Cicada Song

by Bradford Combs

  Chapter 12

  June 2004

  “Oh, Mr. Barnes,” said an elderly woman from Holy Faith’s welcoming committee. “I’m so honored to be in the presence of a real writer. You know, I’ve dabbled in writing myself over the years.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said.

  Ellis expected an explanation of some sort, but the woman simply winked at him and turned to go. He laughed softly and leaned back in his chair, stretching the soreness out of his back while reflecting on his day. It had been a long morning but a decent one.

  The second day of Cicada Song had begun early for him. He felt guilty after the previous night’s argument with Ms. Beverly and rose with the sun to meet her. She had just showered and was savoring a cup of coffee when he rang the doorbell.

  “Ellis?” she had said while answering the door.

  “I wanted to say I’m sorry for how I reacted yesterday. I understand why you did what you did.”

  Ms. Beverly was surprised by this and asked if he’d spoken to Sara. She simply nodded when he told her no and accepted his apology. She put him to work a short time later carrying props for his tables.

  The booth itself ended up being more than Ellis had expected. Two tables were pushed together with tablecloths draped over them, matching the color scheme of his books: yellow, white, and purple. Behind the tables stood a metal frame holding a large drapery with an image of Ellis’ main character printed upon it, likely a costly ornament, and on either side of the tables were cardboard cut outs depicting two of his antagonists with word bubbles encouraging customers not to buy his books. They were, of course, worded in a way that increased buyer’s curiosity. He also enjoyed the fact that Ms. Beverly had placed him beside the dunk booth, still displaying the sign reading Dunk a writer today, win an autograph tomorrow.

  Having won that challenge, Stan was the first person in line. Ellis considered asking him about Sara’s decision to end her and Ellis’ flirtation and whether Stan had any hand in it, but he chose to let it go. Stan asked for a signature of Glub Glub, Ellis Barnes. Though Ellis had thought about drawing the symbol synonymous with the superhero known as Green Lantern, Stan won his request fair and square. After the difficulties of the previous night, it was worth the laugh.

  The people of Anderson had continued showing him kindness. Melba and Ms. Beverly each bought a complete set of his books—Melba to donate to the school and Ms. Beverly to stock the library. It was exciting to see people interested in his work. He would have enjoyed himself a lot more, however, if he weren’t so nervous about seeing Sara again, as he surely would.

  Now that several hours had passed, Ellis was beginning to feel the tiredness of waking up before dawn. He stood and yawned deeply and was about to take a quick walk to stretch his legs when the mutton chopped bartender approached with a nod.

  “Ellis,” Percy said pointedly as he casually strolled up to the table.

  He thumbed through a book and smiled at one of its illustrations. They weren’t meant to be funny but Ellis didn’t correct him.

  “Things goin’ well?” Percy finally asked after setting the book down.

  “Better than expected, actually.”

  “Good, good, that’s good. Say, you ain’t seen my estranged nephew around have you? Up at Annie’s perhaps?”

  Ellis thought back and shook his head, surprised by this question. “No, but I did see him Sunday night over at Holy Faith Pentecostal.”

  “Phil went to church?” Percy asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “No, he stayed outside. Mentioned he came to hear Sara Campbell sing. Last I saw, he was disappearing into the woods with a flask in his hand.”

  Percy’s eyes faded a bit as he scratched a mutton chop. “Yeah, that sounds more like him. Alright, I was just curious.”

  “He was sober at the time.”

  “Not for long, no doubt.”

  Percy turned to go but then stopped and looked at the table again. He took one of the books and scanned it more seriously this time, and then he threw some money on the table.

  “Best of luck to you, Ellis.”

  “Thanks, Percy. I’ll let you know if I see him.”

  Percy nodded casually and left, but Ellis noted the worry behind the man’s gruff exterior. Though he tried to hide it, his concern for a screw-up like Phil spoke volumes of Percy’s heart. Ellis’ own heart sank, however, when he noticed Percy waving at Sara. She smiled in a shy but sweet way, so Ellis returned the gesture. Her joyful expression was obviously forced, but she seemed to relax when he waved her over. No sense in dragging it out.

  “Hello, Ellis,” she said cautiously. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

  “No, you were right. We were both fooling ourselves.”

  She nodded and eyed the table.

  “I expected a single book, but you’ve written quite a few.” Then she looked closer and picked one up, a fairly comical expression appearing on her face. “Really,” she said, turning the cover toward him, “Little Lucy?”

  Little Lucy, of course, was the protagonist in Ellis’ series of children’s books, The Adventures of Little Lucy. He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction.

  “So,” Sara said, her playful sarcasm beginning to bite. “So your very important book—the one that can change the world—is a series for children?”

  “A series for all ages,” Ellis corrected in a proper businesslike tone. “The focus character happens to be a young girl but she goes through some very real scenarios that many of today’s youth face. I’d like to think she can be made an inspiration for troubled kids and for the people who raise them.”

  Sara nodded as she flipped through the book, attempting to hide her sarcastic expression but failing. “And look! There are pictures!”

  “A doctor friend drew them for me. He illustrates on the side.”

  “A doctor who illustrates children’s books?”

  “His name’s Buck.”

  “Well, that lessens the sex appeal.”

  She picked up another book and scanned it, stopping to look at a few drawings before grabbing another and skimming the first few pages. “They’re all dedicated to Mandy and Lilly,” she said. “Who’s Mandy?”

  Ellis should have expected the question but it still caught him off guard. He was about to answer when Stan suddenly appeared, knocking Sara into the table with a playful nudge.

  “Morning, Sara Campbell.”

  “You’re a butthead, Stanley Cromwell Jr.”

  Ellis noticed her final glance at the book’s dedication before holding it up for Stan to see. “Did you see the children’s books?”

  “They have pictures,” Stan offered with a sarcastic grin.

  “Drawn by Doctor Buck.”

  “Doctor Buck? Are you serious?”

  Ellis felt the last of the awkwardness fade as Sara and Stan exchanged their witty banter. He really did like Sara, and found himself admiring how she looked. She wore a pair of khaki shorts that fit in all the right places and a silky red blouse that could have easily been worn with a dress on Sunday morning. She was as beautiful now as she had been on that first night, so much so that he had to divert his eyes, reminding himself that their flirtation was over. But then, there wasn’t any harm in just looking was there?

  “So what do you think?”

  Ellis startled at Sara’s question, having not heard a thing that led into it.

  “Pay attention, Barnes,” Sara said with a playful grin. “Are you coming to the wall with us or not?”

  “The wall?”

  “You weren’t listening at all, were you?” she said. “The bank’s wall is decorated every festival, honoring those who’ve passed that previous year. Since this year is Cicada Song, we’re honoring everyone who’s died over the past seventeen years. My mother’s revealing it soon, but we can wait hold off on seeing it if you’d like to join us.”

  Ellis was hesitant to continue accompanying Sara for fear of becoming further at
tracted to her; however, he would be less inclined to flirt with Stan present.

  “Sure, if you don’t mind waiting for me?”

  Sara nodded, seemingly excited, but then Ellis noticed the hesitation in Stan’s face. With the way his mouth was arched and his eyebrows posed Ellis wondered if he was intruding upon something.

  “That is,” he added, “if that’s okay?”

  Sara quickly confirmed that it would be fine. Stan, after stealing a quick peek at Sara, confirmed it as well.

  “I might have to catch up with you guys,” Stan said. “I’d like to spend some time at Dad’s grave first.”

  Sara nodded and turned to go, allowing Ellis a chance to quickly grab Stan’s arm.

  “I didn’t mean to intrude,” he whispered.

  “It’s typically something we do together, just the two of us,” Stan said with a shrug, “but I guess if it makes Sara happy then whatever.”

  “Your wife doesn’t usually go with you?”

  “Leslie doesn’t do a lot of things with me,” Stan answered half-heartedly.

  “Were you able to work things out last night?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Stan tipped his hat at Ellis and followed after Sara.

  Ellis was left wondering why Sara would invite him along on something that was obviously personal if she wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship. He almost felt bad about it, but then he thought of those khaki shorts and found he didn’t really care. He knew he couldn’t pursue a romance with Sara, but he was still excited at the prospect of spending one more day with her. It was his last day in Anderson, after all. He might as well enjoy the sights.