From cc4cfa3efa778c21b69bb32dfc66e8e06c46e43d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Matěj Cepl Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2021 09:20:58 +0200 Subject: Initial commit --- 06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst | 681 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 681 insertions(+) create mode 100644 06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst (limited to '06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst') diff --git a/06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst b/06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a6c143 --- /dev/null +++ b/06-SummertimeandtheLivinisEasy.rst @@ -0,0 +1,681 @@ +Episode 3.06, Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy +------------------------------------------------ + +The band of clouds to the west faded from their red glory of a half +hour ago. A patch of sky above them was an achingly clear blue, with +two stars. Joan sat in the Adirondack chair, a lemonade and stack of +books at her side. A large book was open on her lap, but she was +watching the evening stars. + +Kevin rolled out onto the patio, with Lilly. "Where's everybody?" +"Dad's working late. Mom is around somewhere. So is Luke." +"That's helpful." +Lilly eyed Joan and the book: "A hot Friday date with Summa +Theologica. Been there." +Kevin interjected "We're going for some ice cream and hanging out. +Tell Mom and Dad I'll be back whenever." +"Sure. Have fun!" +As they turned to go, Lilly added "If you start fantasizing about +Thomas Aquinas, give me a call. 'Lilly's Hot Line for Recovering +Sisters,' call day or night." +"Thanks for the warning. See you." + +Joan turned back to her book for a moment, then looked at the evening +star again; the blue had deepened, and the star burned with white +brilliance. Luke bounded through the door. "Where's everybody?" +"Dad's working late, Mom is somewhere. As I just told Kevin. He and +Lilly just left. I'm invisible." +"Oooooh.... look at Venus. And Jupiter. They are wonderful tonight." +Luke gazed at the sky. "They are getting closer together every night. +Did you know that by the end of the month they are only going to have +2 degrees of separation?" +"Thank you for that priceless bit of information." +"You're welcome. Anytime." +After a moment Joan said, "Ummm, Luke... how 'bout a game of chess? +If you're not busy or something." +"That is pathetic. My sister. Friday night, and her idea of a hot +time is playing chess with her kid brother." +"Gee thanks." +"Grace and I are going to hang out. I'm headed over there now." +"Oh." +"Uh.... Joan. You want to come along?" +"And be the third wheel? No. That would be even more pathetic. But +thanks for asking." +"Another time on that chess game." Luke came over and kissed Joan on +the forehead. +"Bye. Be a good girl." +"Like I have a chance to be anything else. Say hi to Grace, and +remind her of the crab boil tomorrow." + +Joan was left to marvel at Luke actually showing some affection. That +was frighteningly un-Luke. Was she becoming everyone's favorite +object of pity? She stretched, wincing a little: she was still stiff +and sore from the accident, and a long afternoon at the bookstore. +She was still tired all the time. It felt good to sit out in the warm +evening. + +She returned to Aquinas. Before she had gotten through a page, Helen +came out. "Where's everybody?" +Joan rolled her eyes. "This is a recording: Dad is working late, +Kevin went for ice cream with Lilly, Luke is hanging out with Grace, +and I'm having the exciting social life I dreamed of as a little +girl." +"Want some company? I brought one of my books out to read until it +gets dark." +"Sure." +Helen sat in the other chair. They read in companionable silence for +a long while, Joan sipping her lemonade. Helen had an iced tea. The +evening breeze was soft, a silken pleasure after the hot afternoon. +It grew dark; the fireflies were out, and cicadas buzzed in the +trees. It was getting too dark to read. Helen laid her book in her +lap: "Joan?" +She looked up. "Umm?" +"I've been wondering. You don't have to say, but.... what happened?" +"What happened to what?" +"You and Adam." +"Oh." +"Things were going along, you all were getting really serious, and +all of sudden, boom. You clean your room like you're planning to +serve dinner on the floor, you rip up his pictures and box up +everything he ever gave you and out it goes, you dig him out of your +life like poison ivy, you take up knitting. And you never really said +why. You're sort of talking to him again, and you went on that trip +with the Polonsky's with him, but it is Over. No more flowers and +bunnies." +"It's personal. Very." +"OK. Sorry I asked." +After a moment, "Adam had sex with Bonnie." +"Oh. Oh my." +"It sucks. It really, totally sucks. I trusted him." +"Do you think that all night thing was part of it?" +"Yeah. Maybe if I'd done it with him, we'd still be all right. But it +just felt wrong." +"You did the right thing, Joan." +"If it was the right thing, why is everything screwed up now? No, I +am NOT going to cry. It is over." +Helen thought for a moment. "Adam introduced Bonnie to me, brought +her to me so I could help her. I saw them work together; it looked to +me like they were just friends." +"Yeah, right." +"Really. It was like Luke and Friedman get. They were two art geeks +off in their own world. I didn't see anything romantic going on. They +are my students, but I would have told you if I'd sensed anything." +"He claimed he was working on some project; that was why he couldn't +spend any time with me." +"That part was real. He had some things he was doing for Michael, and +after that was done.... did you see the mural under the overpass on +32nd Street? It was only there for a few days before they painted it +over." +"Yeah, once. It was good. Kind of twisted and scary." +"Adam and Bonnie." +"They did that?" +"Yes. Her idea mostly. She needed help to get it done before the city +painted it over again. That's why she keeps getting community +service; she likes to do 'guerrilla art.' Adam took pictures of it, +and showed me." + +After a long silence, Helen said, "Joan, I'm going to tell you +something." +"Mom, I don't need advice. I'm surviving." +"No, it's not that. This is... it is probably something I shouldn't +be telling you. It's about your father and me." +Joan looked up in the darkness, horror in her eyes. +"Mom, please don't tell me you're cheating on him." +Helen laughed, shaking her head. "No. Remember Lucy Preston? She was +Will's boss, until she got promoted to the Justice Department in DC." +"Yes. Kind of a businesslike lady." +"She was making moves on Will." +"Oh God." +"They worked together. They enjoyed each other's company, at least at +first. They ate lunch together. They worked late together. She wanted +more. She set up that award thing for you at the school. And, umm... +she did something that she thought would please Will, something big +on a murder case, but it was very unethical, and she handed it on a +silver platter to him. She expected a lot in return." +"Did Dad...." +"No. He was suspicious and dug into it. Once he figured out what +happened, he was disgusted with her for being a bad cop, but he was +stuck; he had to work for her, and I think she was using her position +to lean on him. I didn't know all this, but I knew something was +wrong. There were lots of late nights at work, a lot more than there +needed to be. He said afterwards that he would never cheat on me, and +I believe him. But... I think it could have gone the other way, if +things had been just a little different." +"Mom! What did you do?" +"I cried a lot. When I started sensing what was going on, I would cry +myself to sleep every night he was out, wishing he would just come +home. That empty bed was an agony." +"I'm so.... sorry. You could have told me." +"No, I couldn't. You are my daughter, and that is one cross you did +not need to carry. You just don't tell your children something like +that. It is like things going on in your life -- do you always rush +right home and tell me everything?" +"No, of course not." +"Joan, I'm on very thin ice here. My hunch -- call it a feeling -- is +that in a way, Adam and Bonnie were the same sort of thing. They were +working together, and things just happened, and he didn't know how to +deal with it." +"That's what he claimed. But this kind of thing doesn't 'just +happen.' He said he loved me." +"I am absolutely convinced of one thing about Adam Rove. He loves +you." +"Then why did he do it?" +"He messed up. Badly. But 'let him who is without sin cast the first +stone.'" +"You want me to make up with him?" +"I can't tell you what to do. You do what you want anyway, whether I +tell you or not." +"He hurt me. Mom, he really hurt me. I don't think I'll ever get over +it, not entirely." +"You won't. Some scars are there for life, and this is one of them. +Come here; let me hug you." +They stood up and hugged. Joan started to cry, Helen too. +"I said I wasn't going to cry," Joan said, smiling a bit. +"I won't hold you to that." +"What do I do now? I'm so lonely." +"Joan, I don't know. Just let it sit. See how you feel about him in a +few months." + +Will leaned back in his chair. It had been a long day, and there +would be many more during the transition period. "Chief of Police: +Will Girardi," the sign said on the door. He had wanted to wait until +it was official, but the guys in the department insisted. Carlisle +and Williams had to physically push him through the door: "Girardi, +this is YOUR office. Like it or not. You've belonged here all along." +Arcadia was getting a fresh start, and they had to get it right. This +department had forfeited the trust of the community, and they were +going to have to prove themselves. + +Toni Williams walked through the door with a file. "You should go +home. It's Friday night, for crying out loud." +"Looks like you're still here, too." +"Yeah. I guess we're gluttons for punishment." +"What'cha got?" +"Good news for once. This is Daghlian's file from Connorsburg." She +read from one page: "'a first-rate officer, hard-working and honest +to the core. He has my highest recommendation.' So he's really coming +back here?" +She handed the file to Will; he leafed through it, nodding his head +and smiling. "Yeah. I'll call him now." + +"Daghlian." +"Mike, this is Girardi. You're hired." +"That's great! I guess the files got there and looked OK." +"Yeah. They like you up there in Connorsburg." +"It's been good here. But Arcadia is where I belong." +"So when can you make the move?" +"I'll have to give thirty days' notice; I'll turn it in on Monday." +"Let's see... this is August 12, so how about Monday the 15th of next +month?" +"That works. And... Will, thanks for giving me another chance. You +taught me a big lesson." +"Yeah. The school of hard knocks is a first-rate teacher. We've both +been there now." +"While you're on the line, I talked with Carlisle about that paint +and we may have something. A cashier at one of the marine outfitters +here says she distinctly remembers selling the pink paint, and the +other colors. She says they almost never sell any pink; that's why +she remembers it." +"Got an ID on it?" +"Nope. The guy paid cash. But Carlisle is sending up a photo of +someone he says might be a suspect. We'll mix it in with some other +pictures and see if the cashier can pick him out." +"Thanks. Let us know what you get. Oh, and Daghlian -- It'll be great +to have you back." +------------------- +The morning sun streamed through the window as Joan sat crosslegged +on her bed. She hesitated a long time, holding the phone, then slowly +pushed the button. + +Adam's voice: "Hello." +"Hi." +"Ja... uh, Joan." +"Yeah." +"Umm... hi." +"We're having crabs this afternoon. You want to come over?" +Long silence. +"Joan, do you really want me there?" +"You're sort of.... kind of part of the family here, and this is a +family thing." +"You're sure about this?" +"Yes. It's not like you haven't eaten with us before." +"I'll be there. Thanks..... thank you." +"Bring your dad. I think he'd enjoy it." +"Sure. He loves crab. I do too. Tell you what, we'll bring some +coleslaw." +"Adam." +"Yeah?" +"I'm still mad at you." +"Unchallenged." +"See you later." +"Bye." + +Joan came through the kitchen, headed for the door. "I'm going to the +park for a while. I need some time to think," she said in the general +direction of Will and Helen, who were sitting at the table. "Oh, and +Adam and his dad are coming, They're bringing coleslaw." +"Don't be long; there's a lot of setting up to do," Will said. +"OK Dad. Bye." + +After she had gone, Helen said, "Honey, do you think we have enough +for everyone? Adam and his father make two more." +"I've ordered a lot of crabs. Roebuck is coming, and bringing extra +ice and drinks." +"I was thinking of this as a little family picnic. I didn't think +you'd be inviting people from work." +"Helen, guys like Roebuck -- he is like family to me. You know that." +"Well, just so long as you don't start talking shop." +"We'll be good. I promise." +Helen smiled and said, "I guess it's all right then that I invited +Father Ken to drop by after 5:00 Mass." +Will laughed: "Fair warning. If you all start talking religion, I'll +ask Roebuck how the arson investigation is going." +Helen said, "I still wonder if we should have invited the +Goetzmanns." +"Weren't you the one that was just saying this is 'a little family +picnic?' They are nice people and we'll have them over sometime soon. +But not today; this is for us. Did you ask Sarah and Jakob?" +"No. I figured they'd be busy, being Saturday. Grace is coming, +though." +----------------- +Joan ambled along the sidewalk in the park. People were walking dogs, +rollerblading, enjoying the fine sunny day. Children were on the +swings, sweeping through the air. Four girls were preparing to jump +rope. Joan hesitated, tempted to join them: no, these were little +girls, maybe ten or eleven, and they didn't need a seventeen-year-old +butting in. Her left knee twinged, reminding her that she wasn't up +to it, anyway. "I'm turning into a regular old maid," she thought. +The rope-jumping made her think of Casper, the homeless girl she had +tried to help. "That seems like so long ago now. I wonder what ever +happened to her: I hope she is all right." + +She had grown accustomed to hanging out with Adam: too accustomed. +Maybe it was good that they had split up. "We were starting to act +like a married couple that's gotten bored with each other. I need to +remember how to have a good time by myself. I don't need him. I don't +need anyone." + +Just then, a harsh guitar twang sounded from Joan's right. A man +began singing +"End this war +Look upon your friends +Don't you know the reason why +You called us back again." +Joan rolled her eyes, and walked up to the singer, a young man with +dreadlocks. "You are butchering the song. Please!" +He smiled at Joan and continued singing: +"Night is long and getting longer +There's darkness from above" +Joan joined him, his singing a crazed counterpoint to her melody: +"And hate is strong but love is stronger +We are alive as long as we love." +She gently pried the guitar from his hands. +"Spare me. It's a nice song; can't you at least sing it in tune?" +"Ya. Me jester dis way: "For every moon must have its shadow..." +Joan put her hand over his mouth, muffling the last words. "God, +you're embarrassing me." +A jogger came by, turning and looking at them. Joan smiled awkwardly +and waved; God said "Ev'rything cook and curry, mon." +"OK. OK. Just.... don't sing any more. Please?" +God smiled. He sat on the bench and began putting his guitar in its +case, motioning for Joan to join him on the bench. +"You forget dat song, na true?" +"How could I?" Joan answered, shaking her head. "'Queen of the +Zombies.' My moment of stardom. What a disaster!" +"Sweet disaster, shorty. It make good ripples." +"Let me guess. You are going to pick on me about Adam, aren't you." +"We are alive as long as we love..." God sang softly, perfectly in +tune. +Joan smiled, surprised at the accurate singing. "I've got another +song for you." She sang "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my +hair..." +"Not working, no?" God said with a smile. +"No." +"Me tell you how me handle forgiveness. When you hurt me and you +sorry about it and change yourself and do it no more, me forgive you. +What you done be gone, 'as far as east be from west.'" +"We're not talking about you. I'm the one he hurt, not you." +"Adam hurt you. Adam hurt Bonnie. He hurt me, he hurt himself, too. +Me was dere. Every pain, every sufferation hurt me; I connected to +all of you. If me forgive, you can forgive." +"But that's hard to do." +"Jah know. Me have da scars." +Joan thought for a moment. "So you're like Mom; you want me to get +back together with him." +"Me no say dat, your mother no say dat. Me say dis: let it go. Adam +and Grace be your best friends. You need dem both, plus your other +friends and your family, and me. When the hard times will come, we +stand by you." +"Hard times. I don't like the sound of that." +"Joan my friend, ease up: Today be good. Enjoy da bashment at your +house today. Enjoy all your friends and family for who dey be. +Cherish dis day; such days be rare." +God stood, and began walking away. "Run a boat, sister," he said, +giving Joan an over-the-shoulder wave. + +Kevin and Will were putting layers of newspaper on the assortment of +card tables in the back yard. "Kev, are there liners in the trash +cans yet?" +"Yeah. I did that a little while ago. I brought out the paper towels +too, the whole 12-roll package. And the pliers from the shop." +"Crabs are messy, but they sure are good." +"Right about that," Kevin answered. "I'm glad Joan is with us this +year. It was kind of a shame to do this last summer with her off at +Gentle Acres." +"Yeah. That put a damper on the whole summer for all of us." +"You know, she is my weird little sister and she drives me bonkers +sometimes. But last summer taught me a lesson. God, I missed her." +"Didn't we all. Looking back, I wish Helen and I hadn't sent her to +that place. We thought it would help, you know, after the Lyme +disease. I think it hurt more than it helped." +"You still have your lamp?" +"Both of them." +"Me too. Oh, by the way; I've been meaning to tell you. I found out +about Mr. Hunter's money." +"Yeah? What did you turn up?" +"Well, he has a lot of it. Mostly, it is from dot-coms in the 90's. I +found a little article in Barron's back in 2001 -- 'Ten Young +Investors to Watch,' and there he was, number two. Seems he played +around with day trading when he was in high school, got together +about 50 grand, and put it all on a tech IPO. It returned sixty-fold +in about three months, and he sold just before it tanked. That made +him a millionaire before he was eighteen. He turned right around and +sank all of that into another IPO, and that one went forty-fold. He +sold that one in January 2000, just before NASDAQ crashed, and put it +all in long-term government bonds -- right as interest rates peaked. +Now he's a player in the oil futures market; his name shows up in +Petroleum Monthly now and then, and he's still making the right moves +at the right time. He has an uncanny sense for what is going on. The +guy's a genius!" +"Or very lucky." +"Yeah. One thing gets me, though." +"What?" +"Why is he so interested in Arcadia? He doesn't even live here. The +article said he lives on some rural acreage west of Millersville. I +checked it out, and that's still where he lives; an old farm house on +a couple hundred acres. Hey, there's Lilly." +"Thanks, Kev. That is a big help; hey, run printouts of what you have +if you don't mind." +"Yeah. Will do." +Will finished spreading the newspapers, muttering to himself. +"Millersville... There has got to be something solid..." +----------------- +"There you are, Joan," Helen said, as Joan came out into the yard. +"You want to help me with this cooler?" +"Yeah. Where do you want it?" +"Right over there by the maple tree. Then we need to bring out the +butter and lemon juice, and the Old Bay Spice -- Will dug it out from +the back of the cabinet, and it is on the counter by the stove. He +and Roebuck will be back any minute with the crabs." + +Luke and Grace were heating a blue graniteware pot of water on the +grille. +Grace said, "Is this thing never going to boil?" +"Patience. You know how many BTU's it takes to boil a gallon of +water? And this is a 33-qt. canner; we've probably got what, six or +seven gallons in here?" +"Where did you come up with this?" +"It was grandma's canning pot, for boiling-water bath processing. You +know, pickles, that sort of thing." +"Yeah. Grandma Polk used to do that too. Kosher dills to die for." +"Oh, there's Adam and his dad." + +Adam carried a huge dish covered with foil, and set it on one of the +tables, as Mr. Rove followed. Helen came over to greet them. "Carl, +it is good to see you. I'm so glad you all could come." +"It was good of Joan to invite us. Adam and I brought a little slaw; +it goes great with crab." +"A little? You must have been shredding cabbage all morning." +Adam laughed: "Unchallenged. It was fun." +Joan came over: "Hi." +"Hi." +"I'm glad you're here." +"Me too." +Just then, Will and Roebuck came out, carrying a large washtub. +"Ta-da! Here they are!" Will said, as they set the tub by the grill +in the shade. +Joan and Adam went over and looked inside: +"Oh my God!!!" Joan said. +"What?" Adam answered, grinning. +"They're still alive!" +"Cha. You'd better hope so; you can't eat them if they're dead before +you cook them. You've never had crab?" +"Well, yes. At a restaurant. We always go to a crab house when we go +to Baltimore, or down on the eastern shore. But they're already +cooked." +------------------- +"Joan, would you say grace?" Helen asked, once they had more-or-less +assembled around the tables. Joan felt self-conscious with everyone +looking at her. Grace looked like she was thinking about the "half of +a red pill" and wondering when the other half would come. Luke looked +like he was thinking "Well, say something. And not in French." Adam: +"This girl is a mystery to me. But I love her anyway." The silence +was becoming embarrassing. She might as well pretend that she was +talking with God like she always did when she saw Her, and just say +what she was thinking. "God, thank you for the food, even if it is, +umm... still moving." That drew a giggle from Grace. "Thank you for +my mom and dad, and my brothers." Looking around her, she said "Thank +you for all the people here; thank you for bringing us together." +Catching Adam's eye, "Thank you for love, and for putting up with us, +no matter what." Smiling now, "Thank you for today. Amen." +------------------ +Luke and Grace sat down across from Joan. Grace said, "How're you +feeling? You're still sort of gimpy when you walk around. Not that +totaling a car and spilling blood all over your mom could have +anything to do with it." +"I'm doing better," Joan said. "I tried my yoga stretches a few days +ago and I still have aches in places I didn't know I had. But I think +the yoga will help." +"Well, you're alive, and not too much worse for the wear." +Joan smiled, and hummed, half to herself, "We are alive as long as we +love..." +To Grace she said, "Yeah. It's good." +Grace asked, "So what's with the yoga, anyway? Is this another one of +your weird hobbies? Let's see... chess, boatbuilding, band, piano +lessons, yearbook staff, the diving team, knitting, drama queen... +And not to forget, cheerleading." +"Please. I'd like to forget that one." +Grace smiled, remembering. "You know, that day when you did the +tryouts? That was when I knew you were an OK person. Strange, but +OK." +"Gee thanks." +"So now it's yoga? At least you've stuck with it longer than some of +the other stuff." +"You should try it, Grace. It puts you into some kind of flow with +the universe; very spiritual. And it feels good." +Luke said, "Now you're sounding like Aunt Olive." +Ignoring him, Joan said, "Yeah. The accident kind of put it on hold, +but I'm going to be starting classes on Wednesday. That is, if I'm +not in another car wreck between now and then." +------------------------- +Luke was showing Grace how to dissect the crab: "Once you've done the +legs, you pull this little tab on the carapace." +"Kind of like a soda can," +Luke said, "So you've really never had crab before?" +"It's a regular item in all Jewish households," Grace said. "We keep +it around for when we want something that totally breaks every Kosher +rule in the book. Get a brain, Lukey." +Ignoring the last, Luke said "Then you take out the gills and +intestines, here, and the other internal organs, and the meat is +underneath. But see this? That's the tomalley, or the liver. If you +don't want it, give it to me; it is the best part." +"What's this orange stuff?" +"That's the roe; that's good, too. Just the females have it. Some +people like the female crabs better, in general." +Grace said, "Why do I think this conversation is about to go way +downhill?" + +Lilly came over and sat by Helen. "This is great. It is good to see +everyone so happy." +"Yes. It is a good day." +Looking over at Joan, Lilly asked "How is she doing? Is she getting +over the accident all right? And how about you?" +Helen said "Oh, I'm fine. I was hardly hurt at all. Joan is too, +basically. She still says she is never going to drive again; we +haven't crossed that bridge." +"Yeah. She's going to have to get back on the horse." +"We haven't pushed it. Yet. At least she's OK, thank God. But -- I've +been meaning to ask you about something. I have vague pieces of +memory about what happened, the windshield crashing and bricks +falling in front of us and the car flipping over and Joan screaming. +And... here's the point: I am sure that I was hurt. I remember +thinking 'I am going to die,' just before I lost consciousness. But +when I woke up later, it was as if there was... I don't know... it +was like a warmth, like being at the beach in the sun or something, +washing over me, and I could feel that it was coming from Joan, from +her hand where she was touching me. And I was fine. They checked me +out at the hospital: no injuries. None. And instead, it was Joan who +ended up in ICU. But I have a fragment of memory that it was me that +was bleeding, not Joan. And other fragments, like there were people +outside the car trying to get in. I sort of remember one of them +saying 'This looks bad. We've got to hurry,' and someone else saying +'There's no way they survived that.' So here we are; me without a +scratch, and Joan not hurt much, nothing really serious. Lilly, we +were on the interstate, going 65. We flipped over. We should have +both died. Are we talking miracle here?" +"You're asking the wrong gal. No. Stop looking at me that way." +Helen continued looking at Lilly. +"Well, OK. There's your charism... when you start talking about that +sort of thing... Well, miracle is a strong word. But it might not be +too strong." Lilly looked over at Joan, who was laughing at something +Adam had said. "I wonder about Joan, too. I've felt for some time +that she must have some sort of spiritual gift. There is something +uncanny about her, Helen. Not in a bad or spooky way, not in the +least; it is almost like the old paintings, with the halos over the +saints. They didn't know any other way to represent what was +different about these people. And Joan is like that. Maybe." +"Joan, a saint?" Helen shook her head, smiling. "Lilly, you know +better. She is a teenager. Come by some morning when we're trying to +get them to eat breakfast and out the door for school. Or when she +and Luke are snapping at each other. Or... let's just say she's been +grounded a lot this last year. More grounded than not since about +March or so. For good reasons." +Lilly grinned, "Yeah. I know. But still... people get the wrong idea +about the saints. They aren't these holy people dressed up in +bathrobes like you see in the stained glass windows. Nor are they +people with some kind of weird 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' powers. No, +it is like they are more 'normal' than the rest of us, more +'natural,' like a tree or a sunset -- more true to their nature, to +what God intends for them, if that makes sense. I see that in Joan. +Not all the time, no. But sometimes." +Helen shook her head again. "No. No way." +"Think about it," Lilly said. "All the times she's done these oddball +things, and somehow they have turned out right. More than right; like +they have been healings for people, for situations. Maybe I'm wrong. +It's just a feeling, nothing I can put my finger on. But I think +there's something going on with that girl. Helen, saints do miracles. +That is part of the definition. No, that's not quite it: saints are +channels through whom miracles happen; it is God who does the +miracles. I am so jealous. Here I was, doing the nun thing all those +years and nothing happened. And here you and your daughter are with +charisms I would have died for." +Helen said, "I need a promise from you." +"Yeah. What?" +"Don't you dare tell Joan. She is insufferable enough already." +---------------------- +Will, Carl Rove, and Roebuck were at the grill, boiling the crabs. +Will said "Roebuck, you're an O's fan. You think they'll break .500?" +"No. Not a chance. This has been the year from hell. Injuries, the +whole bit. Sixty-two days in first place, then lose 16 out of 18 and +no more Mazzili. He was a class act, I tell you. Deserved better." +Carl said, "Aw, c'mon: they're just what, nine and a half back?" +"Yeah, and in next to last place with a new manager." +"Maybe Perlozzo will turn things around." +Roebuck shook his head. "It'll take more than a new boss. Everyone is +looking over their shoulder, thinking they might be the next after +Palmeiro. Probably half the team is on steroids; Raffy's the one they +caught." +Carl said, "I bet they're not doing the steroids any more. They see +the league means business." +Will said, "Ten-day suspension? They should have axed him for the +season. Maybe for life." +Kevin had rolled over during the conversation. He said "Wait a +minute. Here everyone is, ready to hang the guy. Like Mr. Roebuck +says, half the team is probably doing it. More like half of the +people in baseball. And three-quarters in the NFL." +Will said, "Kev, steroids are against the law. Are you defending +them?" +"No. But what's a guy to do? Remember the district football +championship my junior year, against South Park? Remember those big +linemen they had? Word was, every one of them was juicing. And they +are probably all playing Division One ball now. What was the score +that day?" +"Don't remind me. 46-14." +"Yeah. They killed us. So if you're a kid, and you see that +happening, and all you want in life is to play ball, what are you +going to do? This is America; if you aren't number one, you're +nothing." +"You were good, and you weren't using steroids." +"I was lucky. All of the coaches at the school had agreed on a +zero-tolerance policy; if you were caught, you were out. Period. +Besides, you would have locked me up and thrown away the key." +"Right about that," Will said. +"And I was good; I was able to be clean and still make it. What about +the guys that are on the borderline; if they don't get that boost, +they won't make the team, and they know it? I'm just saying don't +blame Palmeiro when it is everywhere." +Roebuck said, "Kevin, do you think the fans will forgive him?" +"Yeah. Mark my words: they'll boo him for a game or two, but as soon +as he gets a couple big hits, all will be forgiven. We shouldn't be +blaming the players; we should be blaming the fans. 'Winning is +everything.' The fans don't really care about the steroids, or what +the players are doing to themselves by taking them. And there they +will be, booing the guy for using a drug when half of them are up in +the stands drunk as skunks. Which is worse, doing the steroids or +DUI-ing after the game? You aren't going to kill people or turn them +into gimps with a bottle of steroids. Hypocrites. Don't go blaming +someone until you've looked in the mirror." +Carl said, "Well, right or wrong, I'm afraid Raffy's going to pay the +price. His rep will never be the same, and it might keep him out of +the Hall of Fame. Congressional hearing. Yikes! Why can't they just +play baseball?" +Roebuck said, "Where's Cal Ripken when we need him?" +Carl said, "Yeah. Things were a lot better in those days. I loved it +when they had him and Cal Sr. and Billy. It was a special time." +Roebuck said, "Senior was another guy they didn't give enough time in +the driver's seat. Great baseball man, through and through..." +Will said "Hey, there's the padre." + +Father Ken was carrying a two-gallon tub of ice cream. Helen said, + +"I'm so glad you could make it." + +"I love crab feasts. Nothing like it. Thanks for inviting me." + +"Here, I'll stick the ice cream in the freezer until after while. +Still some crabs left. There's coleslaw over there, and drinks in the +cooler, and iced tea." + +"I can tell I came to the right place. This is great!" + +------------------ + +By now, the shadows were long. It had been a happy afternoon. The +children were laughing and having the best time Helen could remember +for a long while, maybe since Kevin's accident. Helen smiled: Adam +and Joan had been together all afternoon, and they had that look in +their eyes again. It wasn't going to be puppy love any more, but it +might be something stronger, something that would carry them through +the ups and downs of life. Helen got the ice cream from the freezer +compartment of the refrigerator and set it on the counter by the +sink, next to the chocolate brownies, already cut and on paper +plates. + +Looking out the window, she saw that Adam had a few streaks of gray +in his hair; he was as slim as ever. Running in merry circles around +him were the twins, three-year old Elizabeth and Helen. Joan had cut +her hair short, put on about fifteen pounds, and looked very happy. +She was with Grace, who was nursing little 'Michael Faraday Girardi' +-- Helen shook her head and smiled at the name Luke and Grace had +given him. Then she saw Kevin, and grabbed the counter to hold her +balance. He was standing! There was a tire swing on a rope hanging +from the big maple tree, and Kevin was pushing little four-year-old +Joan in the swing; she was laughing with glee. Lilly, her hair +completely gray, was coming toward the door: "Helen, you need help +with dessert?" + +Helen smiled, and blinked away the tears. Lilly was by her: "Are you +OK?" Helen looked again into the yard, and all was as it had been +before. "Yes. Yes, I'm OK. Everything is good." She smiled at Lilly: +"It is good to be alive." + -- cgit