Free Fort Lupton by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

shaking her head. “You’re right, of
course.”
    “ How’s Sissy?” Heather
whispered.
    The light shone on the pew again and a
second later Jill sat down next to Sandy on the aisle. Jill put her
arm around Sandy and nodded to Tanesha and Heather. She leaned over
to Tanesha.
    “ You’re mom called,
Tanesha,” Jill said. “The hospital is releasing Jabari. They can
take him home as soon as he’s released. He should be home by the
time you’re done with school.”
    Tanesha looked surprised and Heather did an
air clap.
    “ I got the call in the
parking lot. That’s why I’m late,” Jill said. “I called Seth.
Maresol was moved to a private room this morning. She should be out
by the end of the day today.”
    Heather did another air clap.
    “ Any word on Detective Red
Bear?” Tanesha asked.
    “ He’s in jail,” Sandy
said.
    “ Trying to get a deal from
the DA,” Heather said. “I heard that on the radio. He doesn’t want
to ‘suffer’ in jail.”
    “ Because he’s risen from
the dead?” Tanesha asked.
    “ Being a cop and all,”
Heather said.
    Scowling, they digested this thought.
    “ How’s Sissy?” Jill
repeated Heather’s question.
    “ She’s doing her last
interview,” Sandy said. “I . . . She’s been at
auditions or at the hospital since Charlie got hurt. I don’t think
she’s slept much.”
    “ Sissy is so good under
stress,” Jill said. “Remember how she was in The Nutcracker ?”
    “ Cool as a cucumber,”
Heather said. “She’ll be fine.”
    “ I don’t know if I want
her to be fine,” Sandy said. “I feel like locking them all way in
some dungeon someplace so I know they’re safe.”
    “ I’d believe you if you
didn’t work so damned hard to make them independent,” Jill
said.
    Sandy glanced at Jill. For a moment, their
eyes held, and then Sandy broke down. She began to sob. Her friends
sat with her while she cried.
    “ If I hadn’t made Charlie
be independent, he wouldn’t be . . .” Sandy
whispered. “And Sis . . . did you hear what those
horrible men had planned for her?”
    “ And Maresol?” Sandy shook
her head. “That horrible Red Bear! Now he’s looking for a deal and
the men who hurt Charlie and . . .”
    Sandy bent forward and cried into her lap.
Jill rubbed her back while Tanesha held on to her hand. Heather
leaned forward to put her hand on Sandy’s leg. They held on through
the storm of Sandy’s tears.
    “ Aden’s talking to the
police again this morning,” Sandy said through her tears. “They
told him that they might have to violate his parole. You know, he
got into that fight in prison and now this. Staying out of trouble
is a contingency of him staying out of prison
and . . .”
    Sandy sucked in her bottom lip, wrapped her
arms around herself, and bent over.
    “ How can so much bad stuff
happen all at once?” Sandy asked, her voice no more than a
whisper.
    No one had an answer for her.
    “ I might not know why bad
things happen,” Jill said. “But I do know that good coffee and
great food helps.”
    “ Ours is not to reason
why,” Tanesha said.
    “ Ours is to drink great
coffee,” Heather said.
    “ And eat great food,” Jill
said.
    Sandy looked at Jill, and then at Tanesha
and Heather.
    “ Or we can sit here,”
Tanesha said.
    “ And let all of these bad
things stay bad,” Heather said. “At least if we get up, have
breakfast, and laugh a little bit, we allow time to
pass.”
    “ And figure out what’s
next,” Sandy said.
    “ And see all the
wonderfulness of our lives,” Jill said. “Rachel’s huge, Nash and
Noelle doing so well, my twins have stopped moving things in their
sleep . . .”
    “ Jabari’s coming home,”
Sandy said.
    “ And he’s getting well,”
Heather said.
    “ I’m still in medical
school,” Tanesha said.
    Jill, Sandy, and Heather air clapped for
her.
    “ The water was hot for my
shower,” Sandy said. “I live in a safe home, among people who love
me. My mother left