Chapter 29
The Extra Mile
The following morning, the family was awakened to the welcome sight of a county snowplow clearing their road. Not far behind was the car carrying a long-overdue party from Columbia. Nana had barely stopped when Katie came out the side like a shot, and almost knocked her mother over with a week’s worth of hugs. The Sergeant got a playful salute, followed by another round of hugs, which spilled over indiscriminately to the rest of the family – including a very surprised Grandma.
“Did you hear what happened to Dimes?” Mrs. Scroggins asked as she got out of the car. “He blew himself up in his trailer the night of the snowstorm – making cherry bombs.”
“Oh dear!” exclaimed Mrs. Sparrow. “I hope he’s all right?”
“He’s a little banged up, but too tough to sustain any real damage. And that poor boy of his is fine, thank the Lord. He was in the other room. He ran four miles through the snow to get help.”
“Where’s Mr. Dimes now?”
“In the hospital in Kansas City. But that’s not the worst of it, for him. When the fire department came out to save him, they found what was left of his meth lab in the trailer. Mr. Dimes will be doing some time, I think.”
“We need to go to the city today anyway,” the Sergeant suggested, “to take Izzie home and do our shopping. What do you guys say we stop by and see Mr. Dimes?”
“Yeah!” Chris exclaimed. “We’ll see who’s so scary now that... oh. Not like that, huh?”
The Sergeant shook his head. “Who can tell me what the Bible says about what to do when something bad happens to someone you don’t like?”
Katie knew the answer with chapter and verse, but waited a moment to see if someone else would come up with it.
“I know!” Moe called out. “It says you shouldn’t be happy about it!”
“And you should feed him when he’s hungry,” Jessie added.
“This is so scary,” remarked Izzie, “you guys knowing the Bible like a bunch of dictionaries or something. It is not normal. But, I kinda like it.”
It was an odd caravan that drove to Kansas City that afternoon. Grandma’s SUV led the way, with Chris riding shotgun and feeling nearly comfortable with her. Next came Ben and Mrs. Scroggins in their car, and then the Sparrows’ van, with Moe and the girls bundled up in the back. They were whispering together about a surprise they had ordered with some help from Mom, which they would pick up today in the city. The Sergeant carefully declined to eavesdrop, having some general idea of what the surprise might be.
They dropped Izzie off first, who was already asking when she could come back before she got out of the car. “You guys are totally more interesting than TV,” she reiterated. “And I am so sorry about the flu!” she called after them. “I’m just sick about it.” Assuring her for the hundredth time that it was okay, they closed the door before Izzie could realize what she’d just said.
As agreed upon, they joined Grandma in the parking lot of the hospital. “It’s been good to see you,” the Sergeant told her. “Thanks for coming out.”
“Don’t say goodbye yet.” Grandma got out of the car with frank curiosity. “I want to go in with you.”
Dimes was in the hospital’s security wing, a dismal place where only a limited number could visit at once. Quietly the Sergeant, his wife, Mrs. Scroggins, and Grandma entered the guarded room. Dimes looked up at them like they were ghosts. “Come to gloat?” he croaked bitterly.
“We came to bring you a couple of things,” Mrs. Sparrow told him. “A fruit basket, and some cookies. I’m afraid they were baked on the wood stove, though, because our electricity is still off....”
Dimes looked absolutely incredulous and possibly angry. They waited a moment for the inevitable profane tirade, but it never came. “You’re that kind of Christians,” he finally concluded.
“That’s right.”
“Good.” He grinned toothlessly, as if that fact presented him with some kind of a free ticket. “Then I can ask you a favor, even if we ain’t exactly friends – right?”
‘Not exactly friends’ would be one way of putting it, thought the Sergeant to himself, but aloud he said, “I guess so. Depending on what it is.”
“Good. It’s about my boy Dalton. He’s gonna be lost out there on his own in a busted trailer, with no one to see after him. Can you folks kinda, ya know, look in on him every now and then and make sure he’s okay?”
Dimes’ tone was so casual, one would have thought he had just asked them to look after his dog for a couple of days. But the fact that he would ask at all was so amazing that there was only one possible answer – even for people who believed in standing strictly to everything they said. “Of course we will,” they told him. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure Dalton is okay until you come back.”
On the way down the elevator, Mrs. Scroggins suddenly observed, “You know what? The old codger didn’t use one cuss word the whole time!”
“Miracles happen.” Mrs. Sparrow cast a quick glance at her mother, who looked thoughtful.
Out in the parking lot, they said goodbye for real. Grandma hugged them all, but without the stiff possessiveness that had been there before. “I’m not a person who hides her opinions,” she told them (stating the obvious) “and I still do not agree with the way you’ve chosen to live. I believe you’re making a big mistake about school, which will come back to haunt you when college time gets here.”
“I think we can agree to disagree about that,” the Sergeant suggested brightly.
“That won’t make me stop trying to talk you out of it,” Grandma warned with a wag of her finger. “But....” Her voice fell, and she continued slowly. “At the same time, it would take a blind person not to see that you all are different. I can’t deny that you’re better people than you were before, and I can’t fault whatever or whoever is responsible for that.”
“We’re just serving a better Master,” the Sergeant put in.
“Well, we all serve Him to one degree or another, don’t we.” Grandma pointed casually toward the sky. “Anyway,” she continued, “I want you to know that I won’t be bothering you again.”
“Your visit was no bother,” said Mrs. Sparrow, with the agreement of all. “In fact, you were a big help.”
Grandma waved a knowing hand at them as she walked to her car. “You understand what I mean,” she called back. “Now, I’ll come again in June. When I do, I expect to find that you children have all met or exceeded academic standards for this year – and heaven help you if not. Remember, there will be a test!”
They all waved goodbye, and found themselves almost looking forward to Grandma’s next visit – even if there would be a test. The real test had already been passed.
The Sparrow Found A House (Sparrow Stories #1) Page 29
