Sunday morning. This was the fourth day. Only three more days and he would be headed back to Louisiana. Time was passing. Munch stood before his full length mirror examining himself. His clothes looked sharp. Outside it was cold, so he had opted for a gray pin strip wool suit he had altered to fit him. He had done an excellent job. The suit was conservative but very classy with great lines. If only he were taller. Just two or three more inches would help. Sometimes he wondered if his birth dad had been a Munchkin. Mama’s brother’s were average height. Mama said, he still had some growing to do. Did he? Did he really?

In the kitchen, Mama was up. She was dressed and ready for Mass too. She was wearing a poppy red dress that was a little too loud. Right, like he of all people could nit pick about loudness. Munch hoped THAT MAN wasn’t going to church. The hope was short lived. He entered the kitchen wearing a dress shirt and tie with jeans. He looked tacky, was tacky. There was a thump on the stairs and Lolly, with Fluff in her arms came into the kitchen. She smiled at all of them. Munch adjusted his face for her. The back door flew open and Mitzi and Puccini burst inside. Fluff immediately perked up. Puccini was his favorite prey. The little girl was wearing cute navy sailor coat. Mitzi announced, “Hey everybody, I’m going to Mass. Grandma Toady’s coming too, but I don’t think she wants to be a Catho-lick.” She hurled herself in THAT MAN’S arms. He swung her up and she asked, “Uncle Trace is you Catholic-lick?”

“No, honey, I’m not.”

“Well, I’m gonna be. Put me down please.”

He obliged.

Through the open door, came Grandma. She was wearing a mint green wool suit. She was sharp. Grandma Toady had style. As always she went around hugging everyone. When she finished she beamed on her son. So did Mama, so did Lolly, so did Mitzi. This was getting really old. What was so damn special about Trace Phelps that he conjured such adoration from the women in his life?

It took two cars to get them all to church. Munch road with Grandma Toady. As soon as they were on the road she asked, “So how’s it going?”

Even though THAT MAN was her son, he knew he could be honest with her. “I’m managing. Doing better than I thought I would.”

“Good to hear. I am proud of you. I know this is not easy for you.”

It wasn’t. Thanks to Lolly it so far it hadn't been as horrible as he feared it would be. Also having her around while he was grounded was nice.

As they neared the church, he had his eyes peeled for the green Volvo. He doubted Thahn Ho would be there, but hopefully someone from her family would be. His hope that Lolly would call Thahn Ho to check on her had not happened yet. If Lolly was on the phone at all, she went to the trailer to call Trevor. The green Volvo was there in it’s usual parking spot. Munch felt his heart beat a tad faster. Grandma Toady parked her truck beside it and said, “My this is such a lovely church. I've never been inside. When my daughter, Michelle was a kid, she used to come here with her best friend when she was a kid. I've often wondered if it was in this little church that she heard the call of God."

Munch had completely forgotten Lolly had an Aunt Michelle If he remembered correctly, after her tour as a nurse in Vietnam she had gone to Italy and become a Carmelite nun. Lolly said she wrote to them, but hadn't been home in years. Grandma Toady had a far away look in her eyes, like she was remembering. He couldn't imagine going years without seeing Mama. When they entered the church, Grandma Toady whispered, "Michelle feels so close right now."

Mr. and Mrs. Duong and Le were in the pew. Thahn Ho wasn't. She must be at home with Ong noi. Grandma Toady and Mitzi entered the pew first. Mitzi didn’t plop down beside Le, but she did pinch his leg when she passed him. “Ow! Why’d you do that?” Mitzi just gave him a smile and sat down beside Grandma Toady. Mama and THAT MAN entered next. Mama said, “Good to see you this morning. Let me introduce my husband, Trace Phelps. Trace this is Thao and Huong and Le.”

He gave them a shy smile and said, “Nice to meet you.”

Mr. Duong said, “You as well.”

Lolly entered the pew ahead of Munch and asked, “How is Thahn Ho?”

Mrs. Duong said, “Better. Getting bored. That is a good sign." She smiled.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Lolly asked, “Can she have visitors?”

For an instant, Mrs. Duong furrowed her brow like she was considering something. "I think she would very much enjoy your company. Just call when you would like to come over.”

“I will.” Lolly scooted passed Mrs. Duong and sat down.

Munch was pretty sure, positive actually, that he wasn't included in this invitation, but if at all possible, he was going to go. He gave Mrs. Duong, what he hoped was a shy smile and took his seat.

Rather loudly, Le announced, “I want to sit by Crunchy.”

His mother scolded, "His name is Michael."

Perplexed, Le asked, "Why's he got so many names? Is he Vietnamese too?"

"No, he is not."

"Oh. Well, can I sit by him."

His mother asked, "Can you behave?"

Confidently Le said, “Of course I can.” He crawled over his mother and plopped down beside Munch. When he smiled, Munch noticed the kid was missing a tooth.

As the service progressed, Le became fidgety. His mother handed him a coloring book. Down the pew, Mitzi saw the coloring book. The next thing Munch knew, she had zipped over the prayer kneelers and wedged her body between his and Le’s. She handed Puccini to Munch and whispered to Mrs. Duong, “Can I color too?”

Mrs. Duong pulled another coloring book out of her bag and handed it to Mitzi. It had a puppy on the cover. To Le she said, “Share.” He put the crayon box between him and Mitzi The fidgeting stopped. The children became absorbed in their coloring. Instead of listening to the homily, Munch watched the kids color. Truth be told he wished Mrs. Duong had another coloring book in her bag. Without Thahn Ho there Mass had lost most of its appeal.

When the service let out, they all stood in the parking lot talking with the Duong’s. Mrs. Duong said to Munch, “Thahn Ho told my father that you drew the card she received. You are a good artist. My father is also an artist. He thinks you would do well with ink brush painting. He has asked me to invite you to learn this art form from him, if you are agreeable.” As always her words and her demeanor were so precise.

With his heart jumping into a race, he steadied his voice and said,“Yes, I would like that very much.”

“I will tell him.”

“Thank you.” Oh how he hoped his face was not revealing what he was feeling. Inside he was shouting, I am going to Thahn Ho’s house! I am going to Thahn Ho’s house!

*

Sunday evening Lolly whispered to Munch, “Let’s go for a walk. If I have to spend another minute with those two love birds I’m gonna barf.”

So, it was getting to her too. Munch said, “We are going for a walk.”

The parents looked oh, so pleased. Stupid parents.

Out in the cold evening air, Lolly took in a deep breath. "Whew. The air was getting thick in there. They are probably jumping each other’s bones right now.”

"EW!"

“Sorry. I understand better why you've been struggling with those two. Good LORD! I hate to think what it would have been like for you if I wasn't staying over.”

Munch said, “You have definitely helped.”

“Usually, I am sad to see Pa go, but right now, I have had enough. Its not like they do or say anything that’s inappropriate but the way they look at each other, OH MY GOD!”

“Yeah, it is intense.”

Lolly changed the subject, “Trevor’s dad is stabilized. That is a good sign. I was talking to Amber last night and she said, she thinks her mom may be plotting her escape. Honestly, I think Trevor’s dad would be better off without her.”

They followed the cow trail that led to the stream. Munch asked, “When are you going over to Thahn Ho’s?”

She smiled at him and said, “Pa is leaving Wednesday evening, so probably Thursday after school."

Thursday seemed like a long time from now. He wanted to ask so bad if he could tag along, but he thought better of it. Ong noi wanted to teach him ink wash painting. He needed to be patient, hard as it was. He had to play this very cool. He didn’t want to do anything that would risk this new found opportunity. He asked, “Could I send a note for her with you?”

“Sure. I think she’d really like that.”

He hoped so.

When they reached the stream they sat down on the bank. For a while they watched and listened to the flowing water in silence. The peace of it settled into both of them. The sky was beginning to darken and they hadn’t brought their flash lights. Munch said, “We better be getting back.”

“Shoot. I wish we could stay longer."

"Me too." Slowly and reluctantly they made their way home. It was completely dark when they reached the house. Lolly said, “You think we should knock first.”

“That would be weird, but yeah. We should.” Munch rapped on the door. A very flushed and bright eyed Mama opened the door. Munch quickly averted his eyes. He did NOT want to see whatever was going on in Mama's brain..

She asked, “Did y’all have a nice walk?”

Lolly answered, “Yup. We are going upstairs.” Lolly didn’t make eye contact with Mama either. They raced up stairs.

In the corner of the studio near the window was Lolly's new twin bed. Fluff lay on his back with his big tummy exposed. He looked over his belly at them. Lolly said, “Somebody thinks that bed was bought just for him.” She turned away from Fluff and went to the clothes rack against the wall. It held all Munch's best Goodwill finds. “Are there any dresses that might fit me?”

“A couple. You want to borrow one?”

“Yeah. I’d like to try to wow Trevor. He is in such a dark place. I know a dress isn’t going to fix anything, but if it just made him smile at me that would help both of us. I am worried. I didn’t think Trevor was capable of hate, but he is and its going deep. Hate is such a poison. I’m afraid of what its going to do to him.”

Munch was too. Trevor was such a good guy and there weren’t enough of those in the world.