When Tommy exited the jail, torrential rains batted at him. He felt alive again despite his predicament, despite the storm. Although he’d become convinced jail was the front parlor of hell, he couldn’t figure the chill that it held, thinking it should be hotter, like the rest of the underworld must be. He knew he smelled like a toilet and wanted to change clothes, get Pearl, Mama, Katherine, and Yale and head west. Or maybe east. Just away from Des Moines. He no longer saw the path for his family, for himself, as ending in Des Moines. He needed to leave town, and as much as it was to run from their troubles, it was also to move toward something. The life he wanted, deserved, and could give his family.
The officers he’d tricked were dumb and lazy, but Judge Calder would not suffer Tommy’s insolence. He’d make Tommy pay for creating idiots out of his police force.
Tommy knew Pearl would help him. But he had to move quickly.
He ran the entire way home, passing a crowd that was marching down the street. Despite the drenching rains, they were spirited, chanting, “Clean up Des Moines” and “Dreama is the Devil.” Clusters of men and women passed him, and he caught clips of their conversations between wind gusts and rain plucking his cheeks. They confirmed what Tommy’d read in the paper earlier. Dreama was performing, and they were going to put an end to the mystery of her and the sin of her stealing from grieving people. “Dreama’s performing tonight. Let’s get her!”
A tree blew in the wind, bending nearly over before its roots let go and the entire thing crashed to its side, sending the vigilantes scrambling, screaming. Maybe that would put an end to their plans.
Tommy knew Katherine had been so ill that she hadn’t performed as Dreama in some time. He also knew her absence had stoked significant interest. Tommy knew Aleksey had promised he would keep Katherine safe and barely left her side. Katherine couldn’t be performing that night. She wouldn’t have chanced it even if she was capable of connecting with the dead. It was more likely that Olivia was dressing as Dreama and running a con that night. He hadn’t realized he’d begun to think of what Katherine did as Dreama as real and Olivia’s part, when she performed it, as running a ruse.
He felt dirty and ashamed, but inside him there was a flinty, optimistic sensation, a notion that he could make things right in his life. He just needed to get his family out, as fast as he could, as far as they could go.
When he reached home, Miss Violet’s place was lit like Christmas, yet the emptiness it exuded was dark, sorrowful. He thought of the articles he’d read about the mobs, the people he’d just passed, and the fact that Judge Calder had held a party at the saloon. Clearly Dreama hadn’t performed at Miss Violet’s that night. His heart surged at the thought of seeing Mama again and convincing her that he would make up for his poor deeds. He hurdled the wooden fence and crashed through the boxwood, nearly falling as his feet met the loose gravel path. He ran toward the shed, praying that Pearl was there so they could arrange their leaving.
Firelight glowed through the shed window. He looked inside before entering. Pearl sat at the table beside the fire in the rocking chair. He rushed inside, startling her and causing the distinct sound of an angry bird to raise goose pimples on his arms. Frank dove for him, then pulled up as he announced himself.
“It’s me! I’m out.” He stood dripping, shivering from the cold, wet weather.
Pearl’s hands curled around the arms of the chair, a slate in her lap, mouth gaping. Frank landed on Tommy’s shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with his head. Tommy ran his finger down the back of the bird, and it cooed back at him, sounding more like a cat.
Tommy looked at Pearl. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! Whatcha got there?”
Pearl’s body seemed as though it had turned to marble, still as a corpse. Tommy went to her and knelt down by her feet. He wanted to touch her, oh he wanted to hold her. But she appeared so frightened he didn’t move.
“Pearl? What’s wrong?”
His hand hovered over hers, afraid to touch her, afraid of the feelings inside him. “I know I stink, and I’m soaked, I know.” Tommy shook his shoulder to signal Frank to lift off. He ripped off his rancid shirt, leaving him kneeling there half-naked.
Pearl dropped her chin to her chest, and her shoulders bounced.
“You crying?” Tommy felt pain rip through him as though he could share the exact hurt that caused tears to drop from her eyes onto her paper.
“You’re writing those letters to heaven again, to your ma? Your tears are blurring all that fine lettering.”
She’d said she loved him in her note, hadn’t she? Maybe he’d misunderstood and she’d been talking about Mama or Katherine loving him, not her.
She nodded but wouldn’t make eye contact. It reminded him of the day he saw her at McCrady’s, the day he gave her money to try and rent a room at the women’s boardinghouse. Suddenly he wanted her to look at him; he needed her to see him. He took her chin between his finger and thumb, not wanting to scare her. He leaned in and whispered, “Please, I know I’m a fright, that I don’t deserve you. But please look at me.”
Pearl let him lift her chin, and when her eyes met his, he could not stop himself from wrapping her up. He held on to her, and she grabbed him right back, as though the embrace was the only thing keeping each alive.
“I didn’t think you were coming back,” Pearl said. “Your sister’s gone. Your ma’s out of sorts, full of upset that she won’t explain. Half the town’s already run through Miss Violet’s place. I never felt such fear. After what you done to the judge . . . I thought for sure you wouldn’t walk out of there. That’s why I had to send the note with Frank. I had to make sure you knew I loved you if they . . .”
He felt sobs rising up in him, but he pushed them back down. “I got the note. I got it. And . . .” He squeezed her tighter. “I love you, Pearl.”
“So bad it hurts,” she said. “I’m nearly dead with the love I feel for you.”
“I’m sorry for what I said. All of it, all the things I did wrong. And over and over. The day we fought. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“You saved me, Tommy. I won’t ever forget that.”
“No. You saved me. Every single day since we met.”
She nodded.
He heard far-off yelling, but it was close enough to make him jump. “I have to leave.”
Pearl’s face fell.
“What? You won’t go with me?”
She looked as though she was considering the idea. “Yes. I’ll go with you. But you have to talk to your ma.”
“Talk to her? We’re taking her with us, and we’re breaking Yale out, too.”