Three Sides of the Tracks (3 page)

Eyes the color of fresh clover flashed. “Do you think I care whether you
cut me off or not?”

Jessie’s expression was singularly bewildered. “What the hell is all this
supposed to mean?”

Marie couldn’t contain herself. She snickered. “Jessie, you’re one stupid
son of a bitch.”

3

Martin

Martin Townsend III barely nodded at Reverend Holcomb’s receptionist as
he strode past.

Jeannette had watched Martin grow up, so she didn’t utter a word when he
blew by and opened Holcomb’s door without knocking. She’d never seen an
expression on Martin’s face quite like the one she saw now.

Holcomb sat tapping a pen on a stack of papers. The look on his face
didn’t change, and he didn’t say anything as Martin’s long legs strode across
the carpet in a posture formed by four years at the US Air Force Academy and
six years as a fighter pilot. He was president of the family bank, the largest
in Georgia between Atlanta and Savannah.

He leaned down, both hands on the desk, and his square jaw hovered over
Holcomb. “Have you completely lost your mind?”

Holcomb sat silent.

“Well?” Martin asked, raising his voice. His blue eyes, bristling with
anger, bore into the preacher’s. “You look like crap.”

“Been up all night. Ashamed of myself for giving in to that bastard.”

Martin was mildly surprised at the language. “Not half as ashamed as
you’re going to be when Belinda’s mom and dad get to you. They might have cut
her off for marrying Robert, but she’s still their daughter, and, besides that,
they’ll take it the same as if you had done it to them. You’ll be damn lucky if
you make it out of this one, Reverend. Fortunate for you they go to First
Baptist. Won’t matter much though, not with their influence.”

A light came into Holcomb’s eyes for the first time. “But I thought
that’s why you were here. Didn’t they call—”

“How long you been here now, ten years or so?”

Holcomb nodded.

“You don’t know about Belinda and I?” skepticism apparent in his tone.

Holcomb looked truly dumbstruck.

“We were going to marry. We were inseparable all our lives, all through
high school. Until . . . until I went to the Air Force Academy.”

Martin saw the fear creep into Holcomb’s eyes. “Uh huh, you’re doggone
lucky I wasn’t at the service yesterday. You know how it is. It doesn’t matter
what comes later; you don’t ever,
ever
get over your high school
sweetheart. There’s more to it, but . . . well, we’ll just leave it at that.

“I had a hundred voice mails when I arrived back in town late last night.
All morning too. I didn’t know whether to go to Belinda’s or come here first.
I’ve never been to Belinda’s, not since she and Robert married.”

Holcomb sighed and spoke gravely, in a depressed tone. “I know your
families are close—”

Martin waved his hand dismissively. “You don’t know the half of it. Never
will.

“From what I’ve been told, this Jessie Whitaker was involved in all this.
That right?”

Holcomb gripped the arms of his chair and pushed himself up. He held his
hands out plaintively. “He threatened me, Martin.
Threatened
me. I tell
you I was in such a state of mind that I didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t
time to think. He just kept yelling at me. Vulgar, very vulgar. Spit flying
from his mouth. Eyes bulging. Shouting, ‘Get that boy outta here. Get him outta
here. Over and over. Threatened to cut off his contributions. You know I have
to be responsible for the church’s finances, and Jessie, well, really his wife
makes him, gives a lot, and I mean
a lot
of money to our general fund
and subsidizes many projects also. Well, you see it in the bulletin. With him
yelling at me like he was . . . and . . . I mean I didn’t want to do it. I
begged him not to insist, but he was in a rage, a rage, I’m telling you. I
don’t know what the boy has done to him, but it must be something very
serious.”

“You’re not using that as an excuse, are you? And what Jessie Whitaker
gives to the church certainly doesn’t add up to what the families you’ve
insulted give. Mine included. And, damn it, Holcomb, the Sunday school building
is named the Hathaway Building; Belinda’s grandparents built it. How could you
forget that? Just because Belinda’s parents don’t come here anymore, it’s not
because of the church.”

“Oh no, no, no, no, I’m not excusing it, absolutely not. Forgive me or
excuse me if it sounded that way. I’m just reliving how it was and what was
going through my mind. It was hard to think with Jessie right in my face and shouting
like he was.”

An expression of utter distaste came on Martin’s face. “I’m surprised
that man has the audacity to step foot in a church, much less ask for someone
else to be removed. From what I understand, he’s totally despicable.”

Holcomb nodded. “Well, I do hear things, and yesterday, the stale whiskey
on his breath . . . whew.”

Martin stopped glaring for a moment, and his eyes turned pensive. “What
did Belinda say when you told her Danny had to leave?”

“I don’t . . . she couldn’t believe what was happening, I think. She just
fainted. She was stunned, as I am now when I reflect on what I’ve done. How
could I let that man bully me like that? I’m ashamed of myself beyond words,”
he said, lowering his eyes.

“Well, that’s a good thing, Reverend. You should be. How’d the boy take
it?”

“With remarkable restraint, I’d say. Especially when Jessie came out
after Belinda fainted. He made some very unkind comments, and the boy reacted,
but then held himself back. I remember him saying his mother wouldn’t want him
fighting in church.”

Holcomb remembered the scene and the expression on Danny’s face, the
unusual shade of blue in his . . . The eyes. He looked quickly at Martin.

4

Reacquainted

Martin paced the front porch after the customary three knocks. He hadn’t
seen Belinda in over a year, much to his surprise when he tried to remember the
last time, which to the best of his recollection had been at a fundraiser to
keep the local playhouse open. He was stunned when the chairperson of the local
arts committee broke down the cost of putting on a play.

The door opened a crack and eyes peered out, then the door flew open and
Belinda grabbed Martin’s arm, pulled him inside and hugged him tightly, all
without saying a word.

Martin wrapped his arms around her and squeezed Belinda to him. Their
clenched bodies did the talking, and they held each other and swayed back and
forth as if in a slow dance.

“I hear you had a rough time, yesterday,” Martin whispered after a few
moments. 

After a throaty chuckle, Belinda said, “Is there no end to people’s
stupidity?”

“Not as far as I can tell,” Martin replied. “I don’t mind it so much as
long as it’s not harmful, but this fool preacher asking Danny to leave church
might just be the icing on the cake.”

Belinda turned her face to Martin, her cheek rested on his shoulder. “He
called right before you knocked. I gather you weren’t very kind to him.”

“He did? What did he say?”

“Oh, he rambled on about how sorry he was and ashamed for being so weak.
Then, well, frankly, he was rather odd. Asking about Danny and then going on to
say that he didn’t realize or know that you and I—”

“That was partially my doing. Without going into any details, I just told
him you and I had a relationship that went way back and that—”

Belinda put a finger to his lips. “Come sit down. It’s time I told you
something.”

The creases on Martin’s forehead couldn’t have been much deeper. “I hope
it’s not another surprise like the one yesterday. Much more of that . . .”

Belinda guided him to the sofa and sat down beside him, her mood changing
perceptively, and Martin knew that what came next wouldn’t be about church.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen Danny?” Belinda asked.

“Hmm. I wouldn’t know. A while. You know I only see you on a regular
basis at church, and I have to snatch a look as best I can without getting
caught or making people talk.”

Belinda fought to ignore the smile she’d always adored. It was hard
enough to tell him what she had to next without having to do so with a melting
heart.

“Martin, he looks so much like you at that age it’s scary.” She squeezed
his hand. “Danny’s your son. Yours and mine.”

Belinda was surprised by the change of expression that grew slowly on
Martin’s face. Still a smile but one that might appear on an indulgent father
who is arguing with his son and the son in a flash of insight finally
understands what the father is trying to tell him.

“I was expecting you to be shocked. Mad. Betrayed. Anything but . . . but
this. How long have you known and how did you find out?”

 Martin stroked Belinda’s hands. “It took me a long time, but I finally
figured out why you married Robert so suddenly and without telling me. When I
heard you’d had a son, it never occurred to me that he might be mine. Yours and
mine, that is. Then, one day at the Academy, my mind wandered, just daydreaming
about nothing in particular, and the whole thing made sense, or so it seemed. Professor
Oglethorpe actually stopped class and asked if I were ill. Said he’d never seen
anyone turn green. Anyway, my pride finally allowed me to understand you would
never have done what you did without a very good reason. Why in the hell didn’t
I see that to begin with? As well as we knew each other.”

“Because you were hurt.”

“Yes, but I should have known it would take a damn good reason for you to
marry Robert so quickly, and what else could it have been? What an idiot I
was.”

“It would have destroyed you,” Belinda said softly.

“So you let it destroy you instead. Was that right? I should have run
home the minute I heard you got married.”

“And done what? And it didn’t destroy me because I did have you.”

Martin looked puzzled.

“Danny.”

Martin lowered his eyes and nodded. “Has it . . . has it taken anything
away from you? I mean,
You
?”

“I don’t know the answer to that, Martin, except I deeply regret losing a
lifetime together. What would I be were I carefree, knowing you were coming
through the door at any minute, every day, instead of daydreaming of our life
together? I guess I would answer that I would be full of joy, complete. I
wouldn’t need anything else. Danny has been my joy, but different. Not my
friend, partner . . .” A tear slid down her cheek. . . . “Lover.”

 She looked up, and Martin saw in her eyes the face of a thousand
thousand lost lonely days. Gone.

“Have you ever felt, and I mean in a weird sort of way, that I was right
here with you? Because I find myself carrying on conversations with you almost
every day. You’ve never been out of my thoughts for very long. Never for more
than an hour. Frankly, Belinda, I’ve never made love to Angela. It’s always you
I see.”

Belinda raised her face and kissed him softly on the corner of his lips.
“I know. Same with me and Robert. And I must admit feeling guilty about it
because he adored me so. I didn’t want a child with Robert, although I know
that’s brutally selfish and unfair, and Robert seemed to be content. If he ever
suspected Danny wasn’t his, he never let on. Or maybe he was just smart enough
to not say.”

Belinda suddenly chuckled then laughed and covered her face with her
hands. “Robert must have thought I was the easiest girl in Benton when we
started dating.”

“I wondered how you pulled that off.”

“Well, Robert had always flirted with me, and I did like him. He was a
nice guy and devilishly handsome back then.”

“Yeah, I remember him. I remember he never had any trouble getting a date
but he didn’t stay with anyone very long,” Martin said.

“He claimed he was waiting for me,” Belinda said and smiled.

“So how long was I gone before he asked you out?”

“Oh, he’d asked me out plenty of times before you left. Of course, he
knew I’d never go out with him, but he put it in a teasing way. Say something
to make me laugh but let me know he was interested at the same time. He was
quite a charmer.”

“He asked you out before I left, while you and I were . . . were . . .
whatever we were?”

“ ‘Inseparable’ would be the word, I think,” Belinda said. “And don’t be
so like a man and get your hackles raised. I’ve seen you flirt with plenty of
girls, and Robert wasn’t disrespectful. Like I said, anyone could tell he
didn’t seriously think I would ever date anybody but you. He was just being
like the rest of you boys.” Belinda punched him in the ribs.

“But to answer your question, I don’t recall exactly, but it wasn’t more
than a few days after you left that he asked me to go to a dance with him, and,
then when I missed my period and bought one of those pregnancy tests, I led him
on pretty darn quick I’ll tell you, so nobody would be suspicious or at least
couldn’t prove anything.”

Martin raised one of Belinda’s hands and kissed it. “I’m guessing it was
your mother who deserted you?”

“Mother was behind it. Daddy went along. He knew he’d better or there’d
never be any peace, although I can’t say he won my admiration. I can’t imagine
abandoning your own child because they marry someone you don’t approve of.”

“Was that all it was? Did they know you were pregnant?”

“They didn’t bring it up during our battle . . . or war,” Belinda said
with sad smile. “It was probably the most horrible day of my life. I couldn’t
think of anything else to do but marry Robert. Stay here and be ostracized. Be
talked about by everybody. You know what would have happened, and I wasn’t
going to let it. I was
not
going to let them kill a child that was yours
and mine. And you know that would have been their decree. Damn the baby. ‘We
can’t have Martin and Belinda bringing shame on our families,’ ” Belinda said
in a mocking tone. And, if I hadn’t married Robert, you know what Danny would
have been called? I wasn’t going to let him bear the brunt of our mistake.”

Martin sighed. “You’re right. That’s exactly how they would have reacted.
Belinda, I’m so sorry, although
sorry
seems inadequate to how I feel.”

Belinda brought his hand to her cheek. “What’s done is done. What hurts
me so and what I have tried to put out of my mind is that basically we traded a
lifetime of happiness for one night. If we had just waited . . .”

Martin stared at the floor with tears in his eyes. Then he began to cry.
His chest heaved with deep heavy sobs. His hands covered his face. Belinda
stroked his back and watched silently as Martin released years of sadness and
perhaps shame and guilt.

“I’ve missed you so,” he said amid the sobs.