Sarah's Promise

by Leisha Kelly

  I gave Frank a hug, my eyes filling with tears. It was a good thing Mom and I had prepaid the order, because he was ready to go without waiting another second.

  Later in the week, we picked up a pair of shoes for Frank at O’Flannery’s in Mcleansboro. And I didn’t see Donald again after that. Not ever.

  30

  Frank

  Sam and his family came on Tuesday’s train, and the kids were full a’ bounce and noise. Except Albert, who greeted me with the same simple hand signs he’d used last time I saw him. I signed him back the very same thing—“I love you”—and he smiled. Then he made some other signs, and I had to ask Thelma what he meant.

  “Come home with us again. That’s what he’s asking you,” she told me, and it was real plain that it made her happy how quick Albert had taken to the sign language. He could talk now for the first time, at least to her and his tutor. Thelma’d worked hard to learn the signs with him, and Rosemary and Georgie had learned a few too, but Sam hadn’t. “Too busy,” he said.

  “Teach me more,” I asked Thelma, and she promised she would when the time allowed.

  Wednesday was Rorey’s wedding day. Kirk and I went alone to the train to get Willy. It made me think of the day he come home after bein’ injured in the war. He’d been traveling with Robert, who’d been hurt a lot worse. We were all tense and excited then, both worried and relieved that they were home. And Willy’d been home twice since. He’d been fine, glad to continue with the service, planning to keep on for another tour of duty. Kirk had been happy to get out of the military. But Willy was different. He’d become a Marine sergeant first class, and it seemed to suit him just fine.

  He was lookin’ broader of shoulder than I remembered. And he was the tallest of us, ’less Bert or Harry’d manage to keep growin’ and pass him by. He was in his uniform, and he smiled big when he saw us. He gave me a hug, which I hadn’t known to expect.

  “Has anybody asked Sarah if she’s sure ’bout this?” he joked at me. “There’s prob’ly two or three other guys that’d have her.”

  I thought of Donald Mueller immediately and felt my dander rise. But my brothers kept right on with their talk.

  “Frank’s got her hoodwinked,” Kirk was saying. “And she’s even happy about it.”

  Willy gave me a little shove. “I knew it’d happen, son of a gun.” But his face and whole mood changed pretty quick. “Rorey still got her fool notion?”

  Kirk nodded. “Yup. Five o’clock this evening.”

  Willy shook his head and grimaced. “She’s outta her senses. How can she think about him?”

  “She’s just bein’ Rorey,” Kirk said.

  But I had a different answer. “I think it’s the only thing she knows to do.”

  “That’s stupid,” Willy said right away. “She could tell him to get lost, and then move back home where she belongs.”

  “I think she took off with Eugene to run from the grievin’. And if she don’t stay with him, she thinks she’ll feel lost where all the hurt can get hold on her again.”

  He gave me a funny look. “Franky, you got the most convoluted way a’ thinkin’ things through I ever heard of. She’s just bein’ a idiot takin’ up with idiots.”

  Despite his harsh words, Willy didn’t seem to have planned anything to spark any trouble or disrupt the wedding that would take place that evening. “Let ’em have their foolishness if that’s what they want.”

  He borrowed Kirk’s car to pick up Lucinda Tower for the ceremony. And he sat clear in back, silent as a stone, in his uniform, with nothing resembling a smile.

  Rorey’s dress turned out nice despite the short amount of time they’d had. She wasn’t completely satisfied, but that was Rorey. She had Carol, Lizbeth, and Emmie stand with her, but she hadn’t picked out matching dresses, so Carol was dressed in some kind of spotted thing I’d never seen anything like before, and Lizbeth and Emmie were in their Sunday best.

  Eugene had two of his brothers and Max beside him, and they had a Turrey niece and nephew to be flower girl and ring bearer. It was a beautiful evening to be outdoors, but it still seemed peculiar to have chairs and everything set up in the Worthams’ yard like this. There was a bunch of Turreys, and it was awkward watchin’ my brothers tolerate ’em being here. And tolerate this whole proceeding. Mrs. Turrey cried and cried about her little boy gettin’ married, even though she had five already married and three more still at home.

  Rorey had Sam give her away ’cause Pa was dead, but I thought if Pa’d been asked, he woulda said that Mr. Wortham had earned the right. Funny thing about Rorey; she didn’t use no Worthams in any way in her ceremony, even though she’d wanted it in their yard. But the reception wasn’t to be here. The Worthams made most of the food, but Eugene had wanted the doin’s at the community hall in town, with his sister-in-law in charge of the punch bowl and other drinks. I knew what that meant, and so did Sarah.

  “Do you think we should even go?” she asked me.

  “Might insult Rorey if we don’t show up for a little while, but we can leave early if you want. Might get a little crazy in there late.”

  All of Sarah’s family and most of mine felt the same way about that. But we shoulda known it would have been wiser for more of us to stay to the end. Willy seemed to be having a good time dancin’ with Lucinda, and Harry was spending an awful lot of time with Eugene’s sister Rose. But after Sarah and I left, along with her folks, Lizbeth, and Emmie, the ruckus started.

  Katie told us later that Willy cornered Eugene and shoved him against the wall, making threats of what would happen if he wasn’t good to our sister. Sam tried to break ’em up, but they’d both been drinking too much, Eugene’s brothers tried gettin’ involved, and then Harry and Kirk flew off the handle and got in the middle a’ things too. Sam lost his cool, and poor Dave had an impossible job tryin’ to calm everybody down.

  The way it turned out, Eugene got a black eye, and everybody else was looking pretty banged up too.

  Rorey threatened to never speak to her brothers again, including me, even though I hadn’t been there. But I shoulda been. Maybe that was why she was mad. I mighta been able to do somethin’ to stop it.

  I felt miserable bad over the whole thing. So did Katie, who’d had the misfortune a’ having to see it all. I wasn’t quite sure why Dave had stayed so long, knowing he was just as uncomfortable with the drinkin’ as I was, but he told me later that he owed Kirk a lot, and he’d learned to watch out for him in his moments of weakness.

  “Your brothers need prayer,” he told me. “Willy’s already a drinker, and Kirk was an awful drunk when I met him overseas. He might still be if he didn’t have younger brothers and a sister on the farm. And Harry’s not far behind.”

  Pa’s legacy. Lord help us. Hadn’t they learned? The war’d been hard. I couldn’t fault Kirk and Willy for struggling then. But I prayed it wouldn’t go on. And Harry. He well oughta know. He’d seen Pa’s last days and what a wasted wretch he’d become. I felt awful bad about all that and spent a lot of the next day praying for my family, including Rorey and Eugene.

  They’d took a trip into Mt. Vernon and was supposed to be back Saturday for our wedding, but now we didn’t know what to expect.

  We’d decided months ago to have my three oldest brothers plus Robert as groomsmen, and let Harry and Bert usher. And all three of my sisters, plus Katie, were supposed to be bridesmaids. Then we learned Robert couldn’t come, so we’d put Harry in his place and decided to let Sam’s oldest son Georgie be another usher, even though he was only ten. But what would we do if Rorey didn’t show up?

  Harry and Willy were banged up from the fight. Only two more days to our wedding, and things weren’t lookin’ exactly pretty. Sarah was something of a nervous wreck. It didn’t help that the lady who was supposed to make our cake had to leave suddenly for Marion because of a family emergency. Thank the Lord for Bonnie Gray, my old Sunday school teacher and Robert’s mother-in-law, who said she’d gladly do the ca
ke for us.

  The pastor came out to see us twice. He’d come to talk to Rorey and Eugene before their wedding too, but Eugene didn’t make himself available for any more conversation than necessary. Seemed like Pastor Jones had more on his mind than me and Sarah now, though. I think he talked to everybody, especially my hardheaded brothers. Willy wasn’t sorry for the trouble he’d caused, refusing even to acknowledge that he’d started anything. And Harry and Kirk weren’t sorry for their parts either. They were only standing up for family, the way they saw it. Never mind that Eugene was family now too. They didn’t care if he ever came around. And they didn’t seem to realize what a spot that would put Rorey in.

  The Turrey family had a awful reputation in our area, even though a former sheriff was related to them. There were a lot of Turreys, and most of the boys had caused their share of trouble. But I loved my sister, foolish as she could be at times, and we wanted her at our wedding. So I decided to go visiting, to Eugene’s folks, because maybe they knew where he and Rorey had gone. Maybe they could get word to them to let them know how much we wanted them to be there on Saturday.

  I was gonna go alone ’cause Sarah was so busy with things. And I knew if I took any of my brothers that two or more Hammond boys showing up on the Turrey doorstep might look like a threat and end up causin’ more trouble. But when I was fixin’ to leave, Lizbeth was wise enough to realize I had something in mind, and she made me tell her what I was up to.

  “Don’t be crazy,” she said immediately. “You do not go alone, Frank Hammond. They’ll cream you but good, just for the chance to pay us back for the ruckus at the reception. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to do something to cause trouble for your wedding too. And the chance to bust up the groom might be too good to pass up.”

  I shook my head. “What do you suggest, then? I wanna get word to Rorey. I’m sorry even if Willy isn’t.”

  “I’m sorry too.” She was thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe I’d better come with you. They’re not so likely to think of fighting with a woman along.”

  I wasn’t sure I liked the idea, but she was insistent. And she wasn’t the only one. When she asked Emmie to watch Mary Jane while we were gone, Emmie wanted to give Thelma or Katie that job and come with us. “Both of Rorey’s sisters,” she said. “That ought to tell them something.”

  I didn’t know if they were right about this, but I let them have their way. We drove to the Turreys’ in my truck, and Lizbeth quickly took charge. “Don’t you get out first,” she told me. “Let me go to the door.”

  She did, with Emmie a little ways behind her. But I wasn’t about to just sit in the truck, so I got out and followed them. Eugene’s brother Clem was the one to open the door, and when I saw his eyes I knew Lizbeth’d been right about me not coming alone. He looked right past the girls and straight at me.

  “What do you want?”

  Lizbeth answered quick. “We’d like to get a message to Rorey and Eugene, if you know where they’re staying in Mt. Vernon.”

  “Don’t even be thinkin’ you’re gonna bust up a honeymoon! I ain’t tellin’ you nothin’!” Looking fiery, he was about to slam the door, but Lizbeth was bold enough to step up and get herself in the way of it.

  “You don’t have to. Just if you know how, send them word for us. Will you do that, please?”

  “Why should I?” He was looking at her a little differently. His brother Edwin and sister Rose came up behind him. I was glad to see Rose. She was a quiet girl, a lot slower to get riled than her brothers. She always had a sad look in her eyes.

  “We want them to know how sorry we are for the trouble,” Lizbeth explained. “Willy got out of hand, and we should’ve known not to leave him in a drinking environment. He doesn’t handle it well. Kirk and Harry thought he was in danger with all of you there, but they should’ve just pulled him out of the fight and apologized.”

  “They was doin’ what they could to bust heads,” Clem protested. “Oughta see Eugene. He’s black and blue. And he ain’t gonna want no message from Hammonds. Rorey neither. She’s had all she wants a’ you.”

  “We’re real sorry,” Emmie said with tears in her eyes. “We love our sister.”

  “Funny way a’ showin’ it.”

  “We’d like the chance to apologize in person,” I said then. “Sarah and I really want them to be at our wedding.”

  “Why? So your sturdy brothers can light into Eugene again? Only reason you don’t fight is you’re lame and weak.”

  “No.” I shook my head, almost wishin’ word had got around what I’d done with Donald Mueller. “That’s not the only reason. What happened at the reception wasn’t right. Like Lizbeth said, we shoulda known not to leave ’em there. They don’t handle things the best sometimes.”

  “Like your pa?” he asked with such venom in his voice that the words were like a blow. I felt them deep in my gut.

  “In a small way, maybe. But I pray they learnt their lesson. Please let Rorey know how sorry the rest of us is and how bad we want them to be there Saturday.”

  “Do you really want Eugene to come? Or just Rorey?” It was Rose asking, and the sadness in her eyes seemed twice as sad as usual.

  “Shut up,” Edwin said behind her. “’Course they don’t want him. It’s just words to look good.”

  “No. I’m serious.”

  For some reason Rose’s eyes filled with tears. I thought of everything I’d heard about the Turreys lately. Their father and an older brother were in jail. Another brother’s wife had left him, taking their children far away. Two sisters were estranged from the family, and their mother was in poor health. I remembered Rose from our school days, painful shy, the brunt of her brothers’ teasing every bit as much as I was.

  “I want you all to be there,” I told her suddenly. “I mean it. Your whole family, ’cause you’re part a’ ours now. Tell Rorey and Eugene we’d like them to be there, and the whole family’s invited. Please come.”

  “Are you tryin’ to show ’em up?” Edwin asked with a quizzical expression. “Is that what it is? Make ’em see that you got a fancier wedding?”

  “No. I just wanna include everybody.”

  Emmie looked a little scared, and I wondered what Sarah Jean was going to think. The whole Turrey clan? Was I asking for trouble? Sittin’ some of these characters next to my hothead brothers in the close quarters of the church? Lord, have mercy. I didn’t pray this through before speaking, and I sure hoped I wasn’t gonna be sorry.

  Clem smiled. “You want us there?”

  “If you can respect that it’s all to be held in a church,” Lizbeth added quickly, giving me a sideways glance. “Everybody’s got to respect the house of God. And that includes Willy and the rest of my brothers.”

  “You think you can keep ’em in line?”

  “I will or they’ll know what for,” Lizbeth said. “If I’d stayed late there never would’ve been trouble. You can blame it on me. I shouldn’t have left.”

  Clem cocked his finger at me. “You can take the blame if you want,” he told Lizbeth. “But it’s this ’un’s idea to get us to his wedding for some reason or ’nother. If we show and there’s trouble, he’ll be the one I come after.”

  That was too much for Emmie. She burst into tears. “We don’t want trouble! We’re trying to get rid of the trouble. We just want peace between everybody! We just want everybody to be a happy family.”

  Rose got teary too.

  “We’ll see,” Clem said ominously, pushed Lizbeth back, and slammed the door.

  We all stood quiet for a moment.

  “Well,” Lizbeth finally said. “I’m not sure if that went well or not.”

  “Nobody’s hurt,” I ventured.

  “Let’s pray it stays that way.”

  We were almost back to the truck when the door opened again. I turned around warily, not sure what to expect. But it was Rose and her mother coming toward us, both of them crying.

  “I’m so sorry too,” Mrs. Turre
y said, reaching her large arms in Lizbeth’s direction. “There’s been bad blood between our families ever since that fire . . .”

  I thought of Bert and Mr. Wortham both being injured, and all that the fire had cost. Lester’d snuck over in the middle of the night to see Rorey, and the fire was just a foolish accident. He’d been slow to own to it. And some of my brothers were even slower to forgive.

  “It’s gone on long enough,” Lizbeth agreed, giving Mrs. Turrey a hug. Rose stood by awkwardly until Lizbeth hugged her too.

  I saw Clem watching from a window with a frown on his face, and I prayed for all of them. I couldn’t predict what would happen, but I felt sure I’d done the right thing by offering the invitation. The apostle Paul said that he became all things to all men in order that he might win some. I didn’t know that I’d win anybody, or even succeed at my attempt at peace, but at least it was an effort. And at least Rose and her mother found some relief and peace in that.

  31

  Sarah

  We’d waited and planned for this wedding. We’d worked so hard. I wanted everything to be just right. Now three of the groomsmen were bruised and one of the bridesmaids might not even come. And if she did—oh, Lord, she might bring her in-laws with her! Eugene’s brothers, some of the meanest people I knew.

  Why did Frank have to invite them all? Why couldn’t he have at least asked me first? The church would have little room to spare as it was.

  But seating was not the real concern. I’d despised being around Turrey boys since my first meeting of them, because they never seemed to make it through a day without tormenting someone or causing trouble somewhere. I didn’t want them in my church on my wedding day. Despite all the pious words I might have told Frank if he had thought to ask me, I deeply, truly did not want them. And the more I tried to tell myself that Frank had been right in what he did, the more angry I was at him about it. This was my wedding too! How could he invite a bunch of hooligans who had little interest in us except for finding ways to get back at Hammonds?