Chapter 20 #2
Tate continued. “The catch is, if I come, I will demand a reckoning. I will come back into a place that chewed me and my family up and spit us out. But before I open my mouth on their behalf, every damn member of that town will gather, put their hands on a Bible, and admit to my face that they were wrong, including you and that woman you live with. If she is unwilling to face me, then it’s an automatic no.
They all have to agree, or deal with their shit on their own. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I will tell them, and I will call Briar with their response. When can we expect you?”
“That depends on your answer, doesn’t it?” Tate said.
“Oh…right…yes, yes, it does. Will Briar come with you?”
“She has a job and responsibilities too, but I won’t set foot on that land without her.”
Then he handed the phone back to Briar. She ended the call without saying goodbye and set the phone aside.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
His eyes blazed as he reached out to her. “No. You owe no one an apology, least of all me. Do you think your boss will give you a day off? I can go and come back on the same day.”
“How, Tate? There aren’t any roads.”
“Then we’ll grow wings, darlin’. Anything is possible if you try.”
“When would you go?” she asked.
“If Roger lets me know by tonight, I can schedule everything tomorrow and leave early the morning after,” Tate said.
Briar sighed. “I’ll talk to David tomorrow. I know he’ll say yes, but I need to make sure I leave everything finished and accessible so he will not be inconvenienced.”
* * *
Roger knew when they hung up on him without a word that he’d asked too much.
And Tate’s demand was going to be hard for some of them to swallow.
It became a kind of impossible madness as he began trying to get the word out, then waiting for their response.
Some were outraged by his demand but were willing to give in to get what they wanted from him, and finally Roger had his answer.
He sent Briar a text that they were all in agreement, then Briar responded, telling Roger to expect Tate when they saw him coming.
She went to work the next day, explained what had been asked of Tate, and asked for one day off to help him. David’s response was an immediate yes.
She told Tate, and while he went to the airport to pin down a pilot with a chopper, she sent a text to her dad, telling him they would be on the ground in Star Ridge by nine o’clock tomorrow morning, and that the people need to gather in the park at the gazebo for the reckoning.
For the ones who’ve lost someone, they are to bring an object that belonged to who’s lost, or a photo of them, and he’ll do what he does, and then we’re gone.
Roger was startled by the fact that they wouldn’t even stay the night and knew it was because of the woman under his roof. But he gave out the information with one last word of warning. Deny Tate Bandy his reckoning, and he would leave them standing.
Tate ordered supplies to be delivered to the airport and loaded on the helicopter. The pilot was willing to wait on-site to fly them out. The plan was rushed, but if it all came together, they’d be home before dark the same night.
* * *
When Roger told Mariah she was also required to put her hand on the Bible and apologize to his face, she lost her shit. She screamed, and stomped, and swore she wouldn’t, then sat down and bawled.
But Roger had her beat. “If you pull that stunt tomorrow, then every single citizen of this town will hate you more and blame you for the reason their child is still lost and they still can’t find their husband, and I will take your house key and my credit card and send your ass back to your parents with a one-way ticket.
That’s what’s going to happen. So, either pack your shit and get out now, or shut your mouth and do as you’re asked. ”
Mariah crumbled. Going back to Savannah was a hell she did not want to revisit. “That’s a terrible way to speak to your wife,” she muttered.
“I don’t have a wife. I have a live-in bitch who’s more trouble than she’s worth,” he said, and walked out of the room.
* * *
Briar slept in Tate’s arms and woke up the same way. They dressed without much conversation, each preparing for the stress of the day ahead. They were in the air and leaving New Orleans by daybreak.
Briar slept on Tate’s shoulder all the way and didn’t wake up until she felt the shift of motion. Her heart skipped. They were over Star Ridge, about to set down in the park. The crowd was waiting to issue an apology. She felt Tate tense, and then he reached for her hand.
“Stay by me today. It’s going to be really, really hard. Not everybody down there wants answers, but there are many who do. Don’t let me forget to eat or drink. I’ll fade faster if I skip.”
“I will always have your back. Let’s do this.”
Moments later, the chopper was on the ground. The rotor wash was fierce as it began to wind down, and when it stopped, they got out and started walking toward the gazebo.
Chief Pliney Watts came running. “What do you need?” he asked.
“There are supplies to unload in the chopper. The pilot will show you.”
“Supplies?”
Tate nodded. “Since supplies can’t come through, baby diapers, formula, bottled water, baby food.”
Surprised by the thoughtful gesture, he sent deputies to get the stuff and take it to Sparks Grocery, to be distributed as needed, while Tate and Briar kept walking across the park hand in hand.
One huge imposing man with an elegant stride and one beautiful, strong-willed woman at his side. They looked neither right nor left as they moved through the crowd and up into the gazebo, out of the sun.
The preacher from the First Baptist Church was waiting with a Bible. Briar moved aside as Tate stepped in front of the preacher and faced the crowd.
“You asked. I came. The price I asked is a reckoning for every lie you said about me. For every tear my mother shed. You need to say it. I need to hear it. You cannot ask for a blessing with hate in your heart. Pay your debt to me, and I will help the ones really in need. Understand this. I do this only for whom you’ve lost. They’re why I came. They need to be found.”
Then he moved to stand beside the preacher as they began filing past. He saw their faces. He heard their words and felt their shame and anger as they moved past. And somewhere in the lineup Roger Lowe was coming toward him.
When Roger stepped up and said the words, he was openly weeping as he moved away.
Briar saw her mother then, watching the furtive glances she was giving the people as she put her hand on the Bible then looked away.
“To my face,” Tate said.
She turned pale and lifted her chin. “I apologize for the lies. Forgive me.”
“Apologize for what you did to my mother,” he said.
Mariah was scared. Tate Bandy had become a formidable man. “I’m sorry. So sorry for how I treated your mother. I was wrong.”
Tate’s head came up and wilted her with a stare.
She flew off the gazebo like she’d been lit on fire, and so it continued until they were done.
The preacher shook hands with Tate and left. His job was done, but Tate’s was just beginning. He walked to the steps of the gazebo.
“You’ve paid the price I asked. Only the people who have lost things or people can stay.
There will be no audience to hear their requests.
It’s easier for me if you have an object that belongs to whoever is missing, or a photo of them.
Just line yourselves up and stay back from the steps until I’ve finished with each of you, and my wife will tell you when it’s time to approach.
If there is a search party that needs to assemble after what you’ve been told, that is your responsibility. ”
A slight gasp ran through the audience as they realized Tate and Briar were married.
The first people in line were a young couple carrying a baseball bat.
They sat down beside him on the bench and handed the bat to Tate.
Within seconds, he knew the child was dead.
He could see the body caught in a morass of flood debris and a stop sign wedged behind the body.
He saw a two-story house through the trees in the distance. The house had two chimneys.
Before he spoke the father began to cry. “We know he’s dead somewhere, but we need to find him and bury him.”
The relief of not having to break the news was a relief. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Tate said. “I can see where he is. Do you know of a big white two-story house a couple of miles from here, down the south side of the river? It has two chimneys, one at each end of the house?”
“Yes, yes! I know where that is,” his father said.
“Your son’s body is caught in the river in a pile of debris there. It’s wedged behind a big red stop sign and among a pile of branches.”
They broke down sobbing, thanking him as he returned the bat.
The next person stepped up holding a photo. “This is my granny. She washed away when the river swelled. We’ve been all up and down the river and can’t find her anywhere.”
He paused and closed his eyes. “Her body is inside the floating shell of a yellow house. The house has a green roof, and all the windows and doors are broken or missing. Find the house, and you’ll find her.”
One after another the people come, their tears falling as they told their story and what they’d lost. One hour passed into the second, and into the third, and Tate was speaking slower now as the weight of their sorrow broke his heart again and again.
Briar saw the struggle and called a halt.
“We’re going to take a five-minute break so Tate can catch his breath. Please bear with him,” she said, as Andy Sharp came running across the grass.
“For Tate,” he said, and handed her a cold Pepsi and a Hershey bar. One look at Tate’s face hurt his heart. He walked away with his head down.
Tate was waiting for the next question. All he wanted was to sleep, and then suddenly Briar was standing between him and the line of people, holding the cold pop and candy bar.
He frowned. “Where—?”
“Andy Sparks brought it.”