Resurrection in May by Lisa Samson

Author:Lisa Samson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-07-23T04:00:00+00:00

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At five thirty the next morning Sister Ruth pulled up in her giant old Suburban, that same red entity that had been frustrating Beattyville motorists for centuries. She and May loaded up the bouquets, the gentle blossoms shivering in the breeze, the stems drinking the water at the bottom of the old sugar buckets. The land welcomed the vapor settling over the fields and between the tree trunks; the sun, just painting the horizon with pale light, promised to burn it off by ten.

“I talked to Sassy yesterday,” Sister Ruth said, hefting a sugar bucket into the back of the vehicle. Today she wore pressed khakis and a bright red twinset with sparkling beaded jewelry. Was it any wonder their flowers always sold out?

“Has she heard from Eli?”

May remembered Eli’s visit soon after Claudius’s death. He had become a highly trained sharpshooter, his wife had disappeared, and his daughter, Callie, was being raised by his mother. He’d tried to put a good face on it all, but underneath, May could see the light had gone out.

“Yes. She was wondering if maybe you’d write him a letter or something. Death row gets pretty lonely.”

“I’ll bet it does.”

“Do you think you could? Maybe it would be good for you.”

May smiled. Lately everything Sister Ruth suggested seemed to have the ulterior motive of moving May along. At least she wasn’t anything but forthright about it. May couldn’t have stood it if Sister Ruth thought her that stupid. Agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder . . . the list could go on and on. May knew what she was. After all, Sister Ruth had diagnosed her years ago with the help of Sister Racine, a registered nurse. Only her nonsuicidal tendencies and her refusal to be admitted anywhere saved her from full-scale intervention after Claudius’s death.

“Let me think about it.”

“All right. I guess that’s about as good as I’ll get from you for now. But let me tell you this: he’s decided not to appeal his sentence. Sassy says he’s depressed as all get out.”

May couldn’t blame him. “I’d be too.”

“Still, he’s her son, and she doesn’t want him to die. What mother would?”

“That’s true.” May placed the last bucket into the back of the Suburban and shut the doors. “I’ll really think about it.”

“Good girl.”

“The last time I saw him, I should have done something drastic.”

“We’ve all told ourselves that, honey.” Sister Ruth fished her keys out of her pocket. “You were so low yourself, you weren’t capable of helping anybody in that way.”

“Maybe if I’d been a little more sympathetic.”

“You were sympathetic.”

He’d come to May eight months after he was released early from his third tour of duty, knocking on the door of the farmhouse around one a.m. He looked like he’d been coughed up by death, if death was a cat. When he put his arms around her, she could barely stand the stink of his unwashed clothing and body, and he felt wiry, no longer the large football player she’d slept with years before.

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