Free The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie Page A

was helping her to raise them; and besides them a dozen more, most
of whom—though the Delaneys did not know it—had
been peering through their windows as they had unloaded their belongings the
previous day. Most of them still did not understand what it was that had made
them hesitate for just over half an hour that first morning. Doris was among
the few who could name it, who could attribute it to the lack of fear she saw
in the four-year-old Ava, but even she could not say exactly why it made her so
uneasy. Whatever the reason was, once the ice was broken with the new family, once
Maddy and Malcolm and Doris had all gone over, most everyone else on the block
made their way over, too, their hesitation giving way to the happy, warmed-up
feelings most of them got from watching the little girl. Vic Jones, who was
Malcolm’s half-brother, had been the next to stop by, and he
had been followed by Grace and Eddie Kellogg . By that first night, the
Mitchells, Jane Lucas, Maddy’s mother, Henrietta, and
a dozen more had come. Once they were with the Delaneys ,
drinking coffee in their kitchen, tasting the cobbler Regina had thrown together,
or sharing something they had baked and brought over as a welcome, most had quickly
forgotten their strange hesitation. Up close, the good feelings Ava inspired
had been doubled, tripled in some cases. Grace Kellogg found that the little
girl’s laugh somehow reminded her of the pajamas she had worn as a
child—thick, feet-in pajamas that had kept her warm in the drafty house
her family had lived in for many years. Looking into Ava’s eyes, Jane Lucas
remembered the smile of her love, her young husband, who had died in the war.
When Ava tripped and fell over the edge of the rug while running by at full
speed, Chuck Ellis lifted her up and in that moment he was sure he smelled
morning, though it was six in the evening at the time. These were the people
who made up the congregation of Blessed Chapel and who went out of their way
that first Sunday to make the Delaneys welcome,
rearranging themselves on the fifth pew from the front to offer the family good
seats, close to the pulpit and the choir box, the latter of which was filled
that morning with members of the Women’s Choir.
    They opened the service with song, a slow song that
got everybody settled, and then an elderly deacon led them all in prayer,
before, finally, Pastor Goode appeared and began the sermon. He spoke about friendship,
about home and community, and the soft light through the stain-glassed windows
fell against his dark robe so that it glowed like embers. When the choir sang
again, the song was bigger, and livelier, and everyone got up out of their
seats and sang along, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, shaking their tambourines. The floor shook beneath them. Their voices
soared.
    When the service was over, Regina and George took
their children up to meet the pastor. They waited at the back of a small crowd
of folks offering their compliments on the sermon, or asking the pastor for his
prayers, either for themselves or someone they knew who was going through hard
times. When Hattie Mitchell asked him to pray for her mother, who had fallen
ill the week before, Pastor good took Hattie’s hand.
“I been praying for her ever since I heard,” he said. “And me and Linda gone stop
by your house tomorrow evening so we can all pray together. Until then, know
that the Lord is with you, and no matter how bad things seem, he will always
make a way.”
    When the Delaneys got to the
front of the crowd, Regina introduced the children. Pastor Goode shook Sarah’s
hand, and Geo’s, but Regina saw him hesitate, just a fraction of a moment,
before reaching out for Ava’s. When he finally did, he did so smiling, but Ava,
either because she had sensed his hesitation, or for some other reason altogether,
did not take the pastor’s hand when it was offered. Instead, she folded her
arms across her chest. The pastor’s smile