Page 105 of August Lane
CHAPTER TWENTY
2009
August rode to church with Jojo. The Mercedes had more room inside than she’d pictured. The seats sank like pillows when she sat on them, and the air smelled artificial, like expensive plastic.
“You seem sad,” Jojo said, easing the car down Main Street. She slowed even more after spotting a man selling peaches on the side of the road. “Remind me to stop there on the way back.”
August smoothed a wrinkle from her dress. It was a knee-length cotton navy that Birdie had embroidered with white flowers at the hem. Those handmade touches were always comforting, like nothing could harm her while cloaked in her grandmother’s love.
“Someone hurt my feelings,” she said. “I’ll get over it.”
“Should you?”
August had lost count of Luke’s apologies. By Friday, while everyone else obsessed over homecoming, he was slipping notes into her locker, begging her to talk to him. She’d ignored them, but over the weekend she’d started to regret giving him the silent treatment. He was right about her hiding in that dressing room. If Richard Green’s opinion didn’t matter, why was she avoiding him? Why did a smirk from Jessica Ryder turn her inside out?
“He didn’t hurt me on purpose,” August said. “He tries to make everyone happy, even when he can’t.”
“Except you.” Jojo’s voice was steeped in judgment.
“He makes me happy,” August said, though it sounded inadequate. Before Luke, she’d been starved for feelings she didn’t know existed. He feeds me would have been more accurate. Loving him is water.
They arrived late, but Jojo had never cared about that. She enjoyedmaking an entrance. It used to thrill August when she was younger, walking down the aisle at her glamorous mother’s hip. But now, August avoided being the center of attention. People rarely stared at her for a good reason.
Birdie spotted them from the choir stand and motioned for August to join her.
“Not today,” Jojo said, and grabbed August’s arm. She stared at Birdie as she spoke. “They can live without you for one week. I want my daughter beside me.”
These were the trickiest parts of her mother’s visits, knowing who to side with when they disagreed. Birdie was the everyday authority August obeyed by default. Jojo was the wildcard that had to be handled cautiously. When August took her mother’s side, it was in situations like this one, when Jojo seemed eager to fight about something that seemed insignificant on the surface. Her mother had fault lines. August often saw them too late, when the ground was already shaking.
Jojo looked around, gifting her glossy pink smile to dazzled faces. Service was delayed because people refused to settle into the pews before greeting her. August received more smiles than usual. She whispered in Jojo’s ear, “They’re never this nice to me.”
“I know,” Jojo whispered back. “Hypocrites are always first in line when you have something they want.”
August nodded, even though she couldn’t imagine having anything they’d consider valuable. But then a little girl said, “You look like her,” and it clicked. Today, she wasn’t Theo’s orphan or Birdie’s burden. She was the daughter of Jojo Lane. Exceptional through proximity.
“They’re gonna ask me to sing,” Jojo said halfway through the service. August agreed. Their pastor had spent ten minutes of their praise and worship time praising and worshipping Jojo for returning to her church home, which he’d somehow connected to the virtues of tithing. August tried to exchange an exasperated look with Mavis, who sat directly behind him in the choir stand. Mavis didn’t smother a smile like she usually did. Instead, she glared and looked away.
“Is that little May?” Jojo asked. “That girl got big and beautiful. When did that happen?”
August stared at her cousin, silently willing her to make eye contact again. “She hates that nickname.”
Pastor Reed invited Jojo to the microphone. The room stirred as Jojo walked to the front and asked the band to play “God Is Trying to Tell You Something.”
Everyone got excited. The song was popular, but that wasn’t why Jojo had picked it. Years ago, while August was watchingThe Color Purplewith her, crying during the reunion of Shug Avery and her pastor father, Jojo had said, “She doesn’t need that man’s forgiveness. Look how she owns that church. Sailing on a sea of sinners and ministering to saints.”
Now as Jojo sang, the same people who constantly gossiped about her mother’s past raised their hands and shouted “Amen!” Jojo put on an impromptu concert, mixing hymns with songs from her album. Three hours later, August was tired and starving, seconds away from recommitting herself to God if it would close the open call for prayer.
When they were finally dismissed, August found Mavis and tapped her shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
The look Mavis gave her was worse than the earlier glare. It was fury skinned alive. She grabbed August’s arm and pulled her into an empty hallway. “Who did you tell?”
August immediately knew what she meant. “No one.”
“Jessica Ryder called last night and asked if I had an abortion.”
“Jessica?I would never…” August trailed. She would have never told Jessica about Mavis’s pregnancy. But she had told Luke that she needed money to help a friend. She’d been trying to impress him, make him think she was a good person. “I told Luke I was helping you. That’s all.”
“Luke Randall? He took her to homecoming Saturday!” She groaned. “Why do boys make you so stupid?”
