Every clade had to be put in their place, he thought. “Was that the Co-op?” he said.
“Jo Lynn started that after you left,” Rhonda said. “Not her best idea.”
“Jo did? But she was living on her own,” Pax said.
“Just the past couple years, hon. She started the farm back in, oh, a year after you left, I guess. Several families moved in with her. She tried to call it a commune at first, but people didn’t like the sound of that. Anyway, more and more of them started moving out there. There’s quite a few blanks still living around town in their old houses, trying to keep their old families together. But I think deep down the betas like living close, sharing the babies.”
“But Jo, did she leave, or was she kicked out?”
Rhonda laughed. “A little of both.”
“How so?”
“Jo was all for
planned
motherhood. That didn’t sit too well with the younger girls. Every single one of them wants to be the Virgin Mary, even if they’re fourteen.
Especially
if they’re fourteen. And then when Jo—well, I don’t need to talk about that.”
“About what?”
“Oh, there’s all kinds of rumors. Nobody needs to tell
you
how people talk.”
Pax sat back, his face burning as if he’d been slapped. Nobody forgets anything in your hometown, he thought. Ten years wasn’t enough. Twenty. He’d die an old man and they’d still say,
You heard why his daddy ran him out of town, didn’t you?
Rhonda leaned over and looked between the seats at him, raising her eyebrows. “Paxton, you’re a grown man now. You know how small-minded people can be. Jo Lynn never was shy about sharing her opinion, and what’s more, she was ready to do more than just talk about it—she was going to take action. A lot of the sisters, especially the young ones—well, they thought she was the devil herself.”
Roberts Road ended at the highway, and Everett turned the car south, away from town. A half mile after the south gate, one of the boundaries during the quarantine, he turned off onto a newly paved road that wound up into the hills. When Pax was a kid there’d been nothing out here but trees and scrub brush.
Near the top of the hill the driveway was blocked by a black iron gate set into a high stone wall. Everett stopped and spoke into an intercom set on a post a few feet from the gate. “Aunt Rhonda’s here,” the chub boy said.
“What’s with the high security, Aunt Rhonda?” Pax said.His tone was light, but the fortress set dressing had put him on edge.
“Can’t be too careful, hon,” Rhonda said.
The gate swung open. Everett drove up the hill and around a curve, where the drive ended in front of a one-story brick building like an elementary school. White cement columns supported a broad porch and entranceway. The bottoms of the columns were smudged with red clay, but otherwise the place looked almost brand-new.
They got out of the car, and Everett retrieved the Styrofoam cooler from the Cadillac’s trunk. Pax knew there’d come a point when he’d have to ask Aunt Rhonda what she was going to do with those vials—and then all this polite chitchat would be over.
A charlie man in a brown security uniform came out of the building to meet them. He was in his forties, looking more fat than muscular. His hairline had retreated to high ground. “How you doing today, Aunt Rhonda?” he said.
“Just fine, Barron. This is Paxton Martin, the Reverend Martin’s boy.”
They shook hands and Barron said, “Welcome to the Home.”
The guard led them up the ramps to the building and opened the door for them. The foyer was tiled in pale green slate, the air glowing with sunlight pouring through a row of high windows. A man older and more immense than Pax’s father napped on a huge, sturdy couch.
“We have thirteen men living here now,” Rhonda said. “Wetake care of them because their families just can’t. You’ve seen how hard it is. Come on, I’ll show you around the place.”
Rhonda led Pax toward a
“Jo Lynn started that after you left,” Rhonda said. “Not her best idea.”
“Jo did? But she was living on her own,” Pax said.
“Just the past couple years, hon. She started the farm back in, oh, a year after you left, I guess. Several families moved in with her. She tried to call it a commune at first, but people didn’t like the sound of that. Anyway, more and more of them started moving out there. There’s quite a few blanks still living around town in their old houses, trying to keep their old families together. But I think deep down the betas like living close, sharing the babies.”
“But Jo, did she leave, or was she kicked out?”
Rhonda laughed. “A little of both.”
“How so?”
“Jo was all for
planned
motherhood. That didn’t sit too well with the younger girls. Every single one of them wants to be the Virgin Mary, even if they’re fourteen.
Especially
if they’re fourteen. And then when Jo—well, I don’t need to talk about that.”
“About what?”
“Oh, there’s all kinds of rumors. Nobody needs to tell
you
how people talk.”
Pax sat back, his face burning as if he’d been slapped. Nobody forgets anything in your hometown, he thought. Ten years wasn’t enough. Twenty. He’d die an old man and they’d still say,
You heard why his daddy ran him out of town, didn’t you?
Rhonda leaned over and looked between the seats at him, raising her eyebrows. “Paxton, you’re a grown man now. You know how small-minded people can be. Jo Lynn never was shy about sharing her opinion, and what’s more, she was ready to do more than just talk about it—she was going to take action. A lot of the sisters, especially the young ones—well, they thought she was the devil herself.”
Roberts Road ended at the highway, and Everett turned the car south, away from town. A half mile after the south gate, one of the boundaries during the quarantine, he turned off onto a newly paved road that wound up into the hills. When Pax was a kid there’d been nothing out here but trees and scrub brush.
Near the top of the hill the driveway was blocked by a black iron gate set into a high stone wall. Everett stopped and spoke into an intercom set on a post a few feet from the gate. “Aunt Rhonda’s here,” the chub boy said.
“What’s with the high security, Aunt Rhonda?” Pax said.His tone was light, but the fortress set dressing had put him on edge.
“Can’t be too careful, hon,” Rhonda said.
The gate swung open. Everett drove up the hill and around a curve, where the drive ended in front of a one-story brick building like an elementary school. White cement columns supported a broad porch and entranceway. The bottoms of the columns were smudged with red clay, but otherwise the place looked almost brand-new.
They got out of the car, and Everett retrieved the Styrofoam cooler from the Cadillac’s trunk. Pax knew there’d come a point when he’d have to ask Aunt Rhonda what she was going to do with those vials—and then all this polite chitchat would be over.
A charlie man in a brown security uniform came out of the building to meet them. He was in his forties, looking more fat than muscular. His hairline had retreated to high ground. “How you doing today, Aunt Rhonda?” he said.
“Just fine, Barron. This is Paxton Martin, the Reverend Martin’s boy.”
They shook hands and Barron said, “Welcome to the Home.”
The guard led them up the ramps to the building and opened the door for them. The foyer was tiled in pale green slate, the air glowing with sunlight pouring through a row of high windows. A man older and more immense than Pax’s father napped on a huge, sturdy couch.
“We have thirteen men living here now,” Rhonda said. “Wetake care of them because their families just can’t. You’ve seen how hard it is. Come on, I’ll show you around the place.”
Rhonda led Pax toward a
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