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He smiled weakly. “I can understand why.”
“Yes.”
“Did she get mad at you?”
“Not really. She doesn’t really blame me. That wouldn’t be like her anyway. Bunny doesn’t really separate between trouble that happens accidentally and trouble that happens because somebody did something wrong. Either way, she figures, the thing is just trouble and something more to worry about.”
“That’s very unusual.”
“I guess so.” Even as I said it, though, I realized I was talking about the past, about Tom’s problems. This time, Bunny was full of blame—for Mrs. Benedict, Sergeant Tony, Judge Horner, for the whole town of Katydid. This time was different.
Reverend Vaughn watched my face. “You’re very close to your mother, aren’t you?” he said.
“Yes.”
“A lot of people your age have difficulty with their parents, they go through a kind of rebellion.”
“I know. I could never understand that. A lot of girls hate their mothers. With me, it’s just the opposite. Bunny’s my best friend, she’s the one I think about all the time.” Something about the minister invited me to open up, and I started gushing about Bunny, about how funny she was, how pretty, how good to me. I went on for several minutes, until I noticed that his expression had changed, and he was looking at me in dumb, blank wonder. I stopped talking abruptly, but my words hung in the air, gonging like some stupid bell. Now he knew what a child I was. I felt crushed.
After a few seconds, he reached out beyond the roof with his palm open to the sky. “The sprinkle’s stopped,” he said. “Maybe we better head back.”
Walking beside him, I hurried to keep up with his long strides, but I didn’t talk. My stupid mouth, I kept thinking. My stupid, stupid mouth.
In front of the Vernons’ house, he said to me suddenly, “I hope I wasn’t too nosy back there. Sometimes I get a little carried away.”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
“You got so quiet. I was afraid I’d scared you.”
“No, no.”
“Would you like me to come again?” He stood above me. I looked into his face.
“Of course.”
“Well, then, tomorrow—about three,” he said. “It’s a date.” He turned quickly and strode off, hurrying down Oak toward the square.
TEN
“How was the Champions Banquet?” I asked Bunny the next day. We were sitting on folding chairs in the Vernons’ backyard.
“A lot of drunk men,” said Bunny. “It gets worse every year.”
“Did they have movies again downstairs?”
“No, thank God. Some of the wives nixed that.” She stubbed out her cigarette in the teacup she was using for an ashtray. “But there was a fight. Shorty might get fired.”
“Why?” I was shocked. Shorty had been there as long as I could remember.
“Well, you know John Dent? He and this other guy, Mel somebody or other who was John’s guest, decided to have a divot fight.”
“What’s that?”
“See who can make the longest divot.” Bunny lit another Lucky. She inhaled, made a face at the cigarette, and then stubbed it out in the teacup. “So, anyway, they went out to the practice green. They used irons. Each of them had three swings, and they went at it real hard. It’s amazing the amount of ground you can dig up with one club. Great big pieces of sod. They were kind of creepy looking, like furry green toupees or something.”
“Didn’t anyone stop them?”
“Are you kidding? Everyone went out there to bet on the winner. They made giant holes in the green. And then a couple of other guys decided to try it, too. The green was covered with scars.”
