HARMONY

Part 52 "Do some bridges go nowhere?"

"Take a right at the light," Steve said to Russ. "And thanks again so much for the ride, um, home."

"Of course." Russ pulled in front of the YMCA. "Need me to pick you for tomorrow?"

"No thanks, I've mapped out a bus route." Steve held the door handle. "Is Drew's testimony really going to be the tipping point? I mean isn't the DNA evidence and that kid's obvious lying testimony going to be enough?"

Russ put the car in park. "Jury trials are such a crap shoot. And we do have a dead kid and the rape of a mentally challenged girl. Juries can be emotional about that. The question will be if they believe in Drew."

"Drew is a model citizen for God's sake. They don't come better than Drew."

"But you and I know him," Russ said. He squared his body to face Steve. "The jurors have never met him." He took a deep breath. "And Drew's been through a lot in the last few months. I just hope the kid on the stand tomorrow is still the Drew we know."

"He'll come through." The crack in Steve's voice made Russ nod. Steve extended his hand for a shake, but Russ reached over and embraced him. "I just can't thank you enough for everything," Steve said.

Steve exited the car and Russ drove off. He walked into the lobby and froze.

"Hey," Chad said. "Darcy and I've been talking and we'd like you to stay with us."

"Darcy too?" Steve looked to his feet. "Are you sure?"

"Ya, we're sure." Chad smiled. "Go get your stuff and get in the car, before Darcy changes her mind."

***

Sophia picked up a photograph from a box on Audra's floor. "Hey Claire," she said. "Whose these brothers you're hanging with?"

Claire came in from the kitchen balancing three fruit cups. "What brothers?"

"These straight Gs from Africa." Sophia handed the picture to Claire. "You in Uganda or Kenya or something."

Claire set down the fruit and took the photograph. She squinted her eyes and studied the group photo. There stood a young grinning girl, who looked a lot like her, surrounded by coal-black men with brightly painted bodies, beaded necklaces and nose bones. "Nana," Claire said. "This is like totally crazy. Okay, so like, that can't be me."

"No honey," Audra said. "That's your mom."

"What?!" Sophia and Claire said together.

Audra poured the Animal Crackers into a woven basket. "We were in Mali where your Grandpa opened the first medical clinic in that region." She studied the basket. "I think this actually came from there."

"I jus can't see your mom doing anything in Africa," Sophia said. "But building clinics is really cool."

Claire dug through the box and studied similar photos—her mom and Uncle Russ playing with African children, weaving baskets and holding exotic animals. "Okay, seriously, my mom made it sound like you flew in there, wrote a check, cut some yellow ribbon, and came home."

"Last week I saw a woman in the grocery store," Audra said. "Her hair disheveled, her face bloated and pale, clothes loose and frumpy—I thought to myself, she looked gorgeous on her wedding day."

Sophia and Claire smiled at each other and continued looking through the box.

"Did you like Africa?" Sophia asked. "I mean, I know you all went to open up medical places, but was it, ya know cool?"

"It's extreme in everything," Audra said. "I love the passion of the plants, the sky—the energy swirled all around. But I must say, people are just the same as here."

"Ain't no people look like this," Sophia said.

"Sure there are." Audra placed a grape carefully on her cracker. "Clothes are just a way to decorate yourself for whoever you want to pay attention to you. In Africa, China, California you'll find some folks are mean, some nice, some crazy, some calm." She took a bite. "You girls haven't touched your fruit."

"So, you guys, like, lived there?" Claire said. She sat at the table and started stacking her crackers.

"Oh yes. Sometimes it would take months to get a clinic up and running. "

"And my mom? She didn't freak out?"

"Of course she did," Audra said. "Every time we had to leave Africa to come back to the states, she cried for days."

***

In her second best suit, Michelle flopped on her twin bed and kicked off her shoes. The two thuds echoed in the room. Squeezing her eyes closed, she breathed her four count and processed the day. 

No matter how she replayed the testimony, she knew it would come down to tomorrow. And how Drew would hold up on the stand. If he appears the least bit unstable, she couldn't finish the thought. 

She could only breathe. 

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