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Chapter Nineteen
When Mindi takesthe stage and taps the mic, silence descends around us. She’s been known to steal the show a time or two when jumping on stage to sing karaoke but tonight isn’t about her belting out a classic Reba song or shaking her ass to the latest pop fad.
It’s all about Sam.
And as much as I’ve held it together for the past two days as I’ve listened to person after person talk about what Sam meant to them and how she touched their lives, I have a feeling Mindi’s words are going to bring me to tears.
Jay must know as well because he tightens his hold on me.
“First off, thank you all for being here tonight. I’ve known most of you since I moved to Great Falls twenty years ago. This wasn’t my destination of choice. I was planning on stopping for the night and moving on the next day. My car had other ideas, and I’ve been here ever since, helping you drown your sorrows with our friends Jose and Jack.”
The crowd laughs even though I suspect Mindi’s statement is true.
“I have had the pleasure to watch so many of you grow up into upstanding members of the community. You’ve worked your way through college, started businesses of your own, taken over for your parents, and been loyal patrons of Riley’s for years. Sam was no different. She was only four or five years old when I first met her. I’d just rolled into town and needed a pick me up. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the Java Bean and was greeted by a child standing on a step stool behind the counter, taking orders for her mama.
“Her energy and zest for life was obvious even back then. She was animated and excited to help. Her smile lit up the room, but it was her large, brown, doe eyes that captured my attention. For a little girl, she saw more than she should have. She asked me if I was okay and sounded genuinely concerned. When I told her my car was giving me problems, she told me it was a sign I was meant to be here. That Great Falls was my new home.”
Mindi pauses and looks out over the crowd. Someone close to her waves a tissue over their head, and she takes it, dabbing at her eyes.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to cry but I should have known.” The crowd chuckles. The only time I’ve ever seen her cry is when she’s angry. I was warned my first day to run the other direction if her tears ever made their presence known. “I had the pleasure of watching that beautiful young girl grow into a woman, face every challenge in life head on, and do it with her chin lifted in defiance. Nothing was going to bring her down. Bumps in the road only made her stronger.
“Honestly, I believe she had the right attitude about that. Because every time she stumbled, she stood back up, determination in her eye. Every time life tried to push her down, she pushed back. She was a fighter, a warrior, stronger than any other woman I’ve ever met. I was proud to call her my friend. I’m proud to have known her. To have been close to such a vibrant, young woman who had big goals in life I have no doubt she would have achieved. But she didn’t share those goals with you. I was her confidant and kept her secrets. Until today. I think she would have wanted you all to know where she would be today if she had been given the chance.”
Mindi pulls a well-worn piece of paper from her apron and slowly unfolds it.
“Sam wrote this a few days before she died. All her friends were graduating, and she knew her last year of college meant making life-changing decisions. These were her dreams. Her goals. What she was planning to accomplish after graduation.” She reads over the list before clearing her throat and sharing Sam’s words with us. “To find a man that loves me and only me. For who I am and who I want to be. To teach at Great Falls Elementary and inspire young minds to be themselves. To one day take over the Java Bean so my mom can relax for the first time in her life. To travel the World: California, New York, Paris, and Italy first.”
Mindi keeps reading but I zone out. Sam never shared any of this with me. When I would ask her about what she wanted to do with her life, she’d say teach. Anytime we talked about traveling the world, she said she’d go wherever as long as the adventure was epic.
Her life still seemed up in the air most of the time, as if she was afraid to make plans. To make decisions.
From the way Mindi makes it sound, she started making plans while we were all gone on vacation. When she was here alone. Because she knew in only a few short months, she would be on her own.
Of all the things on her list, the one that sticks out the most to me is the first.
To find a man that loves me and only me.
No interpretation necessary. She knew how Jay felt about me.
“Lastly,” Mindi says, her voice cutting through the guilt that’s slowly beginning to settle in the pit of my stomach, “she wanted to have a family. Sam loved kids and she wanted an entire soccer team. She wanted to show them the love she had felt her entire life. From this community. From her friends and family. Mostly, from her mother. Summer may have raised Sam by herself, but she didn’t do it alone. We all had a hand in raising her. We all kept our eyes on her when Summer wasn’t around.
“She impacted each and every one of our lives. Her smile brightened even the darkest of days. Her spirit was contagious. And I’ll be honest with you,” Mindi states, her voice suddenly less upbeat, “I feel like we let her down. We failed Sam. The one time she needed us most and we weren’t there. I feel personally responsible for her death and so should each of you.”
Shit!
This is not good. Angry Mindi is rearing her ugly head and there’s no telling what will happen next.
“And what’s worse, no one wants to accept responsibility for their actions. Whoever you are, you’re hiding in shame. Because this entire town deserves an apology. Summer deserves an apology, and Sam deserves to rest in peace. So, if you’re in this room, as I suspect you are, show yourself, you fucking coward.”
Okay, someone needs to take the microphone away from her. This is only going to get worse.
“Let this town rest. Step forward and be accountable!” Tears are freely flowing down Mindi’s face as she screams, the microphone no longer necessary to hear her, her voice laced with pain and sorrow. I can only imagine she’s kept those very feelings pent up like I have and now the dam has broken.
The room is silent as heads turn left and right, scanning the crowd as they wait for someone to confess their sins. It doesn’t happen, and Mindi eventually steps off the stage, the music comes back to life, but the energy in the room has changed.
“That was hard to watch,” Mia says, sliding off her stool. “I’m going to go check on her.”
Nodding in agreement, I silently follow Mia across the bar to the kitchen entrance. When we push through the doors, two cooks and a waitress, eyes wide with fear, point toward the back door.
