him. Nicely,” Tabitha said. “Wes doesn’t take orders too well. He was even cranky with Jocie last night when she was trying to get him to eat.”
“We may be expecting too much out of him. He’s lived by himself for years now, and we plop him down in the middle of what he calls Brooke Central Station. He told me that it wasn’t even quiet around here at midnight with the way Grandfather Brooke’s clock bongs out the hours.”
“I’ll go out and sit on the porch today and let him have all the silence he wants.”
“He’ll probably appreciate that,” David said.
Jocie didn’t protest when he told her Tabitha was going to take the first turn staying with Wes. She just said, “Okay. I forgot to get somebody to help Miss Vangie in my place with the Beginners’ Class today anyway. I’ll ask Paulette if she can do it next Sunday.”
Letting Jocie help with the Beginners was how David had found a way to keep her out of Sunday school with Ronnie Martin. David believed in avoiding confrontation in church if possible. The Lord instructed his followers to love one another, and David believed that with the Lord’s help it was possible to love all people. Liking them enough to sit in Sunday school class with them for an hour was a whole different matter.
“I’m sure Miss Vangie would appreciate that,” David said, but he could tell Jocie was thinking of more than Miss Vangie. After all, Miss Vangie had managed the Beginners’ room alone for nearly twenty years before Jocie started helping her.
Jocie saw his look. “I know Miss Vangie would be okay without me there, and I don’t mind staying instead of Tabitha, but I just thought that if Noah and his family did decide to show up for church this morning, I maybe should be there. You know, since I’ve met Noah already.”
“If they come, I’m sure Noah will be glad to see a familiar face.”
“Do you think they will?”
“I don’t know, Jocie. I haven’t visited them yet or talked to his parents.”
“He said that his father didn’t go to church, but that his mother was half preacher. She went on that march in Washington with Reverend Martin Luther King.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman.”
Jocie hesitated a second before she asked, “Do you think people will get upset if they do come?”
He didn’t have a sure answer for Jocie then, nor did he have a sure answer for Harvey McMurtry when Mr. Harvey pulled him aside before the Sunday school assembly.
“You knew I sold my farm on Hoopole Road, didn’t you?” Mr. Harvey said as he ran his fingers down the inside of his black suspenders. He’d been a member of Mt. Pleasant all his life. He and his sister, Sally McMurtry, still lived in the house where they’d both been born sixty-plus years ago. Neither of them had ever married. Mr. Harvey said he was always too busy on the farm to go courting, and Miss Sally said nobody ever asked her.
“So I heard,” David said.
“Good people. A nice family. Name of Hearndon. Moved down here from Chicago. Got four kids.” Mr. Harvey hemmed and hawed a bit. “I asked them to church.”
“I should hope so since they’re in our church community. You think I should go visit them this afternoon and extend a pastor’s invitation to them as well?”
“Well, uh, that might be good, Pastor.” Mr. Harvey rocked forward on his toes and then back on his heels before he stopped flat-footed and leaned a bit closer to David. “But just so’s you know, they’re colored folk.”
“Right,” David said. “I met their boy Thursday. He’s going to be helping me out at the paper until Wes gets back on his feet.”
Mr. Harvey looked relieved David already knew his news. “Well, that’s fine then. The boy helped me put up fence Saturday. Polite, good worker. Better than some I’ve had working for me.” Mr. Harvey frowned a little.
“He won’t be working for me every day, so he can still help you out when you need him.”
“I’m not
“We may be expecting too much out of him. He’s lived by himself for years now, and we plop him down in the middle of what he calls Brooke Central Station. He told me that it wasn’t even quiet around here at midnight with the way Grandfather Brooke’s clock bongs out the hours.”
“I’ll go out and sit on the porch today and let him have all the silence he wants.”
“He’ll probably appreciate that,” David said.
Jocie didn’t protest when he told her Tabitha was going to take the first turn staying with Wes. She just said, “Okay. I forgot to get somebody to help Miss Vangie in my place with the Beginners’ Class today anyway. I’ll ask Paulette if she can do it next Sunday.”
Letting Jocie help with the Beginners was how David had found a way to keep her out of Sunday school with Ronnie Martin. David believed in avoiding confrontation in church if possible. The Lord instructed his followers to love one another, and David believed that with the Lord’s help it was possible to love all people. Liking them enough to sit in Sunday school class with them for an hour was a whole different matter.
“I’m sure Miss Vangie would appreciate that,” David said, but he could tell Jocie was thinking of more than Miss Vangie. After all, Miss Vangie had managed the Beginners’ room alone for nearly twenty years before Jocie started helping her.
Jocie saw his look. “I know Miss Vangie would be okay without me there, and I don’t mind staying instead of Tabitha, but I just thought that if Noah and his family did decide to show up for church this morning, I maybe should be there. You know, since I’ve met Noah already.”
“If they come, I’m sure Noah will be glad to see a familiar face.”
“Do you think they will?”
“I don’t know, Jocie. I haven’t visited them yet or talked to his parents.”
“He said that his father didn’t go to church, but that his mother was half preacher. She went on that march in Washington with Reverend Martin Luther King.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman.”
Jocie hesitated a second before she asked, “Do you think people will get upset if they do come?”
He didn’t have a sure answer for Jocie then, nor did he have a sure answer for Harvey McMurtry when Mr. Harvey pulled him aside before the Sunday school assembly.
“You knew I sold my farm on Hoopole Road, didn’t you?” Mr. Harvey said as he ran his fingers down the inside of his black suspenders. He’d been a member of Mt. Pleasant all his life. He and his sister, Sally McMurtry, still lived in the house where they’d both been born sixty-plus years ago. Neither of them had ever married. Mr. Harvey said he was always too busy on the farm to go courting, and Miss Sally said nobody ever asked her.
“So I heard,” David said.
“Good people. A nice family. Name of Hearndon. Moved down here from Chicago. Got four kids.” Mr. Harvey hemmed and hawed a bit. “I asked them to church.”
“I should hope so since they’re in our church community. You think I should go visit them this afternoon and extend a pastor’s invitation to them as well?”
“Well, uh, that might be good, Pastor.” Mr. Harvey rocked forward on his toes and then back on his heels before he stopped flat-footed and leaned a bit closer to David. “But just so’s you know, they’re colored folk.”
“Right,” David said. “I met their boy Thursday. He’s going to be helping me out at the paper until Wes gets back on his feet.”
Mr. Harvey looked relieved David already knew his news. “Well, that’s fine then. The boy helped me put up fence Saturday. Polite, good worker. Better than some I’ve had working for me.” Mr. Harvey frowned a little.
“He won’t be working for me every day, so he can still help you out when you need him.”
“I’m not
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