Velma and Rebecca Purdy were driving back from the Ellison Mall when they heard a radio news flash about the water tower incident. They hurried home and turned on a live broadcast from KJNX-TV.
Velma shook her head. “I’m not surprised someone would have it in for G. R., but who would go to this extreme?”
Rebecca didn’t take her eyes off the TV.
“Can you believe all the media around the Logans’ estate?” Velma said. “I wouldn’t have recognized the place.”
“Mom, look! There’s the sign that was hanging on the water tower.”
Velma moved closer. KJNX ran a film clip shot earlier in the day, giving her a chance to read the words on the orange banner. She blinked to clear her eyes, then got up and turned off the TV. “We’ve seen enough.”
“Poor Sherry and Taylor!” Rebecca said. “I wonder if Wayne knows what’s going on.” She grabbed the phone and dialed her big brother’s number and waited. “I wish Wayne would get an answering machine.” Rebecca hung up the phone and redialed. “Come on, Wayne. Pick up …”
“Honey, he’s probably at the water tower with everyone else in town.”
“You know, I don’t have school tomorrow because of President’s Day. Could I drive to Baxter? I know my way around. I could just hang out at Monty’s until Wayne gets off, then hang out with him before he goes to work at Abernathy’s. I’d really like to see him.”
Velma raised her eyebrows. “And maybe see for yourself what’s going on over there?”
Rebecca eyes brimmed with tears. “Mom, I went to school with Sherry Kennsington …”
“That’s why I don’t want you getting caught up in this.”
“But I can’t pretend it isn’t happening.”
“You have such a tender heart, Rebecca. And you have no experience with this kind of thing. It can be really upsetting to kids your age.”
“Mom, I’m sixteen. I’m not a baby.”
“I know. But you’re my baby.”
“Well, I haven’t been there since Christmas break, and Wayne hasn’t seen me drive yet. Please?”
Velma looked into her daughter’s pleading eyes. “Rebecca, you’ve only had your license for two weeks.”
“You said I’m a responsible driver.”
“Yes, but highway driving is different than town driving.”
“All I have to do is stay on the highway and not turn till I get there. I know the way, Mom. Please …”
Velma didn’t say anything.
“So can I go?”
Velma wet her thumb and wiped away the mascara streaks under Rebecca’s eyes. “Honey, when you’re in Baxter, everything’s going to seem real.”
“Mom, it is real.”
Velma sighed. “I suppose I could ride to work with Charlotte … I’m not all that comfortable with this, Rebecca.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Promise me you’ll be careful, and call when you get there and again before you leave. I want you home before dark.”
“I promise.” Rebecca hugged her mother. “Wayne doesn’t know I got my driver’s license. He’ll be surprised.”
Velma’s eyes rested on a family portrait hanging on the wall above the TV. She’d had it taken just before Roger lost his job. Such happy smiles …
While the photographer had been busy adjusting the lenses, Velma whispered in Roger’s ear. “Look at your socks.”
Her husband pulled up the pant legs to his only suit, staring at one black sock and one red one. “How’d I do that?”
“Daddy’s going trendy, Daddy’s going trendy,” Rebecca chanted.
Wayne looked at Roger and shook his head. “Dad, the only thing redder than that sock is your face.”
All four of them broke into laughter. The photographer captured the moment, and when the proofs came back, Velma bought the deluxe package.
Wayne was a senior then. He loved tinkering with computers and electronics of all sorts.
Rebecca was eleven, somewhere between tomboy and ballerina. Quite the chatterbox.
Those two kids were more than she’d ever bargained for.
“Velma,” Dr. Ross had said. “I asked your husband in here because I have something important to tell you … you’re pregnant!”
“I’m what?”
A toothy grin widened between the doctor’s bushy mustache and beard. He put one hand on her shoulder and shook Roger’s hand with the other.
“But you said—”
“Forget what I said. I’m just a lowly doctor, humbled again by the Great Physician.”
Velma turned to Roger, who threw his arms around her.
Six months later Wayne was born—and seven years later, Rebecca. Wayne was protective of his little sister. The baby couldn’t squawk without Wayne letting Velma know.
“Mom, Rebecca’s crying.”
“She’s all right, Wayne. I put her down for a nap.”
“But how can she sleep if she’s crying?”
“She’ll fall asleep. Just give her a couple of minutes.”
When things got quiet, Velma went in to check on Rebecca, surprised to see Wayne sitting in the rocker, humming a lullaby, Rebecca curled up on his shoulder.
“She just needed a hug, Mom. She’s asleep now …”
Velma smiled. Wayne still had a way with Rebecca.
She got up and cleared the Sunday paper off the couch, and glanced again at the portrait on the wall. The older Wayne got, the more he looked like Roger—stocky frame, receding hairline, dark eyes.
Those eyes … where had the sparkle gone? A part of Wayne had died with his father, and Velma feared he would never amount to anything.
Wayne hurried in the front door, dropped the newspaper on the couch, and picked up the picture of his father.
“I did it, Dad! You should’ve seen their faces! After what I hung on the water tower, everyone knows G. R. Logan’s gonna pay. It was beautiful. You’d be proud of me!” Wayne felt a twinge as he looked at his father’s face. “I want him to be as miserable as we were …”
Wayne had come home from school and had heard his mother crying. He stood outside his parents’ bedroom, eavesdropping.
“Roger, you’ve got thirty years’ experience. That has to count for something. Don’t give up. Someone will hire you.”
“To do what, Velma? The textile business is all I know. I’m too old to start over. I see the look in their eyes every time I put in an application … I don’t want their pity. I just want a job.”
His father’s despair seeped into Wayne’s soul. He wanted it to be all right. But it wasn’t.
When the utilities were turned off, his mother went looking for work even though she had no skills to fall back on. When she couldn’t find anything, the stress was too much for his father.
“Mom, something’s wrong with Dad!” Wayne shouted. “He won’t wake up!”
His mother rushed to the recliner, and knelt beside it. She picked up Roger’s hand and held it to her cheek. “Roger … talk to me … say something … Roger!” She felt for a pulse. But even before Wayne dialed 911, Roger was gone.
The doctors said he died of an aneurysm. Wayne blamed Mr. Logan. After that, life got even harder.
“Mom … I took a job. Full time.”
“No, you can’t quit school, Wayne. I won’t let you.”
“Just until we get on our feet. You can go to cosmetology school.”
She turned his face toward her. “You need to finish high school, Wayne. Then go on to college. You have a chance to be somebody.”
“Dad would want me to help for now. What kind of a son would I be if I expected you to do it all? I don’t want the stress to kill you, too.”
His mother passed the state exam and was licensed in cosmetology, but her new career never got off the ground, and there was never enough money. Wayne continued working to help out. When his great-aunt passed away, his mom inherited a nice home in Ellison—a sizeable town with lots of beauty salons.
“It’s a good job, Wayne. I’ll finally be able to support us.”
“That’s great, Mom. I’m happy for you.” Wayne sat at the kitchen table, staring at his hands.
“What is it, son?”
His mother sat beside him, and put her hand on his. “You’re not coming with us, are you?”
The silence seemed to last forever.
“Mom, I’ll help you and Beck as long as you need me to. But I can’t leave Baxter. This is the one place I feel close to Dad.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears.
“You’re certainly old enough to be on your own. I’m not wild about selling the house anyway. It wouldn’t bring much, but your happiness means more to me than the money …”
Wayne blinked to clear his eyes. He put down the picture of his father and flopped on the couch. He stared at the ceiling, aching for what had been.
The move to Ellison was a good one for his mom and sister. Wayne made regular visits. And Beck stayed in Baxter with him during Christmas and spring breaks, and off and on during the summers.
But his mother had never come back. How could she just wipe out the past? He promised himself he never would. Never!