Eighteen
Ravyn walked down the maroon-carpeted aisle of one of the smaller theaters on the University of Dubuque campus. Her father’s production would be held here this year, as were all rehearsals. From his vantage point, Dad saw her coming and waved.
“Okay, everyone!” he called to his cast. “Let’s all take a fifteen-minute break!”
The people onstage set down their scripts and began conversing with each other.
Ravyn reached the front of the auditorium and hugged her dad.
“Hi. How’s Marky been behaving?”
“Good. Your mother and I kept him busy.” He chuckled. “Between helping us out and his baseball practice each morning, I’d say we’re successfully taking the wind out of the boy’s sails.” Dad’s gaze brightened. “It’s smooth sailing from here on in.”
Ravyn agreed. “I’ll take him home now and let him go swimming and that should anchor his ship in the harbor,” she teased, “at least for today.”
Her father’s jolly laughter rang throughout the empty theater. He slung his arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. Then he planted a juicy smooch on the side of her head.
“Dad, please.” She grinned and pushed him away.
He laughed again. As annoying as his shows of affection could be at times, Ravyn truly enjoyed them. What’s more, she appreciated her parents’ help these last two weeks with Marky. In ten short days, he’d morphed into a child again.
Shelley, on the other hand, seemed to struggle hour by hour, day by day. Sometimes Ravyn felt exhausted just getting Shelley to the church office where she worked six hours each day. As sad as it seemed, her friend hadn’t worked an honest job in all her life. Rousing herself out of bed, showering, and getting dressed on time for her job each morning involved self-discipline, which was all new to Shelley. Even so, Shelley only had to recall the horror of her existence in Chicago, and all complaints were quelled.
Ravyn rounded up Marky, then said her good-byes to her mom and dad before leaving the redbrick building. Together she and Marky traipsed to the curb and climbed into Ravyn’s car.
“Did you have fun this afternoon?”
“Yep. I was painting.”
“I see that.” Ravyn smiled as she noted the dried green and blue paint on his knuckles and under his fingernails. “A good swim in a chlorinated pool should fix that.”
“Fix what?” He gave her a curious glance.
“The paint on your hands.”
Marky seemed to notice it for the first time. “Oh, guess I didn’t wash good enough.”
Ravyn laughed. Typical boy.
They arrived home and changed into their swimwear. Ravyn grabbed a couple of towels and her cell phone. Minutes later, they were playing volleyball in the pool. Other children who lived in the condominium complex had seen them splashing and laughing and decided to join in on the fun. Soon the pool was filled with squealing kids.
Ravyn decided to take refuge in a deck chair on the sea-green tiled deck where other parents sat observing the ruckus. In conversing with her neighbors, she became better acquainted with them, and she realized what terrific social icebreakers kids could be.
Shelley had arrived home from work and showed up at the poolside in her denim skirt and T-shirt.
“I had a hunch this is where I’d find you.” She pulled over a deck chair and sat beside Ravyn.
“You’re home early.”
“Joan had a dentist appointment, so she dropped me off.”
“Oh, okay.” Ravyn pointed at Marky. “Look at him over there. He’s having a ball.”
“So I see.”
Shelley watched her son for several long minutes. Unidentified emotions played across her thin face before she turned in her chair and faced Ravyn. “I felt like quitting today. I got my first paycheck and the amount is laughable. I used to make better money in one night at the dance club than a whole week at the church office.”
Ravyn grimaced. “You didn’t quit, did you?”
“No. But I was going to. Except, now that I see Marky. . .” Shelley expelled an audible sigh. “I feel like God is showing me I’m doing the right thing. I won’t get rich or famous, but I can do what’s best for my kid. At this rate, he might actually grow up to be a decent human being.”
Ravyn’s heart went out to her friend. She reached over and set her hand on Shelley’s arm. “Be assured. You’re doing the right thing. You don’t have to worry about money right now. You’re my guest. Indefinitely. Maybe we should go to the bank and open a savings and checking account for you so if you need something—”
“I was hoping we could do that.”
“But not cigarettes.”
Shelley sent her a dark glance. “All right. No cigarettes.”
“Cigars are off limits, too,” she teased.
Shelley laughed. “I don’t smoke cigars, you nut.”
Ravyn grinned.
The next few minutes passed in silence as they watched the kids swim. Ravyn felt encouraged that Shelley mentioned the Lord showing her something and influencing her decision to stay at her job. It was progress.
“Did you hear from Mark today?”
Ravyn wagged her head. “Not yet.”
“But you will. I noticed he’s called every day since he left.”
“Yes, he has. I keep thinking we’ll run out of things to talk about, but we never do.”
“If I were you, I’d hang on to that guy.”
Ravyn reclined in her chair. “I’m trying to figure out how to do that.”
“What you do you mean?”
“Well, as much as I love and respect my parents, I don’t want to live the way they did, always relying on other people to support them financially. You remember how it was. And now I happen to fall for a guy who’s going to be a missionary.”
“Just for the record, I think you had it better at home than I ever did.” Shelley crossed one slim leg over the other. “Your family was always laughing and having fun, but my folks were serious and worrying all the time about what the neighbors thought.”
“I mean financially. Sometimes we didn’t know where our next meal was coming from.”
Shelley paused as if to digest the remark. “I don’t recall you guys ever being in dire straits. Besides, missing a meal here and there never killed anyone. It’s not like you, Teala, and Violet were starving to death.”
“Shelley!” Ravyn couldn’t believe her friend’s lack of empathy.
“One time I went on a binge and I don’t think Marky ate for days. He was just a little guy, too. I’m so ashamed.” After a glance at her son in the pool, Shelley turned back to Ravyn.
“And your point is?”
“I guess what I’m saying is that your parents are human. Sure, they probably made plenty of mistakes. But they’re good people who help others all the time, and you—well, you’re the same way. Look at how you’re helping me out. I cringe to think what could have happened to Marky and me if you hadn’t stepped out of your comfort zone and come to Chicago.”
Ravyn didn’t know whether to bristle at the reprimand or feel flattered by Shelley’s gratefulness.
She laughed in spite of herself. Then she rapped Shelley on the knee and stood. “Come on. Let’s try to get to the bank before it closes.”
❧
“So, what do you hear from George lately?”
Ravyn glanced up from a patient’s chart to see Liz standing beside her with a teasing gleam in her eyes.
“We miss him around here. The new residents aren’t nearly half as much fun to tease.”
“I’ll tell him that. I’m sure Mark will be flattered.” Ravyn laughed.
“Seriously, what’s he doing?”
“Right now he’s at a large church in Wisconsin, helping with Vacation Bible School.” Ravyn regarded Liz askance. “Did you know he’s planning on being a missionary? This summer he’s visiting different churches, hoping to gain their support.”
“Yeah,
I heard something to that effect. The two of you belong to the same church, right?”
“Sort of.” Ravyn didn’t have time to go into lengthy explanations about the big church forming a spin-off church on the other side of the city.
“Doesn’t surprise me that you’re religious.” Liz leaned sideways against the counter. “I never heard you swear before and you don’t slack off like the rest of us.”
“That hardly makes me religious, Liz. Anybody can stay busy and refrain from using curse words. What makes me different is. . .” Ravyn paused, realizing she’d never talked about the Lord at work before. While she would never push her faith on others, her coworker was, in fact, probing for answers and at this point in her life, Ravyn felt comfortable enough and ready to share her knowledge. “It’s my relationship with Jesus Christ.”
An odd expression washed over Liz’s tanned and freckled face. “You’re one of those fanatics, eh?”
“Hardly. And I make my share of mistakes, so if you’re going to suddenly expect me to be perfect, forget it.”
“At least you’re honest.” Liz grinned. “I think that’s why I’ve always liked you. Now back to George—he’s going to the Amazon, right?”
“Um, no. Wrong continent. Try Indonesia.”
“Oh, that’s right. All I could remember was that it’s some-place warm.”
Ravyn smiled. “No wonder rumors get started around here.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Once you hit forty, the memory goes.” She took a step closer to Ravyn. “But, speaking of rumors, I found out Carla lied through her teeth about her and George. But you probably knew that already.”
“Yes.” Ravyn peered back down at the chart again.
“You could have said something. You could have at least told me.” Liz’s voice carried through the partially empty ER. “You should have confronted Carla for lying. She would have deserved it.”
“Mark could have confronted her, too.” Ravyn lifted her gaze once more and stared into Liz’s blue eyes. “But he decided that a softer approach would be more effective, and I’ve come to realize he was right.”
“Yeah, well, we decided on a soft approach, too—none of us are speaking to Carla.”
Ravyn pressed her lips together. She refused to get mixed up in the mess.
“But next time you talk to your pal George,” Liz said with a lilt in her tone, “tell him that the girls on third in the ER miss him.”
“Will do. The news will make his day, I’m sure.” Ravyn couldn’t help feeling amused.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Carla, who pushed a patient’s gurney back into his room. Obviously the patient had come from having an x-ray. Ravyn wondered if the younger woman’s feelings were hurt now that her coworkers shunned her. But perhaps she didn’t care.
Flipping the chart closed, Ravyn checked on Mrs. Hiland, a stroke victim who’d suffered a setback. The neurology team had been summoned to evaluate and treat Mrs. Hiland’s symptoms. Ravyn’s job was to keep the sweet elderly lady stable until they arrived, and so far so good.
After seeing to her patient’s needs, Ravyn exited the room and smacked headlong into Carla.
“I need to talk to you.” Carla stuffed her hands into her smock’s front pockets. “Can you take a break real quick?”
Ravyn thought it over. “Yeah, I guess now’s okay.” She thought Carla seemed anxious. “I’ll let Liz know I’m leaving.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you on the smoking deck.”
Ravyn went to tell Liz she was taking a break. Then, as promised, she met Carla outside. For the last week, an oppressive heat wave bore down on most of the Midwest, Iowa being no exception. The ER had been full today with people complaining of respiratory problems and other heat-related illnesses. Even now, at two o’clock in the morning, the temperatures were in the eighties and the air felt thick and muggy.
“I’ve got to show you something.” Carla took Ravyn’s elbow and steered her under one of the halogen lamps. She lifted her top, revealing her midriff—and something more. A nasty purplish blue bruise spanned her entire left side.
“Ouch.” Ravyn winced. “How did you manage that?”
“I fell backward off some bleachers. It was a pretty high fall. I’d been drinking and my friends thought I was dead because when I hit the ground, I knocked myself out cold.”
“Did they call an ambulance?”
“No, someone just drove me home.”
Ravyn gave her a momentary look of shock. “They didn’t drive you to the hospital?”
“They’d been drinking a lot, too, so they didn’t want to get involved.”
“Carla!” Ravyn stood arms akimbo. “What kind of friends are those?”
Carla shook her head and thick strands of her blond hair escaped from the clip at her nape. “It doesn’t matter. I probably won’t see any of them again and, if I do, I won’t remember their names or that we even partied together at the park.” Carla held her top up higher. “Take a look, Ravyn. Did I break some ribs? I about died, pushing that patient back to the ER from radiology.”
“If you’re concerned about it, you need to get an x-ray.”
“But everyone will talk—”
“Carla, if any coworker reveals your personal health information just to gossip he or she will be in violation of the Federal HIPAA law.”
“True, but you know how it goes.”
“You have to think about your health first.”
After a few more minutes of discussion, Carla finally made the decision to ask her supervisor if she could clock out early. Things weren’t terribly busy, so Carla proceeded to check herself into the ER for an examination and x-ray of her midsection. Ravyn managed to work it out so she was Carla’s nurse. She escorted her into one of the farthest curtained exam rooms on the opposite side of the nurses’ station, so no one else paid much attention to the new admission.
“This is the second time you’ve come to my rescue,” Carla muttered after she’d changed into a white and gray checked gown that wrapped around and tied at the waist. “Mark told me that I could always count on you.”
Ravyn realized she’d been hearing the “count on you” comment a lot lately, from Shelley and now Carla, too. But, in truth, people had always relied on Ravyn for as long as she could remember. Her parents, sisters, friends, coworkers—and suddenly she didn’t view it as a burdensome thing. She felt flattered. Needed.
“I’m so sick of this life.”
“What do you mean?” Ravyn sat on the corner of the linen-covered gurney.
“My life. . .” Carla shook her blond head. “I just wish I could get it together.”
“No one can do that for you, Carla.”
“I know. But I can’t do it alone, either.” Tears filled her huge blue eyes, and she tried to blink them back. “I know there are a lot of support groups out there, but that’s the problem. Which one do I choose?”
“Would you like to come to a ladies’ Bible study with me and my friend Shelley tomorrow night?” The offer bounded out of Ravyn’s mouth before she had a chance to really consider it.
“Bible study?”
Ravyn nodded, feeling amazed that twice during the same shift she’d been afforded the chance to share a snippet about her faith. “You’ll find the truth about anything you’re struggling with in the Bible. It’s a great place to start.”
Before Carla could answer, the staff physician entered the exam room. Ravyn left so the doctor could examine his patient’s injuries, but she made a mental note to give Carla her phone number in case she decided to come to the Bible study. Ravyn had planned to go for Shelley’s benefit but realized some time ago that she needed the fellowship and teaching from God’s Word as much as anyone else.
Stepping over to the counter where she set down Carla’s chart, Ravyn felt awestruck once more. Never before had she witnessed to coworkers. While she had never been ashamed to be a Christian, she’d never gone out of her way to present the Truth, either. It
had been years since God used her as an instrument of His love and goodness, and Ravyn had to admit that it felt good.
Nineteen
Over here! Over here!”
Ravyn’s gaze followed the voice to the front row where Marky stood waving his arms.
Shelley leaned closer to Ravyn. “Wouldn’t you know he found us front row seats? I was hoping for an inconspicuous spot in the back row.”
Grinning at the comment and Marky’s enthusiasm, Ravyn led the way down the carpeted aisle. Marky had seen her dad’s production four times already, not including rehearsals, and she and Shelley had seen it twice, counting tonight—opening night and now the closing Labor Day weekend show. Since Marky had had a hand in the production, Ravyn’s folks invited him to the cast party after the show. A more excited ten-year-old couldn’t be found in all of Iowa.
“Hurry! Someone might get our seats!”
“Oh, Marky.” Shelley said his name on a weary-sounding sigh as they reached him. “I doubt there will be a run on front row seating. Besides, all you’d have to say is that you’re saving these seats for your mom and your aunt Ravyn.”
Without a reply, the kid turned and sat down. Then he bounced with anticipation in his padded chair.
Shelley deposited a program in his lap and sat beside him. Ravyn took the place next to her. The rest of the row stood empty, and she smiled at Marky’s concern that someone might steal their seats if they hadn’t acted quickly enough. Typically the Labor Day weekend show wasn’t crowded; however, with the college students back on campus now, the small theater might hold a larger than expected audience. Ravyn knew if such a thing occurred it would please her father tenfold.
She stared, unseeing, at the program, which Violet had created on the computer, and thought about how far her dad’s summer plays had come over the years. From a tent in the park and hand-typed, one-sheet programs to a beautifully renovated theater on the University of Dubuque campus with central air-conditioning and high-tech brochures that included pictures of each cast member inside. Sure, Dad’s plays had been acted out in other theaters before, but sometimes the “theater” was a vacant church or a dark, dingy movie theater ready to close and be demolished. Other times churches lent him their auditoriums. But the time arrived at last when Dad’s productions found a fitting home, since the university had offered him the use of this theater indefinitely. Dad was an alum and had, over the years, developed close relationships with several directors on the school’s seminary board. They supported his ministry and during the school year Dad would begin teaching a class or two.
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