“What’s fusion mean in the real world?” I asked not bothering to try to eat my sandwich. This was all too upsetting. Although, while it was impassioned, it wasn’t terrifying like 95% of the conversations between the Kents.
“Country-folk-rock.” He said. “And blues.”
Emily didn’t understand it any better than I did but I was past questioning him. “Country and Western?” She asked.
“Country without the Western. Music of the people, not of the cities, not electrified, not over-processed, not orchestrated, music that says something, that contributes. Music, songs like this move across genres, they’re from everywhere. It’s a style more than a genre. It will be how we present the music, not a classification, not being pigeonholed.
“I picture people gathered around an old radio during the Depression of the 1930’s, singing and playing. There’s no restrictions on what they’ll perform, they’ll sing what they want to sing. Simple and uncomplicated because they love the music. Like that but now.”
I could understand why someone like Tru wouldn’t want boundaries put on what he could do or told where he could go with it. Putting a slice of tomato on my sandwich, I prepared to take a big bite to hide my smile.
“Contemporary Folk,” I said.
“Okay,” Truly replied. “What’s the smile about?”
“I’m in.”
***
After rehearsing until my voice was starting to get raspy, then he had me work on the guitar for an hour. We had a list of the songs to perform, most of them, like St. James Infirmary, I thought I could get through without embarrassing myself too much.
Running counter to my instincts, Truly thought I was ready so I trusted his greater experience. He said they needed another voice, but I knew the band could readily go to the Enchanted Gardens as a trio. If he could figure out how to add me and all the changes that entailed, he could have easily worked up two sets for the three guys. He wouldn’t risk the band’s reputation on me.
No one had faith in me once my father died, so it was a compliment to know Truly believed in me. I didn’t want to disappoint him or fall short of his expectations but he was being realistic. He thought there would be some bumps in the performance, maybe I’d forget some lyrics or chord changes. I’d hit some bad notes but the point was to keep going. Live music is not perfect. Strings break, microphones quit, someone pulls out the plug for an amp. It’s important to keep going.
The closer we got to the weekend, somehow, the less concerned I was. I’d do my part. I knew he would take care of everything he always took care of.
The rain was hitting the windows and I was reading in bed when his phone rang on the nightstand. I picked it up.
“We’re not going to be famous.”
“I didn’t think that.”
“We’ll always be able to make a living.”
“Okay.”
“Aren’t you worried about that?”
“I can get along on next to nothing.”
“We’re going to be doing something people won’t understand right away.”
“Okay.”
“We’ll be playing canoe races for the next ten years, if we can get them.”
“Truly. Stop.”
“What.”
“There’s plenty for us to do. You can always grow your hair out, pull it back into a ponytail, I’ll get a colonial dress and sing I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again.”
“Don’t sing that.”
I laughed. “What do you always say? Oh, I know. That song’s not about us.”
“Do you know anything else?”
“East Virginia Blues. You won’t believe how I can morose that down.”
“No, I would believe it.”
“Tru, I didn’t think I was going to live long enough to have a future. Now that I do, I’m not worried about it.”
Chapter 16
Emily left us in the den to do schoolwork while she went out to work with a horse. Since at Acre High we were supposed to be studying the American Revolution, I was now reading about the Continental Congress and was fairly certain we wouldn’t have had time to go into any depth on that what with Ronnie DiNardo acting out every day.
Tru put his pencil down. “I’d like to talk to you about something.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” I had been taking notes and put my pen down.
“When I was up in Ithaca, I asked around and Cornell University Hospital has a world class orthopedic department.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Don’t be angry with me.”
“I don’t want to go back to a hospital. They did enough to me already.” I picked up the pen and went back to the Revolution.
“Could we make an appointment and find out if there’s anything to be done?”
I concentrated on the line I was writing.
“If you don’t care and have no expectations, you won’t be disappointed if there’s nothing left to do.”
“Then why bother?”
“What if there is something? These doctors are geniuses. My mother takes the horses up to the veterinary facility there and it’s unbelievable how good they are. If they’re that good for a horse, how much better will they be for a human?”
“Okay, we’ll pretend they’re the Einsteins of orthopods. If they’re that great, they’re that expensive.”
“We’ll find the money. My father had some ideas.”
“You talked to Steve about it?”
“He came to me. We want...”
“Sssh. Don’t say any more.” I stood, not able to bear being next to him for a moment longer.
“Neal...”
Leaving the den, I went to my room, closing the door and sinking to the floor to lean back against it.
They actually cared about me. I was almost a stranger to them and they had more regard for me than my so-called family did. They took me in, didn’t ask for anything from me, and were now trying to fix my life.
According to the Kents, I wasn’t worth the effort. I had heard that in a hundred different ways over the years. I was flood trash, something that had washed up on their doorstep. Something bedraggled and damaged, and they were forced to be responsible for it, something best ignored unless it needed to be shoved aside.
Now, to be presented with the hospital issue, this was something I had never considered. After the so-called accident, the doctors at the local hospital said that was all they could do, and the Kents, not being inquisitive sorts, believed them. The money my father left had been used to cover the expenses and I could get around so that was fine with them.
It’s hard to say that was the worst time in my life because so many times were in competition for that title, but with Toby and Joe mocking me as I limped around the house after the incident, looking back, I didn’t see how Hell could be any worse.
I’d accepted my limited mobility. I really had learned how to get around, navigate stairs, hide the uneven gait most of the time. Some people might not even notice. This was okay. Even if the money could be found and something could be done, what if an operation left me with less. Operations weren’t always successful, I could attest to that from experience.
I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed if it didn’t work out, but where would the money come from.
There was a knock on the door.
“Not now.”
“Now. Open the door, Neal.”
“It’s not locked.
He tried to open it. “Are you leaning against it?”
“Yes.” I tried to get up but that maneuver was easier said than done from this position.
Tru opened it enough to see in. “What are you doing on the floor?”
“Sitting.”
“Scoot over, I’ll help you up.”
I managed to get my good leg under me and, with his hand, got on my feet with no trouble.
“Mom wants to talk to you.”
I pulled back.
“Balky horse.”
“Don’t horses kick?”
“Yeah, let’s see you try that,” he laughed as he headed to the stairs. “Have you ever thought of not settling for less but settling for more?
I stopped.
“You’re not walking,” he said without looking back.
“No, I never thought of that,” I said starting down the stairs.
“Try it sometime. It’s not very hard. With a little bit of practice, even you can do it.”
I made my way into the kitchen where Emily was scrubbing up after her session with the horses.
“Aunt Maude would like to have lunch with you in town so Truly will drive you there.”
I didn’t say anything.
He looked at me. “Break out the sugar cubes and the broom.”
Emily turned to us. “I’m sorry. Am I supposed to be able to understand what you’re saying?”
“If she was a horse, she’d be sitting on her hindquarters now.”
“Neal, don’t you want to see Aunt Maude?” Emily asked.
“Um...”
Aunt Maude had been nothing but wonderful to me, she had done all she could, taking me out of the house as often as possible. I was sure I spent more awake time there than in Janie’s house where I slept.
Suddenly, though, I was concerned about her connection to Janie and Joe. Sometime in the future, I wanted to see her, but not yet. I didn’t feel safe and didn’t want to say anything to her that might get back to them. She might say something without realizing it. She was kind but she wasn’t cunning. Joe was cunning but he was the opposite of kind.
“What’s up, Neal?” Truly asked.
Emily looked at me. “You can’t cancel, she already left the house.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?” I said to Emily. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like it came out.”
“It was presented to me, my opinion wasn’t solicited either. Okay. What can we do now to make this better?”
I thought for a moment. “Come with me. Make sure nothing is said that could get back to the Kents.”
“Let me go get a hacking jacket instead of a barn coat,” Emily said as she left the room.
“You’re getting the hang of saying what you mean. You’re kind of a loose cannon now, though,” Truly said as he went into the mudroom for his jacket.
“You want me to say what I mean?”
“Well, I don’t know...”
“I couldn’t allow myself to be afraid on the mountain, so I just buried it.”
“And now, like the undead, we can see the gnarled, bony fingers of a semi-corpse pushing up through the dirt, ready to close around your throat!” He made a quick move toward me.
I didn’t flinch. After all, it was Tru. “You have no idea how scared I was all the time.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said putting his arm around me. “I do know.”
Chapter 17
Maude was already inside the café waiting for us, gray hair in the pigtail style her husband, Roy, favored and she still wore all those years after, red sweatshirt, baby blue slacks, a smile on her face.
She gave me a big hug as I went to the table, hugged Tru, then shook hands with Emily. “You must be Emily. Your son looks so much like you. It’s good to meet you after all the talks on the phone.”
“It’s good to meet you, too, and I want to thank you, we all do, for the help you’ve been.”
We sat down. I hoped the artificial pleasantries would continue until we finished lunch and went our separate ways.
Maude studied me. “That’s a better haircut than I gave you.”
I tried to smile.
“Have they noticed she’s not around,” Truly asked.
I gave him a hard nudge with my foot under the table.
“No. Even Shannon’s staying away.”
Yeah, that made sense. We had been the two outcasts in the house, staying in the same room. Hiding, it could be said. Shannon, while using me to protect herself from them, kept me away from them. It worked well.
Maude took a sip of the coffee the waitress had left for her. “Your husband has questioned me a couple times. He’s been at Paul’s house. I would have thought they had finished with it.”
“They do like to be thorough,” Emily said.
“I hope they find the person who did this.”
“So do we,” Emily replied.
“I can see you’re fine, Neal. You never looked better,” Maude said.
I nodded.
“I don’t blame you for not wanting to come back to Kent Mountain. It wasn’t good for you and the Lamberts are nice people.”
I had no idea what I was supposed to say. There was some part of me that was desensitized to anything to do with the Kents. How could anyone live under those conditions and allow themselves to have feelings?
“Paul made me executor to the estate last year after that incident.”
“What incident,” Emily asked.
“Someone beat him up and stole the usual things. The town cops didn’t treat it very seriously,” I said. “People like him can create hard feelings. I think they said ‘whose father did this to you?’ and left it at that.”
“Paul didn’t see who attacked him so they never could find out who did it. There were fingerprints all over but they didn’t match to anyone but Neal and me,” Maude added.
“Did a lot of people visit Paul?” Truly asked.
“Some,” Maude replied, not wanting to share Paul’s secrets with someone he didn’t know. “The will hasn’t been read yet but I know what’s in it.”
I nodded, starting to feel like a bobble-head doll.
Maude took another sip of coffee. “He left the house and contents to us.”
I looked at her. “What?”
“He didn’t have family or anyone close but us and he wanted us to be taken care of. It’s not a fortune but it’ll be a good sum.”
I could feel the blood draining from my face. “Does anyone else know?”
“No, why?” Maude asked in surprise.
“Don’t say anything to them. About anything.”
Emily placed her hand on mine. “Neal, are you okay?”
I shook my head.
Emily and Truly spent the next five minutes trying to cover for me, making small talk about the band and how well we were doing, all the lovely opportunities that would being opening up. Truly could have done ten more minutes no one would have understood on what he was studying with Professor Laszlo. Emily talked about the outfit we got and then talked about homeschooling Truly, what a challenge he had been and just knew I was going to be a joy to work with.
All I could picture was Toby and Joe going down to Maude’s house and asking for handouts one after another. They needed a new car, they had debts to pay off, the job fell through could she just loan them something. They would prey upon her until it was all gone if she wasn’t careful.
Maude was kind-hearted and generous. They were her relatives. Of course there would be part of her that wanted to help.
There was no helping them.
The older Maude got, the less resistance she would have. I didn’t want to think they’d take advantage of her. That’s what I did think, and I didn’t want it to happen.
I made it through lunch and we all stood up to leave.
Maude gave me a hug. “When this has all been settled, you’ll be able to come visit me.”
“Sure,” I replied. Under the right conditions, I would go visit her. If I never saw Janie again in my life, it would not be a loss. It would be a blessing.
As I got into Truly’s truck, I wondered what the hell was the matter with me that I could think such a thing.
Janie had never done anything to me.
It’s all that she hadn’t done that was so unforgivable.
We drove home in silence, at least outwardly. My mind was full of remembrances of things not yet past, the tumult and the volume and always at the center, the swirling dark vortex of Joe threatening to pull every
thing in with him.
When we got home, all I wanted to do was go to my room and lock the door this time. I didn’t want to come out until morning.
As I entered the kitchen, Emily dropped her purse on the counter. “I didn’t understand the situation when you came here as clearly as I do now. Would you like to get some counseling, Neal?”
“Like a therapist?”
“Yes. Or a minister. Talk to someone. For your sake.”
“Why should I have to go into counseling?”
“I don’t want to see you as uncomfortable as you seemed to be at lunch.”
I didn’t know how to explain the Kents to her.
“Talk to us, then, we’ll work through it. Probably have to drag you most of the way, one of us at your head with sugar cubes and me behind you with a broom. That doesn’t sound so bad, actually.” Truly said as he went into the refrigerator. “There’s some pie left, anyone want a piece? Here’s a hint, Neal, the answer is yes.”
“Pie and tea would be good.” Emily drew water from the faucet for the kettle.
“Is it okay if I talk to Neal in the den while the water’s heating?” Truly asked.
“Sure,” Emily replied.
He practically dragged me into the den and closed the door. “At least I can be fairly certain you’re not thinking how much you want to go home.”
“I thought this was my new home.”
“It is. So you’re not planning on hobbling off with that duffel bag of yours?”
“No.”
“You don’t feel safe here, do you?”
“I did. After lunch, no.”
“You’re on the brink of inheriting a nice amount of money.”
“That Joe will want.”
“I don’t understand,” Truly said. “Why would Joe care about you now? It’s been about five years since he’s been gone. You haven’t had any contact with him, have you?”
“No, of course, not.”
“But something is bothering you.”
“He’ll go after Maude’s money and he’ll come after mine. I don’t want it. It’s trouble.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know him.”
“Explain it.”
“He wants to punish me.”
Truly shook his head. “What did you do?”
Bad Apple 1: Sweet Cider Page 9
