by Lynne Hinton
She folded the paper and held it.
When she found it and read it the first time, she hadn’t understood what it meant. She thought that maybe it was some kind of community-organizing prompt. She thought maybe somebody was hoping to have a church service. She even considered that Father George was trying to rally the town for Mass. But then she remembered that the priest was leaving town, and when she asked Fred and Bea about the flier and they explained that they hadn’t heard who was responsible, only that everyone had gotten one, Trina suddenly understood that this was her demise. The people of Pie Town were finally being organized to bring her down. It was a lynching party, she was sure of it. And even though she didn’t know who the woman was leaving the fliers, gathering the townsfolk together, Trina figured she was some messenger from the Catholic church, some member of Rob Chavez’s family, or some relative of his girlfriend. Trina didn’t really know who was behind this idea to run her out or have her arrested or cause her some harm, but she knew that it was about to happen and that the people of Pie Town would easily turn into a mob and come for her.
Trina was not so much concerned for herself, since she knew what she was capable of handling. But she was concerned for Roger, the sheriff who had given her a place to stay and never taken a rent check from her, who had stood up for her after the fire, telling people she was not responsible and to leave her alone. She was concerned for Fred and Bea, the couple who had given her work and not bothered her about her pregnancy and who had already experienced a decline in business since the fire. She was concerned about Malene and Alex and that the townspeople might distance themselves from them when they needed their friends the most. And she was concerned about the baby. She didn’t know how she would be received in Amarillo—she hadn’t been able to contact Jolene or the others—but she thought it couldn’t be worse than what she was facing in Pie Town. So Trina had quit her job at the diner and written two letters she planned to give to Roger and Alex. She was leaving, pushed out, bullied, forced to exit before she was ready.
She put the paper in her duffel bag, a sort of sick memento to remind her not to get attached to another new town, and wiped her eyes. She was trying to zip up the top of the bag when she heard the knock on the door.
“Frank, I’m not quite ready,” she yelled as she left the sofa.
Trina kept her hand on the door handle when she saw who was standing there.
“Hello,” the girl said. “I know you don’t want to see me, but I just need to talk.”
Trina stepped back and opened the door. “I’m getting ready to leave in an hour,” she said. “So say what you need to say and get out.”
Katie White walked in and Trina closed the door.
Chapter Thirty-five
Roger and Malene had decided as soon as they heard about the fliers that they would not attend the Sunday morning meeting. They thought the same thing that Trina thought when she saw one—that it was some attempt to rally the masses.
When Roger received a copy of the flier from his deputy, he was unable to verify who had made them, so he began questioning lots of people to find out who was behind the mass distribution. When no one would take responsibility, he made it clear to everyone that he refused to show up at a town meeting that was not authorized and properly organized. He refused to attend an unlawful assembly and be forced to answer questions he didn’t have to answer from people he thought had no right to ask.
On Friday, before leaving the station, he assigned Danny to handle security detail at the meeting and told him to call if things got out of hand. “Otherwise,” he told his deputy, “don’t call me. And stay out of the discussion. Don’t get involved,” he instructed.
Having decided not to attend a meeting being called for what seemed to them like vengeful and unhelpful reasons, Malene and Roger also decided not to mention it to Alex.
The boy was already so concerned about the town, about what would happen to a village without a church, about what would happen to Trina and to Father George. He wanted to talk about it to everyone, wanted the priest and Trina to work something out together, wanted his grandfather to use his authority as sheriff and order the diocese to build a new church. Alex would work himself up into a terrible frenzy, and it would take hours to calm him down.
After the fliers were distributed, Malene and Roger met Alex’s visitors at the front door and instructed them not to tell him about the meeting. They didn’t want their grandson to learn about what they considered to be a witch hunt.
“If he asks about the church or Father George, just say you don’t know anything,” they would explain. “Do not engage Alex in conversation about what is happening or what has happened in this community. It is much too troublesome for him.”
Roger had stopped by to visit Trina early Saturday morning, not having had an opportunity before then to talk to her. He walked up the stairs in hopes that she hadn’t been spooked by the flier, only to discover that she was gone. The apartment door was unlocked, the place clean and mostly empty, and as he glanced around he found two letters on the table. He sat down, noticed her packed duffel bag near the door, and read the letter addressed to him, realizing then that she was soon to be gone for good. He left the letters there, deciding that he would return to the apartment later.
When he went back to Malene’s to tell her what he had found, they decided that when Alex was a little stronger, maybe in a couple of days, they would explain that Trina had moved back to Texas to be with her family because of her pregnancy and then give him the letter addressed to him, which neither of them had read and hoped would not upset him.
And so, on that Sunday morning when everybody else was marching to church, Malene and Roger sat at the table, drinking coffee, working the crossword puzzle from the newspaper together, Malene calling out clues and Roger guessing the answers, and hoping the phone wouldn’t ring. They were talking about Oris, his trip to Gallup, and how neither of them knew what he was doing or why he had already spent two nights there. Malene decided he must be buying a new car.
When Alex, having crawled out of bed and slid into his chair, wheeled himself into the kitchen, they both jumped from the table in shock. They had not seen the boy out of bed for days. He sat in his chair in the doorway to the kitchen and made the announcement, “We have to go to church.”
At first, Malene thought the boy was delirious and thought they were supposed to be at Mass. “No, baby, we don’t have a church anymore. We can’t go to worship today.”
“We have to go to church,” Alex repeated. “It’s Sunday, and there’s a meeting. We have to be there.”
“How do you know about that?” Roger asked, turning to catch a glimpse of Malene, wondering if she had an explanation.
“I made the fliers,” he confessed. “I made them when Mom was here.”
“What?” Malene exclaimed.
“It was my idea to do a flier. We need to come together. We need the church. We need Holy Family. It needs us.”
And then, just like that, Roger and Malene understood. They understood that the meeting was what he and Angel had been discussing in private when she had last visited and that she had been the one who made the flier, then copied and delivered them all across town. They recalled that before she left the house after her visit she had made the comment that she had some errand to run for Alex, but neither of them had paid any attention. Roger had taken her to the station to use the computer and copier without ever questioning what she was doing. He thought she was contacting old friends on the Internet or making something for the boy. He was busy and never noticed how many copies she ran.
When she left, explaining that her ride was supposed to meet her at the diner, Roger had tried to talk her into staying but then gave up after seeing the look on her face, knowing his pleas were useless. He walked back to his desk, understanding that his daughter had come to town, seen her son, and done what she thought she needed to do. He was not going to make her stay, and all he thought about was how he was going to expla
in her departure to Malene and Alex. He never considered that she was making fliers for her son to organize the community. And now he realized that she had left the station and walked or driven around town to every house, every car, every establishment, without being seen or recognized, and delivered Alex’s fliers.
“Why?” Malene asked. “Why do you want the town to come together?”
“Don’t you see this is why I can’t be in the hospital?” He shook his head. “Somebody has to tell people.”
“Tell people what?” Roger asked. He had gotten up and moved over to Alex, kneeling in front of his grandson.
“Tell them that we need Holy Family. We need the church,” he repeated. His face was flushed, and Malene began to worry that he was feverish.
“Baby, the diocese will decide that. We don’t get to say whether or not they have a church here. Look, we can go to one of the other places if you want Mass.” She knelt next to Roger, placed the back of her hand on the boy’s forehead. He was warm but didn’t seem to have a fever.
“No,” Alex exclaimed. “The diocese isn’t the one to make that decision. We have to make it. We have to show it is important. And it is important. Pie Town has to have this church. Father George has to stay.” He pounded his fist on the arm of his wheelchair. “I have to tell them!”
“Okay,” Roger said, backing away. “Okay, just calm down. Let me change clothes, and I’ll get your coat, and we’ll drive over in the squad car.” He turned to Malene and shrugged. “It’s what he wants,” he said.
She nodded. “Let me get dressed and I’ll go too.” Then she looked back at Alex. “You want to go in your pajamas?”
Alex glanced down. Clearly, he hadn’t thought about what he was wearing. “Maybe I’ll put on a pair of jeans,” he said and then smiled. “I’m sorry,” he added. “I know how you worry about me, but this is something I really need to do. This place is going to need this church in order to be a home for people. Pie Town is going to need Holy Family.”
Malene nodded. “Okay, fine. I understand. But how about after you put on your jeans, you have some juice and a piece of toast before we go?”
Alex noticed the clock. It was not quite ten o’clock. He nodded, realizing he had time. He took a few deep breaths and seemed to relax. Malene got up and began fixing him some breakfast while Roger wheeled the boy back to his room and helped him get dressed.
“Doesn’t he look good this morning?” Roger said to Malene when they returned to the kitchen.
“You mean Grandma looks good this morning,” Alex replied and smiled. “I saw how you two were gawking at each other at the table.” He added, “It’s sort of disgusting.”
Roger grinned and tousled Alex’s hair. “Well, now that you mention it, she certainly does look good, and it is not at all disgusting.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “You two need to stop pretending you don’t want to be together and just get married again,” he said.
Roger glanced over at Malene, who quickly turned away. “Well, look who suddenly feels strong enough not just to get out of bed but also to start meddling,” he said.
“Here,” Malene said, putting a glass of juice in front of her grandson. “Why don’t you drink something and quit talking? You’re going to need your strength to tell everybody else what to do.”
“Right,” Alex responded with a big grin.
“We’ll be right back,” Malene said after buttering the toast and putting it on a plate on the table next to the juice.
“And then we can go?” the boy asked.
“And then we can go,” Roger answered.
“Hey,” Alex said, and his grandparents turned back to listen. “I love you. It’s hard, I know. Everything, it’s hard, and well, anyway, I love you.”
“We love you too,” they said in unison.
Roger and Malene walked out together and stood in her bedroom.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Malene whispered, looking in the closet, trying to find something to wear. “Suppose everyone’s mad and besides, what’s he going to say that will change anything?”
Roger shook his head. He went into the guest room across the hall to put on his uniform before going back to talk to Malene.
“We’ll just let him say what he wants to say and then we’ll leave,” Roger promised. “Besides, it seems like he feels a little stronger. He does look better, and maybe this will help.”
“Help who?” she asked.
“Him, the town, I don’t know, everybody. Seems like everything is falling apart. Maybe he has the answers we don’t.”
Malene stepped out of her gown and robe and began putting on a pair of pants and a top. “I don’t know, Roger. I think he’s asking too much of himself, expecting too much of this town. You said it yourself: we don’t have a good record of hospitality, of doing the right thing when it comes to new folks.” She suddenly noticed that her ex-husband was watching. “What?” she asked, buttoning her blouse.
“He’s right, you know, you really do look good,” he replied. “I forgot how much I love to see you get dressed.”
“Or undressed,” she said with a smirk. “Okay, focus,” she said to herself as well as to Roger. “We’ll just drive him over, help him out of the car, put him in his chair, and let him make his plea. And then we’re coming home. It’s chilly out there, and I don’t want him catching a cold.”
“I’ll get his coat and a blanket,” Roger said as he turned to walk away.
Malene stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself smiling, thinking about Roger, his comment, Alex’s observation. She thought about her ex-husband, how nice it felt to have him there, how right it seemed for the two of them to be together. She thought about her grandson and the meeting and wondered what Alex could possibly say to bring the community together.
She thought about how upset he was going to be when he found out that a new priest had already been assigned, that Father George had been given another placement, and worst of all, that Trina was gone. She worried about what might happen when he found out his new friend had been run out of town and when the people at the meeting didn’t respond the way he wanted.
Still, Roger was right and she knew it. Alex was stronger, acting more like himself. And if anybody could say anything to make people listen, it was Alex. She just didn’t know what the boy had planned to say and what would be the reaction. She worried that any negative reaction would cause another setback.
“It will only be a few minutes,” Malene said to herself. She reached for a hairbrush on the dresser and started to brush her hair. The curtain over the window fluttered, and just as she glanced behind her, noticed the movement, and felt the slightest breeze drift across her, she suddenly thought of her mother, sensed her presence in the room as if she was passing through, and then heard the crash.
Chapter Thirty-six
Even though Trina had heard Katie’s confession and knew that the girl was planning to tell the rest of the town that she had started the fire, her decision was the same. She was still leaving Pie Town. The trip had been delayed because Raymond’s graduation had been postponed. More than two-thirds of his class had come down with the flu, and instead of forcing sick soldiers to march in an afternoon sun and then pass on the very contagious virus to family and visiting army officers, they had put the ceremony off by a few days. Frank had called Trina just as Katie was walking out the door to tell her they wouldn’t be leaving until Sunday morning.
Trina was disappointed but still determined to go to Amarillo. Just after ten o’clock on Sunday morning, as the townspeople were gathering at the site of the burned church, Trina threw her bag in the backseat of Frank’s car, climbed into the passenger’s side, and closed the door. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.
Frank put the car in reverse and backed out of her driveway. “Nice morning,” he said, and they both glanced up at the sky.
As they headed out of town, they noticed a few people walking on the road, moving in the d
irection of Holy Family Church. Neither of them spoke of the meeting.
“Did you get breakfast?” Frank asked.
Trina nodded. “I went out awhile yesterday, took a walk, and stopped at the diner and bought some doughnuts.”
“That’s a healthy way to start the day,” Frank responded. “I have some fruit in the cooler.” He reached down and opened the ice chest that sat on the floor between the two of them.
Trina shook her head. “No, I’m good right now,” she said. “Maybe later.”
Frank nodded. He checked the gauges on the car and adjusted the mileage counter. “So, how was your talk with Katie?” he asked. She had told him about the visit when he called to tell her that the trip was to be delayed.
“Fine. She was just trying to ease her conscience, I guess.” She sighed. “She and Rob started the fire.”
Frank nodded. “I figured as much,” he said.
Trina turned to the driver. “Why did you figure as much?” she asked. “I thought everyone in this town thought I started that fire, including you.”
Frank stared straight ahead as he drove. “You never asked me what I thought,” he replied. “In fact, you never struck me as a girl who cared too much about what others thought.”
Trina considered what he said. It was true, she hadn’t asked him. Actually, she hadn’t asked anyone what they thought. And it was true, she hadn’t really cared. She knew what she had done and not done, and what people thought hadn’t concerned her. Not until she had seen the notice stuck in her door. Not until she thought the town was meeting to condemn her, meeting to condemn Roger and anybody who stood up for her.
“Is she planning to tell the group at church?” Frank asked.
Trina shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
The two didn’t speak for a while. Trina watched as they headed farther out of town.
“So, if Katie is going to clear your name, why aren’t you staying?” Frank still did not look in Trina’s direction. He was carefully watching the road.
