“Lorraine is causing problems.”
There was a thick silence as Sammy reevaluated his position. Summer, who had never seen the underside of any car before today, much less two, was praying, her lips moving without sound. In her mind, she saw her mother’s pierced ears—was he referring to that or something else?
“I told you about that when we was in Saint Louis,” Sammy said. “I can’t control her on these trips. She’s getting the other women riled up, telling them they don’t need to do things—”
He was shifty; Summer could see the little traitor’s feet stirring up dirt as he sold her mother out. She let the air rush out of her nose as she ground her teeth, all praying done.
“You threatened her kid, man, she’s agitated.”
She grew stiff waiting for what Taured would say next. Her? Taured had threatened to do something to her? Summer was on edge now for several reasons: Sammy was talking to Taured with open disrespect, the type that usually received a punishment. If they fought and Sammy fell to the ground, he’d see her. But instead of an explosion, Taured’s next words were measured.
“Replace Shanna and Desiree with Frank and Chord on this trip. Remind her about Summer if she acts up again. The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children.”
Summer felt real fear then. It was cold and it tingled as it crawled up the backs of her legs and settled in her gut. She wanted to roll on her side and curl in a ball right there under the Chevy’s hot belly. Instead, she looked at the photo clutched between her sweaty fingers.
“All right,” Sammy said slowly. “But she ain’t gonna like going with Frank. She’ll have something to say about that.”
Summer didn’t know what she was seeing, not at first. The photo was taken at an odd angle, low, like the camera had been resting on a counter.
“Don’t tell her. Load up an hour earlier and be ready to go. If that cunt gives you a problem, call me on the walkie.”
She peered closer, the sweat dripping down her sides and onto the asphalt. What she was seeing wasn’t right, but she didn’t fully understand why.
Sammy offered no further argument. There was the sound of breathing and the crunch of gravel as the men parted behind the BMW. Summer tore her eyes away from the photo and listened for their feet. She was biting her bottom lip so hard she was sure it would leave a mark. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still see the photo. She waited until she heard the hissing of the Airbus engine and heard Taured open and close the side door of the building. They had both been gone for a few minutes before she scooted out from her hiding place, tucking the photo into the waistband of her jeans. She was filthy, and more than that, she was afraid.
Lorraine is causing problems. The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children.
She wanted to speak to her mother again. If she didn’t find her now, she’d be gone for weeks, maybe months. They had never gone on a mission trip without Shanna and Desiree; what would her mother think of that? Frank had been there long before Lorraine and Summer arrived on that dusty day. He was one of Taured’s first recruits, and her mother had hated him on sight. She could remember the way her mother tensed whenever Frank walked into a room. She would not be happy he was going. Taured did that on purpose, Summer thought as she made her way back to the side of the building. He was angry with her mother.
It wasn’t until she was back in the dorms at Kids’ Camp, riffling through her clean clothes for a new T-shirt and jeans, that she remembered the items she’d taken. They suddenly felt hot against her skin. Looking around, Summer saw that there were only a couple girls milling about. Everyone else was in the orchard at this time of day. Slipping into a stall in the girls’ bathroom, she pulled the floppy disk and photo out of the waist of her pants, then reached behind to slide the driver’s licenses from her back pocket. She had to hide them for now. God, if anyone found them in her things... She could sneak to the computer lab later and have a look at what was on the disk, but she had to find her mother before lights out. Changing into clean clothes, she put all four items inside of her sports bra and went to find her mother.
Lorraine was not in her room. While Summer was there, she reached into her shirt, pulling the four stolen items from her bra. Looking around the room, she searched for a place to hide them. The wardrobe? Too obvious. Under the mattress? What if her mother found them while changing the sheets? She spotted a crocheted pillow her mother had brought from their apartment in California. Lorraine had told her daughter that it once belonged to her grandmother, and Lorraine had used it to hide Summer’s dad’s love letters from her parents by pressing the letters into the stuffing. Summer had found the hole in the seam many times as a child, sticking her fingers inside in search of a forgotten love letter. Now, she widened the opening with her finger and pressed everything inside. Instead of love, she was putting sin into the pillow; it felt wrong. She set it back on the bed and backed out of the room, making sure everything looked okay.
Her mother was not in the cafeteria nor any of the other common areas in the main compound. Summer walked with her head down and avoided making eye contact. If someone asked her why she wasn’t in the orchard with the other kids, she’d say that she was on an errand. No one would question that because everyone knew Summer was one of Taured’s favorites. Hours ago, that thought had comforted her, but now it made her feel strange. She turned right, away from her mother’s room and toward an area everyone called Music Street because of the three musicians who lived there.
Summer headed over to the room Desiree shared with Shanna and found the women sitting cross-legged on a rag rug playing Scrabble.
“You seen my mama?” Summer asked. She leaned against the doorframe as Desiree laid R-E-S-P-E-C-T on the board.
She saw the women exchange a quick glance before Shanna took her turn.
“Not since dinner when she ran out after you.”
Summer felt heat crawl up her neck. So she’d made more of a scene than she’d intended, but she couldn’t change that now.
“When are you guys leaving again?” She pulled on a corner of her hair, studying for split ends, and tried to look casual.
Again, they exchanged the sort of look that made Summer uncomfortable.
“Why don’t you go join the other kids in the orchard, Summer. You’ve caused enough trouble for one day.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” There was no more grinning, no more playing with her split ends; she was staring at them now with her hands fisted at her sides.
“Close the door on the way out, will you?” Shanna wasn’t looking at her; she was frowning at her Scrabble board. Both women had always been warm to her, so the whole situation made Summer feel uneasy. The first bell rang for bedtime. Everyone would be heading to their rooms now, so if Summer wanted to make it back to Kids’ Camp in time for second bell, she would have to leave now. Instead of turning to the hallway that would lead her to the dorms, she cut a left and went back to her mother’s room. She’d wait there all night if she had to.