As they made their way to the back room that Eddy had prepared for them, Arthur and Marci were stopped by well-wishers. Many of them offered condolences. More tears were shed by people whose lives were made richer just by the fellowship of one man. Tom never preached behind a pulpit but the life he lived was a sermon 24/7/365, if you know what I mean.
When they opened the folding curtain, Aaron was showing his neat little boo-boo. He was standing with his foot on a chair and his pants leg pulled up. And, there it was, a nifty looking bandage that took up about half of his left calf. “Holey-moley,” Arthur exclaimed. “What happened to you?” But, before Aaron could answer, he guessed, “Oh, no. That could only mean that you must have dumped your bike.”
Marci stepped over to take a look and grimaced at the size of the bandage that wrapped completely around his calf, “Good grief, Aaron. How many stitches did it take?”
He took his foot off the chair and then gently stomped it on the floor to shake his pants leg down. His eyes widened as he painfully declared, “A-h-h-h. I should have known better than to do that. Oh, my gosh. That hurt.”
The gang didn’t laugh at him, they laughed with him. As he regained his composure, he answered Marci’s question, “It took only eight stitches but there’s some real good road rash with it.” His big grin brought some knowing chuckles from Arthur and Ramon.
Ramon asked, “How about the bike?”
Aaron just shrugged his shoulder with a smile, “It’s gone, man. Me and Jake were crusin’ that gravel road up on Lonesome Ridge. We were riding up to the top when a guy in a truck took Horseshoe Curve a little too fast as he was coming down. When I braked and swerved to avoid him, it slid out from under me. I had enough smarts to let it go completely. Jake was far enough behind me to be able to stop safely.”
Arthur guessed, “Please don’t tell me it went off into the ravine.”
Aaron opened his eyes real wide as if he was about to reveal a deep, dark secret, “W-e-e-l-l-l-l, let’s say that it would have made a real neat video if we would have had a camera. It did two end over end flips before it hit that old Ford Bronco that ran off the road five years ago.”
A collective groan went up from the group as he continued with a shrug of his shoulders, “So, I guess I’ll just have to ride buddy seat behind Jake for a while until I can scrape up some cash to get another one. That could take a while.”
An idea hit Arthur. As he took a set of keys out of his pocket he said, “Here, why don’t you take mine.”
“No, no,” Aaron objected, “I couldn’t do that. Old Blue is your pride and joy.”
“Yeah, you can,” Arthur replied as he tossed the keys to him. He reached for his wallet and continued, “Here, let me sign the title over to you, and……….when…….I come back, whenever that may be, and you have a set of wheels…..sign it back over to me. That way, you’ll be covered by your insurance and all that legal mumbo-jumbo stuff. It doesn‘t need to be just sitting. It needs to be ridden.”
As Aaron opened his mouth to argue, Arthur stopped him, “And, you and the rest of the bikers don’t need to miss that bike rally up in Durmaville three weeks from now. Remember, greater things are still to be done in this city.”
As Arthur sat down and took out a pen to sign the title over to him, Aaron remembered Tom’s challenging worship song that they finished the memorial service with. “You got me,” he agreed as he took the title in his hand and looked at it. Aaron started to say that he would sign the title back to him when he got back from the Philippines.
Arthur beat him to the punch as he said while looking around at the group, “I don’t know when I’m coming back. And, maybe I won’t.” He and Marci exchanged glances and for once he didn’t care whether she read his ‘book’ or not. He was still stinging from their conversation in the park. Everyone in the room noticed the change in his tone of voice, although they had no clue to its meaning. While he had his wallet still open, he took out three dollars and held it out toward Aaron and continued, “Wendy, Mom said that you need to scoot so the four of us can say our good-byes and pray for a while, OK? So, go with Uncle Aaron and get you whatever kind of shake you want.”
Aaron refused the money as he opened up his arms and walked in a slow and animated fashion toward Wendy. “No, no, I can’t take any money,” he argued as he opened his eyes real wide and looked at Miss Giggle box. Then in a sing-song style he reasoned, “Because,……….if I take your money,” one step, “that means we would have to order from the menu,” another step and another giggle, “and that would mean that I couldn’t make that shake with…………..ev-er-y thing my sweet Wendy-poo wanted.”
With a big cheesy grin, she said her good-bye’s to everyone as she jumped down off of Ramon’s lap and skipped over to Aaron. As she took his hand, she looked over at Arthur.
Before she could ask, Arthur answered her, “I’ll come in and wake you up before I go.”
“OK,” she smiled and pulled Aaron out the door. The feigned look of helplessness on Aaron's face as he waved to the guys brought a laugh to the group.
Arthur took his seat next to Marci. Again they exchanged glances. She knew that she had hurt him and wished now that she hadn’t said what she said. Well, maybe she could have said it in a different way. But, at the spur of the moment, her words came out like they did.
She had often thought of her and Arthur as possible mates for life. In all actuality, she couldn’t think of anyone else that she would rather spend her life with except him. He had been so much a part of her life in the past several years, until…….. Well, it could be over, now.
That thought began to gnaw at her as she looked at him and wished there was some way he could read her heart. Since her granny had passed away Arthur Hollis was the most precious part of her life. But, for whatever reason, she couldn't find the words to tell him. She didn't know how. Maybe she wasn't supposed to. Maybe she didn't even know herself.
Arthur knew, too, that he had said those words out of the hurt of his heart. His great-grandfather had warned him about such things. Don’t talk with anger, jealousy or hatred in your heart. That’s what he tried to pound into them. He encouraged them all to wait and speak when your heart is full of the love and passion of Jesus. He realized that his attitude had caused some difficult feelings between the two of them and he just couldn’t let it lay. He reached over and squeezed her hand gently. When she looked at him, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She refused to let his hand go. She held it tight as she looked into his eyes and whispered back, “No you’re not. You’re wonderful.” Her smile was all that he needed to know that everything was OK between them.
Taylor opened up with, “What time do you have to leave in the morning?”
“Dad has to get me to the airport in Atlanta by 7 a.m. so that we will have plenty of time to catch the plane,” Arthur answered.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to leave for a couple of more days,” Ramon said.
Arthur looked up at them and paused before he explained, “Uncle Pedro called yesterday and shared some dire information with me.”
Realizing that there couldn’t possibly be anyone around that could overhear their conversation, he began to explain. “There is a new type of terrorist group roaming around the mountain villages near where Grandpa was and where Uncle Pedro was raised. He still has relatives that live there. Anyway, this new terrorist group comes into the villages and demands that the villagers adhere to some strange belief or face death. They leave the village but then wait in hiding until some of them venture out to hunt or make trips to the valley for food. When the villagers are confronted and refuse to convert, they are caned to death. Sometimes they just kill the adults and take the children. There have been instances where up to thirty or so terrorists will storm into a village and beat people randomly with canes while two or three of them snatch up the babies.”
“Dear Lord in Heaven, that’s awful,” Taylor said in revulsion.
Ramon asked,
“Doesn’t the government do anything about it?”
Arthur asked the group in an almost flat voice, “First of all, can somebody tell me how many islands are in the Philippine group?”
"Fifty?" asked Taylor.
"How about five hundred?" Ramon suggested with a chuckle.
Marci spoke, "There are over seven thousand."
"Wow," was all that Taylor could say.
"I had no idea," Ramon added.
Marci looked at Arthur. She read the unspoken question and answered without him asking, "Your mother and I looked up a lot of facts the other day.” Their eyes locked and a lot was said between them in just five seconds.
Ramon and Taylor exchanged glances. Obviously, there was a lot that their two friends hadn't shared with them. They knew the hearts of their prayer partners and trusted them to provide whatever info they felt they needed to share. They, also, gave them the respect to hold back whatever information they didn't feel like sharing.
Arthur looked from one set of inquisitive eyes to another as he continued, "There are many different factions of terrorist groups in the Philippines. Sad to say that the Philippines have almost been hailed as the breeding ground for a couple of the major terrorist groups that we know of. And, where the major groups are, splinter groups are bound to form. There are members of the government and the armed forces that are on the side of the various terrorist groups. They can’t make a clear decision because they are too divided on what to do. When they do send the Army into the mountains, the terrorists know exactly when and where the Army will strike. They are very sophisticated in how they run their operations. Pedro says that they have spies in every office of the government.”
Taylor probed, “Is that why you’ve been a bit distant lately?”
Arthur and Marci looked at each other for a moment.
Taylor was quick to pick up on the look and tried to lighten up the subject by suggesting with a smile, “O-o-o-o-h, w-e-e-l-l-l, w-e-e-e don’t need to go there now do we? The park thing, huh?”
While Ramon just covered his face and turned away from Marci and Arthur to try to stifle his laughter, Marci returned fire by saying with an embarrassing grin, “Yes, we did approach that subject.”
She lost her smile as she hesitated for a moment before continuing, “In short, no phones and no text messages because it might leave a GPS footprint.” She looked at Arthur to make sure she was getting it straight, “And, someone else will be sending e-mails with photos to us while they are in the jungle. He’s going to have a lot of pictures and videos taken before they go in. He’ll send one picture of a specific pose when he goes into the jungle and a different specific pose when he comes out. That is, IF they make it out.”
Taylor and Ramon looked over at Arthur to see if he was going to refute anything she said. He looked at them with a small smile and admitted, “There is that possibility. Uncle Pedro said that he had no idea what we would come up against. For right now, that’s the best information that I have to offer. That’s all that was given to me. Guys, just don’t forget to pray for us.”
All Ramon and Taylor could do was just look at each other. This was the first real heavy thing that had come up in the group. Man oh man; it was heavier than anything that they had ever figured.
“You got mine, little brother,” Taylor said solemnly.
“Mine too,” echoed Ramon. “I wish I could go with you my friend. I’d be there shoulder to shoulder, man.”
“Thanks, guys,” Arthur replied, “I know you would.” He looked at Marci and asked, “Have you told them, yet?”
She raised her eyebrows and answered, “Nope, net yet. I guess right now is about as good a time as any.” She turned toward them and said, “I had been thinking about taking a summer course at med school and get a jump on graduation. Also, I need to start solidifying my specialty. This morning kind of capped it for me. I’ll be leaving in a couple of days myself. That leaves you two to yourselves. What are y'all going to do?”
Taylor and Ramon looked at each other and grinned. Taylor finally said, “I don’t know. Beat each other up, I suppose.”
Ramon snickered as he turned toward Marci and Arthur, “That’s about all there is to do around here.”
Arthur asked, “Are y'all still interested in going on active duty instead of staying in the reserves? I thought y'all were looking into becoming snipers.”
Taylor answered first, “Yeah, we made the circuit of all the recruiters around town and even went over toward Durmaville to see if anybody would give us any different answers.”
Ramon continued, “Yeah, the answers were all the same. Yes, men could but women couldn’t. And, even if women could be a sniper nobody could guarantee that we would be stationed together. But, boy oh boy, could they ever put up a big talk.”
Taylor conceded, “It really, really wanted to make me reinvent the Elmhurst Man-Haters Club. Those clowns they called recruiters danced all around the subject. They went from money to patriotism to educational benefits to pride and the whole nine yards.”
Ramon laughed as he added, “You should have seen Taylor. Holy cow was she ever great. Me, I just let them babble on and when they blow out their steam I can just get up and leave. But, not old nail-their-hides-to-the-wall Taylor. She would not let them have the last say. She would listen for a bit and be real patient. Let me tell you, I figured her out. As soon as she got tired of their song and dance, she would lean back in her chair, cross her arms and then keep nodding her head. When she had had enough, she would tilt her head down and hold up her index finger and they would stop. Then she would light into them like a hound after chickens. And, they would start cackling like an old hen would.”
Taylor had already started laughing before he finished. She added, “And I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. Man that felt good to put a guy in his place, especially one who was putting the schmooze on you.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Marci asked
“We don’t know,” Taylor answered. “I guess we’ll just keep working with Mama Tish over at the Elmhurst Grocery until they run us off I suppose. You guys get all the glamorous jobs and we get to be boring and normal, I reckon.”
Marci laughed, “You, Taylor Sanders, boring and normal? There is no such description that comes to my mind about you two that could be classified as either boring or normal.”
Aaron opened the door, “Hey guys, can I introduce you to my newest friend?
“Hey, sure.”
“You bet.”
“Yeah, bring him in.”
Aaron stepped aside and ushered in a tall and lanky Spanish looking young man. He looked quickly at them and nodded. Then, he looked up at Aaron as if for approval. Aaron smiled down at him. It was evident that they had formed a strong friendship already. Aaron introduced him, “This is Roberto but prefers to be called ‘Berto. He is fourteen years old. He’s not officially hired here because the Emporium doesn’t make enough money, yet. But he came in the other day with an offer we could not turn down. He asked if he could work enough hours on Saturday to get a meal for him and his mother. Now, they are not destitute or broke or nothing like that. But, get this. He wanted to treat his mother to a meal because he appreciates all that she does for him. Now, tell me how are we going to turn down a request like that? Jake and me ain’t.”
Marci smiled and started to tear up as she declared, “That is one of the sweetest things………”
“I’ll split tips with him and Jake’ll spot him some funds, too,” Aaron began.
“No, no,” ‘Berto interjected, “I just want to treat my mom to something she doesn’t have to fix or clean up. That’s all, honest.”
Aaron maintained, “We’ll see what happens, big boy. Anyway, he’ll be coming by to check on you from time to time to see if you need anything, fill your tea or coke, and take dirty dishes and all that stuff like that there. OK?”
“Great.”
“Sounds super to me.”
Ramon
asked, “Hola, amigo? De donde es usted?
Berto perked up as he heard his home language. “Naci en New York. Mi madre es originaria de Cuba,” he answered with a big smile. “Nacio en los Estados Unidos?”
“No. Naci en la Ciudad de Mexico,” Ramon answered.
“Alright, alright,” Taylor interrupted playfully, “what did y'all say. A little bit of English here, por favor.”
Before Ramon could say anything, Berto spoke up, “He asked me what I thought of his girlfriend and I said that I thought she was the sweetest thing this side of Heaven.” His eyes got big as he realized what just came out of his mouth and he took a small step behind Aaron and then blushed.
For once……..did you hear me….I said once………and ask anybody in Elmhurst if you think I’m not telling the truth. For once….Taylor Sanders was completely and utterly…….silent. Her mouth was opened in shock at what he said. What he said was so cute and then when he shyly hid behind Aaron……..it just blew her mind. She couldn’t do anything but hold her mouth open and look at her friends in astonishment. Everyone watched as red first appeared at her Adam’s apple and then rose up until it covered her whole face.
After five seconds of silence, Berto said quietly with a shy smile, “I lied. We just talked about where we were born.”
The room burst into laughter. Taylor tried to explain, “I kinda figured that. But, you were so darned cute and so fast with that comeback…………..I……I…….man, I don’t know.”
Ramon finally slowed down enough to rise from his chair and hold out his hand to Berto and say, “Amigo. No one on God’s green earth has EVER gotten one on her, much less left her speechless. Congrats, my friend.”
Berto stepped out from behind Aaron, shook his hand and said with a big grin said, “Gracias, amigo.”
Ramon held onto Berto’s hand and said to Taylor, “I got him for you, Taylor.”
As Berto tried to pull his hand back from Ramon’s firm grasp, he looked up at Aaron real wide-eyed. Aaron just stood there laughing, held his hands out palm up and shrugged his shoulders in the typical ‘I don’t know’ sign.
“Aw, let him go…………….amigo,” Taylor quipped. “I’m gonna catch him in here one day in front of his mama and sneak up and kiss his whole face.” Then she winked at him.
As Ramon let his hand go, he again took a half step behind Aaron before he answered, “If I had known that, I would have brought her with me today.” Then with a quick look of approval he said, “I will go clean tables now.” Poof! He was out the door before you could blink.
Laughter came instantly. Taylor was all aglow as she beamed, “Gosh that guy is so darned cute. Who did you say he was, Aaron?”
Aaron peeked out of the folding curtain and looked at the crowd before he closed it. He stepped to the table and leaned over so he could talk where no one could hear him. “I got the scoop on him from one of his teachers that was in here the other day. They’re from New York City. It was what she said about his circumstances that really got me. His mother’s name is Maria….something.”
He took a deep breath before he continued, “His mother became pregnant with him because of a gang instigated rape when she was sixteen. The father left the country for some reason. A few months later, Maria's family left for New Jersey.”
Taylor groaned, “Dear God, that’s terrible.”
“How did she wind up here?” Ramón asked.
Aaron continued, “She frowned on the idea of going on welfare, so after he was born, she took jobs cleaning houses here and there. She finally became a live-in nanny for Herman and Kitty McClain that retired couple who lives out on Gruber Road.”
Arthur said, “Hey, Ramon, that’s that executive dude that rode bikes with us to Atlanta and back two summers ago. He had that copper colored Gold Wing you were so hepped up about.”
“Oh, yeah,” he exclaimed as his memory was stirred. “That thing was decked out with every cool gadget that there was to have. He was a pretty neat guy.”
“Yeah,” Aaron replied, “When he retired and moved to Elmhurst a few years ago, he made sure that Maria and Berto came with them. She makes enough to live off of and, like I said, Berto just wanted to do something for his mama to show his love for her. You know, one of those, ‘something I did by myself’ things. There’s no way me and Jake could turn that guy down. I mean, besides the neat story, you could see that the guy has a personality that doesn’t need to go to waste. It’s like Tom always taught us. People come into our lives for a reason. Hang around long enough to find out. So, here we are, hangin’ around and findin’ out.”
Marci said, “He is such a neat little guy. I wish I hadn’t made plans to leave now. I would like to get to know his mom.”
Aaron pointed towards Arthur, “My mom is getting with his mom Monday morning and making a plan. They’re gonna get down to Tom’s treasure business.”
“’Nuff said,” Ramon chimed in, “Case closed when Olivia Hollis sets her mind to something.”
Arthur sneaked a glance at Marci, “Accept one thing.”
Marci smiled, “You don’t know until one day God…………….”
“Well, my bet’s on Olivia, girl,” Taylor added with a nod of her head.
Aaron looked back and forth at them and discerned a hidden meaning. “On that note that I’m not quite sure how it reads, there’s some dining room duties that I need to take care of so……..Jake will be here in a minute to take your orders. They will all be custom made by the head chef himself so he wanted to get all the specifics down pat.” He opened the door and backed out as he was talking.
On the other side of the curtain, they heard him say, “Oops. Oh, my gosh, Tish, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were standing out here.”
“Oh, no, Aaron, we just got here. That’s perfectly alright. Uh, Taylor’s in there isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she is. Y'all go right on in.”
Tish was not Taylor‘s mamma. They just had that kind of relationship. As she stepped toward the folding curtain to open it she said, “Mama Tish is that you? Of course you can come in.” She pulled the curtain open for her.
Tish was everybody’s favorite person. She was always so bubbly and happy. They all loved to be around her. She was also Taylor and Ramon’s boss. She owned and managed the Elmhurst Grocery Store.
All eyes were on the door as Taylor pulled it open. They saw her smile fade quickly as she looked at the person behind Tish. “Come in, Mom,” was all she could manage to mumble.