A Sister's Forgiveness (30 page)

The black kid explained what a good hand was. A pair, two pair, and so on. At school, Matt’s best subject was math, and somehow this all seemed to make sense to him. He nodded and checked his cards.

“I’ll take two,” the boy next to the dealer said.

“Three.”

“I’ll keep what I have,” Matt said, and three pairs of eyes glanced his way.

“Pass,” the first boy said.

“I’ll bet a nickel,” the second boy said and tossed five pennies onto the pile of dimes.

“I’ll see that,” the third kid said, adding a nickel to the pile. “Up to you.”

“I don’t…”

The dealer slid a nickel his way. “At this point, you either fold—as I’m going to do—or you put the nickel in the pile.”

“Then I owe you fifteen cents.”

“Yep. If you want to raise the bet, then you’ll owe me twenty cents. What’s it going to be?”

Matt checked his cards. If he won, then he could pay the boy who’d loaned him the money and still have some left. He picked up the nickel and tossed it onto the pile, enjoying the clink it made as it hit the rest of the coins.

“Pair of sevens,” one boy said displaying his cards.

“Beats me,” the second boy said. “Let’s see what you’ve got, kid.”

Matt laid out his cards—three twos, an eight, and a six.

“And we have a winner,” the boy who’d loaned him the money said as he slid the money toward Matt, taking care to remove his fifteen cents. “Deal,” he told the black kid.

“Ante,” the black kid replied as he shuffled the cards.

They played several more hands until a car rolled slowly toward them. “Outta here,” one of the boys muttered as he divided the money left on the table between them and gathered the cards. “Same time tomorrow?”

He was looking at Matt, but he didn’t wait for an answer.

The car stopped, and Matt could hear the crackle of a two-way radio that indicated a police car. He glanced toward the car, and when he turned back, the other three boys and their bikes had disappeared. A police officer was walking toward him, shining his flashlight over the area.

“Hey, kid, it’s pretty late to be out here in the park,” he said.

“I took a wrong turn and got lost,” Matt replied, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the beam.

“Won’t your folks be worried?”

“Yes sir.”

“Where do you live?”

Matt gave his address, and the police officer released a low whistle. “You did take a wrong turn, half a dozen of them. You’re a couple of miles from there.” He turned the flashlight toward Matt’s bike. “That yours?”

“Yes sir.”

“Well, let’s load it in the back of the patrol car and call your folks. I expect they’ll be pretty worried by now.”

“They won’t answer. The phone is for my Dad’s work. They don’t answer it after supper. If you just tell me the way back, I can get there.”

“Amish, are you?”

“Mennonite.”

The officer reached inside the patrol car and picked up the two-way radio. He turned away while he talked to someone on the other end.

“Okay, come on,” he said, lifting Matt’s bike into the trunk and then fastening the lid closed with a bungee cord. “We’ll give you a lift.”

Matt started to back away.

“You’re not running away, are you?” the officer said, his tone laced with fresh suspicion. His partner started to get out of the car.

“No sir.”

“Then get in the car,” the partner said, opening the back door for him.

Matt did as he instructed. He stared out the window as the officer drove, trying his best to get his bearings. He had just made over a dollar playing a game, and he wanted to be sure he could find his way back to play again.

Chapter 31

Lars

W
hen Lars and Joseph had followed Matt to the school, they’d seen Matt talking to Geoff. Since the two of them were walking across the field together and Geoff seemed to be listening, Lars had thought it best to give this possible break in the stalemate a chance. He’d told Joseph that everything seemed okay, and Joseph had driven him back home.

“Jeannie is probably serving them both huge bowls of ice cream right now,” Emma said, clearly hoping that was the case. “I would call her, but she’s not picking up.”

“He’ll be along soon,” Lars assured her, but it was past eight o’clock, and he saw by Emma’s anxious glances at the clock that she was as worried as he was. “You know, maybe I should drive over to Geoff and Jeannie’s and pick Matt up. I mean, I don’t like the idea of him riding his bike after dark.”

“I’ll go with you,” Emma said.

“Nein, stay here in case he’s on his way home and I miss him.” He took his hat from the peg by the door and picked up the car keys.

He was outside with Emma standing in the doorway to see him off when the police cruiser pulled up in front of the house. Lars felt the breath rush out of his chest when he saw the official car and the officer getting out of the driver’s side.

“Mr. Keller?” His partner had also gotten out and was opening the back door.

“Ja… yes?” Lars’s heart was in his throat and beating hard as Matt got out. The boy did not look at either of his parents, just walked to the back of the cruiser to get the bike one officer was unloading.

“I’ve got it,” Lars heard Matt say. “Thanks for the ride.”

But the officer who’d been driving followed him up the driveway while his partner waited. He tipped his hat to Emma and then focused his attention on Lars. “Your son said he took a wrong turn. He was over in Payne Park.”

Payne Park was the opposite direction from their house, Jeannie’s house, or the school. Lars looked at Matt for an explanation. “What happened?”

“He…” Tears were rolling down Matt’s cheeks.

Emma put her arm around their son. “Come inside,” she said. “It’s time for your shower.” She ignored the officer as she ushered Matt past him and into the house.

“Is everything all right, Mr. Keller?” The officer was watching him closely. Then he blinked and looked even closer. “Keller? Any relation to…”

“She’s my daughter. Our family has had some difficult days.”

The policeman nodded. “Your son was awfully quiet on the ride home. I tried to draw him out—you know, in case somebody had… approached him. Sometimes a park, especially after dark…”

“I’ll talk to him. We appreciate your bringing him home to us, officer. And now if there’s nothing else?”

The policeman looked toward the lighted window of the kitchen and then back at Lars. “Glad to be of service.” He walked back to his cruiser, shut the trunk, and got in. His partner got in on the passenger side, but they did not leave immediately. Instead Lars saw the two of them conferring, looking up toward the house as they talked.

Lars went inside and closed the door and shut off the porch light as well as the kitchen light. A minute later, he heard the police car pull away. They would file a report, and once again his family’s name would be part of an official record.

Down the hall, he could hear water running. He followed the sound, and after confirming that Matt was in the shower, he went to find Emma. She was turning down the bed in Matt’s room. “Did he say anything?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Whatever happened when he found Geoff, it didn’t end up with them having ice cream together.” She clutched Matt’s pillow to her chest. “How could he have gone so far afield, Lars? Payne Park is all the way…”

“Downtown,” Lars said. “I know.” He sat on the side of the bed and bowed his head. He had never felt so lost, so incapable of doing the right thing for his family, for his children. God had blessed them with these bright and giving children to shepherd through this world, and after years of success, it seemed to him that he was suddenly at a loss about how to guide them. His daughter was in jail. His son had been brought home by the police.

“I suppose we should come up with some punishment,” Emma was saying. “He could have called.”

“He saw me turn the phone off after Joseph arrived for supper, remember? And we thought he was with Geoff.”

“Ah,” Emma sighed.

“The policeman recognized that we are—that Sadie is our daughter. I think he remains concerned that there may be more than one of our children in trouble.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Surely not. Matt was lost—not causing trouble.”

“These are different times for us, Emma,” Lars said. “We have to face the fact that Sadie may have to go away for a time. We have to think about how all of this is affecting Matt.”

Emma closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “I am worried for him. Geneva Kurtz stopped me the other day. She says that Matt is not himself at school these days. She thinks perhaps the other children are keeping their distance from him. Why would they do that when he’s in such pain, Lars?”

Lars had long ago given up believing that things wouldn’t change with each generation. Especially living here in Pinecraft on the very borders of a city like Sarasota where their children were so exposed to the ways of the outsiders. The life his children knew wasn’t like the life he had known as a boy when he and his parents had lived on the farm up north. It wasn’t even the way it had been for Emma and Jeannie growing up right here in Pinecraft.

More and more the ways of the outside world had made their mark, especially once the tourists had discovered the small community. Their fascination with the ways of the Amish and Mennonites was perhaps understandable, but Lars struggled with the lack of respect these outsiders showed for their customs. Sometimes it felt as if they were on display for the entertainment of others. But of far more concern was the attraction of their own young people to the dress and language and ways of these outsiders.

So many times he and Emma had had to quietly remind Sadie that such expressions as “so cool” or the sarcastic “Ya think?” weren’t part of their way of speaking to others. Sadie’s fascination with clothing had not come just from being around Jeannie or Tessa. More than once she had described to Emma some item of clothing she had observed on one of the tourists. It was always clear how much she had admired—even longed for—the garments. Lars had often heard Emma remind their daughter that to covet the goods of another was a sin. But Matt had always seemed indifferent to the ways of the outside world.

“Did his teacher say anything else?” he asked.

“His work is fine—when he does it—but more and more often she has to prod him to finish an assignment, and when she does, she told me that he has on occasion snapped at her. He always apologizes immediately,” Emma assured Lars, “but still that’s not like our son.”

“No, that’s not Matt at all.”

Lars became aware that down the hall the water continued to run. He walked to the small bathroom the family shared and knocked at the door. “Waste not, son,” he said, but he made a point of keeping his tone light, hoping that it would not be heard as a reprimand. Emma was right. Little attention had been paid to what Matt must be going through since the accident. It was past time for them to show their son that they were there as much for him as they were for his sister. “Finish up.”

There was a beat, and then the water stopped and he heard a soft, “Yes sir.”

When Matt came to his room dressed in his pajamas and carrying his clothes, Emma and Lars were sitting side by side on his bed. Emma immediately got to her feet and took the clothing from him, examining each item to see if it was clean enough for the boy to wear the following day before folding it over the single chair.

“So, you got lost,” Lars said, patting the bed beside him. “It happens. What Mom and I don’t understand is how you got so far from the school or Geoff and Jeannie’s house.”

Matt seemed to consider the merits of telling them what happened. Then he took a deep breath and poured out his story. “I was never at their house, Dad. I went to the ball field knowing Uncle Geoff had probably just finished practice, and I was right. He was taking laps around the track, so I caught up to him. I wanted to tell him about the program—about that VORP thing that Mr. Cotter was telling us about. I thought if I could show him a way that everything could be settled again, then maybe he wouldn’t be so mad at me.”

“He’s not mad at you,” Emma said. “Oh Matt, he’s just so filled with sadness and grief. Sometimes in grown-ups that comes across as anger, but…”