A Rose Revealed by Gayle Roper Page B

married.”
    “So?” Jake held a forgotten piece of one of Mary’s potato rusks in his hand. “That means what? Our district is unsullied?”
    “Chake,” John said again.
    “I chust meant that she has no one here who is close to her,” Mary said quietly. She looked at me. “Her mother and father didn’t want her at home after this happened. She’s the oldest and they were afraid she’d lead the rest astray. So they sent her to her grandparents.”
    “In the late summer before the baby was born, she often walked up here,” Esther said. “She would sit with me on the porch for a few minutes drinking root beer. Then she’d walk back to Old Nate’s.” As she talked, Esther tore a piece of Mary’s rusk to shreds. “The baby is so tiny and frail.”
    No one spoke for the rest of the meal. When Esther cleared the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and Mary’s canned green beans from the table and served her own apple pie, silence reigned. The only noises were the scraping of silver on plates and the thump of glasses and cups set on the table. Since I had passed enough meals like that with my mother, the silence didn’t bother me. When we were finished eating, everyone bowed his head again for another silent prayer. I wondered what Jake thought about during this time.
    I helped Esther clear the table and wash the dishes. As I wiped down the oilcloth that covered the table in the center of the kitchen portion of the great room, Jake wheeled his chair to me.
    “You doing all right?” he asked, his dark eyes intent.
    I nodded. “Better than I thought I’d do.” I smiled. “You were right. Staying here has been good.”
    He nodded, pleased. “How about going to a movie tonight? That’ll really take your mind off things.”
    “A movie?” Talk about being astonished at an invitation. I could have been knocked over with the proverbial feather. “You and me? Tonight?”
    He gave me a half-smile. “You may be sure that no one else in the room would stoop to an activity like a movie.”
    I glanced at Mary and Esther in their long, caped dresses, their heavy black hose, and their kapps . I looked at Elam and John in their white shirts and black broadfall pants, relaxing in their living room chairs, their stockinged feet propped companionably on the same hassock. No, these folks certainly weren’t moviegoers.
    “And can’t two friends go someplace together without it being a big deal?” He sounded embarrassed and slightly grumpy.
    I swallowed a laugh at his discomfort. “I’d like to go,” I said, my voice as prim as a Victorian maiden accepting an invitation to stroll with her beau by the river on a Sunday afternoon. “Especially with someone as charmingly and unfailingly pleasant as you.”
    He made his deep-in-the-throat noise. “There’s a show at 8:15. We’ve got an hour before we have to leave.”
    “Then you can play a game with me,” Esther said, her eyes bright.
    Jake groaned. “Come on, Esther. Give me a break.”
    “You’re just upset because I won last time.” She went to a chest in the living room and took out a board game. As she set it on the kitchen table, I saw it was Parcheesi.
    “I haven’t played this in years.” I took a seat on one side of the table.
    “Are you sure you want to play?” Jake asked.
    “Why not?” I looked at him, puzzled.
    He grinned broadly. “You’ll find out.”
    Esther and I began arranging the board for play.
    “Elam!” Jake looked at his brother, oblivious as he read his newspaper. “If I have to suffer this travesty called playing a game with Esther, you have to suffer too.”
    Elam showed no response.
    “Come on, Elam,” I called. “It’s the least you can do after that delicious apple pie.”
    “Yeah, Elam,” Jake said, dark eyes sparkling maliciously. “Be nice.”
    Esther walked to Elam’s chair. “Come, Elam,” she said sweetly. “It would be fun with four.”
    Elam knew when he was beaten. He folded his paper, padded across the