My instinct was to ignore her, to run down there and stop the barbarism.
“Listen to her,” Aunt Hattie said. “They’re some kind of local gang, and those younger boys are just getting initiated.”
They’d taken a left on Dogwood Road and disappeared by then.
“But they had those boys tied to a rope, Dad,” Jannie complained. “Isn’t that illegal?”
That was the way I saw it. Those boys could not have been the age of consent. But I swallowed at the acid taste in my mouth and forced myself to stay in my aunt’s front yard, surrounded by fireflies and the North Carolina night sounds, the tree frogs, the cicadas, and the hoot owls, all so strangely familiar and menacing.
“You said ask Stefan about the gang,” Bree said.
Aunt Connie glanced at Aunt Hattie, who said, “Don’t know the particulars, but I think he had some troubles with them over to the school. So did Patty.”
“Who’s Patty?” Bree asked.
“Stefan’s fiancée,” Aunt Hattie said. “And another gym teacher at the school.”
“What kind of troubles did Stefan have at the school?” I asked Naomi.
My niece yawned, said, “You’ll want to hear it from him in the morning.”
Ali was yawning now too. And Nana Mama looked ready to snooze.
“Okay, let’s call it a night,” I said. “Get moved in.”
I hugged Aunt Connie and turned to do the same to Aunt Hattie, who seemed nervous. In a low voice she said, “I want you to be careful, Alex.”
I smiled, said, “I’m a big boy now. Even got a badge and a gun.”
“I know,” she said. “But you’ve been away an awful long time, and you may have tried to forget, but this town can be a cruel place.”
I was aware of old emotions stirring deep in me, like lava starting to swell in a long-dormant volcano.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said, and I kissed her cheek. “How could I?”
Aunt Connie and Naomi stayed behind to help Aunt Hattie clean up. I led my family back across the cul-de-sac toward our bungalow and heartache.
“They’re nice,” Bree said. “Sweet.”
“They are that,” Nana Mama allowed. “My, isn’t the air cool here, though?”
We all agreed the Starksville weather was a far cry from a DC summer.
“Sad about your uncle,” Jannie said. “I guess I’ve never seen someone, you know, not like Nana.”
“Not like me?” my grandmother said.
“Sharp, Nana,” Jannie said. “You know.”
“Still in possession of my faculties?” Nana Mama said. “That can be a blessing and a curse.”
“Why a curse?” Ali asked when we reached the car.
“There are some things in a long life that are best put aside, young man, especially at night,” she said softly. “Right now, this old, old lady needs a bed.”
Jannie took her into the house
and I started unloading the car. My daughter came back out to help me while Bree got Ali to sleep.