Page 92 of The Sign for Home

It was nearly eleven in the morning and I had only just gotten up after another horrific night of sleep. Tabitha had emailed me again the day before, saying she found a lawyer in Albany who would be willing to talk to Arlo. Again, I didn’t bother to return her email. Arlo was flying to Ecuador the very next day. And it was time I thought about what I would do if I indeed lost my certification. (And didn’t end up in jail.) I pondered all the other things I might do: Grad school for teaching? Not with a restraining order on my record. Get an MBA? Law school? Ugh, the thought made me ill. I pictured myself sitting behind a desk, seeing the same people day in and day out. I felt like I was suffocating.

I headed into the kitchen to grab some coffee and ibuprofen to handle the moderately agonizing hangover I was experiencing. That’s when the phone rang. I looked at the screen and immediately wanted to throw my cell phone across the room.

“Why the fuck would Molly Clinch be calling me?” I said to the kitchen before pressing Ignore.

A second later Molly called again, and again, and again.

By her fifth attempt I decided it was time to give that skinny oldreligious freak another piece of my (very foggy and hungover) mind and tell her everything I thought was wrong with her and her religion.

“Molly Clinch,” I said as coldly and sarcastically as possible. “Why in God’s name are you calling me? Did you think destroying my life wasn’t enough? Careful before someone’s house drops on me. I mean, careful I don’t drop someone on your house… ah… fuck it! I’m gonna drop a house on you!”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Molly said, her voice wobbly, as though she had been crying. “Is he with you?”

“Huh?” I said. “Who?”

“Arlo! You know who I meant. Why are you speaking so oddly?”

“None of your business!” I screamed. “And of course Arlo isn’t with me. Look, Molly, if you’re trying to find more evidence of my alleged crimes…”

“Please stop,” she begged in a tone I had never heard from her before. “I don’t have time to argue. Arlo has disappeared.”

42CONSPIRATORS

I considered that it might be some elaborate setup. But as Molly requested, I immediately picked up Hanne and drove to Caffe Aurora. Molly was already there. So was Lavinia Bahr, which confused me further. The question haunted me: Why would Molly want to enlist the help ofus three?Goats? Satan’s tools?

Molly’s eyes were red from crying. Either she was the best actress ever or I was completely missing something. She recounted the story she had told me on the phone to Lavinia and Hanne, including all the details. When she got to the end, her voice slowed, as if even repeating the story caused her pain.

“Then Brother Birch texted to confirm what Arlo had told him about meeting me at the Kingdom Hall to pick up some brailleWatchtowershe had left there. I didn’t want to get Arlo in trouble, so I lied and said I had forgotten. But when I went to the Kingdom Hall, Arlo wasn’t there. I waited for over an hour. It isn’t like him to just disappear.”

Molly took a sip of water, clearing the rasp from her voice. Staring at the table, I turned a napkin into confetti. Meanwhile, Hanne, in her nurse scrubs, kept patting my leg like I was some sickly dog. Lavinia, wearing a large-brimmed white hat and her bee earrings, listened intently. Molly continued.

“The Birches were busy packing for tomorrow’s flight. Because I was no longer going on the mission, I was asked to drive Arlo up to Albany to dropoff Snap at the seeing eye dog rescue for boarding this afternoon. I knew Arlo would be upset about leaving Snap, as well as everything else. He’s barely been speaking to me, other than when I have to interpret for him. I wanted a chance to prove to him that I regretted what I had done—make amends before I might never see him again. So I thought, I could just call the guide dog rescue and let them know I’d bring Snap up tomorrow, and instead use the time to drive Arlo down to the city so he could visit Shri.”

“Oh, Molly, that would be wonderful!” Lavinia effused.

“Yes,” Hanne said, more reserved than Lavinia, but still seeming to buy into Molly’s change of heart. “Thank you, Molly.”

My hands curled into fists, and I laughed bitterly.

“So you’re telling us that you were going to take Arlo to see Shri?” I asked with more than a little sarcasm in my tone. “You were going to defy Brother Birch, risking your standing with him and your church? Spare me the bullshit. What’s your game, Molly?”

Molly closed her eyes, steadying herself, like she was expecting my reaction.

“Of courseyouwouldn’t believe me,” Molly said angrily.“Molly is a horrible person! Cyril is wonderful! Oh, Cyril knows the sign for everything! Molly is just a pathetic, old, desperate woman!”

Molly swallowed back tears, her eyes fixed on the table. For a moment I considered the possibility that she might be on the cusp of losing her mind completely. It certainly didn’t make sense to me that she could do what she did and then so quickly flip the switch and become some Jehovah’s Witness Joan of Arc.

“So why did I do it?” Molly asked, clearing her throat and seemingly getting herself under control. “Why did I stand by and watch what Brother Birch did to that young man, or rather, what we both did—lying to him about what happened to Shri? I suppose I told myself we were doing the best thing for him. Arlo was so heartbroken, after all. And with the police being involved we assumed there would never be a chance he’d be able tosee Shri again anyway. And then with Arlo’s emotional breakdown, Jonathan felt it was better for Arlo to be rid of that sort of mental entanglement. He felt Arlo’s soul was in danger, and…”

Molly paused for a moment and took a swig of water from her bottle. She looked paler than she had a moment before. It was like she was reliving whatever happened in that moment she made the decision that would so alter Arlo’s life.

“As soon as I told Arlo the lie I knew I had made a terrible mistake,” Molly said. “I just thought that once we were all together I’d be able to make it all right. I could help Arlo become a spiritually strong young man. That he would forget his childhood romance like we all must do. That he would fall in love with someone else—someone who was a better fit.”

A weak smile quickly vanished from Molly’s face. Lavinia covered her mouth with her hand; the charms from her bracelet swung at her wrist. No doubt she was masking the anger, sadness, and pity we all felt. Hanne, on the other hand, could not mask her disdain.

“You know you’re a first-class bitch, right?” she said, glaring at the older woman.

“I understand how you feel,” Molly said, not looking anyone in the eye. “But you need to believe me, all of you. I know I was wrong. I know that Jehovah God loves that young man, and that Arlo loves Shri. And I know now that this love must be from God as well. I want to fix this. I need to. My only intention today is to find Arlo and make sure he and Shri get to see each other before he leaves. And whenever he comes back from Ecuador, I’ll do whatever I can to help them be together if at all possible. But right now I just need your help in finding him before Brother Birch does or before he hurts himself.”

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