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.“I wish there wasn’t so much meanness in the world,” Callie said.“You and me both,” Sheriff Preston said.32The next day the first person at our house was Becky Putnam from the local paper.Since I knew her, I talked with her outside but didn’t give her any details at that point.She had put the story together and figured out what had happened to Callie.Not long after that, news trucks showed up, and I let them take video of the scene, but I didn’t feel like it was my place to do any interviews.Callie didn’t want to talk, and I told her she had every right not to.I heard later on that the story Becky wrote got picked up by several newspapers in the state, and maybe that’s why not long after that she took a reporting job in Cincinnati.I drove Callie to her counselor on Friday, and she took some time off work.She slept in our bed and just shook.There was no way I could go to the first night of the reunion.I just held her until she fell asleep, and then she sat straight up and said she heard something outside.It was one of those kind of nights.Saturday night she said she was sorry but she couldn’t go to the reunion.I told her I understood but I wouldn’t leave her alone, so I called a friend from church and asked if she would come over and watch a movie or something, and the woman said she would love to.“You’re going to have an extra ticket to that dinner,” Callie said.“It’s not a big deal.”“Why don’t you take Natalie? She might enjoy it.”“You think people will talk about me dragging a ten-year-old girl along?”“I wasn’t thinking of the other people.I was thinking of Natalie.She has no father or even a grandfather.I think it would be sweet.”I stopped by Mae’s house and found Natalie on the front porch playing with her little white dog, Roma.“Why are you all dressed up?” she said when I got out of the truck.She hadn’t seen me in anything but jeans and a T-shirt, so a dress shirt and khakis made me look like I was headed to church.“I’m going to my high school reunion dinner.Want to come with me?”Her face lit up, and she opened the front door and yelled for her grandmother.“Mr.Allman wants me to come to dinner with him; can I, Mamaw?”Mae came outside with her hands on her hips.“What kind of dinner?”I told her.“Callie doesn’t feel much like attending and I don’t blame her.I thought maybe Natalie might enjoy the evening.”“Those things have a lot of drinking at them, don’t they? You’re not supposed to take kids.”“I suppose there will be some who imbibe,” I said.“But I got two tickets here for a sit-down supper and only enough insulin for one meal.I think it’s a shame to waste good food, don’t you?”She frowned and looked at Natalie.“Well, you’ll need to get some nice clothes on.Get your red dress; I just washed it.”Natalie squealed.“That’s the one I wanted to wear!”The girl ran inside.It was amazing how such a little thing could make so much noise bounding down the hall.Mae just shook her head.“You two doing okay today?” I said.“Today,” Mae said.“Can’t say anything about tomorrow.”“One day is all we’re given.Does John know about what happened?”“He called.He was listening when the show started and knew something was amiss.Said he started praying for her.”“I know it helped.God was watching out for us, that’s for sure.”“The evil one is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” Mae said.“And he seems to delight in devouring the most innocent.”Natalie came out of the house with her hair in a ponytail and a red velvetlike dress that was the prettiest thing.She had on black shoes that tapped the porch and a little white purse with frills.She ran ChapStick around her lips, hugged her grandmother, and patted Roma’s head.The whole thing took less than five minutes from the time I drove up.“You be good,” she said to the dog.“I’ll have her back at a respectable hour,” I said, winking at Mae.“Thank you, Billy.I know you will.”The dinner was held at a hotel on Route 60 in a sea of green and yellow trees that were just about ready to explode with color.The smell of sumac was sweet and followed us inside.The night before they’d had an informal meeting at a Methodist church.That was just for getting to know each other again, and tonight was for pictures and the program.Women scurried this way and that, getting things together and directing people where to go and what to do.At the front table was a woman who looked familiar, but all I could remember was her smile and her eyes.She’d been the student body president, valedictorian, and a cheerleader.She hadn’t been mean to me back then, just indifferent.As soon as I walked up, she said, “Billy Allman, I would recognize you anywhere.” Then she stood and hugged me and gave me my name tag.“This is not Callie, is it?” the woman said, looking at Natalie and then the list of names.“No, Callie couldn’t make it tonight.This is my friend Natalie.She’s going to be world famous someday, and I thought she’d enjoy the meal.”The woman turned Callie’s name tag over and wrote Natalie on the back and pinned it to her dress.“You have a good time tonight, Natalie.I’m sure glad you didn’t have to come alone, Billy.”I walked into the dining room, my heart pounding, not knowing who or what I’d encounter.When you’ve been working at a job in your own house for so long, it’s easy to get in a rut.Some would call it agoraphobic, but I tend not to make it so clinical.And maybe that was why I asked Natalie to come.I needed the comfort of something I knew to lessen the pain of being in a foreign place with people I didn’t trust.I was like a fish out of water.Others were polite and said it was good to see me, but I could tell there were more important people in the room.When anyone came up to me to talk, I would immediately tell Natalie what I remembered about them.Even the people who had been mean, like Paul Davidson, I found nice words for.Of course, that was the Lord helping me and nothing of myself [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]