Johnny heard Beep sigh.
“You all right, buddy?”
He nodded.
Marshall wasn’t convinced. “Don’t be scared, Beep. I won’t let anybody hurt you again.”
Johnny frowned. “There won’t be a need for fighting again, okay? You don’t go to school and get in trouble on your brother’s behalf, understand?”
Marshall frowned.
Johnny frowned back. “I mean it, Marshall. The judge lowered the boom on those boys. They’re scared stiff and won’t be doing anything wrong. If they do, he’ll put them in a prison for kids. And no one else is going to try being a bully because they will know what happened to Lewis and his gang. It’s over, okay?”
Marshall thought about it, glanced up at his little brother, and then looked at Johnny. “I won’t start nothin’,” he promised.
“Anything. You won’t start anything,” Johnny muttered. “Who wants ice cream?”
Both boys smiled and answered in perfect unison, “Me.”
Johnny grinned. “Me too.”
* * *
Word soon spread about the boys sentencing, which ended the ongoing pity party in Blessings. People who’d taken the side of the well-to-do slipped back into their daily lives as if nothing had happened. The only people still dealing with it were the parents, who had to pack their boys up the following Saturday and send them off with a busload of youth offenders to the state prison. They didn’t know which was worse, their fear for what might happen to them before they got home, or how they were going to live down the humiliation their sons had wrought.
The following Monday, Johnny took the boys back to school and stopped in the principal’s office before he let them go.
Mavis West, the school secretary, saw them coming, panicked, and rang for the principal.
Mrs. Winston answered absently. “Yes?”
“The Pines are back. You need to come out.”
The principal dropped the phone and bolted out of the office just as the Pines came in the door.
“Good to see you back,” she said and glanced down at Beep. “Well, Brooks, you seem to be healing quite well.” Then she looked up at Johnny with what she hoped was a concerned expression. “Are there any medical issues we need to know about? Does he have medicine he’ll need to take through the day? We keep the medicine in the office, so you’ll need to—”
Johnny interrupted. “What
you
need to do is make sure my brothers are not targeted because of your lax attention to bullying on school grounds. Beep needs to skip recess until his ribs heal, and he’s fine with that. Marshall wants to sit by Beep during their lunchtime until he’s convinced no one else is gonna hurt his little brother. I assume that will be acceptable. Miss Jane will resume bringing them to school and picking them up after it’s over. I expect them to come home in the same condition they were in when they arrived. Do we agree?”
Arlene Winston was taken aback by what she viewed as aggression but could not bring herself to argue the point, considering the fact the school had just escaped a lawsuit of massive proportions.
“Yes, of course we agree,” she said and lifted her chin. “We have all the children’s best interests at heart.”
Johnny’s eyes narrowed. “That’s good to know,” he said shortly, then went down on one knee to talk to the boys. “You’re both gonna be fine, okay? Miss Jane knows to pick you up this evening. Beep, Marshall will sit with you at lunch, so don’t be scared.”
Beep’s eyes filled with tears. He was scared and not afraid to admit it. “Everyone’s gonna hate me,” he whispered.
“No, they won’t, and I promise I won’t let that happen,” Mrs. Winston said forcefully.
Beep wouldn’t look at her. She’d let it happen before. He didn’t put much faith in her vow.
“It’ll be okay, Beep. You got me,” Marshall said. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room.”
Beep threw his arms around Johnny’s neck and hugged him, then followed Marshall out of the office.
The moment they were gone, Johnny turned on the women.
“What happened to my brother has changed who he might have been. I am trusting you to nurture what’s left. Don’t disappoint me.”
Then he walked out of the office without waiting for an answer.
Mrs. Winston went into her office without looking at Mavis. There was nothing left to say.
* * *
Luther Joe’s ear infection was gone by Monday, and Dori went back to work with an easy conscience. Her workday was normal, as was the evening spent with her granddaddy and her son. They went to bed without an inkling of what fate had in store.
* * *
Dori was dreaming that an ambulance was driving past their house with the sirens blasting, and then she came to enough to realize that Luther was screaming and their smoke alarm was going off. She flew out of bed, grabbed her purse and the diaper bag, and threw the straps over her shoulder. She rolled Luther up in a blanket and yanked him up in her arms as she ran out into the hall yelling for her grandfather.
Smoke was getting thicker and she could feel the heat above her head. She had to get the baby into fresh air, but she wouldn’t leave Meeker behind. She was still screaming when Meeker came staggering out of his bedroom, carrying his cell phone in one hand with the charger cord dangling from the other.
“Fire, Granddaddy! Run!”
“I’m right behind you!” he yelled, calling 911 as he went.
They cleared the house within seconds, Dori in a T-shirt and sweats that she’d been sleeping in, and Meeker Webb in jeans and an unbuttoned shirt, both of them barefoot.
Luther was still crying and could not be consoled.
Seconds later, they could hear the fire sirens and then police sirens. They looked at the house, which was now engulfed in flames, and then at each other. Dori’s heart was hammering so hard she could barely think.
“Oh, Granddaddy! What are we gonna do?”
Meeker pulled his little family close as the smoke and flames shot high into the air.
“We still have each other, honey. We’ll figure it out like we always do, okay?”
She leaned against his strength as Luther continued to wail. The closer the sirens became, the louder he cried, and no amount of consoling made it better.
Within moments, rescue vehicles began lining the streets and driveway while their yard was filled with firemen stringing hose from the nearest fire hydrant to the house.
Someone grabbed them and pulled them farther away from the fire as neighbors began to spill out of their homes. Water spewed into the air, blowing the fire-heated mist back to where they were standing.
A paramedic put a blanket over Dori’s shoulders and then gave one to Meeker as they assessed them for burns and smoke inhalation. They stood at the far end of the driveway as the smoke above the burning house turned into a whirling cloud of sparks and fire. They stood, watching in disbelief as the roof of the house finally fell into the inferno.
In the midst of all the noise, Dori thought she heard her grandfather’s voice.
She turned.
“What did you say, Granddaddy?” she asked, then realized he was clutching his chest, his face wreathed in pain. Breath caught at the back of her throat as she grabbed his arm in sudden panic. “Granddaddy, what’s wrong?”
Their gazes met.
“I’m so sorry, girl,” Meeker mumbled and then crumpled at her feet.
She didn’t know that she was screaming. All she could hear was her world coming to an end.
* * *
Johnny was asleep when he heard the sirens. He jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see flames shooting high above the treetops. A house on the other side of the railroad tracks was on fire, and he said a quick prayer for the people involved.
Seconds later, both Marshall and Beep came running into the room.
“What’s happening?” Marshall asked.
Beep grabbed Johnny’s bare leg. “I can’t see,” he said.
Johnny picked him up, still careful not to squeeze his healing ribs, and settled him on his hip.
“What’s on fire?” Beep asked.
“I don’t know,” Johnny said.
“What if that’s Miss Jane’s house?” Marshall cried. “It’s in that direction. What if Miss Jane needs help? We should go help her.”
Johnny frowned. “No, we don’t go chasing fire trucks, boys. The firefighters and police will take care of whoever is in need.”
Marshall’s eyes welled with tears. “She helped us at the Before and After when one of the kids started to say something mean to Beep. She told him bullies didn’t belong in her house and if he didn’t hush, she’d kick him out and his mama could find someone else to get him to school.”
Johnny frowned. “I didn’t know that.”
Marshall shrugged. “It’s over, like you said.”
Beep began to cry. “I don’t want Miss Jane to burn up.”
“Boys, boys, this is getting out of hand. We don’t even know for sure what’s on fire. We don’t even know if it is a house, while you and your imagination have Miss Jane in danger.”
“Then we should go see to make sure,” Marshall said.
Johnny sighed. There was no way they’d settle back down to sleep now until they knew for sure it wasn’t Miss Jane.
“Go get your house shoes and a jacket apiece. We’ll find out what’s going on, and then when you see it’s not Miss Jane, you will come right back here and go to bed, okay?”
“Yes, we promise,” Marshall said.
“Yes,” Beep added.
Johnny put Beep down. “Go. I’ll meet you guys in the living room.”
They scurried out of the room as he grabbed pair of jeans and slipped them on over his underwear. He got a long-sleeved T-shirt and pulled it over his head as he hunted a pair of socks.
He heard footsteps in the hall and knew the boys were already heading to the living room. He glanced back out the window and shuddered. Flames spiraled toward the stars like red-hot dragons’ tongues licking at the sky.
They drove in silence, taking back streets to keep from running into rescue vehicles or traffic, but when Johnny finally drove up on the scene, the skin crawled on the back of his neck.
“Yay, it’s not Miss Jane’s house,” Marshall said.
“Yay!” Beep echoed.
Johnny knew who lived there. It was Meeker Webb’s house, where Dori Grant lived. He thought about the smile on her face the day he’d seen her last, and how she’d waved as she’d crossed the street in front of him. Now this! He knew all too well how fast life could change, and he hoped they were okay.
He started to back up and drive away when he saw paramedics wheel a blanket-covered body toward the ambulance. His heart sank. Now he was as bad as the boys; he had to know if she was all right. Moments later, he saw her come around the corner of the ambulance carrying the baby, which meant the body on the gurney was likely Mr. Webb.
Even before he rolled down the window, he could hear the baby screaming. When he saw Dori stagger, his first instinct was to help. But what could he do? All her neighbors were there. They would surely go to her.
He waited, watching the ambulance drive away, watching the firemen continue to blast water on the still-burning building, watching Officer Pittman stop to talk and touch her shoulder in obvious empathy.
Finally, a woman walked up to Dori, spoke briefly, looked at the baby, and then turned around and almost ran across the street and into her house. Other onlookers began doing the same, quickly giving their condolences and then walking away, while others left without a backward glance.
The baby was still screaming, and Dori looked like she was going to faint.
He couldn’t believe it. They’d all walked away and left her, just like they’d done the day of his mother’s funeral. The few people who’d come to pay their respects had done so without a word to him and the boys. He remembered how scared he’d felt and how alone. Even though he still had his little brothers, the weight of the world had fallen hard upon his shoulders.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
“What’s wrong, Johnny?”
He glanced at Marshall. Were the boys old enough to understand? He was about to find out. “No one is helping her.”
Marshall shrugged. “We can.”
Beep got up on his knees to look closer. “She has a baby! I think it’s crying. I bet it’s scared.”
Johnny sighed. He should not have doubted them. “You guys sit tight. I’m gonna go talk to her, okay?”
They nodded.
He gave them another look. “And don’t get out of the car. Do you hear me?”
“We hear you,” Marshall said. “I’m in charge. I’ll take care of Beep.”
Johnny smiled and scrubbed his knuckles lightly across Marshall’s head, eliciting the groan he knew would come, then he got out of the car and started across the street.
* * *
Dori was numb. The pain in her chest was surely as deadly as the one that took her granddaddy, but obviously God wasn’t through playing with her life. Her parents had been dead so long she’d almost forgotten what they looked like, and now Granddaddy. What else could God take away from her?
And the moment she thought it, she looked at the little boy screaming in her arms and tightened her hold. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew Granddaddy was gone too. That’s why he was crying. She staggered, then leaned against a police car pulled up at an angle at the end of their driveway and buried her face in Luther’s neck.
“Don’t cry, baby boy. Please don’t cry. Mama’s here. Mama’s here.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. It was Pansy Jones, her neighbor from across the street. Pansy was eyeing the screaming baby anxiously and talking too fast.
“Dori, honey, I am so sorry. I wanted you to know that me and Bart will be praying for you.”
Then she bolted across the street so fast Dori didn’t even have time to respond.
It seemed that Pansy’s approach had given the others the cue. After that, some came with a message similar to the one Pansy gave her, while others just got in their cars and drove away.
She couldn’t believe what was happening. What was she supposed to do? Where did she go? She needed help and turned to look for Officer Pittman just in time to see him jump in his cruiser and drive away with lights flashing and the siren sounding with its own version of a scream. Obviously she wasn’t the only one with troubles tonight.