternoon, and he’ll tell you what time to meet him in the mornings.”
Alice glanced at Charlie. “Got that?”
“Yes, Mama. I won’t forget.”
“One more thing, Mrs. Conroy. I’ll need to see your SNAP card indicating you are receiving family assistance so I can set up free lunches.”
“Jewel Easley from DHS just signed us up so I don’t have that yet. She said we should get it by the first of the month,” Alice said.
Mavis frowned. “The rules are—”
Alice felt the slap even though it never happened, and she damn sure wasn’t going to beg. She held up a hand.
“Never mind. We’ll manage,” she said shortly, then turned to her children. “You have your lunches today, so don’t worry about a thing, okay? Have a wonderful first day, and make lots of friends.”
“Yes, Mama,” Pitty-Pat said.
“We’ll be fine, Mama,” Charlie added.
Alice knelt down and hugged Pitty-Pat, then stood up.
“See you both this evening.” Then she gave Mavis a cool smile. “I know you’re going to take good care of my children.”