Summer of the Redeemers

by Carolyn Haines

  Thirty-seven

  MAMA Betts spoke with Effie for a moment, then gave the telephone to me. She got a book from The Judge’s study and went into her room, closing the door.

  “Bekkah, what’s going on?” Effie asked. The line fuzzed, and I felt again how far away they were. I didn’t want to tell them. Not now. They’d feel helpless, and Effie would feel guilty, like if she’d never left, none of this would have happened. But it had all been going on before she left, and when she realized that, she was going to be mad.

  “It might be better if I told Daddy,” I said. “I’ve got some questions … he could …” The Judge wouldn’t go all to pieces, but it was difficult to say that to Effie, because then she’d think the worst.

  There was a pause. “I’ll get Walt.” She put the telephone down, and I could hear a buzz of conversation in the background. I hadn’t seen Rita Sheffield in years, but I recognized her little laugh. She was petite, almost doll-like, and no matter how old she got, she’d always sound young.

  “Bekkah, honey, what’s wrong?” The Judge’s voice was warm, concerned but overlaid with a hint of humor. It was like saying that nothing really serious could be wrong, maybe just something that needed a drop of oil here or a screw tightened there.

  “There’s been some trouble on Kali Oka Road, Daddy. Some serious trouble.”

  “Can you give me the specifics?” The humor was gone.

  Even as the tears started, I smiled. No matter how bad the trouble, The Judge would always ask for specifics. The Detail Man, as Mama Betts called him.

  I started at the beginning, about the day the Redeemers moved on the road and how they’d run me and Picket away. I went on to Greg and working at the barn, and how he’d gotten beaten once because I stole his shirt and how he’d been beaten again, with a coat hanger, because of the crucifix that had been painted black and had now disappeared. When I told him about Caesar, the horror of it was so clear that I had to stop talking for a little while. The Judge talked to me then. What he said didn’t matter, but he spoke softly and told me that he loved me. I didn’t do a good job of telling it, but at last it was all told. All except for Greg and Nadine. I didn’t see how that figured in with anything else, so I left it out.

  “Bekkah, I want your solemn promise that you won’t go anywhere near those church people.” He was calm, but there was a steely edge to his voice. “Effie’s going to catch a flight home tomorrow. We’ll make the arrangements and call you back to tell you what time she’ll arrive. I’ve got a bit more work to do. I think I can finish up in a few days. Then I’ll sell the car and come on home by plane too. I don’t want to spend the time driving.”

  “Daddy, I had to call Cathi Cummings.”

  “I see.” He thought for a minute. “If you called her, I’m sure there was good reason.”

  He was asking me what that good reason was, so I told him about the Redeemers snatching Picket and how the preacherman said I’d lose everything I loved and that I would suffer endlessly. “Cathi came over from the newspaper and made them give Picket up,” I finished. “She’s going to investigate them.”

  “She’s a good reporter.” There was no trace of what he was feeling in his voice.

  “What is it, Walt?”

  I could hear Effie in the background, and I felt sorry for The Judge. He was going to have to figure out a way to tell her all of this and get her on a plane by herself.

  “Let me talk to Effie,” I requested.

  “Bekkah, I want your word that you’ll stay at home. You’ve got the horse at Jamey’s. Stay with Arly and your grandmother.”

  “Okay.”

  “Here’s your mother.”

  There was a rush of breath. “Bekkah, are you okay? Walt looks like he’s going into shock. What is it? Is it Arly? Is your grandmother ill? Has something happened? I knew I shouldn’t have left home. I knew that if I didn’t watch out for you, something terrible would happen.”

  “Mama.”

  The dead calm of my voice frightened her into silence.

  “I’m perfectly fine. Mama Betts and Arly are both just fine. Even Picket’s okay now, but it’s been tough around here. I told Daddy everything, and he’s going to tell you.”

  “Bekkah, what is it?”

  “Daddy will tell you all of it. It’s pretty long, and I made some bad decisions. I know that, but nothing terrible has happened. Not yet.”

  “We’re coming home, sweetheart. We can leave tonight, just as soon as Walt—”

  “I know Daddy has to finish his work, and it doesn’t matter right this minute. I just want you to know one thing.” I paused.

  “What?”

  “Everything here is perfectly fine. That’s all you have to remember. We need your help, yours and Daddy’s, to get everything straight, but so far …” Caesar was pretty awful. There was no fixing that, no going back and changing what he’d suffered. And Greg. And maybe Magdeline, if she was really pregnant. “I can’t wait for y’all to come home,” I finished.

  “Walt just said he was booking a flight.” Effie was flustered. I knew she’d feel responsible. The flight to Mobile would be horrible for her. Kali Oka was her haven, her charm. For all of her life she’d believed that as long as she stayed on Kali Oka, she’d be able to protect her world. Her children. The people and things she loved. And somehow she’d been lured away. She’d gone to California, and she’d broken her magic charm. She’d even begun to dream of visiting other places, tempted by new sights and sounds. All along she’d expected to be punished.

  “Mama, all of this started to happen before you left. I should have told you, but it didn’t seem so bad. It all started back in June, with the Redeemers and when the horses came. None of it has to do with you at all. It would have happened if you’d been here or not.”

  “I’ll be home as soon as we can make the connections.”

  She was already in the air, flying as hard toward me as she possibly could. California and all she’d experienced and liked was dust. I could hear it in her voice.

  “Bekkah, you and Arly stay with your grandmother. You hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Put Mama Betts on the phone.”

  I put the receiver down and knocked on Mama Betts’ door. She’d been waiting because she came with her slippers on.

  “I’ve ruined everything for her,” I said softly. “She blames herself, just like I knew she would.”

  “Effie has to learn not to take on everything. Control is an illusion, Bekkah. You remember that. And know that you can’t make everything right, not even for someone you love more than life itself.”

  “Effie, darling,” she picked up the phone, “we’re all fine here. Yes, I think it would be best if you came on home now, but don’t get so worked up …”

  I went into my room and closed the door. Now the summer was over. Really over. I could taste the end of it at the back of my throat.

  Thirty-eight

  ARLYtook off from school Monday and drove Mama Betts to Mobile to meet Effie’s flight. I went to school. After a long debate Mama Betts decided that would be the best way to handle it. Arly wasn’t directly involved in what-all had happened, so he was the driver. That would free Mama Betts to thrash it out with Effie before I got in it. I knew Mama Betts was right, but it was wasted hours for me in that schoolhouse. I was little better than a mouth breather. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t think of anything except Effie coming home.

  At the end of fourth period, when Krissy Elkins made some snide remark to me at my locker, I was so busy imagining and breathing that I didn’t even hear it. Alice did, though, and a set-to occurred which the assistant principal had to break up. It was a virtual hair-pulling, and Krissy got dragged down the hall by Mrs. Ethel Shepard and Mrs. Lila Simpson, the two heavyweight home ec teachers. She was in deep shit.

  Alice had bit her own lip when Krissy shoved her palm in Alice’s nose. Alice had to go to the teachers’ lounge to lie down. I went to sit with h
er while the teachers went on back to teach.

  “What did Krissy say?” I asked Alice as soon as the principal and teachers left us alone. The morning had been a disaster. Alice’s nose was still dripping blood, and I couldn’t even call Mama Betts to come get us. The Waltmans had a pickup, but Mr. Waltman was gone in it most of the time. He showed up at home when he ran out of money for liquor or gas, or both. To my knowledge, Agatha Waltman couldn’t drive at all.

  “She said you’d done it down by Cry Baby Creek with Frank Taylor.” Alice’s voice was slightly choked and muffled because of her nose, but I heard her clear enough.

  “That I’d done it?” I heard her; I just didn’t believe it. “Where would she get an idea like that?”

  Alice lifted the cloth off her nose and gave me a look that as much as said my brain was drawing blowflies. “Frank told her, you nitwit. Who else would know you went down to Cry Baby Creek?”

  I was cut to the bone. Frank hadn’t even kissed me. Hadn’t even tried. Now he was telling Krissy Elkins, that kinky-headed gossip monger, that I’d done it. In the dirt. At the end of my own road. On a first date.

  “Take it easy, Alice,” I said. “I’ll go get us a Coke.” The truth of the matter was that I’d been wanting to hit someone or something all day long. If Krissy Elkins was still in the home ec room, I was going to shove her head in the flour canister.

  “Don’t do it, Bekkah.”

  Alice had the cloth back over her nose and her eyes closed. “I’m just going to get a Coke.”

  “Let Arly handle this,” she said slowly. “He tried to warn you. He tried to warn both of us. He said Frank Taylor had a reputation.”

  “One he doesn’t deserve. All he does is say he did something. He probably hasn’t screwed anybody. He’s just bragging and lying.” I remembered the moment just when I thought he was going to kiss me. I’d wanted him to. And he’d … “He’s a coward. He was too scared to even try to kiss me, and he said he saw a naked woman in the woods with a knife.”

  “That’s a good one.” Alice’s laugh was muffled by her nose.

  “What a yellow belly.” My anger was blowing over, and I was considering the implications of what it meant for a boy to make up a tremendous lie to avoid kissing me.

  “Seems like with his reputation as a hot dog he would’ve jumped on a naked woman and done it with her. Surely picking on a thirteen-year-old hadn’t worn him out.”

  “If Mama hears about this, she’ll be furious.” As nice as it would be to let Arly handle the situation, I didn’t know if I could afford the price. If he didn’t tell Effie, he’d hold it over my head for years to come. If he got mad and told her that I’d been down to Cry Baby Creek with a boy, there was no telling what she’d do to me. Mama Betts was a lot easier to get around than Effie.

  “Forget about it, Bekkah. I’ll talk to Frank.” Alice sat up. “I hope he gets sores on the end of his—”

  We both laughed as the social studies teacher, Margie Fay Pierce, came in to check on us. Alice’s nose had quit bleeding, so we were allowed to go back to class. It was only another fifteen minutes before Alice cornered Frank in the hallway.

  “I hear you’ve been talking about Bekkah,” she said, sort of casually, but her voice was still funny because of her nose.

  “You’ve heard wrong,” Frank said. He looked over at me. “I thought you were going to call me about fishing Saturday. I waited around until three o’clock.”

  “I had some trouble at home.”

  He looked at me harder, then back at Alice. “What’s going on?”

  “Krissy Elkins said you’ve been telling it around school that you screwed Bekkah down at Cry Baby Creek.”

  Frank’s gaze held Alice’s, then shifted to mine. “That’s a damn lie.”

  “We both know it’s a lie. The question is why you told that little hussy Krissy.”

  Frank sighed. “I didn’t tell Krissy any such thing. I told her Bekkah was telling me the legend of Cry Baby Creek.” He looked from me to Alice and back.

  “That’s not what she’s saying,” I said slowly.

  “Then I’ll make sure she stops,” Frank said. He shifted his books to his other arm and walked over to me. “I’ll call you after school. We need to talk.”

  “If I’m busy, just call Krissy,” I said as I walked by him.

  “If you’d gone to the game like I asked, Krissy Elkins wouldn’t have had a chance to start anything.”

  “Tell Alice about the naked woman with the knife,” I suggested. My own hurt feelings gave the statement a nice hard edge.

  Frank slammed his locker shut. “I’ll tell you what, Bekkah. You call me when you want to talk. Until then I’ll stay out of your way.” He stalked down the hallway just as the bell for next class rang.

  “Bekkah, you don’t think those Redeemers are running around the woods without their clothes, do you?” Alice was watching Frank disappear, and she was worried.

  “I don’t know what to think, Alice.” I didn’t have any of my books or anything for the next class, and I didn’t care. I wanted to go home.

  “Are you gonna tell Arly?”

  “Not in this lifetime.” I motioned her toward the ladies’ room. It was a foul and disgusting place, and we normally avoided it, even if it meant holding it all day until we got home.

  “I can’t stay here,” I told Alice. “I’ve got to get home.”

  “It’ll look worse if you leave.”

  “It isn’t about Frank or Krissy,” I said. “Effie’s coming home today. She’s flying into Mobile.”

  Alice was suitably impressed. “Where’s your daddy?” “He’s coming later.” “Is Effie sick?”

  I hadn’t really told Alice anything. “It’s about me. I told The Judge about the Redeemers. About Greg and Magdeline and all the rest. He’s sending Effie home while he finishes working on some movie.”

  Alice sputtered. “Your daddy’s working on a movie and you never said anything? Do you think he met Richard Chamberlain? Or Tab Hunter? I’d even settle for Jerry Lewis’s autograph.”

  Alice’s questions stopped me dead in my tracks. I’d never given it a thought. The Judge worked on things all the time. He was always meeting people and talking and writing and lecturing. It had never occurred to me that he might meet someone I’d seen on television or at the movies. And I’d fixed it so that he had to leave all of that and come home.

  “You okay?” Alice asked.

  “I have to go home.” I was going to be sick right there.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Alice grabbed my arm and dragged me into the hall. She had the right idea. If someone was sick, that bathroom would only make it a million times worse.

  “Go on to class,” I told her. “You’re going to get in real trouble if you follow me.”

  She shrugged. “I’m already in trouble for fighting with Krissy.”

  “Rebekah Rich, please report to the principal’s office.”

  The voice cut across on the intercom system, going into every classroom and echoing out in the hall. Alice shot me a look.

  I shrugged. “Who knows?” We walked together down to the end of the first hall, where Charlie Upwell reigned as the man with the big paddle. He wasn’t all that swift with proper grammar, but he was one of the best football coaches in the South, and he could run a tight ship. He kept the rules enforced, and he gave me a glare as I walked in, Alice slightly behind me.

  “I didn’t realize you had a Siamese twin,” he said, looking at Alice.

  “I was sick,” I answered.

  “You’ve got a visitor.” He nodded toward the private office where he took the boys to paddle them. “You,” he nodded to Alice, “get back to your classroom.”

  Alice fled, and I opened the door to find Cathi Cummings sitting in a straight-backed chair.

  “I’ve been doing some serious checking around,” she said, motioning me to close the door. “I’ve found some very interesting things about the Blood of the Redeemers.�
��

  “What?” I was glad to see Cathi. With everything else going on, I felt that she was on my side.

  “Tell me about your friend Nadine first. I’m having a hard time finding out anything about her. I made some calls to Cleveland, and I couldn’t locate any Andrews or anyone who knew anything about a woman whose parents died in a car crash and who’d been married three times.”

  “Why are you checking on Nadine?”

  Cathi picked up her notebook. “First of all, a good reporter checks on everything. Your daddy must have told you that. Second, if she was married to this Redeemer minister, then she’s going to have the goods I want. She didn’t seem too willing to talk to me, but if she knows what I need to know, I might be able to make it worth her while.”

  “You mean, bribe her?”

  “She didn’t turn down the money I offered for Cammie. If she had money once, it’s gone now.”

  “She had her phone disconnected.”

  Cathi nodded. “Try hard to remember anything she said,” she urged me. “Anything at all could be very important.”

  I sat down in another hard chair and thought. “She said her husband was mean to her. She said she met him at a dance at the country club after her parents died in a car wreck.” I shrugged. “She said she took only the horses and dogs and cats and left everything else just to get away from him.”

  “So she left him in her family home.” Cathi got up and paced. “He must have been some son of a bitch. And she came down here, and now her money’s running out. I wonder why she can’t get her hands on more.”

  “She said her trust was supposed to pay her, but that it hadn’t. That’s why she’s short on money.”

  “I’m going to the Delta for a few days.” She eyed me. “Want to come?”

  I shook my head. “Effie flew home today.” Cathi nodded. “And Walt?”

  “He’s finishing up some work. He’ll be home in a few days.”

  “I wish he were here now. He’d know how to go about this better than I do. I have to say that the newspaper is less than enthusiastic about my wild goose chase. When I tell them I’m going up to the Delta, they’re going to hit the ceiling. If I had any vacation time built up, I’d use it.”