Page 94 of The Sign for Home

“He’s going to get hurt,” Molly said, doing all she could to prevent herself from crying again. “If only he had waited for me.”

Lavinia and Hanne put their arms around Molly. It was as if their touch turned on the spigot to Molly’s tears. Lavinia looked up at me, her voice low and calm.

“I think it’s best that you tell his uncle as soon as possible.”

I nodded in agreement. Birch was his guardian whether I liked it or not. Hanne, her arm still around Molly, scrunched her face like she tasted something sour.

“Bullshit,” Hanne growled. “That means Arlo won’t get to see Shri for a long time or ever.”

I waited for Molly to tell Hanne to mind her own business, or at least push her arm away. But that’s not what happened.

“She’s right,” Molly said, wiping her nose into a tissue. “If Jonathan finds out, he’ll immediately head to the nursing home to stop it. We have to buy Arlo a little time.”

Lavinia was nodding her head with the other women while I stood there stunned. Finally, I raised my hand, my incredulous expression exaggerated to make a point.

“Are you three going mad? Molly just said it a minute ago. What if Arlo gets hurt? It’s New York fucking City!”

“Stop cursing,” Molly snapped through her tears. “And stop yelling. There’s no need.”

Hanne patted Molly’s back and then lifted her hand angrily up into my face.

“Also stop mansplaining everything to us, Cyrilje,” Hanne barked. “What about this? In two or three hours Molly lets Birch know that Arlo is headed down to the city. Meanwhile we go down and make sure he’s safe. After his visit with Shri we can take him home. Good,ja?”

Molly dried any remaining wetness from her eyes with a Kleenex, nodded to Hanne, and then, for the first time, looked directly into my eyes.

“Please, Cyril,” she said. “Give me a chance to help him.”

“I must agree with Hanne,” Lavinia said. “Arlo will be okay. He’s clearly on the train. A local. If you hurry, you might be able to meet him at the nursing home. Do you have the address?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Larry included it in the email, but—”

“I wish I could come,” Lavinia interrupted. “But you’ll need the space in your car to bring Arlo and his doggie back. If you need me to do something here, just call. I’m at your disposal. It’s best you hurry.”

The three women started chatting excitedly and hurriedly gathering their things as if my participation were a done deal and they were off on some big adventure.

“Excuse me,” I said, my anger growing as they ignored me. Then I exploded: “For fuck’s sake! Please listen! I need to say something!”

My voice echoed in the hall. Suddenly it was not only the three women whose attention I had. Faces everywhere were staring at me.

“Are you forgetting Birch has a restraining order against me?” I said in a harsh whisper. “There’s no way I can go.”

The three women glanced at one another like I was a child who needed to be handled. Molly asked if she could speak to me alone. While the other two walked far enough away, Molly’s pale, tired eyes looked into mine as she gathered her thoughts.

“You have to come, Cyril,” she said, her voice hoarse with emotion. “Birch doesn’t need to know you’re involved.”

I had had enough.

“What’s really going on, Molly?” I asked, folding my arms and lowering my voice. “You suddenly woke up today and decided to be the hero? Did your allegiance to Brother Birch and God suddenly disappear?”

Molly took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders like a boxer ready to spar. She seemed like she had been waiting for me to say what I had just said.

“Cyril, I know you don’t respect my faith.”

“Oh, please,” I groaned.

“Can you fathom the idea that you shouldn’t judge an entire religion by the actions of any one person? Especially Brother Birch. He’s just as sinful as anybody. Worse, even. The Bible says you know the goodness of a tree by the fruit it produces. So, we should judge people based on their actions. And I’ll say it first: Some of my actions have been reprehensible.”

“There’s an understatement—”

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