Read Online Shadow Man by Cynthia D. Grant - Free Book Online Page B

friends.”
    â€œSure, I liked Gabe. He was a nice enough kid. Could’ve been one hell of a quarterback if he hadn’t got kicked off the team. Your kid ever play?”
    â€œNo,” my father said.
    â€œWell, the show must go on. We can’t cancel it now. I’d still have to pay the band and the clown. Everybody’s sad, but a week from now it will be back to business as usual,” Clyde said. “Some kid gets killed, everybody’s all worked up. They blame it on society. They blame it on the family. The kid’s friends swear they won’t drink anymore. The next weekend, they’re having a big beer party at the cemetery, knocking over tombstones. You know what I’m saying.”
    I could picture my father’s nod. He said, “I see it all the time.”
    â€œWhat a pickle.” Clyde sighed. “What a can of worms. If I don’t have the festival, I’m out a bundle, and if I do have it, everyone will hate me. I try to put this town on the map and people just think I’m being greedy. There’s nothing wrong with making a profit. That’s how you stay in business.”
    â€œIt’s up to you,” my father said. “It’s your baby.”
    â€œIt’s not like it’d bother Gabe,” Clyde said. “He’d probably want people to have some fun. Maybe we could dedicate the whole thing to his memory.”
    I was on my way out, but before I left I had to make a few phone calls.

25
    Carolyn Sanders
    I just got off the phone with Jennie’s mother. She was practically hysterical. She’s convinced that Jennie’s going to kill herself because she’s pregnant.
    I said, “I’m sure she wouldn’t do a thing like that. She’s probably just upset.”
    That’s why they pay me the big money, folks: for brilliant observations like that. Of course she’s upset. She’s devastated. She really believed that she and Gabe would stay together; that love would conquer all their problems.
    Mrs. Harding talks as if Jennie has died. In a sense, she has; the little girl is gone. A woman has been sleeping in Jennie’s bed, masquerading as the dutiful daughter. How odd it must be to have a baby, who changes into a toddler, who becomes a child, who becomes an adult.… Do mothers mourn those lost babies, unreachable as the unborn?
    I have no children. I have many children: all the students who pass through my classes, a steady stream of eager faces, untapped potential, bored yawns. They can’t wait to grow up and become adults, because they think we’re always free to do what we want.
    Surprise, surprise.
    I had spoken to Mrs. Harding on the phone in the main office. She had begun to cry.
    I said, “Sharon, please don’t worry. May I call you Sharon?”
    â€œYes, that’s fine.”
    â€œI’m sure Jennie’s going to be all right.”
    â€œWe can’t find her!” she sobbed.
    â€œGabe’s death must be a terrible shock for her. She probably just wants to be alone for a while.”
    â€œShe’s pregnant!” Mrs. Harding almost screamed, as if I must be stupid or deaf. “How could she do this? She’s ruined her life!”
    It’s too bad she’s pregnant, but I’m not surprised. Kids think they are immune from disaster; that “just this once” it will be okay if they make love, don’t wear a seat belt, drink and drive.
    â€œShe hasn’t ruined her life.” I had to raise my voice over the argument escalating behind me. The kids and some of the teachers wanted to lower the flag to half-mast. The principal, flanked by his pet pit bull, Coach Decker, turned them down.
    â€œThis is not the end of the world,” I told Sharon. I could feel myself getting angry. “It’s too bad she’s pregnant, but it’s not a tragedy. Gabe’s death is a tragedy. His life is over. He’ll never get