From Sunset to Sunset Page 2

  “You’ve probably met the cooks and other food workers.”

  “Yes, I have. I guess that was all I was supposed to know.”

  “It doesn’t hurt to know who the bosses are and what’s going on where you work too.”

  “What do you mean what’s going on—it’s all about preparing and selling food, right?”

  “There’s always more wherever more than one person is working, believe me.”

  He looked as if he knew some secret.

  She frowned and asked, “Is there something else I need to know?”

  “Just try to keep a low profile, and even if you see something going on that may be questionable, don’t get involved and don’t say anything.”

  “Well, I’m not a gossip, if that’s what you mean.”

  “That’s good to know, but something else is going on. I’m not sure what, and I don’t want to be around if and when the fireworks start.” He smirked and added, “Gotta get back to work. See ya when I see ya—take care,” and he was on his way.

  Colleen was curious about what he meant, but if she was supposed to know more, she figured the issue would reveal itself in time.

  Chapter 4

  Colleen moved slowly around the kitchen at home as she pondered her job situation. She was supposed to be preparing dinner for herself and Sam. she was in the second week of her new job now, and what she dreaded most was beginning to surface—the full work schedule, and her name was listed for the Friday night shift.

  The restaurant stayed open until midnight on Fridays, and the owner liked the way she prepared salads. Her current position was to service the lunch crowd, but now they wanted her to help on Friday night. She hadn’t said no. She was afraid of termination, and in a couple of days, she would be expected to show up for work.

  “Ma, what’s the matter?” Sam questioned, apparently noticing the change in her movement. “You look like you’re miles away.”

  “Oh, nothing really.” Sam couldn’t know what she was contemplating. What kind of example would she be setting for him?

  “Are they threatening to fire you?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  Sam threw up his hands. “It’s what usually happens. That’s all.”

  “Well, that has not been a problem, so far.”

  “Then why don’t you give yourself a break from worrying about it and go on and work when they tell you to?”

  “Sam! How could you say such a thing? It’s wrong, just wrong!”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve watched you over the years since Daddy died, trying to keep our family together and dealing with all the financial problems we’ve had. How many times have we had to move because we couldn’t pay the rent?”

  Colleen sat down at the kitchen table.

  “It’s been hard on you.” Sam went on. “All this time you’ve been praying and pleading to the Lord to help you. And what has He done?”

  She stared into her son’s eyes, searching for empathy. “How can you scoff at the Lord like that? It’s blasphemy.”

  “Ma, you need to take a look. There’re other folks as bad off as us, and they ain’t Christians. So what difference does it make?”

  “It makes a lot of difference.”

  “How? We’re still suffering the same. I really don’t see the point. That saying people use, ‘God helps those that help themselves?’ That’s what I say too.”

  “God is good to us all—those who are just and unjust.”

  “That’s my point. That’s why I don’t worry about this sunset to sunset stuff.”

  “You’ve been working on the Sabbath?”

  “Yep, on Friday nights when I’m scheduled.”

  “Sam, how could you! All this time you’ve been lying to me about being over at your friend’s house.”

  “Not all the time, just on the Friday nights I have to work.”

  “You’ve got to stop it. Stop it right now, Samuel Matthews. I won’t allow it! Do you understand?” Her voice was stern, yet pleading.

  “No, Ma, I don’t understand, and I’m not going to get fired for not showing up. We need the money, and that’s all there is to it.”

  Sam’s passionate reply had stunned her, but he was not a child anymore, and it was clear he did not share her religious beliefs. Lord, guide me in a way to help him see, she prayed in her heart.

  Chapter 5

  After a night of tumultuous sleep, Colleen dragged herself up and was off to work. Sam had left for school without a word, like most days. But today seemed different. What could she do to get him to see how wrong he was in his thinking? Should she, as a parent, get him fired from his job? She couldn’t do it and felt ashamed. Sam was right. They did need the money.

  She went about preparing the salads at work as she routinely would do while mentally sorting out what Sam had said and applying it to her own dilemma. Is Sam right? He’s just a kid, she reminded herself. But what if he is right? I would be able to earn the money I need to support my family, she considered while slicing tomatoes. Tomorrow was Friday, and she had to decide. Colleen looked up from the slicer. Someone was calling her.

  “Yes?” she answered, looking for the speaker.

  “You have a call from your son in the office,” Mrs. McBride said.

  Colleen turned the slicer off and wiped her hands on her apron. This was a first. She always gave Sam her work telephone number, but he had never called. She picked up her pace as she went toward the office.

  “Hello, Sam?”

  “Ma, I just got a call from NC State. They want to talk to you right away. They couldn’t get you at home, so they called me at school.”

  “What’s wrong? What’d they say?”

  “I asked the same thing, but they wouldn’t tell me. They said they needed to speak with you. Write this telephone number down.”

  Suddenly, Colleen felt panic rising inside her as she looked at the telephone number she’d hastily scribbled on a paper scrap from the trash. She hung up the telephone and began to gasp. “Lord, help me,” she whispered. Her hands shook as she punched in the telephone number. Whatever the call was about, if they had called Sam, it couldn’t be anything she wanted to hear. She tried to calm herself with slow, deep breathing. Sounds of the phone ringing in her ear began, and the line opened.

  “Hello, this is Esther Matthews’s mother, Colleen Matthews.”

  The contact explained briefly that Esther had been robbed and assaulted while returning to work after lunch—today was a work day for her. The school’s security office had reported the incident to law enforcement since it had occurred on campus. Esther had been taken by emergency medical transport and was being treated for her injuries at the hospital.

  “Dear God!” Colleen began to cry and collapsed in the chair nearest the phone. After the news about Esther soaked in for a moment, she realized that the voice on the phone was telling her to take down some information. She grabbed a pen and used the desk notepad to write down the hospital address and other contact information.

  Hanging up the phone brought a new rush of sobs from Colleen. Why did people have to be so cruel? Esther had never hurt anyone. She whispered a prayer of thanks that her daughter was alive. Still, she wondered how serious Esther’s injuries were.

  She told the shift manager what had happened and was relieved of her duties until Monday. She got her purse and left straightaway, still in her work apron.

  On the way home, Colleen wondered how she was going to get to Raleigh. Fayetteville was less than seventy miles away but she was too unsteady. And besides, she couldn’t afford the trip expense. She’d have to do what she dreaded even more than asking the church for help. Ask Uncle Barnabas. There was no one else, family or friend, that could help her on little to no notice. He was the only one.

  Over the years, Colleen and Uncle Barnabas seemed to have come to a reconciliation, of a sort. They never spoke of the incident from her childhood and communicated in a civil manner. But she always felt uncomfortable in his presence.

  Right now, she had no alternative. Uncle Barnabas was not wealthy, but he owned over a hundred acres of farmland that he leased out, and he had a full-time job. He always seemed to have money. He was brown-skinned, almost six feet tall, and still lean. With his temples gray, he looked distinguished, and women’s heads still turned his way. He’d been married twice and had ten kids, all grown now. Both wives were dead. It seemed to her he was even more popular with the women around town now than in his youth. She never asked anyone about him, but his name always seemed to come up when she heard the ladies at church and in her neighborhood gossiping.

  Colleen flipped through her address book and found his number. Nausea swept over her as she made the call.

  “Uncle Barnabas, this is Colleen,” she said, her voice weak and distant.

  “Yes, I recognized your voice. Everything okay?” He sounded so normal, like an upright citizen—the self-righteous sinner, she thought.

  It was no wonder about his response. She almost never called, and it was always urgent when she did.

  “It’s Esther, she’s at the hospital in Raleigh.”

  “What happened?”

  “She was assaulted and robbed.” Colleen’s voice broke. “I need you to take me up there to pick her up. I can’t afford to drive,” she said, sobbing as she spoke. “Please, Uncle B, I need your help.” She’d called him Uncle B before the incident but hadn’t done so afterward. It surprised her that her pet name for him had rolled off her tongue with such ease.

  “Calm down, Colleen. You know I’m always here to help. When do you want to go?”

  “Right now.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Colleen paced around the living room, wringing her hands for the next twenty
minutes as she waited for Uncle Barnabas. Then she realized she hadn’t written a note for Sam. She knew he would be upset, but she needed him to stay in school. He could see Esther when she came home. She quickly scribbled him a note.

  Thirty minutes later, she heard an automobile engine revving up in front of the house, and she looked out the living room window in time to see Uncle Barnabas pulling into the driveway. She grabbed her purse and sweater, locked the door, and was halfway to the car by the time Uncle Barnabas opened his door and got out.

  “I see you’re ready,” he said and returned to the driver’s seat.

  “Thanks, Uncle Barnabas, for coming. I really need to be with Esther now.” Colleen hadn’t been beaten by her uncle back then, but being forced and threatened had done its work on her, and she had never forgotten that feeling of helplessness. She imagined Esther was now feeling the same way.

  Uncle Barnabas’s expression was somber, his lips pressed tightly together, and his eyes were fixed on the road.

  * * *

  Arriving at the hospital and finding Esther’s location in the emergency room went smoothly with begrudging thanks to Uncle Barnabas. Colleen was so tense by the time they reached the curtained-off bed where Esther was, she wondered if she would be able to speak.

  Uncle Barnabas gripped Colleen firmly by the arm and stopped her from entering the curtained-off cubicle. “Look, I know this is difficult for you, and it is for me too. But you can’t go in there boohooing and blubbering all over her. Get yourself together. You don’t know what her injuries are yet. Maybe you’re overreacting a bit. Relax and calm down. You’re gonna pass out if you don’t. Get a grip.”

  She didn’t respond, but she knew he was right. She was already feeling tingly all over. Instead of rushing in, she went to the waiting area and sat down. Uncle Barnabas took a seat too and remained silent, staring into the distance, glancing at her from time to time. Maybe he was trying to imagine being somewhere else. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then slumped back in the chair.

  Several minutes later, Colleen stood up, straightened her clothes, turned to Uncle Barnabas, and said, “I think I’m ready to go in now. I’d like to go in alone, please.”

  He nodded. “I’ll wait for you here,” he replied and relaxed back in the chair.

  There was no time to think now, though as she walked down the corridor she wondered what she should say. Then she was at the curtained-off area. She pulled back the curtain and looked in. Esther lay quietly on the bed, a bandage covering her right cheek and the side of her head and an IV connected to her arm.

  “Hey, Mama.” Esther’s voice was soft, and Colleen barely understood what she said. She tried to push herself up from the bed but couldn’t.

  “Don’t try to . . .” Colleen rushed over and reached out but was afraid to touch her.

  Esther winced in pain.

  “My head hurts so bad,” she whimpered through tear-filled eyes.

  “Oh baby, I’m so sorry.” She was completely helpless and fought back the sorrow that struggled to come out. The pain on Esther’s face was excruciating to see. It occurred to Colleen that she needed to talk to the doctor. “I’ll be back,” she said and went to the nurse’s station.

  After what seemed like forever, Colleen returned to Esther’s bed and found Uncle Barnabas there with her. She stiffened for a moment but managed to relax, realizing she needed to talk with him too.

  “I just spoke with the doctor, and he’s concerned about the concussion. He said she received a severe blow to the side of her head when she was slammed onto the concrete. They want to keep her for observation overnight and do another test in the morning before release can be decided.”

  “I’m not surprised. She’s been vomiting while you were gone. I don’t think she’s seeing right either. She didn’t recognize me,” Uncle Barnabas said quietly, a gloomy look on his face.

  A nurse came inside the curtain and gave Esther some pills.

  “What’s that for?” Colleen asked.

  “It’s for her headache,” the nurse said, and added, “She’ll be going up to a room shortly.”

  Colleen turned to her uncle. “Do you mind bringing me back in the morning? Or I can stay with her tonight and you can pick us up in the morning.” Staring, she waited for a response.

  “It’s up to you, Colleen. I’ll do whatever you want—you tell me. Keep in mind the doctor might want Esther to stay in the hospital.”

  She tensed at his words. “I’ll stay with her. See you in the morning. Nine o’clock should work.”

  Lord, help Esther to get better, she prayed in her heart. And Lord, help me through this.

  * * *

  The following morning, the doctor said Esther could be released, and Colleen brought her home. Sam came to the car and helped Esther out. He gave her a hug and escorted her inside the house.

  “So, what is the police department doing about the person that assaulted and robbed Esther?” Sam asked after they were all inside.

  “The school administrator said that the police are working on the case and doing all that is possible. Robbery is difficult, especially if it’s random.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. If Esther was some rich man’s daughter, they would have found the person by now.”

  Esther reclined on the couch. Sam sat at the end near her feet.

  “I don’t know about that, Sam. There was real concern. This is the second time recently this has happened on campus. I’m sure they’re trying to find the person.”

  “Ma, it’s not that simple. The police don’t care about common folks. They just don’t. What did you expect the administrators would say to you? The poorer you are, the more unconcerned the police are?”

  “Esther was not able to give a clear description. She was so frightened when it happened.”

  “Please, can you all stop talking about this? It’s not going to help, and it’s making me nervous,” Esther said softly.

  “Sure, honey,” Colleen said. “Sam, help your sister to her room. Maybe it’ll be more comfortable, and we’ll be quiet.”

  “I just hope they catch this guy,” Sam added, then escorted Esther to her room.

  She hoped they would too. Even if they didn’t, the robber would get what was coming to him in one way or another. She repeated Galatians 6:7 in her mind. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” That, she could count on.

  Chapter 6

  The weekend passed swiftly and so had Colleen’s days at work since she had returned. Esther was physically doing better each day, but Colleen was concerned about her emotional well-being. Today was Thursday, and the fact that she was again scheduled to work on Friday night was frustrating, but she had made up her mind. She was going to work the shift her manager had designated for her.

  Colleen thought about Esther on her way to work. She seemed tense, not quite right. She didn’t know what to do, but something had to be done. Tomorrow she’d have to deal with her work schedule. She parked and went inside through the backdoor.

  She stored her purse and decided to get a fresh apron to have handy for tomorrow night. As she found her way down the narrow hallway, she heard muffled sounds, then words.

  “Uh-uh-uh,” a man’s deep voice said. “I don’t know how I lived without you.”

  She looked behind her down the hall. There was no one. It sounded like someone she knew, and she slowed her pace.

  “I want you, now. Here,” a woman’s voice purred.

  She stopped. She knew those voices. That was her shift manager and Luke Tindley, one of the restaurant partners. It seemed odd to her that anyone would be in the area this early in the day—or maybe that was the point. Where were they? She wasn’t sure where the sound was coming from and hurried on to the storage room.

  She opened the storage room door. The hall’s fluorescent light cast in behind her, silhouetting her short, plump frame on the floor in front of her. Movement and rustling sounded near the far wall that ran alongside the hallway. Frightened by the sounds, she quickly flipped the light switch on. Then she saw them.

  “Mr. Tindley?” Colleen looked at the man then at the woman. “Mrs. McBride?” The woman’s eyes widened then rolled toward the ceiling. What Clarence had said came to mind. “Something else is going on, and I’m not sure what . . .” She felt embarrassed, and her eyes shifted to the floor.