“Thanks, Martha.” I smoothed down my hair. It had gotten really long, but I liked it.
“Mmhmm,” she responded, still eyeing me. “Any progress with the car?”
I had given it some thought, and had a plan that I wasn’t ready to share with Martha. The plan involved working with Mike, and she absolutely hated Mike. “It’ll be ok, you don’t need to worry about us.”
“Oh, Emily, of course I worry about you! All alone in that house, taking care of that woman, and Charlie.”
“That woman?” I asked cautiously.
“I know you won’t hear a word against her, but I need to tell you something.” She was twitching up a storm. “Maybe a comparison would be better. You tell me what you think would happen if I got sick.”
I was surprised. “You? Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Let’s just pretend.”
I considered. “Well, Carl would have a fit.”
“And?”
“And…I don’t know. We’d all try to help you.”
“Who would try to help?” she demanded.
“Everyone! Your family, the customers, Carl’s co-workers at the bait shop, everyone.”
“Exactly. When Katie at the library had a bad flare-up with her MS last summer, we had a can at the register to take donations for her. We had a sign-up to bring her dinners. Everyone pitched in. Now tell me, has anyone done that for your sister?”
I was trying not to get angry. “No. No one has helped us like that.”
“You mean, no one has helpedherlike that. In one way or another she has alienated almost everyone in this town. From the time she was in junior high she has been rubbing people the wrong way. And you probably weren’t aware of the trouble she got up to when she was in high school.” Martha muttered something that sounded like “hockey coach.”
I opened my mouth with an angry retort but she held up her hand.
“I’m not telling you this to get your goat, and I’m not saying that the people in this town are acting in a very Christian way. But I see you struggling, and it makes me angry. It isn’t fair to you,” she twitched. “You should know why.”
A customer approached the registers with a cart full of groceries and looked nervously at the two of us, me red-faced and fuming, and Martha twitching like she was getting electric shocks.
“I’ll help you right here,” I barked at the poor woman.
Cassie certainly wasn’t perfect, but the people in this town sucked not to help her. I hadn’t thought about it before, but now I remembered when Loretta had been dying. My dad had taken off already, and there was a full-scale, all-out effort to help Loretta and Nana and me. People from church brought over bags of groceries. I always had a ride to school. Teachers let me have extra time with assignments. Casseroles appeared at our door. There was a rotating group that brought Loretta to her various doctor appointments.
I got even angrier. “Thanks for coming to the NGS,” I snapped as I put the last item in the lady’s bag. She nodded and took off like a shot.
Martha put her hand on my shoulder. “Honey, I’m sorry Imade you so upset.”
I turned to face her. “No matter what Cassie has done in the past, I don’t think she deserves to be shunned. He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Right?”
“You’re right,” Martha said. “You’re absolutely right. And I can’t think of anyone around here who would be able to cast the first stone. Now, have a cookie, and do me a favor and go call in Frankie and Charlie. It’s time for them to go to the library.”
I got a short text from Luke that his flight was delayed, but I didn’t hear from Cassie, and when Charlie and I got home, she would barely speak to me. I didn’t bother to ask her if she had heard from Mike. She stayed up in her room, looking in the hand mirror, while Charlie and I ate together in the kitchen.
Rather than leave him home that night, I drove him over to Tara’s. Darby was at the door and waved him in. “Charlie, my dad got us a movie!” she yelled. I grabbed him for a quick kiss before he bolted inside.
Tara rolled her eyes."I won't watch that again.I hate those little yellow fuckers.”
“Tara!Your mouth.”
“I’ll keep it clean around Charlie.” She saw me eyeing her. “Cleaner, ok? I’ll do my best.” Now she eyed me too. “You look fancy this evening. Dressing up for Roy?”
