Rorey's Secret (28 page)

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

All those words come rushing in my mind. I remembered they were part of what’s called the Beatitudes; we learned ’em in Sunday school a couple of years back. But they made me feel awful bad right now, and the crying I was trying to avoid kind of spilled out. Because I knew I wasn’t bein’ persecuted for the Lord’s sake. Pa wasn’t mad at me over lovin’ the Lord. He just plain didn’t like me, and that weren’t for nobody’s sake but my own.

I heard footsteps behind me, and at first I thought it was Rorey. I wasn’t going to turn around. I didn’t care what kind of thing she’d come up with to say. But then as I went across the yard and the footsteps just got closer, it didn’t sound so much like her. Nor Pa neither, ’cause these feet were lighter. I turned around, and it was Ben reachin’ out his arm.

“Frank, Lizbeth told me I ought to follow. She probably would herself, but she’s still trying to talk some sense at your pa. I hope it takes.”

I didn’t say anythin’. I just kept on walkin’.

“Are you all right?”

“Sure,” I told him. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with me but a little burn and a nail scratch. I wouldn’t be wearin’ no bandage e’cept Mrs. Wortham insisted.”

Ben was quiet kind of long, and I kept walkin’. But he followed me. “The last I knew there was something more than that,” he said. “Something about somebody beating you up yesterday.”

“That’s like old hist’ry by now.”

“Frank,” he told me kind of low, “your big sister loves you.”

I almost choked on the stupid tears. “I know it.”

“It’s not right the way your pa does with you.”

“He’s just Pa.”

“Tonight he’s just wrong.”

I didn’t say nothin’. I figured Ben would go back in the house and be with Lizbeth. I figured he’d turn around real quick ’cause we were almost to the timber and he’d already said enough to make me feel at least a little better. But he didn’t turn around. He followed me right into the trees. I wondered about Lizbeth handlin’ Rorey and Pa both. But if anybody could, she could.

“Has he been like this all your life?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s worried Lizbeth some that he might’ve gotten worse after she left.”

“She . . . she just had a way a’ makin’ things all right,” I managed to say.

“I’m sorry.”

That was a mighty strange thing for him to say, and I told him so. “Seems like you hadn’t oughta be sorry over her leavin’, or it’d sound like you’s sorry to be married. I ain’t sorry ’bout that. I think it’s fine, Lizbeth bein’ so happy.”

“She’s not always happy.”

I turned around to look at him, even though I hadn’t wanted him to see that my cheeks were wet. “What do you mean? Why ain’t she happy?”

“Well, besides worrying about all of you, she’s been a little upset with me lately.”

I could feel my fists foldin’ up, even though I knew good and well that wouldn’t be no proper way to deal with nothin’. “What for?” My voice sounded kind of mean, even to me.

“I’ve been wanting children. Lots of children. I guess I asked her one too many times if she didn’t think it was time to get started on that.”

“That don’t seem to be somethin’ that’s my business.”

“Maybe not. But I just wanted to ask you, Frank. Do you think it might be because of your pa? Or all of you not having enough? Do you think maybe she’s worried that I won’t be fair?”

I was close to chokin’ again, just tryin’ to figure why he’d be asking
me
somethin’ like that. “Maybe she’s tired. Maybe she don’t wanna have to deal with so much as Mama had or go through the pain a’ birthin’. She was with Mama for the younger ones, even though they always shooed the rest of us outside. Most girls maybe don’t know so much about it as Lizbeth knows.”

“You’re probably right. Thanks.”

“I didn’t do nothin’ solvin’ the problem. You’s still of one mind and her the other.”

“Maybe. But just understanding a little better helps me.”

We went walkin’ on without talkin’. I wasn’t really sure why he stayed with me. But it felt good, and he felt like family. Like we had a good understandin’. I’d felt that way with Mr. Wortham plenty of times, and with Sam or Joe once or twice. But I didn’t ever remember it with my other brothers. Nor Pa. Not even once.

23

Julia

Finally we heard the truck in the driveway. Samuel was trying to sit up, but I told him to stay put right where he was. I’d make every one of those boys come and answer for where they’d been.

Robert was the first to come in. Maybe they’d talked it over and decided he ought to, because by far he looked the best.

“I found them,” he told me. “They’re all right.”

Then Harry came in with his shirt all ripped in the front and Kirk with what was going to be a black eye to rival Franky’s. Willy was the worst. He was messed up all over. My heart was pounding, and I was upset for them and angry at them all at the same time.

“You went and fought. All of you. You went and fought at Lester Turrey. When you know that won’t solve anything! And they’re not even churchgoers! What are they going to think of Christians acting that way?”

“It was just gonna be me,” Willy said. “But you sent Harry along.”

“To stop you!”

“Well, he didn’t figure it was right what Lester done.”

“An’ I was gonna go get Pa, on account of Rorey,” Kirk explained. “But I met up with ’em in the timber an’ I remembered Lester’s brothers. I didn’t figure they could handle it just the two of ’em.”

“What about you?” I turned to Robert. “Did you get yourself involved too?”

“I just went to bring ’em home,” he said. “But there was five of ’em. Didn’t look like they’d get away without help.”

“Oh, Robby.”

“Well, Mom, don’t you think Willy’s right? Don’t you think Lester’s got it coming after what he did? And he’s the one who’s too much the coward to own up, and blaming it on Franky. That’s the stinkin’est thing I ever heard!”

“Even if there was five of ’em, we done all right,” Willy added. “You oughta see ’em. They look worse than us.”

“That is not the point! Didn’t you hear what I said?”

Exasperated almost beyond words, I ushered them all in so Samuel could take a good look. He didn’t seem as upset as I was.

“Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised,” he told them. “I suppose I might’ve had some hotheaded days when I was younger when I’d have done the same thing. But that doesn’t make it right. You all understand that, don’t you?”

Robert and Kirk nodded. I couldn’t see a sign of regret from the other two.

“Sometime, hopefully soon, you’ll think about this a little more and realize that fighting’s usually not the best way, even if it feels right at the time. I’m not sure yet what to do about this. I guess it’ll wait till morning when we’ve all had some rest. Was Lester’s father home? What did he say about it?”

“Nothin’ at first,” Kirk told us. “I guess he figures a fight’ll happen now and then. But he got tired of it toward the end and come out with his shotgun.”

“That’s when we left,” Robert added. “I was glad I could pull the one kid off of Harry so we could go.”

I had a hard time restraining myself from saying more. But Samuel just told them to go and wash the best they could in the bathwater that was left in the kitchen and get themselves to bed.

“The world’s gone crazy around us,” I said as the boys were leaving the room. “Every last one of them, even Robert.”

“Well, there was a sister involved for three of them, not to mention the barn. And for Robert, you told me about that already.”

“That doesn’t excuse them.”

“No. But I doubt there’s a man in the country who wouldn’t understand it.”

“Samuel . . .”

“I know. I’m not endorsing fighting to solve your problems. I’m just saying the way things were sprung on them, we can’t be surprised. And we’ll have to take that into consideration. I’m sure George will.”

“Oh, George picks and chooses what to take into consideration! He wouldn’t give Franky half a chance to explain himself, and Franky was innocent all along! And I suppose with this he’ll say his boys were just being boys and look the other way.”

“I don’t know. But I sure will talk to him. He owes Frank an apology, but so do those young men in there, and I think they know it.”

“Well, I hope they’re gracious about it! I get sick and tired of them tearing him down.”

Samuel nodded. “You better get some sleep, Mrs. Wortham.”

“Not till the boys are settled. Hard telling what they might come up with if we leave them on their own.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. They’re too tired for anything else tonight.”

Samuel seemed to be right. All four of those big boys could barely drag themselves through washing and getting up the stairway. Harry didn’t even try. He just plopped himself down on a blanket on the sitting room floor. The other three were about to head up to Robert’s room when we heard someone else on the porch.

We weren’t expecting anybody, and at first I jumped, thinking it might be some of the Turreys wanting to finish what got started. But it was Franky who came in. With Ben, which surprised everybody.

Franky didn’t talk to us. He just went in and lay down on the floor beside Harry. He’d worked so hard all day and all last night. I knew he was exhausted. But before the other boys went upstairs I heard Robert tell him he was sorry.

“I shouldn’t have blamed you,” Robert said. “Should’ve known you wouldn’t lie.”

“What happened to you?” Franky asked them.

Kirk laughed. “Guess we decided that if you can get yourself busted up by Turreys, so can we. It’s the least we can do.”

Pretty soon they’d gone upstairs, and I didn’t hear another peep out of them. I made Ben a cup of coffee, and he sat and told Samuel and me all about how things had gone at the other house.

“Do you need to go back?” I asked him.

“Yeah. Probably. Lizbeth’ll be needing a hug or two, I expect. But she didn’t want Franky alone tonight. She’ll be glad he’s over here.”

“Thank you, Ben,” Samuel said.

Later, after Ben had gone and the house was quiet, I lay beside Samuel again, both of us very still.

“Not long ago I asked Franky how things were with him and his pa,” Samuel said softly. “He just said about the same.”

I laid my hand across his arm. “I have a feeling it’s been worse than they’ve said. For one thing, they all talk about how clumsy Franky is. But he’s not that way over here.”

“You think George makes him anxious?”

“He would me, if I had to listen to that kind of talk.”

Samuel sighed, and his breath sounded so heavy. “When Franky had the broken leg, we almost kept him. Even after he was up on it again. Maybe we should have. Maybe we should have insisted that he stay with us. George didn’t seem to care.”

“But Franky did. Franky wanted to go home.”

“I’m going to ask them again. I’m going to talk to both of them.”

That thought and those words just floated on the air around us, and we both drifted into dreams. I saw Samuel’s mother again, pouring her box of letters all over the kitchen floor. That was all I remembered when the cuckoo clock woke me at about 3:00 a.m. Samuel was shivering a little in his sleep. I pulled the blanket up over him, and he shuddered and pulled away from me. I wondered if he might be dreaming about his father again. Those dreams were never good.

I got up slow and careful to check on all the children. It was chilly tonight, and I wanted to be sure they were all covered. When I got to Franky, I found him all curled up in a ball. He was crying. At first I thought he was awake, but he wasn’t. I just kissed his bruised-up cheek, pulled a blanket up to his chin, and left him alone.

Sarah was crying too. Or at least she had been. At least one cheek was damp. I prayed that none of us would have any cause for crying after this. I prayed that Rorey and her father would have a change of heart, whether it was Lizbeth or the Spirit of God who prompted it. And I prayed that the morning would find us all doing better, rested and ready to go on from here with good judgment and forgiving hearts.

Before I lay down again, I picked up Franky’s borrowed book,
Silas Marner
, and turned to the back page. It was with some surprise that I found the line at the top stating that Silas had brought a blessing upon himself by acting as a father to a motherless child. I was glad to find a happy ending, since the book had started out so dark. But I couldn’t help thinking that Samuel and I had done that, for Katie, and in a sense for all the Hammonds, even though they still had George. And Samuel was wanting to do more for Franky, if he needed it. If he’d let us.

I set the book on the shelf and tiptoed past sleeping children and back to bed. Samuel was asleep. But he had the barest hint of a smile on his face, and when I lay beside him he put his arm around me without even waking up.

24

Sarah

Sunday morning was busy. And I could hardly believe I’d slept through my brother and three of the Hammonds taking off last night and coming back all beat up. They looked awful, but Mom insisted that at least some of the boys were going to church. And me too, she said. Because I should.

I kind of wished Mom and Dad were going, but I was also glad they weren’t when I saw how tired Dad still looked. I don’t guess he’d slept as long as I did.

Katie was trying to feed people, and Mom was trying to get everybody fixed up. Fresh bandages on Franky, even though he didn’t want them. And Bert’s foot soaking again, even though it was feeling so much better today. Harry needed his hair washed and stuck down because it only wanted to stick straight up. Willy and Kirk kept putting cold cloths on their faces where the bruises were the worst.

I got to thinking that if Charlie Hunter still came out to pick us up like he used to before Dad swapped work for Barrett Post’s old truck, whoever was going to church would surely end up making him wait. It seemed to take longer than usual just getting chores done and everybody dressed. But then, to look at us you could hardly wonder why. Only Mom and us girls didn’t look banged up some way. Every single one of the boys had managed to get himself looking terrible. Even Robert, who didn’t look so bad as the rest, had a bruise and a cut on his chin that came from Lester Turrey’s older brother swinging at him hard. I figured if the doctor showed up now, he’d shake his head at us for sure.