The Girl from Charnelle Read Free

Momma?”
    â€œHe said she caught the bus yesterday.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œHe couldn’t remember. Maybe Amarillo, maybe Denver.”
    Denver? What was in Denver? Nothing Laura knew of. She felt suddenly like she might faint, so she sat on the porch steps. “Where is Dad?” she asked.
    â€œStill looking for her, I guess.” After a few moments of silence, he added, more quietly, “She left us.” He stared down the road, his eyes glassy, his face puffy with shock, as if he’d just been punched.
    â€œWhy would she do that?” Laura asked.
    â€œHow the hell do I know?” he said, not angrily this time, just confused. “She hates us, I guess.”
    â€œIt’s my fault,” Gene said, startling Laura. He stood behind her in the doorway, his head down.
    â€œNo, it’s not,” she said.
    â€œYeah, it is. On Sunday I stole a dollar from her dresser, and she caught me and whipped me.”
    â€œIt’s not your fault,” she said again, and reached out her hand, encouragedhim to sit beside her. She put her arm around his shoulder and said, too gaily, “Besides, Dad will find her.”
    Manny was conspicuously silent.
    Â 
    Mr. Tate didn’t come back home until three days later, close to dawn. His truck rolled into the driveway, and they all jumped from their beds. He’d not called. Laura had started to wonder if neither of her parents was coming back. She ran to the window.
    He was alone. She felt her stomach drop. She and her brothers all stood at the window now, staring at him. He had turned the ignition off, but he didn’t get out. He put his head on the steering wheel. She wondered if he had not slept the entire time he’d been gone, and now, exhausted, home, he didn’t have the energy or will to even get out of the truck. He was there for five, then ten, then fifteen minutes.
    â€œI’m gonna get him,” Manny finally said, his anger rising again.
    â€œMaybe you should just let him stay there a little longer,” she suggested.
    He ignored her and opened the door. She, Gene, and Rich stood on the porch as Manny walked cautiously to the truck.
    â€œDad,” he said, but their father didn’t stir. Manny placed his hand on his shoulder, shook him. “Dad!”
    He lifted his head slowly. Black stubble grizzled his sagging face.
    â€œIt’s almost six,” Manny said. “You fell asleep.”
    Mr. Tate opened the truck door and eased out. He didn’t speak. He started for the porch but stopped by the debris of the oak.
    â€œWhat happened?” Manny asked him.
    He didn’t respond. It was as if their father didn’t even register their presence. He moved among the branches of the tree. He crouched down at the base and put his hand on the charred wood.
    â€œDad,” Manny said, more insistently, which frightened Laura. Let him be, she thought. Give him some room. “Tell us what happened,” Manny said.
    Their father rubbed both hands over the dead wood and then smelled the burn on his fingers. He put his face down to the tree. When he lifted his head up, his cheeks and nose were black. Manny’s body stiffened, and then he inhaled deeply and waded quickly through the branches and closed in on their father. Gene, Rich, and Laura moved instinctively down a step toward the yard.
    â€œ Damn it!” Manny demanded. “What in the hell happened?”
    He grabbed his father’s arm.
    Mr. Tate whirled and, quick and vicious as lightning, struck Manny across the face. Manny fell among the branches. He did not rise. Black finger marks were streaked across his cheek. He lay there in the branches and started to cry. Even though he was fifteen, only a year older than Laura, he seemed like a small boy crumpled there. Mr. Tate looked down at him for a few seconds, and then he crouched and placed his hand on Manny’s head. He began to cry, too. Laura had never seen her