TITANIC ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Three
Thomas held Rose's hand as they walked back
home. Andrew slept in his wife's arms, tired from waking up early and sitting
through one of the longest sermons Rose had ever known.
Church had been awful. The entire town seemed
against her for chasing out her own mother. Even Myrtle stayed away, gossiping
with the rest of society's busybodies about how Rose mistreated her child,
which was a lie. Everyone was out to get her in trouble, and Rose was positive
her mother had a say in what was happening.
"Don't worry about it," Thomas told
her. "This whole thing will let up in a few days. Pretty soon, you and
Myrtle will be the best of friends again."
"I doubt it. Mother always had a way of
talking to people that made her look pure in their eyes. Little did they know
she was Satan incarnate and wants to kill us all."
"Except those that will listen to
her," Thomas added. "She wants fair weather friends who agree with
everything she says or does."
"And you doubted me at first. You wanted
to give her a chance."
"The way she treated you those last days
she stayed with us changed my mind about that. How could a mother seemingly so
hate her child?"
"I don't know," Rose answered,
staring into the face of her baby. "Just looking at our son makes me
smile. I could never make my mother smile. She always looked at me so
disapprovingly, like I was a pebble in one of her designer shoes she got on
retail."
Thomas laughed and squeezed her hand.
"It will be all right in the end. Everything turns out all right in the
end."
"How?"
"I don't know. It's a mystery,"
Thomas joked.
*****
It didn't turn out all right. Everywhere they
went in town, people snubbed them. It was like they were carrying the bubonic
plague, and if you even talked to them, you'd catch it and wither away into
nothing.
Thomas started to lose business where he was
working. Rumors had accumulated, making it seem as though he abused his child
and wife, and that his family did all sorts of strange things.
One rumor had to make him laugh. He told it
to Rose over dinner.
"...and that we sacrifice animals on our
front lawn," he finished.
Rose sat silently, playing with her food.
"I don't think it's anything to joke about, Thomas. It's obvious these
people believe these rumors, falsehoods though they may be. I fear we'll never
regain the good reputation we once had around here."
"What are you suggesting we do?"
"We have to leave, Thomas. If not for
our sake, for Andrew's. Imagine him growing up and hearing all these wild,
fanatical stories about his parents. The other children will taunt him and
ridicule him to no end. Do you truly want that for our baby?"
"No, I don't," Thomas replied,
pondering the possibilities of leaving Cedar Rapids. He looked at Rose, and the
baby sitting quietly in her lap. It wouldn't be a good choice for them to
remain here, where everyone thought they were strange as it was.
"What are you thinking about,
Thomas?" Rose asked.
"About leaving here. My sister,
Lora--remember her? I received a letter from her a few months ago saying she
just moved to California, and wanted us to visit. Maybe we should go and, well,
overstay our visit until we find a nice place out west."
"California?" Rose asked.
"We're much too simple for California life, Thomas. I don't think--"
"It's only temporary, of course. Until
we find somewhere else to go."
"I guess. But I can't imagine leaving
our dream house. It's unfortunate our dream home had to be located in the
nightmare that is Cedar Rapids."
"The people here are fickle,"
Thomas stated. "They follow whomever will lead them."
"My mother is doing just that,"
Rose said. "Herding them like they were cattle. And they enjoy it."
Thomas nodded. "I'll visit a realtor
tomorrow, if they'll take me without laughing in my face."
"What?"
"People stare at us now. And they laugh
about us. I've noticed it, and apparently, so have you."
"So we're really leaving, then?"
Rose asked. "We're not just discussing possibilities here? We're actually
going to move away?"
"Yes," Thomas concluded.
"Thinking over everything that has happened, it would seem best."
"Thank you, Thomas. Thank you."
*****
"Moving away!" Myrtle screamed,
crossing her arms under her bosom and staring angrily at Rose as she packed.
"You can't move away! We're just about to have the meeting to make you
take your mother back."
"If you love my mother so much, why
don't you take her in? Get rid of your perfect family and spend a day in
hell."
"Well, fine. Then I suggest you move
right now!"
"And I'll suggest where you can move,
but only if you like dry heat."
Myrtle fumed. "That's it. I knew you
were trouble the day you came here. And what's more, I find out you burn animals
in your yard! That's sacrilege!"
"First of all, we don't do anything of
the sort. Go out there and see if you can find some burn marks on that grass.
Go on. Look out that window."
"Well…I…that's not the point,"
Myrtle replied. "You could have used a grill."
"And second of all, didn't people always
sacrifice animals to God in the bible? That's anything but sacrilege."
"Don't start turning Christian right
now. Trying to save yourself at the last minute."
"I'm not trying to do anything of the
sort," Rose replied. "Whether you choose to believe us or not, we're
still moving. Mother will never find us, and I pray to God that neither will
you."
Myrtle was silent. "You know, before you
turned Satanic and started worshipping all sorts of ungodly creatures, you had
been really nice."
"Isn't it wonderful I'm still nice even
though I do nothing of what I am accused!"
Myrtle turned on her heel and walked out the
door, slamming it behind her. Rose sighed, and pulled another suitcase to the
center of the room. Thomas would be back with the car any minute, and they
would start loading things for tomorrow.
Tonight was going to be the last night in
this gorgeous house. Andrew would never remember the beautiful sky, the sound
of Cedar Rapids crickets in the summer, the way the snow fell in winter, and he
would never be subjected to the humiliation Rose and Thomas had received.
*****
"Ready?" Thomas asked as he closed
the trunk. Rose nodded, tears ebbing. Andrew cooed in her arms, looking back at
his home.
"I'll never be ready, Thomas. In only a
year, we made so many memories in this house. I can't imagine starting all over
again."
"But we'll do it." Thomas kissed
her forehead and helped her into their car. The ride was going to be long, but
Rose knew she had a new future ahead of her. Maybe even brighter than the one
she had just lived.